Welcome to the very famous islands in front of Tanzania with its central island Zanzibar, also called Unguja!
It is very popular among tourists. Very beautiful too. Besides the city of Zanzibar, the island has a lot to see and explore. Even though it is very spread out, we stayed in the town for time reasons, but friends would discover other further away beaches taking private taxis. I'm sure it is also possible to move around with the local bus. Still, we liked Tanzania itself better. It offers the same amount of beautiful beaches, less touristy and more local, you need to know where to go.
Zanzibar is easy to reach. Multiple ferries are connecting the island with Darussalam in a two-hour trip. Hotels and food are more pricy too. But the locals here are used to tourism, so you are less followed and bothered.
In the end, if you are already visiting Tanzania, it is worth taking a sneak peek at this well-known island.
Stone Town
The most famous part of Zanzibar is where you automatically arrive if you take the ferry. You can walk around here per foot, and it's a small area, not even accessible with a Boda Boda in the narrow streets inside the town. I was surprised; 90% of the locals here a Muslim. They wear hair covers and pray, the mosque tunes multiple times a day. Also, it is super touristy here. The hotels wouldn't negotiate. They have fixed prices. Many places are already booked, and the prices are high. You can find lots of tourist shops and clothe stores here too. It is a different feeling compared to Tanzania, being surrounded by locals. Here, many tourists dressed in summer clothes, showing a lot of skin and wearing expensive bags and accessories. It didn't feel like the real Africa. Still, this city has things to see and to do. While strolling around, you will meet many streets cats, private taxis trying to convince you to take their service, and kids playing in the street. Also, be aware that you need cash here. Even entering Zanzibar, we needed to pay an entrance fee of $5/ 12.000 TS in cash at the harbor. In Stone Town, in the north, you will find multiple ATMs. Most of them request a fee. As far as I remember, I could get money from the CRDB for free with my Revolut Visa card.
Night food market (Mizingani Road)
As soon as it gets dark, this place will be full of people, good-smelling food, and street cats fighting for the best bites: the night food market. Lots of huts with traditional food like sea food, meat, pizza and drinks spread out on big tables. The atmosphere is pleasuring and perfect for an evening stroll.
Keep in mind: First, you need to bring cash. Second, Zanzibar is already more expensive than Tanzania. But this market is super expensive, and they'll offer you high prices (that still seem to be cheap compared to European prices). But, negotiating is essential here. You'll easily manage a price drop with a small discussion. Overall, the food is very delicious, and you won't regret taking a look. Third, this place is touristy, so you'll meet a bunch of foreigners. We sat down on a bench to eat, close to the market. A lot of people would bother us, but cats even more. With the smell of fresh fish in their nose, they are super keen on getting best case your whole portion.
Daranjani Market
Another good place to find local fresh and seafood is the daranjani market. The market sprawls over side streets and old streets right to Stone Town. Many vendors offer their products; some only focus on clothes, shoes or even toys. Whatever you might need, you can find it here. I recommend trying some tropical fruits that you might have never seen before. This place is full of that, and the fruits are the juiciest and sweet you can imagine.
(Rooftop)Bars
Zanzibar offers a lot of places to hang out and get a drink at night. Incredibly charming are the rooftop bars, often equipped with LED lights, disco lights, candles, and African dancing music. Being on top of one of the bars, you can sneak over to the next rooftop and the other bars surrounding you. Those we visited were very nice - good options for cocktails and beers and exemplary service. One example of a nice bar is the 6 degrees south bar, a restaurant close to the water, and the old fort.
6 degrees south
The restaurant with vast windows provides a wide variety of food and wine. On the top floor, there is the rooftop bar called Up North. It depends on the day of the week, but usually, those bars are packed, but we always find a place to sit. You can see mostly tourists hanging out in groups or having a local date. If you look for a more local bar, just check out the surroundings, and you should be successful pretty fast.
Public Beach (Baharia Hindi Beach)
Perfect for having a long walk in the warm sun, laying down in the warmed-up sand, or swimming in the shallow but comfortable water. The average sea temperature is 28 degrees. We barely saw any other people swimming, but it is okay if you do so. We just brought a towel and changed at the beach, hiding our clothes behind some rocks. Another option is having some food at a restaurant close by and then asking them to keep your stuff. The swim was fantastic. Actually, the current was quite strong these days, so we would drift quite fast with the wind. Beautiful shells covered the ground, trying to cut your feet. Unfortunately, my friend got stung by a jellyfish. So keep in mind you can also meet those creatures there.
Would you like to learn more about Tanzania and the cities? Click here to get access to more blog posts.
Opmerkingen