ZANZIBAR ISLAND, TANZANIA AFRICA ADVENTURE 2020 3 DAYS/2NIGHTS
Time to go out and see nature!
For this blog, I will take you to one of the amazing beaches in the world and of course the best in East Africa.
Let me take you for a ride and of course, share you our overall expenses for our 3 days /2 nights trip.
We had a last-minute plan and so it is not good. I advise you to always plan ahead so you can get what you really want.
This time we bought our ferry tickets at ZAN ferries because Azam ferry was already full.
We left by Friday during Eid Mubarak which means its a holiday and expected crowd is coming since travelling to Zanzibar is just 1 hr and 30 minutes away from DAR es salaam.
DAY1
The ferry departed at 8a.m from Dar and reached at 9:30am.
Once you arrived, please prepare your residents permit and passport.
You will need to write your name in the immigration area but there is no need to fill-up the form if you have a resident permit. But if you're travelling as a tourist then you have to fill-up the form.
We purchased our ticket at Tzs 50,000 per person or USD 21.00 ONLY both for kids and adults.
We booked our hotel at Stonetown view inn, it's 2 minutes away from the seaport so we just walk.
And a local guy has led us to this hotel for free, he didn't even charge us so I was surprised by the kindness of the people living here in the Island.
When I booked it online I saw USD 33 for all of us and we have a voucher for it, however, the next day when we checked out, we paid USD 102. Still not bad for 6 pax but there is no TRANSPARENCY and that's what really bothers me.
My first-time experience at booking.com and it was not good.
After checking in, we headed to the ocean for a real tour.
DAY 1: SANDBANK and PRISON ISLAND Tour
We rented a boat for Tzs 220,000 for the day including the amazing seafood.
It was indeed an amazing experience and it was my first time to ever try an octopus meal.
And it was so good.
The waves were quite rough going to sandbank so we had a lot of screaming and laughing. It was hell of a bumpy ride.
It was scary also and I did try to convince them to wear a life jacket. hahaha
After maybe 20-25 minutes we arrived at the sandbank and with very fewer people.
There are only 4 tourists in the sandbar and the view was terrific.
It was ridiculously amazing!!
We had our lunch there and our boat driver prepared us an amazing food, all seafood like lobster, shrimps, octopus, shrimps and chips.
After 2 hours, we visited to another island called PRISON ISLAND.
Here is another once in a lifetime experience.
We paid TZS 5,000 for an entrance fee and I forgot my resident permit so I paid Tzs 10,000.
The place is surrounded by so many old tortoises.
They are so huge and heavy.
One of them is at 130 years old, 133 years old and I was like, really?
They are the land tortoise and feeding them was a very nice experience especially for the kids.
After an hour, we went back to the mainland.
This place is so cool and safe.
No wonder tourist from Europe and all over the world love to visit this amazing place.
We went to the BEACH House for our dinner and yes the view was great, the food was delectable and overall, our day 1 went all great.
DAY 2: STONE TOWN TOUR
For our second day, we decided to have a city tour and get familiarize with the island.
We visited old ruins, Palace museum, house of wonders, Slave market and the story of these places are incredible.
It made you love them more.
The history was sad and very uplifting.
Time to go out and see nature!
 |
| Mnarani Beach,Nungwi Zanzibar |
For this blog, I will take you to one of the amazing beaches in the world and of course the best in East Africa.
Let me take you for a ride and of course, share you our overall expenses for our 3 days /2 nights trip.
We had a last-minute plan and so it is not good. I advise you to always plan ahead so you can get what you really want.
This time we bought our ferry tickets at ZAN ferries because Azam ferry was already full.
We left by Friday during Eid Mubarak which means its a holiday and expected crowd is coming since travelling to Zanzibar is just 1 hr and 30 minutes away from DAR es salaam.
DAY1
 |
| Arriving at Sandbank |
The ferry departed at 8a.m from Dar and reached at 9:30am.
Once you arrived, please prepare your residents permit and passport.
You will need to write your name in the immigration area but there is no need to fill-up the form if you have a resident permit. But if you're travelling as a tourist then you have to fill-up the form.
We purchased our ticket at Tzs 50,000 per person or USD 21.00 ONLY both for kids and adults.
We booked our hotel at Stonetown view inn, it's 2 minutes away from the seaport so we just walk.
