Remember all those times you’d look through the sun destination travel magazines and you’d daydream about those fabulous beaches you only hope one day you’ll step foot on? Well I’ve been there – except it was 100 times better. Zanzibar has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
I took an 8-day trip to Zanzibar a few days after climbing Kilimanjaro. It was quite a difference after having froze on the mountain – wearing every piece of clothing I own! On the island, there was not one moment when I didn’t feel hot. You just could not survive without air conditioning – and we (Sameer and I) were lucky enough to have that in most hotels.
The first day we landed at the Zanzibar city airport and took a taxi to the Pongwe Beach Resort on the Pongwe beach on the east of the island. The rooms were huts located right on the beach. It was a bit pricey but worth every cent. Here there was no need for air conditioning because of the wind. At night you could hear the sound of the waves – which guaranteed a good night’s rest. This was the first of 4 beaches I would discover in Zanzibar and already I felt like I had found the perfect beach!
Pongwe was very very quiet and there wasn’t much to do so you wouldn’t last more than a couple of days. The second night we stayed at a hotel next door – Queen Sheba Hotel – as it was half the price and had much better food. I think I had coconut prawn curry at least 3 times in two days. Coconut curry is a specialty of Zanzibar –and they do make it just right.
On the third day we made it up to the north of the island to a resort called Kendwa Rocks. It was a backpacker’s hostel and our room was again a hut just about 100 meters from the beach. Here there were a lot more tourists. Kendwa has the best beach on the entire island. I have never seen anything like it. You would think most beaches are the same but this one just doesn’t compare to anything. The sand is white and soft – it feels like air when you hold it in your hand. The water has the most rich turquoise colour and it is so clear as there was hardly any seaweed. It truly was a backpacker’s paradise.
For $35 a night I lazed around on the best beach, ate great food, met some interesting people, had a room where I could watch the sun set, and it had airconditioning – you can’t beat that!
One of the two days that we stayed there we decided to try snorkelling – which was not a good idea. At this time of the year there is a lot of wind so the waves are enormous. I jumped off the boat and within 20 minutes I gave up and headed back to the boat –which had drifted pretty far away. It felt like it took me ages to swim back and I was so out of breath I thought I was going to drown. I didn’t leave the boat again till we got to shore. Not exactly fun.
Another day we took a boat up to Nungwi beach, which we had heard was also really nice and not too far. Nungwi is at the north tip of the island. It turned out to be pretty spectacular. We took a walk around the local village and up to the lighthouse where we took a tour of the sea turtle conservation pond. These are where the sea turtles who have been injured because of fisherman get sent to get better. I was able to hold a small one and also feed some in the pond that were gigantic!
By the time we got back to the beach it was lunchtime, and so we treated ourselves to lunch at this fancy hotel. On this part of the island it’s hard to get anywhere on your own, and our boat wasn’t coming back till 4, so we had a few hours to kill. We paid $8 to use the hotel’s pool, which was on the beach as well. Well worth it.
On the 5th day we travelled to the southeast to a beach called Paje. My Dad had connected me with a gentlemen in Zanzibar who then connected me with someone who worked at a diving school at Paje beach so we were to stay with them. Turns out this guy’s partner went to high school with Sameer – what a small world.
The beach wasn’t as fabulous as Kendwa, and I think by then we were a bit exhausted from – well – doing nothing really. Paradise can get boring too after a while. So we headed to Stone Town the next day.
I took an 8-day trip to Zanzibar a few days after climbing Kilimanjaro. It was quite a difference after having froze on the mountain – wearing every piece of clothing I own! On the island, there was not one moment when I didn’t feel hot. You just could not survive without air conditioning – and we (Sameer and I) were lucky enough to have that in most hotels.
The first day we landed at the Zanzibar city airport and took a taxi to the Pongwe Beach Resort on the Pongwe beach on the east of the island. The rooms were huts located right on the beach. It was a bit pricey but worth every cent. Here there was no need for air conditioning because of the wind. At night you could hear the sound of the waves – which guaranteed a good night’s rest. This was the first of 4 beaches I would discover in Zanzibar and already I felt like I had found the perfect beach!
Pongwe was very very quiet and there wasn’t much to do so you wouldn’t last more than a couple of days. The second night we stayed at a hotel next door – Queen Sheba Hotel – as it was half the price and had much better food. I think I had coconut prawn curry at least 3 times in two days. Coconut curry is a specialty of Zanzibar –and they do make it just right.
On the third day we made it up to the north of the island to a resort called Kendwa Rocks. It was a backpacker’s hostel and our room was again a hut just about 100 meters from the beach. Here there were a lot more tourists. Kendwa has the best beach on the entire island. I have never seen anything like it. You would think most beaches are the same but this one just doesn’t compare to anything. The sand is white and soft – it feels like air when you hold it in your hand. The water has the most rich turquoise colour and it is so clear as there was hardly any seaweed. It truly was a backpacker’s paradise.
For $35 a night I lazed around on the best beach, ate great food, met some interesting people, had a room where I could watch the sun set, and it had airconditioning – you can’t beat that!
One of the two days that we stayed there we decided to try snorkelling – which was not a good idea. At this time of the year there is a lot of wind so the waves are enormous. I jumped off the boat and within 20 minutes I gave up and headed back to the boat –which had drifted pretty far away. It felt like it took me ages to swim back and I was so out of breath I thought I was going to drown. I didn’t leave the boat again till we got to shore. Not exactly fun.
Another day we took a boat up to Nungwi beach, which we had heard was also really nice and not too far. Nungwi is at the north tip of the island. It turned out to be pretty spectacular. We took a walk around the local village and up to the lighthouse where we took a tour of the sea turtle conservation pond. These are where the sea turtles who have been injured because of fisherman get sent to get better. I was able to hold a small one and also feed some in the pond that were gigantic!
By the time we got back to the beach it was lunchtime, and so we treated ourselves to lunch at this fancy hotel. On this part of the island it’s hard to get anywhere on your own, and our boat wasn’t coming back till 4, so we had a few hours to kill. We paid $8 to use the hotel’s pool, which was on the beach as well. Well worth it.
On the 5th day we travelled to the southeast to a beach called Paje. My Dad had connected me with a gentlemen in Zanzibar who then connected me with someone who worked at a diving school at Paje beach so we were to stay with them. Turns out this guy’s partner went to high school with Sameer – what a small world.
The beach wasn’t as fabulous as Kendwa, and I think by then we were a bit exhausted from – well – doing nothing really. Paradise can get boring too after a while. So we headed to Stone Town the next day.
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