Hakuna Matata. Part 1. Zanzibar attacked us suddenly
Zanzibar attacked us suddenly.
We flew there on "Vietnamese" tickets, without waiting for the opening of Vietnam.
We've never planned Africa, and we haven't even made it to Egypt yet. And suddenly Zanzibar. Although, who will you surprise with Zanzibar now? There went this year, if not all, then very many. And for some reason, there are few reports.
In general, travel during covid times has become monotonous and boring, as even avid travelers now travel with travel agents to avoid problems. Go figure it out for yourself now which countries are open and which half-open - they want quarantine, a hundred thousand tests and a vaccination passport in two copies, and not with the vaccine that you have already been given.
And those that are open are still better to visit with travel agencies, because you can aim at Turkey, and get to Belarus, for example, for a 10-day quarantine)
In general, you won't get too far. The only "fun" is the ever-changing border crossing rules. Truly - if you want to make God laugh - plan an independent trip during a pandemic.
And if you get sick while traveling. . . God forbid!
But we had no choice. We had tickets. And they started to burn. A little more and they promised to turn into a pumpkin.
Travel dates: 28.02-12.03. 2021
Itinerary: Kizimkazi-Paje-Matemwe-Chuini-Stone Town.
I'm not complaining, I'm showing off. In general, the story with tickets is very worthy of a separate story, but so far in a nutshell - we had free tickets, they were presented to us by Qatar Airways. There were several pranks at the beginning of the pandemic - for doctors and teachers. It turned out not completely free, but they asked for a minimum of money for it, (taxes had to be paid, how could it be without it)
For a very long time it was not clear what to do with these tickets - the countries are closed, the conditions of the promotion are constantly changing - sometimes they extend it, sometimes they don't. So we endured and waited. In the end, the situation was resolved, but there were only four countries to choose from: the Maldives, Tanzania (Zanzibar), South Africa and Brazil. Theoretically, it was possible to go to Kenya and somewhere else to Africa, but it was already too exotic.
The Maldives is not our option at all, a toad would strangle us there and boredom would overcome us. South Africa and Brazil were on fire at the time with the coronavirus, and they seemed unsafe to me even outside the situation with the pandemic. And in Zanzibar… there was no coronavirus in Zanzibar! )
Looking ahead - there really is no coronavirus among the locals, either the Zanzibaris have strong immunity, or they have all been ill for a long time, but boredom and a toad... I didn’t, but my husband was overtaken))
When I started to explore Zanzibar, I had a popular plan - I was going, like many, to live a little in Kendwa or Nungwi and a little in Paje. Well, a day or two in Stone Town. But, having studied the issue more deeply, I realized that I really want to see both Kendwa and Nungwi. But live there? No! )
While we were choosing a country and did not know what to do, hotel rooms in Zanzibar sold like hot cakes, despite the immodest prices. Therefore, while still thinking “do I want, can I”, I already looked after hotels. And, when everything was decided, I immediately booked all the selected hotels in a couple of minutes.
If we talk about the island as about a beach holiday, then the northwest will be a priority for many - Kendwa and Nungwi – two clear leaders in beaching. There, the water is of incredible color and minimal tides. At the same time, there are disadvantages that we could not accept - the high cost of living in Kendwa and the huge number of people in Nungwi.
Kizimkazi is not in the top of the best beaches, moreover, I saw very negative reviews about it, but we liked Kizimkazi precisely because of the beach. For 2 days we bought up there for the whole vacation)
It was on Kizimkazi that we visited during the period of high water.
Paje, I don't think it's about the beach at all. This is kiting and related drive. But since we are, coming to Paje and living for 3 days is absolutely not worth it if you are not a kiter. Of course, Paje is the closest to the cave and the monkeys, but it was necessary to stay for 1 night.
In Miramonte (Matemwe) it was possible to stay longer, despite the unsuccessful beaching. With a car, this is absolutely not a problem, because the island is small, and it is quite difficult to find decent, inexpensive housing in Zanzibar.
