Recent jaunts - Picturesque Tanzania

I got bitten by the travel bug, no idea when it happened but it did. A few years back, a friend and I made up our minds to go gallivanting at least a couple of times a year, it was mainly weekend getaways  somewhere in Europe and so it was easily done because at the time I lived in London town, flights and accommodation were quite reasonable and there was always lastminute.com if all else failed. Fast forward to a few years down the line and I am settled back home.

I don’t travel as much as I used to, I will put this down to a number of reasons.  A few months ago, I was presented with the opportunity to market a beautiful boutique hotel in Zanzibar that I had fallen in love with the first time I visited before it officially opened in December 2011. I was sorely tempted but also had a significant work load to contend with at my full time job so I was a little bit reluctant. Well, until it was pitched to me differently, at the beginning of the year, my very wise boss mentioned it again, asked when I could go to Zanzibar. Well, I was not going to say no to that, was I? Always eager to travel.

I was on a flight a week later. Said flight was a fairly popular budget airline. We checked in on time, took off on time and landed on time, impressive, right?  I was to spend the night in Dar es Salaam before flying to Zanzibar the following day. I checked into my hotel, a short distance from the airport just before 8pm. Once I was settled and feeling suitably refreshed, I headed to the hotel restaurant to grab a bite and a glass of vino, well that was the plan. I had just placed my food order when without warning; I started to feel massively queasy. I will spare you the details but let us just say, I barely made it to the bathroom in time. This set the tone for the rest of my evening.  I slept for not more than a couple of hours that night, my dinner and vino remained untouched. I had never had food poisoning but I had very little doubt that this was what ailed me. My very own whatsapp doctor  later confirmed that it indeed sounded like a bad case of food poisoning. It was easy to identify the culprit, word of advice, steer clear of non veggie sandwich options on budget flights.

As night turned into morning, I started to worry that I would not be able to make even the short domestic flight across to the island. Breakfast was a no no but thankfully, I made the short taxi journey back to the airport and managed to make it through the short wait for the flight. God had my back, as always, when I boarded, I discovered I was the only passenger aboard the flight.  The rather lovely pilot having been apprised of my little situation asked me to sit upfront with him, handed me a sick bag and told me to knock myself out, I will assume he did not mean that literally. Let me tell you though, flying with vistas of the Indian Ocean does something to one, I landed in Zanzibar without incident but decided against taking the prearranged trip to Stone Town. It is a 45 minute drive from the airport to Pongwe, the little village where Seasons is located, I felt I could just about stomach that drive, pun intended. 

Amazing view from my co pilot's seat

We arrived at the hotel and I remember being struck again by just how breathtaking it is, from the car park looking through the entry arch, you are greeted by the sight of beautiful azure (I like that word)  ocean waters  and lush gardens. I arrived to a very warm welcome from the staff and a delicious tall glass of cocktail juice, even in my state, I could appreciate the taste.  Michael, the proprietor who happens to be my crazy brother from another mother and father had called ahead and alerted Chris the manager to my predicament. Once I was checked in, I headed straight to my cottage, my very exciting order of heavily spiced black tea, soup, fruit and water was delivered soon after. Well, it was all I could manage, just about.  My body continued to take quite the hammering for the next few days with the sight of me darting to the bathroom becoming the norm, all the other guests sympathised but I must say it was a little bit embarrassing. Fortunately by the end of the week, I was on the mend and was able to start enjoying the amazing meals chef served up.  

Seasons welcomes you

Friday night I had dinner on the baraza overlooking the ocean, it was beautiful and yes it would have been incredibly romantic if I wasn’t flying solo. I retired to my room for a couple of hours before we headed to Waikiki or party central as I fondly refer to it. The East coast of Zanzibar is fairly sleepy so imagine the look on my face when we arrived at Waikiki, about a 15 – 20 minute drive away to find the place very much awake with tourists and locals alike dancing the night away with the beach for a dance floor. Buses offloaded party goers at fairly regular intervals, the atmosphere was electric. We left at around 3 am, you know, I didn’t want to overdo it on my first night.

The next day, we ventured to Stone Town, also known as Mji Mkongwe (Swahili for Old Town)  in a bid for me to start meeting the local tour operators, because it was a Saturday, we only managed to meet a few before they closed for the weekend.  We had lunch at the popular Café Miwa, where I overindulged before heading back for dinner (yes, I was on a roll now that I could eat again) with some very helpful hotel industry folk that I still feel indebted to.  I was supposed to leave Zanzibar for Dar es Salaam that weekend but the airline emailed my revised itinerary, if I hadn’t taken a closer look, I would have totally missed that my flight back to Uganda had been cancelled and I would be heading home a couple of days later than planned, yes they don’t do apologies or explanations I had gathered by now. Well, always a silver lining, this meant I spent a couple of extra days in Zanzibar and therefore got to cover more ground.

I eventually made it back to Dar es Salaam where I checked into a hotel in Kariakoo, it had been highly recommended by Chris, not letting him live that one down,  so I didn’t bother with the routine room inspection before going ahead to check in and pay for the first night, huge mistake. I soon realised I had checked into a clean but rather depressing  hotel surrounded by rubble with a building site for a view, not quite the rolling ocean vista I was accustomed to by now. I was only in Dar es Salaam for 2 nights and had very little desire to spend even one night at this hotel.  A friend from Dar es Salaam laughed when I called and told him I needed to find alternative accommodation, asked what I was thinking staying in Kariakoo, apparently it is great for getting to the Posta area and the centre of town but ideally not where one wants to stay. I checked out and headed to a hotel in Mikocheni B that another friend had recommended. I was not disappointed, for $50 a night, I had a very clean, airy, spacious, air conditioned room with the added bonus of free wifi, well, I am not sure if it is still considered a bonus, it is almost expected now that a hotel will provide this.

My time in Dar es Salaam flew by. I did the rounds cold calling as many tour operators as I could manage although I sassed that I probably needed to head to Arusha, Tanzania’s tourism hub at some stage. I reconnected with an old friend and found some interesting places to dine and hang out in the evening, I discovered a funky new bar, Samaki which is Swahili for fish, check it out if you are ever in Dar es Salaam.

 Yours truly with Chris and some of the amazing Seasons team

My trip was mostly  enjoyable and productive. I was reminded that my grasp of Swahili leaves a lot to be desired. I also know I want to go back to Tanzania some time soon, I fell in love with the mainland and Zanzibar all over again. I learned that while no frills airlines may sell value, they won’t always be value for money. I was also reminded that one of the reasons I love to travel is because I get to meet some pretty interesting folk. Oh, if you are looking for a quiet, unforgettable escape by the ocean, talk to me.