Travelblog by Jurgita and Thomas

It’s less than five weeks left on Zanzibar and there is still so much we want to do!.. One thing that we now can cross off our list is horse riding on the beach.

Together with our good friends Kari, Ulrika and Pedro we went for a day trip to Sea cliff where they also have horses. Riding on the beach was an amazing experience; it actually feels quite height sitting on the back of the horse!

You should try it!!! J

See the pictures below!

Horse-riding on the beach is something we have wanted to do for a long time.

The beautiful beach and horses of Seacliff.

Jurgita with her horse – Charlie Brown.

And mr. Fun Fair – a large and quite funny horse.

Nice scenery on our way back to the range!

Jurgita, Kari and Ulrika relaxing in the pool after a long ride on the horse.

Since we arrived to Zanzibar (October last year), Haukeland house in Mbweni has been our home. But since the five Lithuanian girls came to visit us last month, we decided to stay in an apartment in Stone Town for some weeks: it was very convenient for our guests as well as we had this feeling living in the city center again.

Haukeland house is a beautiful place, only 8 kilometers from the “capital” of Zanzibar, but waking up in the morning at our flat in the city center and walking straight out in one of the many bustling narrow streets of Stone Town feels fantastic. And even though we have been living in Zanzibar for eight and a half months, we still get lost in these streets!

The flat we rented was in Shangani, just 100 meters from the main street. It had four bedrooms, two bathrooms and an outside living room + a small rooftop terrace. Attached to the house there is a Koran-school (and children singing from early morning to late afternoon). On the other side of the house there is a hotel and two nightclubs. (yes, they were playing loud music every night). There are also a couple of Mosques nearby (and yes, sometimes it felt as if the men were calling for the pray from our living room!). But this is a part of living in the city center and we enjoyed it from day one!

Stone Town is on the Unesco World Heritage-list and it’s easy to understand why. Here are some pictures of this beautiful city!

The rustic roofs of magical Stone Town.

On of many hundred old and narrow streets.

Jaws corner were Zanzibarians meet for coffee in the morning and afternoon.

Two ladies walking close to Lebanon square.

The shopping street of Gisenga! One of the most busy streets of Stonetown.

Jurgita with one of the old doors in the city center. There are 200 different types of these doors.

Rice and beans are sold most places.

Our top floor flat in Shangani/Stonetown.

Our balcony/living room!

Nice view from our flat!

The city beach.

Boats bringing fish to the marked at Malindi.

It’s always nice to have visitors here on Zanzibar and in the middle of may five happy girls from Lithuania came to our little paradise.

Jurgitas sister, our good friend Jurgita and 3 more friends took the flight all the way from Vilnius to stay with us for 15 days.

Obviously, we wanted to show them our favorite spots on Zanzibar. Of course, we started with Kendwa… And I think they also loved the place- they didn’t come back to Stone Town with us, but decided to stay there for a couple of more days.

The two weeks before they came was raining quite a lot. And we were quite worried the rainy season will continue… But luckily the rain was over; we spent three days on the beach, playing volleyball, enjoying the sun and swimming in the sea.

The weekend after was in beautiful Paje. The girls also visited the red Colobus Monkeys in Jozani forest, dolphins in Kizimkazi, tortoises in Prison Island, spice farm and the sandbank. Think they had quite an active holiday!

And you know, Zanzibar liked them so much, so they got an extra day here: their flight to Dar was cancelled… I’m not sure if they were glad to have another day or they just wanted to go home as soon as possible, but they tackled it very well!

Thank you Lina, Jurgita, Vilje, Virginija and Aurelija for 15 fantastic days together with us on Zanzibar. Looking forward to see you all again soon!

Virginja, Vilje, Jurgita, Jurgita, Lina and Aurelija in Kendwa beach.

Selfie of seven happy people spending the weekend in Kendwa.

We could stay here forever!

Almost 30 degrees celsius in the water.

Vilje and Jurgita relaxing on the beach.

Trekking the Jozani Forest of Zanzibar looking for Red Colobus monkeys.

And finally we found a couple of these beautiful animals.

In the water with the mamas from the amazing Seaweedcenter of Paje.

Five beach-babes from Lithuania posing for the photografer.

At Upendo restaurant with The Rock in the background.

One of many dolphins showing off for us in Kizimkazi.

‪We have heard a lot of nice things about the Eco island of Chumbe. In March we took a daytrip to the small island about 40 minutes boat ride from Mbweni were we live. The island has seven eco-friendly bungalows, beautiful beaches, some ruins, a mosque and a lighthouse. It also has what is supposed to be one of the best coral reefs in the world. Plus it is home to the giant Coconut Crab.

The owners of the island are doing a good job with catching the rainwater, composting toilets, solar panels, etc.

We spent a whole day there, walking around the nice paths on the island, taking pictures from the top of the lighthouse with breathtaking views. The sultans of Zanzibar and the British built it in 1904 and its 131 steps to get up to the very top.

We also went on a snorkeling trip in the amazing coral park and were lucky to see three stingrays, a small black tip reef shark and lots of other types of fish.

And with very nice weather, we had a fantastic day on this tiny island.