And a local guy has led us to this hotel for free, he didn't even charge us so I was surprised by the kindness of the people living here in the Island.
When I booked it online I saw USD 33 for all of us and we have a voucher for it, however, the next day when we checked out, we paid USD 102. Still not bad for 6 pax but there is no TRANSPARENCY and that's what really bothers me.
My first-time experience at booking.com and it was not good.
After checking in, we headed to the ocean for a real tour.
DAY 1: SANDBANK and PRISON ISLAND Tour
 |
| Sandbank, Zanzibar |
We rented a boat for Tzs 220,000 for the day including the amazing seafood.
It was indeed an amazing experience and it was my first time to ever try an octopus meal.
And it was so good.
 |
| SANDBANK |
It was scary also and I did try to convince them to wear a life jacket. hahaha
After maybe 20-25 minutes we arrived at the sandbank and with very fewer people.
There are only 4 tourists in the sandbar and the view was terrific.
It was ridiculously amazing!!
We had our lunch there and our boat driver prepared us an amazing food, all seafood like lobster, shrimps, octopus, shrimps and chips.
After 2 hours, we visited to another island called PRISON ISLAND.
Here is another once in a lifetime experience.
We paid TZS 5,000 for an entrance fee and I forgot my resident permit so I paid Tzs 10,000.
The place is surrounded by so many old tortoises.
They are so huge and heavy.
One of them is at 130 years old, 133 years old and I was like, really?
 |
| PRISON ISLAND |
They are the land tortoise and feeding them was a very nice experience especially for the kids.
 |
| TORTOISE @ 133 YEARS OLD |
This place is so cool and safe.
No wonder tourist from Europe and all over the world love to visit this amazing place.
We went to the BEACH House for our dinner and yes the view was great, the food was delectable and overall, our day 1 went all great.
 |
| DINNER AT BEACH HOUSE |
DAY 2: STONE TOWN TOUR
 |
| PALACE MUSEUM, STONETOWN |
For our second day, we decided to have a city tour and get familiarize with the island.
We visited old ruins, Palace museum, house of wonders, Slave market and the story of these places are incredible.
 |
| Old British Car |
The history was sad and very uplifting.
After a tiresome narrative storytelling, we headed to a simple yet full of customers.
Food must be really good here.
Enjoy Swahili cuisine called Lukman for lunch.
The food was great and we tried the Baobab juice and it was so good.
After our lunch, we travelled to Nungwi, an almost 2 hours drive from the main city.
We booked our accommodation at Mnarani Beach and Cottages.
The hotel upgraded our accommodation in a sea view with no extra payments.
It was so cool of them and generous.
The sea view was magnificent.
The waves were strong hitting the rocks and it was so clean and blue.
After arriving, our driver took us to Baraka aquarium and we had a chance to swim with 30 turtles.
FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!!!
Enjoy Swahili cuisine called Lukman for lunch.
The food was great and we tried the Baobab juice and it was so good.
After our lunch, we travelled to Nungwi, an almost 2 hours drive from the main city.
We booked our accommodation at Mnarani Beach and Cottages.
The hotel upgraded our accommodation in a sea view with no extra payments.
It was so cool of them and generous.
The sea view was magnificent.
The waves were strong hitting the rocks and it was so clean and blue.
After arriving, our driver took us to Baraka aquarium and we had a chance to swim with 30 turtles.
FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN FUN!!!
We paid Tzs 20,000 entrance fee and it is a 3-minute walk from our hotel accommodation.
Day 3: Mnarani Beach Cottages
This time I got to feature their villas, rooms, apartments so watch out for my hotel room tour vlog very soon.
This place is amazing and it's very cheap.
What an amazing experience, indeed!
I must say, this is the time to experience the beauty of Zanzibar.
The prices are all affordable and you cannot get this during the normal season, (It's normally expensive)
So hurry up and book your getaway.
The family that travels together stays together!
Please don't forget to share, leave a comment on this blog.
Visit my youtube channel for more travel videos: Livingmarks25
Contact details:
Abdallah-Car rent driver +255 777 131 856
Hussein- Stonetown Tour guide +255 772 962 180
Mnarani Beach Cottages: +255 777 479 578
Boat Rental to SandbankPrison Island: ISMAIL +255 718 006 576
Happy travelling!
Thanks for sharing this beautiful blog about Zanzibar. While traveling to Tanzania, hire car Zanzibar.
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