BAREFOOT AND MASKLESS IN ZANZIBAR - PART ONE
T and I have a travel bucket list longer than our four arms put together. With the travel restrictions during this pandemic, that list has been shortened a lot. Long story short, our last bit of hope for a trip in 2020 ended up being Zanzibar. We both had to try and manage our excitement because things change so much (and they did a few times for this trip) that it was unclear if the trip would really happen right up to the end.
With accommodation booked, bags packed and PCR tests done, we were on our way.
After a relatively smooth five hour flight, we arrived at what’s the smallest international airport we have ever been to. At passport control, which is probably the center of the entire airport, we could see the plane we just disembarked from, the runway, the luggage carousel as well as the exit. The whole arrival process thus went a lot quicker than anticipated.
We went through the exit, and like stepping into an alternate universe, nobody was wearing a mask. In contrast to the rest of the world, where masks are almost more mandatory than some clothing pieces, this felt strange. Joining this strange universe, we removed our masks took a big breath of fresh Zanzibar air…
The masks only resurfaced again 18 days later as we embarked on our plane back home.
Matemwe
Our first stop, Matemwe, was an add on at the start of our trip. T had leave he had to take, and thus we decided to extend our trip.
Although we did not explore much during our visit to Matemwe, we did some very important foundation work for our upcoming two weeks.
Swahili 101
We quickly learned three very important Swahili terms:
Pole Pole (Pronounced Polê Polê, or Polay Polay, according to the web). This translates to slowly slowly. Everything happens slowly, and the best part is, we were forced to slow down ourselves, although it took us about a week to get there. This soon became our holiday motto.
Asante meaning Thank You.
Karibu, meaning you’re welcome. Welcome to their country, welcome in their shops, even welcome in their home. We were so welcome that our taxi driver asked a stranger (who was more than happy to help) if I could enter her home and use her restroom, as my bladder was close to bursting after I miscalculated our travel time. Karibu lastly is a standard response after thanking them.
Soccer match of your choice
Every evening after work and school, the beaches were packed as the locals gather for their daily soccer matches. We would joke and say you have a choice of ivy league, junior league, senior league, and even mixed league. This we discovered was everywhere we went on the island.
Zanzibar is very much part of Africa
This is so clearly part of Africa:
The roads are not for the faint-hearted. On the main roads, you need to dodge a cat, chicken, dog, goat, bicycle, children, and of course, some potholes. Once off the main road, there is no road. All taxi drivers will refer to the shaking in the car as an “African massage”. Lastly, there are a lot of cops, everyone looking to make the extra buck. For these reasons, we were glad we only made use of private taxis.
The interruption of electricity is a well-known thing. Most of the accommodations have invested in generators, though.
Clouds, rain, sunrises, and sunsets you will only find in Africa…
The beaches
The beaches were disappointing and suprising at the same time.
Dissapointing because it wasn’t exactly the swim beaches we have hoped for.
The tides are quite extreme between high and low tide. We knew this with some beforehand research, and it was thus not our biggest issue.
There was so much seaweed. I didn’t read about that anywhere and tried to find out if it was seasonal, but I couldn’t really find anything.
The texture of the sand was a bit mushy and off-putting, with the added sea urchins.
Ok, I know we sound like beach and ocean snobs, and maybe we are, however it’s not all bad.
We will head out on a blue safari in our next post, where we experience the most breathtaking beaches and ocean we have ever seen.
The other positive, and the surprising part for us was the amount of sealife.
Once the tide pull back, you are left with all these small pools, that’s flourishing with mini eco-systems. Take a pair of aqua shoes with, and you’ll be waxed for exploring these little wonders.
My last and personal favourite of the beaches were all the crabs: so many different shapes and sizes, each on their own mission running from hole to hole. I went into what my husband calls “crab-stalking” mode with my camera. After a lot of time, failed attempts, and funny looks from other tourists and locals, I did manage to capture my photo (according to me, my best photo of the entire trip) of the crab cleaning out his hole.
Matemwe Accommodation
Matemwe was also one of the destinations where the accommodation changed. After we booked our initial accommodation, I came across La Villa de Victor, and for the first time in our travel history, we changed it just cause we can. There was nothing wrong with the other place we booked, but this one just “spoke” to us for some reason.
La Villa de Victor
The accommodation is warm, luxurious and most of all, comfy with the most refreshing pool. Although we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our stay, this was by far our favourite.
Poulette and Didi own la Villa de Victor. Their English is quite broken, as their preferred languages are French and Swahili. This, however, didn’t make any difference to their hospitality and friendliness.
At arrival, they told us that their home is our home, and it really did feel like it. We were the only guests at the time, which I think helped us feel even more relaxed and at home.
The day we left there, it felt as though we had to say goodbye to the newly found family we visited. We felt so at home that it almost felt like visiting our mother-home. Poulette cooked like an angel. Breakfast was the highlight of every day. Her lunch and dinner were always something different and super yummy. During our last dinner there, she has come accustomed to my picky eating, and like only a mother would tell me to at least try some of the veggies. We have adopted a less phone (which we usually use to take photos of our food) policy, which resulted in way too few photos of her delicious food.
Teatime
Late in the afternoon, she would come looking for us, because it’s “Teatime” of course. The tea and coffee usually went hand in hand with some freshly baked goods. Teatime is something we have adopted in our day to day household whenever possible. Teatime means coffee, something sweet as a treat, and good conversation with each other.
La Villa de Victor’s Cats
Poulette has a special soul, and her love for animals confirms it. At the time of the visit, their/our home was shared by five cats. They are super chilled and would usually mind their own business unless given some attention. Simba (meaning lion in Swahili), soon became my new best furry, four-legged, friend.
Final words for Matemwe
Matemwe and La Villa de Victor were amazing. Although where we stayed was a bit more rural, and not as much was happening, it was the best start to our trip we could have asked for. If there is one thing I would change, it would be to go and snorkel at Mnemba Island, but more about that in our next post.
We’ll just have to go back, visit Poulette, Didi, and Simba, and go for a snorkel then.
Here is a few last odds and ends of our time here.
In part two of our our trip, we do all the fun things like blue safari, spice tour and more. We can’t wait to tell you more about it.
Wandering off now…
T & Me
