First impression of Zanzibar
First impression of Zanzibar
(island Unguja) (04.10-14.10. 2016)
Zanzibar, Tanzania, Hakuna Matata…… Why not… I've bought a ticket. Flash tour operator. The price of the tour is $2100 for two. And finally, the airport "Odessa", a bit boring going through the required procedures, the plane's ladder, a chair, the captain's wish for a good flight. Let's fly…. Odessa - Dubai (five hours), waiting for connecting flights (about five hours) and Dubai - Zanzibar (five hours). Upon arrival, I had to pay a visa in the amount of $ 50 per person. Already now, after a couple of months that have passed after the trip, we learned that tour operators have reduced the waiting time for connecting a flight to one hour. After arriving at Kisauni airport, we were met and taken to the Sunset kendwa hotel. Drive about an hour and a half.
The hotel is located in the north-west of the island, one of the advantages of its location is the almost complete absence of low tides (5-7 meters) compared to the south of the island, where the water recedes from the coast by 200-500 meters. The ocean current circulates around the island, while its shores located in the north are practically not affected by low tides. I must admit that this is a rather unusual and interesting sight - you go in one direction and watch how the fishing boats sway peacefully on the waves of the ocean, and you return a couple of hours later - the same boats lie on the sandy shore without movement. At low tide, locals collect something on the exposed bottom, probably shellfish. At low tide, along with the water, all floating living creatures leave, only starfish and hedgehogs remain. The beach produces an indelible - snow-white as flour. The water temperature is approximately + 24-26 degrees, air +33.
According to local residents, the rainy season lasts from February to June, we did not find it.
Security. As we understood from communication with the local population, everything is in the hands of the local mafia, to which merchants pay 35% of their income every month and no one will be able to trade without her permission. But at the same time, tourists bring money to the island and they are protected here in every possible way. Everywhere you can meet police officers with automatic weapons, in hotels there is always a security guard with an invariable pistol in a holster on his belt. Regarding the police: the extortionists are still the same, it is not clear who is worse there: the mafia or the police. You encounter the police especially when traveling behind the wheel of a rental car.
It is worth remembering that when renting a car for rent ($ 30 per day), you must strictly follow the rules of the road, especially fasten your seat belt and turn on the turn signals, while not forgetting that the movement is left-handed, although a turn turned on in time cannot serve as a guarantee not to be stopped by the police - "You didn't turn on the turn and that's it. " To whom will you complain? . And let's go - let's go..... The standard "gratitude" to the policeman is $ 10-15. We did not take a car, all according to tourists who traveled around the island by car. Despite the apparent inconvenience of meeting with the police, renting a car has a number of advantages, ranging from the banal money savings on excursions to the expansion of opportunities to visit a larger area and the sights of the entire island. Cars are given in good condition, Suzuki-Scudo or Rav-4, jeeps.
Regarding savings: by renting a car ($30), you can drive it to the capital and directly on the beach hire a boat for an excursion, and only for you, and not for the entire hotel population, for $20-25 per person. With a local operator, the same tour will cost $ 85 per person, so consider it. A trip to Turtle Island sells for an average of $130 per person.
About life in a hotel. The hotel itself is not very big, mostly one-story buildings. The beach is fifty meters from the entrance. The room has a shower, air conditioning, a four-poster bed with mosquito nets, a refrigerator, a bathroom with two washbasins. There is no TV, that's just not there, and that's all, why we don't know.
When choosing a tour, we were recommended to choose a hotel with three or four stars, and preferably only with breakfast - so we will not be tied to the kitchen of the restaurant (or whatever it is called) for lunch and dinner, and we will be able to try whatever we want, while saving a lot of money (for all inclusive, you would have to overpay about $ 100 per person per day for dubious food (including lunch and dinner), and so we chose what we want to try ourselves, while it took us about 10 days for food for two $400-500, which is basically twice cheaper. You can go to the village and buy fruits (mango - 4 fruits for $ 1.4 coconuts - $ 1.5, two pineapples - $ 5), you can go to the restaurant of another hotel or on the beach and try what they cooked there today, the choice is yours. Breakfasts are amazing in variety: it’s hard to even imagine such an amount of food from eggs.
