Hello bright and beautiful Zanzibar!

After the subtle hues and dusty drives of the Serengeti, we made our way over the Indian Ocean to visit Tanzania’s island paradise.

Zanzibar island, just a few miles off the coast of the mainland, is part of Tanzania. It became one country in 1964. The mainland was originally named Tanganyika and when they united together they took the first three letters of each state and joined them together to create Tan-Zan-ia.

So, they were doing “celebrity couple names” way before Bennifer and Brangelina.

After a short flight from the western serengeti — in a small plane that shook a lot (eek!) — we landed in Zanzibar City and were instantly embraced by that wonderful feeling that washes over you when you first arrive at a tropical destination.

The breeze from the ocean. The smell of the flowers. And the colours, oh the colours. After those khaki tones of safari, it was a joy to be surrounded by bright, vibrant hues again.

We stayed at the Riu Palace, on the north-west side of the island, where the sand is as white as the clouds and the water is that bold shade of turquoise any beach lover strives to find.

Oh, and the flowers! Everything was thriving. So many bold blooms showing off. This place definitely had the best landscaping of any resort I’ve ever stayed at.

A tropical oasis…

With serene scenes…

And vibrant colours…

The perfect place for pure relaxation… and romance! 😍

Beach essentials

We spent our first few days laying on the beach, looking out at the ocean, listening to the sounds of the sea and nature. Letting our bodies sink into a state of total rejuvenation. Ahhhhh

Oh yeah, and after two straight days on the beach, sipping on some many “double rum, double ice” beverages in the southern hemisphere, we were ZONED OUT. Or, as Chuck would say, “Chillaxed!”

Between sipping and swimming, the kinda famous beach acrobats of Zanzibar came by and put on a show for everyone.

The sun beamed both brightly and softly during the afternoons.

The water is crystal clear in Zanzibar, which makes spotting — and steering clear of — sea urchins pretty easy. Unless you DO want to get closer to those spiky little things.

Big tides and an upside down moon

Unlike other tropical beaches I’ve been to, Zanzibar’s tidal range is quite substantial. Every day
by 10:00 a.m. the tide was extremely low. And by 4:00 p.m. we would have to leave the beach as the water would start rising back up. So much so, that the water would rise right up to the seaside cliffs, fully burying the beach below and completely submerging the steps to the beach.

And being south of the equator had the crescent moon looking upside down.

Stone Town living

After a few days vegging on the beach, we got up off our loungers and hit the road to spend a day exploring the oldest part of Zanzibar City. Stone Town is influenced by a unique mix of cultures like Arab, African, Persian, Indian, Portuguese and British.

At the bazaar

We began at Darajani Bazaar, where you smell all the smells. Some fishy… due to an insane amount of fresh catches. Like, there were way too many crazy aromas coming from the butcher tables. But then we turned a corner and entered an area that really tickled our olfactory senses. The spice market. Oh, did it smell divine.

The aromas of those spices had me in heaven. One merchant made me take a whiff of almost everything at his shop. And I was not mad about it.

Jasmine, turmeric, cardamom, vanilla, orange and the list goes on. Just pure powerful natural aromas. My head was spinning.

A town formed by the sea

After the bazaar, we strolled down the winding, narrow alleys of Stone Town, learning many interesting tidbits along the way. Like, that the old buildings are made of coral stone that are quarried on the island. If you look closely, you can see shells in the stone.

Big Door Energy

As we continued our walk, the giant ornate doors on the homes started to stand out to us. (And familiar to me for some reason.) Our guide told us the doors are extremely heavy and mostly made of mahogany and brass. They were used as a defence against war elephants who used to ram them in tribal wars. Eek.

Also, the shape of each door tells you what religion the original owner was.

Then it dawned on me why the doors were so familiar. They were featured as a challenge in The Amazing Race. Cool, cool.

More goodness around town

The best part of Stone Town is walking around Stone Town. It’s just a vibrant spot full of surprises around every corner. And they have tons of corners!

There are lots of enclosed balconies in Stone Town. They were built so the ladies could sit outside to catch a breeze but still not be seen. And the decorative dala dala buses make a bold statement as they zip by you.

As we strolled the narrow streets, we met a man selling giant bags of freshly roasted cashews on a fruit cart. For $10 USD he bestowed us with a two-pound bag of the best cashews I’ve ever tasted in my life. Like, I still think about them. I’m not even joking.

We walked by Freddie Mercury’s house.

Island city vibes

After weaving and winding through the streets, we made our way to the hustle and bustle of what a late Friday afternoon looks like along the shores of Stone Town.

