Zanzibar, Tanzania

After a very long flight with a few stop overs we finally landed in Zanzibar. Getting our visas was a bit of a hassle and then we had an hour and a half drive to our resort. That meant we didn’t arrive at our hotel until about 10.30pm, but luckily the staff had left the buffet open for us when we arrived.

Our resort was an all inclusive on Jambiani beach, which is in the south east of the island. It was huge and had two lovely pools and a huge jetty over the turquoise water. We spent our time either around the pool on on the jetty which had plenty of sun beds and stairs into the water. Because it was all inclusive, we had heaps of different cocktails, snacks and meals all throughout the day. The meals included seafood like calamari, octopus, prawns and crab claws. Although it was interesting to try the local cuisine, the food got a bit boring towards the end of the stay. Every evening there was a show in around the pool. Our favourites were the Maasai dance and the acrobatic show.

Although most of the time we spent relaxing by the ocean an pool, we did do a day trip out into the community. This was organised by the resort but was super cheap because we took local transport. The bus was a giant tuk tuk and we squashed about 20 people in it. Our first stop was a local shop where we were able to buy books, pens and other things for the school children. Our next stop was the local school. It was for children aged under 8. We visited the classrooms and the children sing for us. After, the children came out to talk with us and take photos. It was a weird experience and I think the school is regularly used as a tourist destination rather than an education facility. None the less, it was an interesting experience of only to see how surprisingly well resourced the school was compared to others in the country. Next, we did a village tour, where we met some local people who showed us where they lived and shopped. We also learnt how people use coconut to make rope for sun lounges and also coconut oil. We ended out tour at a beach on the south coast of the island. Unfortunately, it was incredibly windy so we decided not to swim but it was lovely to see the blue ocean amongst the steep rocky cliff.Leggi altro