Unique Places in Tanzania

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Ushongo is a remote part of Tanzania, little known and unspoiled and one of the countries best kept secrets. Glorious white sands fringed with coconut palms make up the quiet beach, there are places where the sand runs red from iron seeping out of the rocks. Lagoons and urchin free sea make this place idyllic.
Small villages and lovely locals add to the ambience of the area, mango's, pineapples, jack fruit and oranges grown freely, as do cashew and peanuts whilst sisal makes up a lot of the local farm area.

Ushongo is 60km south of Tanga and 15km from the old Arab town of Pangani, there is still evidence of days gone by in the old buildings.

Ushongo being fairly remote means it is a little more difficult to get to. There are about four small lodges but it remains untouched by major tourism development. It also makes a great alternative to Zanzibar and Kenyan beaches which are more commercialised.

Make sure you take all your required gear with you as the nearest shopping town is Tanga, an hours drive away and that is only if the ferry is running, to cross the Pangani river is the first leg of the trip. It can take a full day or at least three quarters of the day to do a round trip.

There is a new ferry being built at the moment, however, it is not just the machanics of the vehicle that stop it running, life in Africa is very slow paced and sometimes staff have 'better' things to do than go to work.

Mwera village has a small store and a disco, this is just a 20 min or so trip from Ushongo beach along dirt tracks.

Activities at Ushongo
swimming in Indian Ocean; snorkeling at nearby reefs; scuba diving; wind-surfing;
- fishing for tuna, bonito, mackerel, red snapper, wahoo; deep sea fishing for black marlin and sailfish (catch-and-release);
- dhow (jahazi) sailing in bay;
- beach walks; canoeing; cycling.
- sadaani national park (50km away)

Getting to Ushongo: There are daily flights from Zanzibar, there is a small airstrip for private flights into the area or there is the bus, about an 8 hour ride to Pangani from the airport, then it's another hour on a local bus or take a taxi. PLEASE READ TIP ON BUS TRIPS IN TANZANIA BEFORE EMBARKING ON THIS ROUTE.

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The Tanzanian coastline is an unexplored and untouched area, it's where Kasa Divers, the first professional dive operation between Kenya and Dar es Salaam is based. It is also at Kasa Divers that the Maziwe turtles are being rescued and given a chance to relocate their nesting grounds.

Turtles return forever to the grounds they were born at to lay their own eggs, sadly in this vacinity, Maziwe (Swahili for Milk, it's sands are pure white) Island is an ancient nesting site that now becomes totally submerged at high tide, thus the turtle eggs are drowned. Kasadivers, over the last few years have established a conservation area and rescue the eggs.

It is possible to watch the eggs hatch and watch these tiny creatures make their run for the sea.

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After a week on safari on the mainland we flew from Arusha to Zanzibar for the second week of our holiday. Zanzibar – just the sound of that name is magical. And the island lives up to the images that the names conjures up – not only in its sights and sounds but in the scent of exotic spices that hangs over the island, and indeed was the first thing to strike us as we stepped off our small plane on a warm evening.

We spent the first part of our stay among the atmospheric, crumbling buildings of the island’s capital, Zanzibar Town: staying in, and exploring, its historic centre, often known as Stone Town; and making excursions in the surrounding area both by land (visiting various spice plantations) and by sea.

Our remaining time was spent on the island’s east coast at a rather luxurious resort, Breezes – the perfect place in which to unwind after the dust of our safari drives and the heat and chaos of Stone Town. See my separate Zanzibar page to read more about our stay here.

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If you are in the Dar es Salaam area but don't have enough money or time to visit Zanzibar, you can take a ferry and go to Kigamboni. There's a lot of resports right on the beach - South Beach resort, Kipepeo Resort or Sunrise Beach Resort.
Sunrise Beach has a restaurant that serves a very good curry and you can walk along the beach picking up shells. The water is warm and an amazing blue. You couls also take amazing pictures of the mangrove trees there.

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If you want to meet adults and kids up close, see a school at work, experience a village and real hospitality, maybe even ve invited into their homes, go to Mbagala (about 10 miles south of Dar) and visit the non-profit Bibi Jann Children's Care Trust.

This includes an elementary school, small orphanage and communal housing for homeless grandmothers who are raising their AIDS-oprhaned grandkids. The darling school kids will sing and dance for you and you can take plenty of photos. Go on a Saturday morning, and you can see the women making batiks and other crafts.

I don't know how far 'off the beaten track' this is, but we were the only ones there when we visited.
Gong rock is situated in the Serengeti National Park, and is literally a big, isolated outcrop of rock. It is called Gong Rock because, if you stick the rock in certain places, it resounds like a gong. This is apparently due to the metal content of the rock. Our safari company took us to the rock just before sunset. We had champagne and snacks, sat on top of the rock and watched the sun go down. Lovely!

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Selous Game Reserve is the largest protected area in the country and one of the biggest in the world. There are one or two days safaris organised from Zanzibar, but it is so large that longer stays are recommended.

Very few visitors reach the Southern and Eastern parts of the country, where the Great Lakes are located. Neither did we. It will have to wait until our next visit, as there are also plenty of natural park and landscapes to be discovered.

3 weeks of experiencing what it is like living in Tanzania with locals. If you go around Christmas, expect water rationings and maybe electric rationings. A good local dish is called Zeggy (chip omelette with jalapeños), very nice. But for the best chicken you have ever eaten check out Natasha’s in Dar es Salaam, they do the best chicken and madras chips on the planet. (well chicken for sure). There is one in the city and another just outside at the new cinema complex.

The country is trying to encourage the local’s to use its tourist economy by giving them very good prices, i.e. 2/3 discount on most things. So if you know a local ask them to get the tickets. Works on flights, you will have to be more discrete around hotels.

While I was out there we decided to go on safari for 5 days. I found the best safari deal you are best going to where all the tour guides hang out and book it there, everyone else are trying to make to much money out of you. So from the airport catch an intern flight to Arusha (45 min flight) and be greeted by a bunch of people willing to be your scoffer. or take a coach (13 hours or something), recommend the Scandinavia express, they are the best coach company in Tanzania, looking at the others it is easy to see why. Taking the coach you will see some amazing scenery.

Once at Arusha we walked up the main street and came across sunny safaris, the other main group seemed to be leopard tours. I got a deal for I think $660 was 5 days, 4 nights 5 star accommaton and all other expenses such as national park passes etc.

oh deer.. 00:29 bed time....
To Be continued....