For all ten days, in the morning we tried all the dishes that are possible to cook from eggs: fried eggs on one side, fried eggs on both sides, boiled eggs, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, etc. plus croutons (or toast) to them , tea, coffee, lobio (beans in tomato), fruits (one plate per person), not very tasty - a couple of slices of watermelon or pineapple, so if you skip breakfast, you won’t lose anything. The most interesting thing is that almost all chefs of hotels on the coast believe that without eggs for breakfast, a tourist simply cannot exist on the island. In almost the same way, but without eggs, the menu for lunch and breakfast was compiled - mainly rice in various forms and french fries.
As mentioned above, we were not tied to hotel lunches and dinners, so we chose our own food: all kinds of pizzas for $ 5 apiece, lobsters $ 15 per serving, shrimp of all stripes and rankings for $ 10 per serving, I would like to note that with choice of meat dishes any side dish for free (as usual and everywhere: rice, potatoes), so do not go hungry. The room is cleaned daily, slowly and sadly, but carried out - having gone to the beach in the morning and returning to the room at about 14-15 hours, we found that the room was still being cleaned. Drinks were given two plastic bottles of water per day per person. Internet - in principle, it is present, but..... You are immediately offered to buy access to Wi-Fi at a price of $ 1.5 for two hours of communication. We were almost cheated, it's good that good people suggested - according to the conditions of the hotel, each tourist is provided with access to the Internet in the amount of 6 hours for the entire stay at the hotel for FREE.
I had to argue a little culturally with the administrator and voila - we have a piece of paper with a password and login from Wi-Fi. After the end of six hours of the Internet, we went to the reseption and began to say that they had already paid for the Internet in Ukraine when buying a tour and they gave us more. In addition, free Internet in a restaurant adjacent to the hotel, the password was received from the waiter when visiting for dinner, their Wi-Fi finished up to the room, so everything worked out fine with the Internet. The hotel is simple and you can live in it if you are not very picky about the service. There is no reef near the beach, the water is clean, but its transparency can be different every day, so you won’t be able to dive and look at the fish - they simply don’t exist. Snorkeling is possible only by sailing to the island, but even there there is no comparison with Egypt.
The local currency is shillings, the exchange rate is 1$ - 2100 shillings.
If you plan to travel and buy something, you can safely exchange $200-300 for local currency, so it will be more convenient for you. When shopping, a prerequisite is to bargain. Bargain everywhere and for everything - in the market, in the stalls along the road. For example, a fridge magnet - this favorite and indispensable product for tourists of all stripes and nationalities, at the originally declared price of $ 5 was sent to a purse after a short bargain for $ 2. That is - if they immediately ask for $ 10, then you can buy for $ 2-5.
When visiting local settlements (villages and villages), you should prepare for the increased interest of the population in tourists and obsessive offers to buy something from them or go somewhere, taxi, etc. If you do not want to continue communication, just say NO to your opponent with a stone face and they lose interest in you for a while.
The local population communicates in English, although few understand Russian tolerably well - probably, the presence of Russian-speaking tourists has affected. With us were Ukrainians, Russians, Italians, French.
Excursions. Before leaving on vacation read a lot, including prices. There is nothing special to see on the island, except for the Prison Island, the city of Stone Town (the capital, built by Arabs and Indians in the 19th century from coral stone), which was not particularly impressive, everywhere is noisy, dirty, a large number of different "bred", which are very they demanding money for almost everything, arguing their demands with the large composition of the family and the complete lack of money to feed this very family.
Visited: 1. "Prison Island", also known as "Turtle Island" - turtles are cultivated and bred on the island, which are dying out. In total, about 200 individuals live.
Among them is the oldest tortoise at the age of 192 (we don’t know who considered his age and whether it is true, but they said so). There are enclosures for babies, and adult turtles live on their own.
2. Safari blue (a trip to the reefs with masks and fins without oxygen tanks, price $ 85 per person.
By the way, in Zanzibar September 5 1946 was Frey born? ddi Me? Curie (real name Farru? x Bulsa? Ra), vocalist of the rock band "Queen".
Departure. Upon arrival at the hotel, the driver gives an envelope containing a sheet of paper indicating the day and time of our departure from the hotel to the airport. In addition, the guide reminds the day before departure.
After the trip, we found out that you can buy tickets cheaper - ordering a tour through Italy will be cheaper by $ 350-400 per person, but you need to apply for a Schengen visa. In general, it was great.
If you want to completely disconnect from the noisy city life, then you are there - in Zanzibar. Good mood to all and wonderful travels.
