Kiwengwa Beach

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Overlanding Through Africa
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- Aug 4, 2023, 11:30am
- ☁️ 28 °C
- Altitude: 33 ft
- Tanzania Zanzibar North Kiwengwa Kiwengwa Beach -5.9937, 39.37685°59’37” S 39°22’36” E
Day 90
Goodbyes - and the next chapter
August 4, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C
We got up in time to have breakfast with those who were heading back to Stone Town to continue with their trip to Nairobi and, for some of them, on to Uganda and Rwanda. We waved them off at 9am and then went to sort out our stuff and enjoy a last hour or two in the resort.

At 11am, we took a taxi to our next accommodation in Kiwenga. We travelled with Ian, who was also staying in Kiwenga for a few days, and Mona, who was going further south. It was sad to say goodbye to Mona. She has been such a good travelling companion. Hopefully, we’ll meet up when we get to Nairobi.

We got dropped off at Maisha Marefu (meaning ‘long life’ or ‘cheers’ in Swahili) Apartments at just after 12noon. We were welcomed by Lara, the Italian owner, and her local assistant, Freda. First impressions of the apartment were very good. We paid what we owed and then unpacked properly for the first time since Cape Town. The thought of not moving for the next 11 days is really nice!Read more
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Overlanding Through Africa
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- Aug 4, 2023, 1:30pm
- ☁️ 29 °C
- Altitude: 26 ft
- Tanzania Zanzibar North Kiwengwa Kiwengwa Beach -5.990431, 39.373675°59’26” S 39°22’25” E
Day 90
Lunch at Yako
August 4, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C
After settling in, we went to explore the local area. We stopped at an Italian-owned restaurant, Yako, for lunch. We shared a delicious thin crispy pizza with prosciutto. The waiter was very friendly and pointed us in the right direction for a supermarket.

We were trying to shop for a few meals, but the supermarket proved to be very expensive. We spent £30 on just a few items. We might need to rethink our self-catering idea! We tried other shops on our way back to the apartment and picked up a few more bits, including the tiny bananas I really like. We also got caught in a short but very heavy downpour!

Back at the apartment, I wrote a few notes. We had very sophisticated beans on toast for dinner 😂 and spent the evening watching ‘The Boat that Rocks’!Read more
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Overlanding Through Africa
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- Aug 5, 2023, 12:00pm
- ⛅ 28 °C
- Altitude: 36 ft
- Tanzania Zanzibar North Kiwengwa Kiwengwa Beach -5.993122, 39.3804555°59’35” S 39°22’50” E
Day 91
Exploring Kiwenga Beach
August 5, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We have breakfast included in the price of the apartment. It was very good, with coffee, fresh fruit, toast, croissants, cereals, and eggs cooked as you want. After breakfast, we spent the morning writing and listening to the radio. We spoke to Freda about the lack of a kettle, a barbecue, and TV streaming service, despite these things being advertised as included. We also reported a leak in the bathroom. She said she would discuss all of these things with Lara when she woke up!

Later, Lara went to the shop and came back with a kettle for us! She came to look at the leak and said she would get a plumber here on Monday. I think we’ll have to live without the other two items!

Afterwards, Raman, who works here, walked with us down to the beach to show us where our free sunbeds are. It’s a lovely spot. We didn’t use them today. Instead, we had a long walk up and down the beach. We were accosted by several Masai salesmen along the way, but they were friendly enough and not too pushy once we’d made it clear we weren’t buying! After our walk, we returned to ‘our’ beach and went for lunch at the Italian-owned beach bar there. We had a drink and shared a cheese and ham flatbread toastie. The drinks came with delicious salted snacks that were definitely designed to make you drink more! It was all very nice, but we definitely won’t be able to afford to do it every day!

We then walked back to the apartment via the local shop we’d investigated yesterday. We bought a few more bits to add to our meagre larder! Back at Maisha Marefu, we tried out the pool. It’s a small infinity pool, perfect for cooling off after the heat of the day.

This evening, we had pasta with mushroom and tomato sauce for dinner and watched Romancing the Stone to get us in the mood for Cartagena next year! 😂Read more
Traveler Are you just going to explore Columbia or more of South America? Didn't send via messenger as you seem to have probs with that. You can reply via that though!
8/14/23Reply
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Overlanding Through Africa
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- Aug 12, 2023
- ⛅ 28 °C
- Altitude: 33 ft
- Tanzania Zanzibar North Kiwengwa Kiwengwa Beach -5.993462, 39.380245°59’36” S 39°22’49” E
Day 98
Beach days
August 12, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We spent the next few days relaxing at the beach. We loved just relaxing and watching the world go by. 'Our' beach had a pier next to it with a restaurant and bar at the end of it. The area was very popular with kite surfers, which gave us something to watch! We also had cows wandering along the beach from time to time 😂🤣Read more
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Overlanding Through Africa
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- Aug 13, 2023
- ⛅ 29 °C
- Altitude: 30 ft
- Tanzania Zanzibar North Kiwengwa Kiwengwa Beach -5.993571, 39.3800815°59’37” S 39°22’48” E
Day 99
The Art of Travel
August 13, 2023 in Tanzania ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
I spent one of our beach days reading The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton that I found in the apartment. This book has been on the periphery of my consciousness for a long time, but I’ve never read it. The author talks not just about where we travel but also about how and why. So many ideas in the book resonated with me.