The whole waterfront area was BUSY at this time. Work for the week was over and folks were down to hang. Street food vendors started to pop-up everywhere. Even the street cats, of which there are plenty, were congregating in groups.

We stopped to watch kids playing football on the beach, before turning our attention to the diving boys of Zanzibar. Just a group of boys having the time of their lives. Ah, da youts. See video below.

It was so enjoyable that If we didn’t already have a dinner booked, we would have hung out there longer.

A romantic dinner on top of the world

The dinner we planned to end this hectic day was special. We reserved a table at the Roof Top Tea House at the Emerson on Hurumzi Hotel. Views for days!

When we arrived, they adorned us with aromatic corsages and led us up to the roof where we enjoyed flowery gin cocktails while being treated to a 360° view of Stone Town and the Indian Ocean.

While we watched the sun disappear over the water we shared small plates that complemented each other so nicely that I couldn’t help but do a little happy dance in my seat. Who would think salted squid paired perfectly with pumpkin tagine? It was out of this world!

We got that sunset glow going.

After the sun was gone, we were treated to a musical performance by an all-woman band. This place couldn’t be more romantic if it tried.

After such a dreamy dinner, we found ourselves driving back to the resort, hands entwined, with my head on Chuck’s shoulder, both of us looking out the dark windows, watching the world speed by while quietly thinking about a delightful day spent in a historic town that sits in the middle of an island paradise. ♥️

Turquoise seas and sea turtle meet-cutes

Started from the land now we here. For our last day in Tanzania, we found ourselves once again wildlife watching, but this time it was a sea safari. We called a local guide to take us out on the turquoise sea to snorkel near a private island and make friends with the sea turtles.

After meeting our guide and driver, and laughing our asses off getting to know each other, we were off! We started by hitting the north-east side of the island and chartering a boat to take us snorkelling and to see dolphins.

They definitely have no rules here for dolphin watching, so when we boated in to the area, there were too many boats and too many people trying to get close to the animals. And not in a good way. I had no idea this was what we were getting ourselves into.

As soon as we arrived I asked our guide to leave. I think we were there for less than five minutes. It was not a good scene and I would never recommend this to anyone travelling to Zanzibar. It was weird, chaotic and inhumane.

Aside: See that fruit sitting under Chuck in the boat. Our driver (not our guide) picked them from a small roadside market. Mango, Pineapple, Coconut and Watermelon. Each one was at peak ripeness. I’m not a fruit fanatic and I. Could. Not. Get. Enough. Eating fruit in a tropical place ruins it for anywhere else.

That driver also told us he wants to find a second wife, which we teased him mercilessly about and told him that he REALLY doesn’t want that drama.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy

After the chaos of the dolphins, we arrived to the shores of Mnemba Island to snorkel in its pristine waters. Those are the actual colours, I kid you not.

The first two pics below are me on my way to snorkel for about an hour. The last one is me swimming back to the boat beaming. Being in water is my happy place.

While snorkelling, I saw lots of tropical fish like moorish idols (big black and yellow angelfish), surgeonfish, trumpetfish, triggerfish and anenomefish. No big fish like rays or sharks though.

Chuck stayed back and fed the fish from the boat.

After the snorkel, we boated around Mnemba Island, which is owned by Bill Gates and has only one small resort on it. (Check out the end of the video below.)

“Friend. Friend. Yeah.” 🐢🐢🐢

Here we are making new friends at the Baraka Natural Aquarium in Nungwi. It’s a small place with a lot of sea turtles that like to come make friends and also get some fresh green seafood.

“I like turtles.” If this man could do it all over again he would be a Steve Irwin or David Attenborough. Just loves his wildlife encounters.

A whirlwind of epic proportions

After 16 days, our Tanzanian adventure came to a close. And boy, what a whirlwind it was!

We began in the high altitudes of Arusha near Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, then found ourselves camping in the treetops of Lake Manyara. From there we swooped down onto the crater floor in Ngorongoro, then back up to the immense terrain of the Serengeti to then finish on the pristine white sand beaches of Zanzibar in front of a turquoise Indian Ocean.

And along the whole way, we knew we would see wildlife, but we were not prepared for how much. We knew we would love the culture and the people, but had no clue how many friendships we would make. And we knew our senses would be delighted, but we were not prepared for a constant sensory overload. This place, man. 🙌🏻🙌🏾

We were so blessed to take this trek and be surprised multiple times a day.

And when on any journey of any kind, if at the end of the day you go to bed grinning from ear to ear and feeling completely fulfilled, well, then, there’s nothing left to say… Except, Tanzania is not a real place.