Zanzibar Island Things to Do

Hi,

I have seen recommendation for Baboo travel owned by a guy named Nooran Baboo from Stone town from Zanzibar.

I travelled with him and my family in February 2011 and I was very dissapointed.OK, we did safari, we saw migration,we stayed in Zanzibar . The organization was chaotic, not enough information regarding our daily plans from his side, but the cook and the driver were excellent, but Mr. Octopus as he likes to introduce himself to the tourists, was as a representative of his own company a big disaster, total lack of interest in customers..And the best at the end he still owes me money, 400$ I deposited at his account and 300$ for a trip we had not realized, and he promised to return.

Tanzania and Zanzibar are twothe most beautiful places to spend a vacation, just the guide was a bit strange, .

At first sight he is a lovely guy, I did travel with him before but the last trip with my family was just a mess ... so do not get mistaken with first impression.

Marcela from Czech Republic, slasha @seznam.cz

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No visit to Zanzibar Island can be complete without a tour of the Jozani Forest. Any tour of Jozani will show you: The Rainforest, Red Colobus Monkeys (endangered species) and the Mangrove Swamp. The Forest is the last uncultivated/inhabited area on Zanzibar. Land crabs and the shy Blue Monkey are also present during your visit. You can either book a tour or just transportation, but do not miss Jozani!

The cost of entry to Jozani is very low so you will have to haggle big time for transport. You really need a good zoom camera and loads of film or memeory. The Red Colobus are inquisitive and will come very very close. They also move like the wind and it is very hard to just take a few photos to capture them.

I will build tips on the 3 seprate parts, but do not overlook the Blue Monkeys while you are here. They are very quiet and interesting, but usually ioverlooked.

** If you are driving there, watch for large Blue Monkeys running across the road where the speed humps are! **

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If you are wondering why a lot of the pictures of doors are kind of sideways, its because the ‘streets’ are very narrow paths. Zanzibar doors can not be found anywhere else in the world. Traditionally when a house was built in , the door was traditionally the first part to be erected! The more elaborate the carvings and decorations on the door – the higher the cost. So you can see where the rich people lived 200 years ago very easily. There are, supposedly, 560 carved doors in Zanzibar with the oldest door dating all the way back to 1694.

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The Best Beaches on Zanzibar Island are on the East Coast. If you want to see the beaches, yet stay in a real village, then a visit to Jambiani is a must. Jambiani was named after the curved Omani dagger when locals found one of these ancient relics washed up on the beach. The village has a long ‘road’ that follows the beach and locals always shout a warm Jambo! (Hello!) to you. There are plenty of economical, but beautiful hotels on the beach and yet you feel like part of local life when you walk along the road. The main money earner is seaweed and you can watch the harvesting and drying done by villagers everyday. This is then dried out producing a rainbow of bright colours. Fish are caught by boats and men in the water with nets to provide meals. Children scurry between school and the beach where they chase white ghost crabs. It really is worth a visit to see authentic village life.

Please visit my Jambiani Page for more photos:

DAO’s Jambiani

Life changes, guidebooks are out of date and some VT tips need to be removed. There are ATM’s on Zanzibar! 4 in fact and all in Stone Town. They are linked to the outside world and an American friend with a Plus card easily got cash. Travellers Cheques can be cashed as well in several locations in Stone Town. Get Schillings in Stone Town BEFORE you go to your hotel somewhere else on the island! Your hotel will not give you a good rate.

You can now also use the Barclays Bank on Zanzibar!

Are you looking for a refreshing tour? A local inside view to the island? Go to Baboo travel and ask for Baboo himself... he has a full array of local tours - I recommend the Spice Farm but beyond that he will point you to such local must-sees as the local nightly market where you can sample seafood from different vendors - including his grandfather (Moses). Beautiful, on the beach and very inexpensive - he will point out the local landmarks and also can custom create various tours - fantastic welcoming experience --- stop by Baboo travel, at the tourism office -- he will set you up!

There more popular excursions on offer include: diving and snorkelling, deep-sea fishing, swimming with dolphins and visiting the Jozani National Park.
The most popular seem to be the Spice Tour and a daytrip to Stone Town.
I suppose one can also visit Dar (by ferry) if you want to.

Paje is a small village on the east coast of Unguja. It has the most amazing beaches; long stretches of white sand, fringed by palm trees.
There is also a small supermarket where you can buy many things you might need during your trip.
Paje has many smaller, non-resort type hotels.