August 6, 2017

Island Life in Zanzibar

After navigating through the wilderness of the Serengeti and searching for wild animals on our safari, we decided to head to the island of Zanzibar for a relaxing retreat and memorable scuba diving!

If you are planning a safari in Tanzania, I HIGHLY suggest stopping off in Zanzibar afterwards- you won’t regret it!!!

Stone Town

When we arrived in Zanzibar we were picked up by our guide from Shadows of Africa and taken to the Zenji Hotel in Stone Town. STONE TOWN is a required stop in Zanzibar. We only spent a night in Stone Town, but could have probably used another night.

We decided to explore without a tour guide. The town was partly under construction and smaller than I anticipated but had a very energetic atmosphere with boutique shops, a floating restaurant, people doing flips off the pier into the water, reggae music, football on the sand, and an apparent no worries island vibe.

*When shopping around stop by Kumi… the boutique had cute and affordable jewelry and gifts. Also note- at souvenir shops you can haggle!

We then had dinner right by the water at Mercury’s Bar. We sipped on some Savanna Ciders while we watched the sunset.

The next morning we got a coffee at the Zenji Cafe downstairs and headed towards our hotel. First, we stopped at a local spice farm for a spice tour where we tried lots of spices, fruits, juices, and fresh coffee.

Tangawizi Spice Farm

The Sunshine Marine Lodge

It was about an hour drive to our hotel, The Sunshine Marine Lodge, where we spent 4 days. Located on the northeast part of the island, the lodge had a PADI Dive Center, which was one of the main reasons for staying at the hotel. Breakfast and dinner were included in the price, but after a few days the meals became redundant. However, if there was something on the daily menu you didn’t like they were accomodating.

The hotel seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere, but after walking around the grounds we felt as though we were in our own little paradise.

There was not a beach directly on the grounds because it was situated on a cliff. However, a 5 minute boat ride down the shoreline brought us to a secluded beach with a bar just for guests staying at the lodge. There was barely anyone at the beach – and one day we had the whole beach to ourselves with a bartender!!

We enjoyed staying at the Sunshine Marine Lodge (except there was no AC in the rooms – so it was hot at night). However, an added plus was the convenience of the dive center.

Dive Point Zanzibar Dive Center

The diving was UNBELIEVABLE!! Highlight: Swimming with DOLPHINS!!! We also saw turtles, eels, cowfish, lion fish, barracudas, and so much more. The dive center was very professional and provided drinks and great snacks in between dives (like COCONUT)!