Travelled from 30/06/2012 to 05/07/2012 – Facebook Photo Gallery

After some very exciting weeks climbing Kilimanjaro and cruising through the Serengeti, we now make our way to Zanzibar – the last stop in Africa before heading home via Dubai. Just like everyone else, we are here to relax at the beautiful beaches, drink cocktails and do some Kite surfing.

Glimpsing the top of Kilimanjaro brings back all the very recent memories and it is pleasure to see the peak from a different perspective from our Aircraft. We enjoy African beer on the little propeller machine and try not to focus too much on the disgusting smell that seems to be coming from one of the locals a few rows in front of us. Our mindset is completely focused on a few relaxing days at the beach now after the partly strenuous trek on the mountain. Christoph and Simon have done some Kite surfing before and can’t wait to do it again in Paje, the premier place for the trendy sport on the Island.

We touch down and have no plan on where to stay yet. However, I received a recommendation to check out a place called Teddy’s place. We grab the next cab and the driver looks very familiar to me, It looks like Tony Almeida from 24 is driving us!! Well, it’s probably not him, but he looks like a twin of the actor! (Check the first seconds of my video to confirm). We drive for about half an hour to the east side of the island and reach Teddy’s place. Everyone instantly falls in love with the atmosphere here and we do not hesitate to book some of the huts for us, followed by the first awesome cocktails 🙂 The huts are just build on the sand directly and we can even play some Volleyball in front of our doorstep – this must be paradise!!

The south African owner of the place tells us a bit about Zanzibar and we promptly follow his advice to check out the Island Changuu, featuring some of the biggest and oldest tortoises on the planet! As it usual works with Islands, you need some sort of boat to get there. It was pretty easy to get one though as a few guys are already waiting for us tourists and after telling them our destination, one of them jumps into the water to get a boat. About twenty minutes later, we arrive at the island and head straight to the tortoise area. Turns out we made it just in time for their feeding! Lot’s of icebergs are provided by the rangers and we can even get in to feed the old and slooooooooooooow reptiles. It’s just incredible to get so close to them (check the video) and even hold one of the babies in our hands! This stop was not really planned and it turns out to be the highlight of Zanzibar so far! Although we have not started the Kite surfing yet 🙂

 

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/96299406 w=640&h=480]

 

We spend the rest of the time exploring the old town of Zanzibar, which is pretty nice to walk around including a bunch of markets and narrow roads. The sun is slowly setting and we return back to the harbor area, where local boys put on some show by jumping into the water… We have some amazing street food in the evening including some very refreshing sugarcane drinks, perfectly rounding up the first day on Zanzibar! The next morning is obviously all about the beach and Kite surfing. While our two experts get right to it, Moritz and I check out how much they charge for a beginners course. It was actually quiet a bit and I decide to rather just watch and chill at the beach while Moritz joins up for the group. Turns out the wind was not good enough to finish it eventually, so I’m not sad that I passed this time. At some point I will certainly learn how to kite though as it looks pretty damn cool!

After spending the complete day at the beach, I can certainly say that I’m relaxed as I could ever be and we get ready for the nightlife. Turning up on a local outdoor party makes us feel very special because we are seriously the only four white guys surrounded by about 400 Africans!! That does not stop us though and after a few drinks, we are really up to speed and have a good party with the locals, who apparently do not see tourists here that often! 🙂

 

I get up very early after a few hours of sleep to witness the sunrise at the beautiful beach. I just love these moments and now a dog is even joining me. I stay for a quiet a while before heading back to the hut and notice something under one of the shells that I collected the day before. It’s actually a crab getting out of his little house, a pretty big one! I put him outside and get some more sleep. A few hours later, we all make our way to the Beach which is still at low tide when we get there. The water draws back in very quickly though and even with just a few centimeters of water below their boards, the ocean is already filled with dozens of Kite surfers.

Time flys be, even for me doing practically nothing that chilling out and watching other people. Eventually we have to leave the paradise again and head to the airport. A very tiny 8 seat propeller machine awaits us to get us over the ocean to Dar es Salaam, from where we would eventually get a connection flight to Dubai. Flying in the tiny machine is another small highlight as I really like the pumpy ride and we have incredible views on the turquoise water below us. The main flight to Dubai is great as well, offering superb meals on board thanks to Emirates and I am blessed to witness a really nice sun set in the air. It’s been short, but it’s been great – thanks Zanzibar 🙂

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