The first chapter explores the anticipation of travel – how we imagine the perfect image shown to us in the brochure and ignore the practicalities of getting there. Having anticipated somewhere for so long, the reality of the place can sometimes disappoint. The anticipation is so delicious that we can sometimes start thinking about the next place we will visit rather than relishing the place we are in. We need to enjoy the moment.

I think the book struck such a chord with me because I have been interested in all things travel-related from a very young age. This was not just distant shores and exotic foreign cultures, but modes of transport and transport hubs. The romance of airports and train stations always fascinated me. This interest is described in the book.

Alain de Botton talks about curiosity – ‘that elusive stage where we are bored by nothing’. I recognise this in myself but have never put it into words before. I have always been curious and have never been bored!

The author devotes one chapter to John Ruskin, who encouraged people to draw. He wanted us to take notice, to take time. He also advocated writing about our travels, a process he called ‘word paint’. He said we should ask ourselves questions and be precise in analysing what we see and how it makes us feel. (He’s knocking on an open door with me – though I don’t always do what I know I should!)

Towards the end of the book, Alain de Botton talks about always having a travelling mindset, the chief characteristic of which is receptivity. It also means:

• Approaching new places with humility
• Carrying with us no rigid ideas about what is interesting
• Irritating locals by standing on traffic islands and in narrow streets admiring what they see as strange small details
• Risking getting run over because we are intrigued by the roof of a government building or an inscription on a wall
• Finding a supermarket or hairdresser’s unusually fascinating
• Dwelling at length on the layout of a menu or the clothes of the presenters on the evening news
• Being alive to the layers of history beneath the present
• Taking notes and photos

The author concludes by reminding us to explore what’s around us, even in our own neighbourhoods that we have walked through thousands of times.
‘Before taking off for distant hemispheres, notice what we have already seen.’

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Pictured below are some of the other books I read while we were in Zanzibar.Read more
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Traveler Kenia & Tansania Trek
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- Oct 4, 2016
- ☀️ 12 °C
- Altitude: 1 m
- Tanzania Zanzibar North Kiwengwa Kiwengwa Beach -5.98684, 39.375735°59’13” S 39°22’33” E
Day 17
17. Tag Souvenir Shopping
October 4, 2016 in Tanzania ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
Heute ist unser vorletzter Tag und wir haben noch einiges an Bargeld. Wir haben ja in Stonetown bereits überlegt ein großes Bild zu kaufen. Wir wollten auch hier nochmal an den Souvenirshops am Strand danach gucken. Als wir Richtung der "Shops", viele kleine Hütten dicht aneinandergereiht, gelaufen sind kamen uns schon einige Verkäufer entgegen, um uns in Ihren Shop zu locken. Wir sagten, dass wir überall erstmal nur schauen wollen und sind in den ersten Laden rein. Als wir wieder raus gegangen sind stand schon der Nächste bereit und lenkte uns in seinen Shop. Und so ging es immer weiter. Es war witzig. Es gab mehr oder weniger fast überall das gleiche. Holzfiguren, Schüsseln, Magnete, Armbänder, Halsketten, Malereien, Sandalen, Tücher, etc. Postkarten gab es hier gar nicht und ich habe auch generell noch nicht viele gesehen. Die paar die ich gesehen habe, haben mir aber nicht so gefallen. Also wird es dieses mal keine Postkarten geben. Falls jemand drauf wartet, kann er diesmal lange warten😉.

Dafür wurden wir in einem Laden fündig. Ich war an einem Bild interessiert. Hier muss man natürlich handeln. Ich habe mich an die Preise für Bilder in der Größe in Stonetown erinnert und habe mir vorher gesagt, dass ich maximal 30 $ für ein großes Bild ausgeben möchte. Hier lag jedoch der Verkaufspreis ohne Verhandlung für das angefragte Bild bei nur 28 $. Als er die zwei in den Sand malte konnte ich es kaum glauben und befürchtete er malt jetzt 200 $ in den Sand, aber es blieb bei 28 $. Am Ende haben wir eine Schale sowie ein großes und ein kleines Bild für 35 $ gekauft. Ich war zufrieden.

Die Bilder wurden hier übrigens selbst gemalt. Ich hätte mir auch ein Motiv aussuchen und die Farben bestimmen können und der Maler hätte ein Bild nach meinen Vorstellungen gemalt. Gleiches gilt auch für Sandalen, die auch auf Wunsch über Nacht gefertigt werden.

Wir haben dann noch in 2 anderen Läden ein paar Kleinigkeiten gekauft und nach ungefähr 2 Stunden Shoppingmarathon sind wir dann erstmal wieder zurück ins Hotel. Auf dem Weg zurück ins Hotel haben wir noch eine Tote angeschwemmte Schildkröte entdeckt. Ich hoffe sie ist auf natürlichem Weg gestorben.

Den Rest des Tages haben wir wieder schön faul in der Sonne verbracht und waren mit Nichts tun beschäftigt. Es gab sogar nochmal für jeden eine Kokosnuss. Lecker!Read more
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