Zanzibar, the perfect ending to an African safari

I always bragged (and still do) about our Caribbean beaches in Mexico because the color is just ridiculousoy beuatiful, but little did I know there are so many other places like that. A small punch to my mexican beach ego, but at the same time I love experiencing new places and still have the ability to be surprised and grateful to be there.

The perfect way to end my Safari adventure in Tanzania was to spend a few days in gorgeus Zanzibar island. Not just an island but a small archipielago in the Indian Ocean with a bit over 1 million people. To this day, Zanzibar remains a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania

Photo of the same place (not same angle but same place) in the afternoon!

It looked so beautiful in pictures but I didn´t realize how turquoise the water really was until I was there.

Something interesting here is the extreme tide changes that make the water “dissapear” from the shore for a considerable distance depending on the time of the day. Literally you see nothing but wet or dry sand for couple of hours from the shore.

Getting to Zanzibar

This is the type of place that just getting there is a nice part of the experience. When I ended my safari, one of the options was to stay in Dar es Salaam, beach at the end of the day. However, it is absolutely worth taking the time to go to Zanzibar island instead.

I knew my trip included a short flight to the island, but I didn´t know it was such a small plane 😉 with the most professional boarding pass EVER. Just based on this, it is hard to remember the departure airport.. and even time 😉

Where is my sea?

On this part of the trip I did nothing that wasn´t beach related but that was the point for once!! 😉

I know the island is also famous for other things such as spice farming and Stone Town (historic center) which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Generally very rich in history.. However, after 10 days of bumpy roads and extreme dusty conditions in the safari parks, spoiling myself sounded like a plan ;D I rarely give myself such chance!

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…Including you“
Anne Lamott

Arriving to the hotel in the afternoon, the sea reaches directly the hotel so not possible to access the sea at this time (or not safely)

Same selfie the next day, the water is gone! you may see it far away and that means only super shallow waters

As I kept walking out of the hotel more views of this effect. It also brings life to local women who collect seafood in shallow waters of ocean low tide.

Trying kiteboarding

Zanzibar wind conditons and the tide effect make it a nice place to try kiteboarding. I imagined it was difficult but still thought.. “hey why not? I´m already here!

I booked a beginners class and that was my “new thing”.. On paper this sounds like the Nataly I want to be and many times I´m not, and while I don´t fully regret it.. it became sooooo stressing I almost cried! (shame on me!) #truestory

Retrospectively, it´s funny and I remember it with a good sense of humor but at that point I gave up like 20 minutes before the class was over, and especially after I fell I was about to fly!! it was such a scary feeling not to be in control of my body and that the kite and wind could literally make me fly and cause an accident -also keep in mind the extra low tide-

With such a cool school name, what can go wrong??

The good thing.. trying new things always takes some courage…

The bad thing… it was a disaster haha I have unsuccessfully tried to do kite boarding but I got stuck when even trying to control the normal size kite in the water so I didn’t even make it to the board part after 3-hour lesson

Well.. wind sports are not for me! Still I am satisfied that I tried something new and then I can say by fact how much I suck at it and it’s not a what if.. anymore.

In my defense it IS really difficult!! hehe

Anyway, for the more adventorous and ideally skilled individuals in water sports that require coordination and balance, this is a must do when you think about the conditions for the sport AND the beautiful scenery! Very popular activity in Zanzibar!!

Boat excursion

On a more relaxing activity compared to kiteboarding, I had the most amazing excursion in a small boat to visit couple of islands and have local lunch. If you are in Zanzibar, this is a must because it gives a great opportunity to admire the most beautiful sea color there is.. nothing to envy from South East Asia, Caribbe or the Maldives + the nice touch of friendly African people!

My main purpose was this!! ..´cause this is Africa..

Most tours take you to a small sand bank that becomes an awesome mini island, you have free time there to enjoy some fruits and swimming. There is also snorkeling as the boat will take you to the beautiful coral reefs.

There are several tour variations, some would spend some time in Stone Town (more a combination of culture + sea adventures), my choice was more focused on being on the sea. If you have enough time and really are looking for sunshine and gorgeous sea life, it is worth checking those with quality free time in paradise. In my opinion you can always visit the city center and markets on your own.

“We dream in colors borrowed from the sea”
– even better if THIS is the sea-

More islands and tide effect

This is one of the places we stopped for swimming and admire the limestone formations on the water.

These pictures may look quite normal, but these are at other times having a lot of water! It is so unique you can see a huge difference, more obvious when it comes to the small boats. When we went to the island, we still walked on shallow water, when we came back after lunch it was dry! For this reason, the boats need to dock far away

Pic with a sea star. In such transparent water you can see many and HAVE to be careful not to step on them

Khulala Ocean Blue Bungalows

Normally I choose and book my own hotels, in this case it was part of the safari package and I cannot complain 😉 My only requirement was for it to be beach-front and it was.

I remember the hotel female staff were suprised I was there by myself. Questions like.. husband? kids? were regular ones but I don´t really mind. I am already used to it when traveling to Asia / Africa.. just a fun fact!! I almost felt like all the ladies working there adopted me and did not want me to feel alone 😉 I never did.. but nice gesture!

The unexpected photo became one of my favorites. I asked one of the ladies in the hotel to take a picture for me by the sea and she did.. but when I looked at my camera I also had a selfie from her. So here you go an African beauty who wanted me to remember her forever, greetings to her!

Beatiful Tanzanian woman from the hotel, taken by her ;D

Local food

I was here only 3 days and for some reason I did not document all my meals (usually do not unless something special) 😉 I ate a lot of sea food obviously but nothing else more special to this region as such. The only thing I kept eating both in excursion and in the hotel were these lobsters, either just grilled or having some fill inside like the hotel version.

I stayed out of the beach life or city center, so hotel options for dinner were more than enough after full days out in the sun 😉

Cheerful music or singing was always present in Africa! This time when having lunch

Fun fact for Spanish speakers

I could not avoid taking a picture of this store! hahaha. For anyone else wondering… this pronounced in Spanish means something like “yikes!”. totally informal word but widely used 😉