If there were high water on Matemva, then, probably, our enthusiasm would be given to him) High water means big low tides and high tides. Low water - minimum tides and minimum tides. For some reason, I thought that the best beach in low water. But, no - in low water the boredom is utter. If the sea in Zanzibar does not leave, then it does not come, and as a result it is shallow. Although, probably not everywhere. But we got it like that.
And the best vacation we had was in a place where the water was not even particularly turquoise) This is Mangrove Lodge in Chuini. But the beauty of it lies in its emptiness. There will be a lot of people - the charm will disappear.
In general, the most beautiful beach in Zanzibar is Mtende. But there are no hotels.
At first, hotels in Zanzibar seemed very expensive to me, but in fact they are not) First, it should be borne in mind that almost all housing is on the ocean. A very beautiful ocean. Secondly, you can find cheap housing.
If you take a room without air conditioning, you can find quite reasonable prices (I won’t tell you the order of prices, I didn’t consider this option, I just looked with one eye). And if you settle, for example, in Miramont for the whole vacation, then there will be a great vacation, with air conditioning, for $ 20-40 per day. In Bububu there were rooms for $ 25, with air conditioning, in Stone Town - for $ 35. But there the sea is not very good.
We love to move from place to place and don't like the same breakfasts, so we had different hotels. I will talk about the hotels along the way, all of them are worthy to be told about them separately, all are wonderful, but not all are perfect)
Hotels: (with my ratings, that is, the number at the beginning is not stars, but my feelings of comfort)
(5.2 nights. Kizimkazi. Aya Beach Bungalows $90 per night, plus $6 in taxes we don't understand. Total $192
(4-) 3 nights. Paje. Hakuna Matata Villa $50 per night plus $5 air conditioning. Total $ 150 The air conditioner practically did not work, they did not take payment for it (my husband paid, so I'm not sure what it was, but it seemed to me that the amount he paid was even lower than $ 150)
(5.4 nights. Matemwe Miramont Retreat Zanzibar $39 per night. Total $156
(5+) 2 nights. Chuini. Mangrove Lodge $94 per night. Total $188
(4+) 1 night. Stone Town. Dhow Palace Hotel $79 per night.
In total, we spent $765 on hotels
The general opinion not only about hotels, but also about Zanzibar as a whole is that there is nothing ideal there (well, almost nothing), but there is more than enough color and it is for color that you should go there.
Car booked with Ztrans Company Limited.
$25 per day, 11 days = $275, plus one more day reordered for $15.
Permit, car delivery, delivery in another place - everything is free if you take a car for 5 days or more. Time is not taken into account in the calculation of the day, we took it in the morning, and handed it over in the afternoon, there was no extra charge for this. We actually had the car 13 days for $290
About the company: What beautiful letters they write! ) In general, we are satisfied with their work, although this is Africa, baby) Those who are waiting for a clean and whole car will be disappointed. Along the way, I’ll tell you the nuances and why the last day turned out for $ 15.
Gasoline: approximately $80spent. I can’t say that gasoline is too expensive, or we rode too much, but we had a story when we changed the car and the difference in tank volumes stole some gasoline from us. We also had to refuel the transfer, which we were forced to transfer when moving from hotel to hotel.
To visit Tanzania insurance is not required. (At that time and test were not required).
But we already had insurance - from Ukreximbank, it is annual and cheap. Insurance Arsenal, assistance Balt Assistance Ltd (for Turkey and Egypt they have a different assistance). But here's the bad luck - our insurance did not have covid coverage. I thought for a long time how to deal with this, because there is no coronavirus in Tanzania, which means that even if you get sick, they will not make such a diagnosis. And then I thought that you shouldn’t rely on logic, it can be anything in this world, but being in a hospital in a foreign country with covid and without insurance does not smile at all, and took HOTLINEfor travel dates the cheapest OneClick insurance, with covid coverage. As in a joke - I don’t get enough of one diet) Considering that we already had annual insurance, I consider only covid ones - 450 UAH for two, which is equal to$16aram.
