Zanzibar wasn’t part of our initial plan for Africa, but after canceling our Ihla Grande trip because of weather (a small island near Rio) we were looking other destinations in Africa and landed here! We completely lucked out on weather this time. Again, we didn’t plan “when is the best time to be in Zanzibar” and ended up here at the end of busy season and before rainy season. Initially the weather was calling far rain the whole time, but thankfully it just rained at nights and the days were perfect island days!
private hotel beach
dinner on the beach
We landed and we immediately crossed the island to Nungwi Beach, which is the part of the island that has some of the best lounging beaches and swimming water. Other parts of the island have too much sea weed to swim. Our hotel had it’s own beach and we had a perfect view right from our balcony! We also had air conditioning, which was essential because it was so hot and humid. We were surprised at how much the low tide receded and how far out people were able to walk. It went out a good half mile or so, compared to the high tide waves crashing over the wall at our beach.
We had a nice full day sitting under the thatched umbrellas on the beach, tossing the frisbee and playing paddle ball at the volleyball net, enjoying the unexpectedly nice weather. We walked along the beach shore and checked out the many restaurants, bars and little tourist shops. There were so many beach boys asking if you needed a sunset boat ride or wanted to go snorkeling. We booked a day of snorkeling and a day of fishing through our hotel, which I think was a better way to go. That way you know you’re getting a legit company and won’t get ripped off or end up on some excursion you didn’t sign up for. But the beach boys are very persistent.
We opted for the group snorkeling trip which was on the slow wooden boat and had about 15 people. It was a slow boat! And being on island time, it took a while to get to the snorkeling reef off the private island no one is allowed to go on. But once we were in the water, the length of boat ride didn’t matter. There were so many fish! Right when you jump in the water they were swarming around you and eating off the side of the boat. I’ve never been snorkeling before, Tom has and we were not disappointed! Tom even braved testing the waterproof capabilities of the iPhone and managed to get some great underwater shots. We were told by the locals that in high season there’s about 300 people snorkeling where we were. That day, there was about 40 other people. Note to self, it’s always worth going somewhere at the beginning or end of high season to avoid all the crowds. After snorkeling they had cooked up lunch for us that consisted of rice, a giant fish, vegetable sauce and fruit. It was a pretty sweet deal for $30/ person including lunch.
“now enjoy” 
look at his teeth! 
day’s catch 
biggest fist I ever caught! he was really slimy
The next day we went fishing with some locals. Tom was pretty excited for this, I haven’t really fished but hey, we’re on an island so why not? We set off early in the morning to get to the fishing reef before everyone else. But a few boats still beat us. On the way there we “trolled” for big deep sea fish (where the lines are dragging behind the boat as it’s moving). Then we got to the fishing reef, which was about 8 km off shore, and line fished. There was only 1 fishing pole for this, but they had a bunch of spools of line that they hooked and baited and just tossed in with your hand. It was almost easier because you could feel if a fish bit easier. I’ve never caught so many fish and such large fish before! They weren’t even that big, but I was still proud. Although I wanted to release everyone back in but thought against it for the larger ones. My favorite was when the captain put bait on my line and would say “now, enjoy” to throw the line in. Most of the time we just fed the fish breakfast, but collectively we had a good catch! On the way back we trolled again and almost caught a giant fish! It was on the line, Tom was reeling it in and it jumped out of the water and must have loosened itself because we lost him. It was a bit of a bummer, but none the less, we still had a great time.
Initially we were going to stay on Zanzibar a bit longer, but with the virus craze going on – we had to cancel all of our Egypt plans, move our Jordan plans up and then cancel Jordan to figure out where to go next since all borders were closing in a matter of 3 days. So, we moved our flight from Zanzibar up a few days which meant we just had 1 day to explore Stone Town instead of 2. So we took advantage and went to see the turtles on Prison Island first! The island has a prison that was built on it, but it was actually used to quarantine travelers with yellow fever, and is also known as Quarantine Island. Quite a good time to visit.
As for the turtles, we had no idea you could feed them and pet them! Our taxi drive (who was the brother of our hotel receptionist) knew a guy who did boat rides to the turtles, so we rode with him and he walked around the island with us telling us facts about everything. The turtles eat cabbage and love neck scratches. Tom was in heaven! After being denied petting any of the safari animals, he was finally able to give some scratches. These turtles were so big there were signs saying “do not sit on the turtles”. The oldest ones there were around 180 years old and can live up to 300! They were such cool creatures to hang out with. They were gifted from the governor of Seychelles Islands in 1919 and have become vulnerable since they were being stolen from the island. So there is a dedicated foundation on the island to look after them. Glad we could support the turtles!
We then walked through Stone Town and meandered through the crazy narrow, winding alleys. We made it to the Spice Market and it was insane! We felt a level of “we could get pick-pocketed here” so we were extra careful and everyone was telling us to come to their stall to buy spices. Everyone. It was actually very overwhelming and made it tough for me to want to take my time to look at things. I also felt uncomfortable taking photos, so I didn’t take any. We didn’t spend long there as we kept getting hassled, so we kept moseying around town, stopping at the main attractions of the old Slave Market, the sultans house and so on. We even found Freddie Mercury’s door of where he grew up as a child.
The doors in Stone Town are amazing! They are full of detail, some inlayed with metal and the carvings tell a story of who lived/s in that house. Stone Town and all of Zanzibar was interesting because it had some influences of what we had seen in other parts of Africa with thatched roofs and simple wood and other influences of the Middle East – with more ornate detailing in wood and colored glass windows. I’ll have to keep that in mind when we actually make it to the Middle East.