Dhanya Damodaran

Jul 24, 20215 min read

Zoom into Zanzibar

Updated: Jul 25, 2021

Visited in July 2021

Jambo Zanzibar!!

Finally...Finallyy...Finallyyy... the time has arrived for a trip since the beginning of the 'pandemic era' in early 2020. Excitement at its peak to even think of making a trip happen! Our first international tour after Norway in July 2019, of course not to forget a couple of trips home (India) in between.

Zanzibar is a small island in the Indian Ocean off the eastern coast of the African continent, part of Tanzania. Beautiful, picturesque beaches, unspoiled natural reserves, kind hearted people, secluded and romantic escapes with lots of water fun activities to enjoy.

These days, travel is not just about the willingness to explore or having an itinerary; the checklist has negative covid test result within the permissible time window, border situation of the destination, vaccine passport, arrangements to take covid test at the destination and avail a result within the permissible hours for return trip and lot more of such to consider. Zanzibar sounded ideal for us as its been a while we did an island, visa on arrival and direct flights from Dubai added to the convenience. Zanzibar welcomed tourists and there are several clinics that offer covid test for the return travel for the tourists. The best part is, they claim to have no covid 19 cases reported and the locals don't use mask in public.

After a year and a half of having face masks as a mandatory decor on my face, I was pleasantly surprised to step into the Zanzibar airport after arrival, to see the absolute absence of masks!!! It seemed to me that I was in 2019, where we all lived a free life far away from pandemics and face masks...Although I was tempted to remove my mask, decided not to invite any troubles, so went ahead wearing my 'favourite face attire' in public places :)

Day 1 - Arrive and check in to resort

The views from the flight and the airport

After getting visa on arrival at the airport, we were greeted by our lovely guide Abdul who is from a local taxi company in Zanzibar. He was very friendly and helpful. We drove to 'The Residence' which is a luxury beach side resort, through the lovely country side of Zanzibar.

Well, this trip had no itinerary - the goal was only to relax, relax and relax :)

The Residence was a perfect resort for this purpose. Lush green, clean, very vast with all amenities and truly beautiful. Although it rained on our day of arrival, weather was kind enough to bestow clear and sunny days on us for the rest of the trip. The resort welcomed us with a local specialty cool and spicy lemon and ginger drink.

We stayed in a 1 bedroom villa with a private pool, and was an amazing experience. The villa is superbly well maintained and incredible. Also, we got cycles to ride around and explore the place.

After a shower, a short nap to re-energize and a tea by the pool side, we spent the rest of the day exploring the resort, beach side and then a delicious dinner and back to bed.

Day 2 - Covid test and snorkeling

The early morning views of the Indian Ocean is always a treat for your eyes. This place, so secluded and calm was ideal for a morning bike ride and a pleasant walk on the beach.

After a well relaxed day 1 of the trip, we decided to go for snorkeling on day 2. Prior to that, we visited the local clinic at Makunduchi for our covid test. It was easy, as we could take online appointments and payments were also online and was hassle free. Our guide came over with the car in the morning and we started our day 2 with a broad smile to explore Zanzibar.

Snorkeling the coral reefs, colourful fish of various kinds swimming so close to you...loved that experience. It was as if we were paying a visit to their beautiful underwater homes. Enjoyed having the fresh tropical fruits in the boat too.

While I got completely mesmerized enjoying the under water wonders, I forgot to take care of myself from the scorching heat of sun in the middle of the sea. The cool breeze and cold sea water never make you realise the heat your body is exposed to and I got sun burnt!! So friends, do not forget to take care of yourself while in such places from UV by applying sunscreen generously and frequently to protect yourself.

There was a little sand bank in the middle of the sea where we clicked a lot of pictures. This place was really a surprise, its water all around, leaving this small sand bank apart where we could walk and enjoy the crystal clear sea water and the soft white sands

We left this beautiful place and our boat headed towards another side of the sea where we could find giant, colourful star fish. Our guide picked a few from the sea bed to our bot, and then we released them back to the sea water. Here they are...

After the sea expedition, we had a fulfilling lunch at a sea side restaurant 'Baladin'; the place not just offered good food and drinks, but beautiful ocean views as well as some fun time to play snookers... later we returned to our resort

Day 3 - Spa, Yoga, Beach, Pool and enjoy the resort

This day was again dedicated to enjoy and relax at our resort with a rejuvenating spa session and an evening yoga session by the beach. Lot of time in pool and beach and at some point I started to call my son 'Water Baby'; he spent 90% of his time in water - beach, pool, rain shower, tub, again pool and again shower and it went on and on like this :)

A day well spent!

Day 4 - Stone Town on Boda Boda and Departure

After check out from The Residence, we decided to have a quick look at the most important town of Zanzibar - Stone Town. Since we had a flight to catch, we hired the fastest mode of transport - Boda Boda to experience this lovely town, bought a few souvenirs and headed to the airport for our travel back to Dubai.

This was indeed an adventure ride, and was thoroughly enjoyed. We were on boda boda with some unknown drivers. I think the trust we had on our guide and the people of Zanzibar helped :). Our guide Abdul always made sure we drive together and close by as he had instructed the boda boda drivers, which they followed. After a while, my driver told me something in broken English and Swahili and he was pointing behind and slowed the bike. I, busy taking pictures and videos, turned back to see no bike behind...the other boda boda, on which my son and guide were, was not seen. I asked my driver to call his friend who drove the other bike. He told me that we will take a U turn to go back and check what happened; Thank God in a minute we found my son and guide on another boda boda; the other bike had a tyre punctured!! What more to add to the adventure on an unknown land with unknown people; but the way how my driver helped and spoke made me love the common people of Zanzibar all the more. They are indeed kind hearted, helping and all the more didn't take any advantage of tourists.

We bid farewell to our guide and Zanzibar for giving us a lovely vacation never to forget in life :)