Visas: There are 2 options for obtaining visas - either on arrival or online visa. The cost of a visa is the same, even on arrival, even online - for $50 Since Zanzibar was super in demand at that moment, we read that there were long queues for a visa on arrival, so I made visas online on the site: https://eservices. immigration. go. tz/visa/
How to do it correctly I watched on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=q8kr0seirAY
You need to go straight with a visa (and those without a visa - to the left). But, if you are without a visa, but you don’t want to stand in line, then you will be taken to the VIP room and a visa will be issued there. It costs an extra $20 (or something like that)
Food: Cheap fruit in Zanzibar. Everything else is cheap or expensive. Although this is a comparison with Ukrainian realities and Vietnamese plans, everyone can form their own opinion on this matter. In fact, it turned out somewhere around $ 50 a day, for two. All breakfasts were included. There is nothing to buy in stores, all food is in cafes. Alcohol: drank beer twice.
Offhand, the food cost about $650
We had very few excursions. We traveled everywhere ourselves, so we paid only for the entrance.
Barak Aquarium $20,
Les Jozani $20,
Cuza Cave with Lake $20,
Prison Island $4
Boat to the island $20
Mtende $2 per car
Total: USD 86
All this for two. I can be wrong in the prices, I didn’t write it down.
The price of tickets cannot appear in the report as part of the budget, because such prices do not exist. Therefore, this time the budget will be without the cost of tickets.
Total, without air tickets, we spent about $ 2.000 for two for 13 days.
I know that there are travelers who get this amount along with tickets, but for us it is also very good. For the most part, we had excellent housing, and the comfort of a private car costs money. And we did not deny ourselves categorically in food and water)
That is, this is the amount that the average tourist can navigate, who lives in a hotel with breakfast, does not eat too much, does not drink alcohol and rents a car, but does not try to save much.
1 dollar = 2200-2300 shillings
Old dollars are not accepted in Zanzibar. I read before the trip that it is not older than 2009. Therefore, I was just like that. But I saw information that is not older than 2006 (now I don’t know how to do it right).
Ebb and flow:
Ebb and flow is a hallmark of Zanzibar. It is a pity for those who did not know about this and were disappointed not to see the sea in the morning. But, if you know what it is and when exactly it happens, then this does not interfere at all. At low tide, it's nice to walk along the seabed in search of adventure, Masai and marine life)
To know how to plan your time, just download the Tides app, everything is there.
I made myself a screen of 2-week forecasts and it helped me quickly find my bearings.
Souvenirs: There is practically nothing to buy in Zanzibar. I bought magnets, they simply don’t add up the price there, more expensive than in Italy - $ 3-5. My husband bought some kind of wooden idol for $ 20, my heart still bleeds. Bought for a gift, and now for some reason he lives with us. And so, shell-beads and some beach clothes are sold, nothing interesting.
Sea urchins. Need coral slippers. And you have to be careful with them.
Monkeys - Zanzibar is home to endemics - Kirk's Red Colobus. There are other monkeys.
Turtles- sea and land Seychellois.
Snakes- there are poisonous ones (black and green mamba). We had a chance to meet with a blue thin, but very long, snake, as it is called, the locals told us, but we immediately forgot. But not mamba.
Varana. We didn't see it.
Portuguese boats. We did not see them, but they wrote to me from different beaches that they were met (Kizimkazi, Mtende, Paje, Jambiani) I was very afraid to meet them.
Mosquitoes. There were few of them in March. The fumigator was useless. Above the beds, mainly canopies hang. Where there were none, maids cleaned the rooms.
Flies - sometimes annoying.
Ants - there are dangerous ones. But we were attacked by non-dangerous ones, thank God)
Fish. You need to sail to them by boat, it is not visible from the shore. Only fry at low tide.
Starfish. Beautiful. Different. But we haven't seen it)
Dolphins. But you also need to sail to them by boat. We didn't see them either.
