Beach or Bust

Nungwi, Zanzibar
Tanzania
April 21st, 2009


The next stop on our tour of Zanzi was Nungwi, one of the northern beach spots. We headed there using a daladahi (a public bus which is really more like a minibus). It cost next to nothing for the one and a half hour trip and was quite an experience. The speed limit postings were for 30kms/hr and we spent most of the time 100kms/hr. It was a mix of incredible speed for an aging vehicle and a liberal use of braking to pick up passengers along the way. At some stages we had twenty six people in a space which comfortably would seat twelve.

Arriving at our stop at the end of the line we picked up our bags and headed towards the beach. Unsure of where to stay we ended up asking each hotel and guesthouse their prices. Again low season played into our favor and we scored a clean but decaying hotel room for $30 a night including breakfast- the same price as the decaying and dusty backpackers a few doors down.

The beach was amazing and Mozambique like in status with warm clear aqua waters and fine white sandy beaches. We spent our afternoons there and evenings admiring the ocean views, sipping delicious G&Ts (which we never drank before, but somehow in Africa they just make sense) and eating pizza (a mini-holiday from African cuisine).

We spent our last day in the North on a snorkeling trip to a protected marine area. The boat ride was smooth on the dhow and we saw several groups of flying fish. The snorkeling itself was brilliant too and had all the requirements of a healthy coral reef life. We saw starfish, barracuda, eel, trumpet fish, paper fish, several cleaning stations and feeding stations, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and more. After snorkeling for over an hour and enjoying the gentle rain whilst we were in the water we headed to a nearby beach for lunch. Treated to freshly caught grilled fish and beautifully steamed rice we were very content with our trip.