Arriving at the eco island of Chumbe.

Fantastic and tempting beaches on all sides of the island.

Jurgita testing the water-temperature at Chumbe.

The Lighthouse built by the Zanzibarian sultan in 1904.

At the top of the lighthouse after climbing 131 steps.

View of the seven bungalows from the lighthouse.

Relaxing at the restaurant with an amazing seaview.

One of many huts for relaxing at Chumbe.

At the beach getting tanned.

One of the seven bungalows. Bedroom at second floor.

On a guided tour in the forest.

Bye bye Chumbe! We´ll be back!

Zanzibar consists of two islands: Pemba and Unguja. Living on the main island Unguja, it is almost compulsory to visit it´s little sister 50 kilometers away.

We started 1^st of May weekend Pemba´s capital Chake Chake. This is a small, clean and hilly town with only a few restaurants (if they qualify as restaurants), three-four hotels and a marketplace. We walked around and had lunch there before we headed out to Misali beach 10 kilometers away, where we stayed for two days.

After a relaxing day at the resort Friday evening, we took a daytrip to Misali Island on Saturday morning. It felt like we were the only tourists there, and we probably were! The island is only 1,2 kilometers long and has fantastic beaches, where you really get the Robinsoe Crusoe feeling. The water is shallow and crystal clear. And the Turtle beach is the most beautiful place we’ve ever seen. No wonder the turtles choose this beach to lay their eggs.

We were swimming, snorkeling and we walked around the forest in the middle of the island before heading back to Pemba.

Last day on Pemba we visited the Flying Fox center, where around 5000 enormous bats are spending days hanging in trees. Some of them are really huge; they can have a wingspan up to 1.5 meter.

Pemba is green, hilly and cleaner than Unguja. The small Island is a must-visit destination and it would be great to come back and see other areas of the island one day.

Chake Chake – The capital of Pemba.

Nice view from Misali sunset beach resort.

On our way to the remote Misali Island outside Pemba.

Arriving at Misali Island with a small boat.

Walking in the jungle of Misali Island.

Fantastic beach. The best we have ever seen.

Colorful, tempting and crystal clear water.

One of the enormous shells we found on Misali.

Fantastic daytrip with a fantastic wife!

Our captain getting ready to take us back to Pemba.

Jurgita relaxing on the boat.

Beautiful sunset during our dinner at Pemba.

Visiting the Pemba Flying Fox Centre where 5000 bats live.

The wingspan of these bats can be up to 1,5 metre.

We were exited and didn’t know what to expect when we decided to take the train from Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia and all the way back to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania (1800 kilometers). We could have flown back, but we were out for a new adventure.

As a group of 11 people we booked 4 first class compartments with a total of four bunk beds in each.

We knew the train would take around 54 hours (delays up to 24 hours are not uncommon…). We had some good advices what we should bring with us, as toilet paper, mosquito-killer spray, wet napkins, wine… (a complete list may be sent on request if anyone is interested :) so we felt we were well equipped for our train-adventure. We “checked-inn” at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, used the napkins to clean the compartment, spray to kill the cockroaches, and we were all set for the trip.

The train-ride was all about playing games, talking, reading books and watching the amazing scenery; flat in Zambia and beautiful acres of sunflowers and green mountainsides in Tanzania.

The trip was just unforgettable! We were lucky (or maybe not?) as the train was only 7 hours delayed when we arrived to Dar Sunday midnight. I personally could have stayed on that train for another 24 hours!

After travelling by plane, bus and train we returned to our beautiful Zanzibar by ferry.

Would we take the train again? Yes, no doubts!

A ride trough beautiful landscape in Zambia and Tanzania.

Four-beds compartment. Not bad. Very luxury 40 years ago.

One of our travelmates Hanne with a license to kill bugs!

Kari and Annette enjoying life on the train.

Jurgita and Kari in the window of our compartment.

How to get aircondition on a train!

Daily life at one of the many train-stations.

In the restaurant we could choose either rice with beef, chicken or fish, or sometimes only chicken. But at least it was cheap!!

Beautiful scenery in Tanzania.

During our Easter-trip to Victoria Falls we also went on a safari to Chobe River and national park in Botswana. We took a daytrip from Zambia and drove one hour to get to the border. From there we took a small ferry to Botswana and started our safari in Chobe national park.

It’s a special place called Africa’s 4 corners and Jurgita received messages from the telephone operator saying “Welcome to Botswana”, “Welcome to Namibia” and “Welcome to Zambia” just within some hours.

We did not see many animals in the river, just some crocodiles, birds and a monitory lizard, but in the forest we were surrounded by elephants, we saw a lot of buffaloes, zebras and giraffes.

Well… we’ve written quite a lot about safaris, and I won’t repeat myself. But now we know- we’ll never get bored of seeing elephants, giraffes and other wild animals…

Here are some of the pictures we took!

Big, beautiful elephant in Chobe national park, Botswana.

The elephants where not afraid of us or our car.

But even the small ones tell you when you are to close.

Large giraffs wandering around Chobe national park.

And looking funny when they need a some water.

Monkeys having fun just in front of our car.

