Oh wow, Zanzibar! It sounds totally exotic and intriguing, right? Well it is amazing! We had only four days, but were able to explore two very different parts of this "Spice Island" in the country of Tanzania. First, the city of Stone Town, with its Arab architecture, street market, and intricately carved doors. Then, the small beach village of Pongwe on the east coast, with its isolated resort and nearby community of seaweed farmers and fishermen.
For photos, click here.
Kimberly
We arrived in Zanzibar in the afternoon and headed straight for Stone Town. We had decided to split our time here so we could both see the cultural parts of the old city and spend a few days relaxing on the beach. For this reason, we selected a historic hotel in Stone Town, complete with Arab influenced architecture and furniture: The Dhow Palace Hotel. Persian traders arrived iZanzibarar in the 10th century and trade between East Africa, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf reached its height in the 12-15th centuries. The Portugese arrived in the 16th century, followed by the British, and the Omani Arabs...you can still feel the influence from all these different groups today.
It's hard to describe Stone Town, and our pictures don't do it justice. Yes, it is quite run down and dirty. But it is also incredibly beautiful. The narrow, winding alleyways (yes, we got lost many times), the intricately carved doors, the sound of Muslims praying, and the sight of women scurrying from the market--their headscarves blowing in the wind. It was simply unlike any other place I have ever visited.
In the morning before we left for our beach time, we did a short walking tour othete town. We visited the Beit al-Sahel, or Palace Museum, seeing where the sultan and his family lived until 1964, when the dynasty was overthrown. The incredible collection of authentic furniture and a fantastic view of the harbor were the highlights for me. We also saw the Beit el-Ajaib, or House of Wonders, whose entrance supposedly contains the largest carved doors in East Africa.
After spending an hour and a half driving a mere 35 kilometers (yes, the road was quite bad), we finally arrived at our little oasis, the Pongwe Beach Hotel. This place was just what we needed: somewhere to get away from it all and just relax. And that was pretty much all we could do! The hotel had no televisions, no internet, no telephones...in fact, the electricity was run by a generator which stopped at 10pm--meaning we had to take flashlights to see the toilet in the bathroom in the middle of the night! It also meant for a very relaxing three days. We generally took a walk in the morning, enjoyed a seafood lunch, spent most of the afternoon swimming or lying on the beach, and after dinner we would play board games (I kicked Dan's butt at Scrabble, but he beat me at Connect Four!). One night, the staff organized a romantic candle-lit dinner for just the two of us on the beach. They even dug out little holes in the sand and lit candles inside...as if the ambiance wasn't already amazing! As you can see, life was quite laid-back.
I have been to a lot of beaches all over the world, but I really have never ever seen anything quite like Pongwe Beach. It is absolutely beautiful...something about the colors of the water, the formation of the clouds, and the sight of Dhow sailboats passing along the horizon. It also does something rather phenomenal...every morning, the tide goes out for a good mile--every afternoon, it comes all the way into the shore, isolating the hotel from the nearby beaches. The village next door has taken advantage of this phenomenon by setting up seaweed farms that they cultivate during the morning low tide. Needless to say, our photos are amazing...so definitely check them out!
One afternoon, we heard a knock on our door and were surprised to find a smiling Pongwe Employee standing there with an envelope for us. She explained that her birthday was the next day, and she wanted to invite us to her birthday party. Such is how we came to celebrate Leah's 21st birthday with the entire staff and guests of the Pongwe Beach Hotel.
Everyone went all out for the party. The staff set up tables on the beach, made decorations with palm fronds, put together a makeshift Zanzibar band, and even organized a soda chugging contest for entertainment. The highlight of the evening for me was the singing of my new favorite song...the Hakuna Matata song...no, not the one from the Lion King, but the song they sing for everyone's birthday: Jambo Bwana. It's quite catchy, I warn you, but take a listen here if you're interested...and you'll get to see some fun video from the party! (Click here) And yes, they really do say "Hakuna Matata" here...I did a complete double-take the first time I heard it myself!
After three days of relaxing, we set off for the Zanzibar airport to catch our flight to Arusha, Tanzania. We waited and waited as the normal sized planes boarded and took of. Finally, this tiny plane pulls up and they call boarding for us...there were only four of us on the plane (well five if you count the pilot)! It was insane! I don't usually get scared while flying, but something about watching the pilot made this flight so much worse than normal! Needless to say, I was very relieved after our perfect landing in Arusha!
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