Geckos. In some hotels, we lived in rooms or at the front door. They should not be afraid, they are good, they eat insects.
Giraffes, elephants, lions, tigers– NO. Unfortunately) All photos from travel agents, with such animals, are from the mainland. Some animals can be seen at Cheetah's Rock, which is an animal rehabilitation center. Entrance is expensive. We didn't go.
In the photo scolopendra. In general, centipedes are dangerous, but not this one. This one was given to me by a guide in the forest of Jozani. No one but me wanted to take it in hand.
1. Coronavirus - as if not. Masks are not worn in Zanzibar (except for the staff of expensive hotels). Distance is not respected. Flashes are not observed. At least that was the case in March.
2. Malaria - as if not. But, we bought tests and medicines just in case and brought them to Kyiv. Because before our trip they wrote a lot about malaria (without saying that the sick people visited the mainland). God saves the safe, as they say. If, after visiting Zanzibar, the temperature has risen, then you need to do a test for malaria.
3. Yellow fever - no. Again, everything can be on the mainland. If you go to the mainland, on a safari, it is better to get vaccinated.
4. Sleeping sickness - no. They also wrote about her, but then it turned out that that family was on a transplant in Ethiopia, but there are. Sleeping sickness is transmitted by Tse-Tse flies. They were bred in Zanzibar about 30 years ago.
5. Intestinal infections - there are. We read that you should not brush your teeth and wash fruits with tap water, but we safely forgot about it. Cleaned and washed. We were not attacked by intestinal diseases, but we stopped adding milk to coffee (somewhere on the third day), because the stomachs reacted to milk there.
Other features:
1. No one is in a hurry here, and if you are in a hurry, you will definitely hear the phrase “Field-field” (Slow down, don’t rush, don’t drive the horses)) and “Hakuna Matata” (Don’t worry, be calm, everything is fine). < br />
2. Hakuna matata is the motto of Zanzibar. It sounds even more common than "Jumbo" (hello) or "Asantha sana" (thank you very much).
3. All natives employed in tourism (or almost all) speak English. Some are in Russian.
4. Prices are inflated ten times everywhere, but it is difficult to bargain, the locals are very reluctant to give in. They say that they used to bargain more willingly. And then there was an influx of tourists)
5. Everywhere they take dollars, sometimes the exchange rate is low (1 to 2000), but in many places the exchange rate is quite normal.
6. The roads in Zanzibar are not very good. But not as bad as people say.
7. It is believed that the police are sitting in ambushes all over the island and catching tourists' cars in order to rob fine them, so it's better to take a taxi. But we were never selected. Not a single fine. Honestly, honestly)
8. In addition to a taxi and a rental car, everywhere (with a few exceptions) you can get on buses and minibuses Dala-Dala for three kopecks of money. Minibuses from everywhere go to Stone Town. But this is a very exotic mode of transport and, most often, you will need to make a transfer in Stone Town.
9. The locals are very friendly, but it is better to hide the money there were cases of robbery of tourists. Hotels are guarded and there is broken glass on the fences. Nobody stole or took anything from us personally.
10. Island lighting and electricity in general is a big problem in Zanzibar. There are practically no headlights. We tried not to drive in the dark so as not to knock anyone down.
11. Electricity may be, it may not be, and it may be partial (the fan works, but the air conditioner does not). We took a power bank with us and tried to keep it charged. More expensive hotels have their own generators. Cheaper - suffer hardships).
12. The time zone corresponds to Moscow, Minsk and Kyiv summer time. Therefore, there is no jetlag, which is a big plus!
It is clear that all my statements are my personal observationand may differ from the statements of other tourists who have visited Zanzibar. For the picture to be objective, you need a lot of subjective opinions - so please correct me where I'm wrong.
All our adventures will be told in the following chapters. Zanzibar turned out with emotions) Do not switch! ) Like, write comments, praise, scold - just do not be silent. When writing, it's important to know that someone is reading.
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