Zanzibar Stone Town
Zanzibar is one of the main tourist haunts in Tanzania. When most people visit Tanzania, they often head directly to Zanzibar and spend their entire holiday there. However, when I had the opportunity to visit Tanzania in early 2020, I decided to do things a bit differently and stayed in Dar es Salaam and did a day trip to Zanzibar.
On my first full day in Dar es Salaam, I headed to the Zanzibar Ferry office and bought a round-trip ticket for the next day. Once that was complete, I had the day to spend checking out Dar es Salaam.
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to thoroughly explore since I had literally been approached by two potential scam artists within 5 minutes of each other. In each case, the potential scammer asked where I was from and just so happened either to have a friend or family in that same place. They then both claimed to be artists and wanted to show me some of their works. In both cases, I told them that they should try someone else since I made it clear to them that I wasn’t going to buy anything, and I had no money on me. Much to my surprise, one of them was very honest and said that since Dar es Salaam does not get very many white tourists, when one shows up, they all want to make an attempt. Admittedly, I had to respect the honesty.
The next day, I rose early and made sure to arrive at the port early. The ferry departure was scheduled for 7am, but I arrived at around 5:30am since it was recommended to arrive at least an hour early. There was already a long line of people before the gates were even open, but I was the only foreigner. Since I was only bringing my backpack and no luggage, no porters swarmed me asking to take my bags.
Stone Town Market
After heading through security, I was led to a slightly nicer waiting area because I had purchased an “Economy Plus” ticket. This meant I still had to sit outside in humid weather, but I was able to sit in a cushioned chair rather than the hard chairs that others had to sit in.
When it came time to board, I was directed to the back of the boat in the economy section. Shortly after leaving the port, water from the roof came down right on top of me. This forced me to vacate my seat, so I spent the next two hours standing.
The ferry ride was quite pleasant albeit somewhat bumpy. It was a great chance to admire the scenery and just reflect on life. After two hours, the ferry arrived in Zanzibar and after disembarking and going through border formalities, I made my way outside. Almost immediately, I was confronted by taxi drivers offering guided tours.
My original plan was to completely avoid tours and just explore Stone Town on my own. On top of that, I had only brought the equivalent of about $100 without a credit credit. However, after talking to a taxi driver, I realized that there was a lot more to see than I initially planned. After thinking about it, I opted to do a day tour which included a tour of a spice farm since Zanzibar is famous for them and a tour of the city for $84.
Coconut drink and a grass tie
The first place the driver took me was to a spice farm. I had seen similar spice farms in my travels before, but it was fascinating to see all the different spice plants in one place and how they were used.
The one unexpected part of this spice farm tour was that there were a lot of people that I needed to tip. Ultimately, I had to tip the main guide, the guide’s assistant, and two other guys that did some gimmicky type of items. It was then that I realized that there was a distinct possibility of running out of money if I wasn’t careful.
After the spice farm tour, the taxi driver took me to Stone Town, which is the old part of Zanzibar City, and introduced me to the city tour guide. The guide was very friendly and took me to all the main sights including areas that I would not have been aware of otherwise. It was also nice being with the guide since no one bothered us. Once the tour was over, and I had a chance to wander around on my own for a bit, all of a sudden, many of the locals who had not said anything to me while with the tour guide suddenly began asking if I needed a guide or wanted me to come and see their shops.
A quiet street in Stone Town
Eventually, it was time to head back to Dar es Salaam. The ride back via the ferry took another two hours and was quite pleasant. The water was relatively calm although there were a few big waves occasionally. It was particularly nice being in the back of the ferry and getting some spray from the waves.
Overall, while the day trip to Zanzibar was successful, I definitely should have brought more money since I spent a good portion of the day worrying if I would have enough for tips. I actually did not even have enough money at the end to get anything to eat while on Zanzibar.
However, despite not planning everything out as well as I should have, Stone Town is a fascinating place to explore since it is like walking around a completely different world from Dar es Salaam. I definitely hope to return in the future and spend more time exploring there.
Have you been to Zanzibar? What did you think of it?