10 October 2009    to      24 October 2009

Click HERE for Bigger Map

Our trip started off on a rather interesting note. About 45 minutes into the flight, the aircraft made a 360 degree turn and we were informed that we had engine problems and were heading back to Johannesburg. I must say 1time airlines handled the situated very well, and once we got back to Johannesburg...without falling out of the sky, they almost had another plane ready, so the actual delay was only a few hours. Here is Silvia next to our broken plane just after we had landed again in Johannesburg.

The international airport in Zanzibar is an experience in itself. It's a very rundown little airport, especially the arrivals section. Once you enter the terminal building you head straight for the immigration counter. Visas may be obtained at US$50 upon arrival or as in our case, we organized ours with the Tanzanian embassy in Pretoria beforehand. Collecting ones luggage is strictly a manual business. Once the luggage has been offloaded from the plane, its then placed onto a counter for your collection. The guy from Exotic tours was on time to collect us and take us to our hotel in Stone Town.

Stone Town is the old quarter of Zanzibar town which many decades ago had been the area where all the wealthier people had stayed, including the Sultan of Zanzibar. However in the early 1960's they had a revolution and all the magnificent Arab mansions were given to loads of impoverished people who of course had no money to maintain them, with the result that most of them are totally dilapidated now. The hotel we stayed in, called Dhow Palace Hotel, once belonged to a wealthy Omani and had been beautifully restored. If anyone decides to visit Zanzibar sometime, we can certainly recommend it.

Its insides in many respects resembled a museum with a great many artworks and elegant Arab furniture.

The ocean facing side of Stone Town is quite picturesque with all sorts of vessels to be seen in the turquoise water off shore. This is also where most of the restaurants can be found. Prices vary enormously for the same thing, so you need to look around a bit.

"The House of Wonders" or Beit-al-Ajaib, was built in 1883 by Sultan Sayyid Barghash as a palace. Today it houses a very interesting museum.

The oldest structure in Stone Town and dating from 1560. This old Arab fort was built to defend against attacks from the Portuguese.

The Old Dispensary. It once housed a pharmacy and doctor on the ground floor and dates from 1894.

A hallmark of Zanzibaran architecture are the elaborately carved doors with their large brass studs.

The grand staircase inside the Palace Museum. This building dates back to the end of the 19th century and in 1911 became the Sultans official residence. It contains a lot of very interesting original furniture.

One of the many narrow streets in Stone Town that form an absolute maze.

While staying in Stone Town we organized a tour of one of the spice plantations. Zanzibar was once the worlds leading exporter of cloves, although it produced at least a dozen other spices as well. It was quite interesting to actually see, smell, and touch the various spices and plants that produce them.

The Peace Memorial Museum dates back to 1920, and was erected to commemorate those that lost their lives in the first world war.

We did a very nice day trip out to one of the many islands that surround Zanzibar. The trip involved sailing out on a Dhow, with some snorkeling along the way, Dolphin viewing, and a barbecue on the island before sailing back in the late afternoon again.

Anchoring off a sandbank before sailing further to the island for some snorkeling over some of the many reefs around here.

The island contains a huge Baobab tree that had fallen over some time ago but merely continues growing from its big branches upwards again.

The island consists totally out of coral that form some interesting formations when erosion takes place.

Our Dhows anchored offshore.

Sailing back in the afternoon.

A trip to the north of Zanzibar followed to Nungwi. Here there are some what they like to call natural aquariums that contain salt water fish and sea turtles which one could feed seaweed to.

They breed sea turtles here as well. Here Silvia is looking forward to some turtle soup in the evening...just kidding!

After our week in Stone Town we moved hotels to the Karafuu Hotel and Beach Resort on the other side of the island. I must say, despite what the following photos may show, we would not recommend this place. The staff are poorly trained and we had a very unpleasant incident the day before we left with their cashier. They lied to us straight in our face and then denied it point blank. When we pointed it out to them they became very hostile. While most were quite friendly, the lack of proper training showed itself quite often.

The beach restaurant seemed to specialize in seafood, so we tried them one evening and even though they tried to rip us off with the drinks we got them on this one!

Lazing the day away on the beach. Most of the beach is actually hard coral and the sand only starts far out.

The resort employs Masai as security personal which has the added advantage that usually once a week there is a Masai evening dinner and show with dances by them.

We did a morning trip to the Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park one day. The forest area consists mainly of giant Red Mahogany trees.

Next to this forest is a large area in which the Red Colobus Monkeys live. There are only about 2500 left.

Another interesting part of the park is the mangrove area.

Some monkeys at our front door.

The last evening was spent at a Swahili dinner and dance. We ended up getting roped into the dance as well!