A baboon-baby feels safe on the back of the mother.

3,5 meter long croc luring in the bush.

Monitory-lizard looking for food.

Drying his wings before take off.

Wet, colorful and extreme is the keywords after our Easter-trip to Victoria Falls. Together with nine friends from the “Norwegian house” we travelled from Zanzibar to Victoria falls to see one of the seven natural Wonders of the world.

The trip started 05.30 in the morning from Zanzibar to Dar by a private small airplane. We’ve never been on a plane where all the passengers are our friends! The next plane (a scheduled one) took us to Zambia’s capital Lusaka. After one night in this not too interesting capital we took a seven-hour bus ride to Livingstone, which is the gateway to Victoria Falls from the Zambian side.

We knew we’d be wet when getting close to the Falls, so some of us packed rain-coats, others- swimming suits. Even though we felt we were well equipped, we all got completely soaked!

We spent a day walking around and enjoying the falls from one angle to another. It’s really amazing, beautiful and huge! (Up to 108 meters high and 1,7 kilometers wide.) And for the ones who told us that Victoria Falls are more impressive than Niagara Falls in Canada- yes, you were telling the truth!

Being so close to the border of Zimbabwe, we could not leave without walking over the Bridge to the city of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. And it’s different. On this side you have 16 viewpoints with fantastic sceneries, most of the places having beautiful rainbows.

To sum up: It’s easier to take photos and enjoy the view in Zimbabwe, but if you want to feel the falls, go to Zambia!

11 happy people from the norwegian house on Zanzibar in front of Victoria Falls in Zambia.

One of the seven natural wonders of the world seen from Zambia.

The 110 years old Victoria Falls Bride linking Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Walking om the falls edge will get you wet, soaking wet.

Kari, Anna and Jurgita midway beetween Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Massive falls that are 108 meters high and 1,7 kilometers wide.

Like standing in a picture!

The whole group together at one of the viewpoints in Zimbabwe.

Jurgita, Thomas, Kari, Anette and Hanne on a last picture before leaving Zimbabwe.

We were told there are around 120 tribes in Tanzania. On the way to Arusha from the National Parks up north we decided to visit a Masai village.

They are semi-nomadic, they don´t hunt animals and have cows and goats. We were told they need to have at least 20 cows in order to get married. And as long as you have cows there are no restrictions for how many wives they can have…

We paid our entrance-fee and were met by the dancing Masai women and men. We were then shown around, went into their house and visited the school.

The Masai village was just outside Serengeti. It consists of about 20 huts made by straw, built by the woman, when the men are taking care of the animals. Inside is a sleeping-area for up to 4 people. It’s a very simple life with no electricity. (And definitely no Internet)

– We have been here since 1990, said one of the guys at village. He was only 23, and of course born in this village. When the nomadic people will move again, nobody knows.

– How many wives do you have, we asked?

– None, I don´t have enough cows yet, he smiled at us before waiving goodbye.

We walked around the village, said hello to many people and bought some small gifts before we continued our journey back to Arusha.

Jurgita dancing with a group of Masai-woman close to Serengeti.

Men of the Masai village wishing us welcome to their homes.

Two woman with colorful clothes.

Young students at the school shaking Jurgitas hand.

Masai-woman using large and heavy jewelers in their ears.

Daily life at the Masai-village!

Inside one of the small huts were up to four people sleeps.

Full of colours and jewelers.

Two curious small kids looking at us from the door.

This is how a typical Masai-village looks like. 120 persons live in this village.

It´s always nice to meet friends, but it´s especially nice when somebody comes all the way from Norway to visit us here in Zanzibar as Nina did.

She probably thought she would have a relaxing week with a lot of sleep. Nope! We had other plans.

After flying around 15 hours from Norway, she was a little bit tired when she arrived, but she got a whole hour to relax, before the taxi came to Haukeland house to take us to Sunset Bungalows and Kendwa Beach. On Sunday we also went to Nungwi and had a lunch with Linns dad who also was in Zanzibar! That was amazing!

So, after one night and two days on the north cost, we went back to Haukeland house and continued with our program:

Stone Town and shopping on Monday. Tara music, dinner and local dance in beautiful settings at Mtoni Ruins on Tuesday. We spent Wednesday at Mbweni beach before going to Stone Town again, while Thursday we did some snorkeling at the Sandbank.

And if our guest thought she was going to relax the last weekend before going back to cold Bergen, she was wrong again. On Friday we went to Paje where we went to a Masaai show and visited the seaweed center.

So hopefully Nina, you slept well on the flight back home. We really enjoyed having you at Zanzibar! And as we´ve been here for some time, we wanted to show you as much as possible, even though you only had a week.

So for those who are coming to visit us, be aware: you might have an active and busy holiday here :)

Our first visiter from Norway here on Zanzibar.
Nina flew 15 hours for a week on the spice island!

Having a drink at Six Degrees South in Stone Town. From the left: Nina, Kari and Jurgita.

Jurgita and Nina with our friend Mariam who works in the Seaweed Center in beautiful Paje.

It was time for a little bit relaxation in between activities.

In Kendwa – the definite pearl of Zanzibar.

Its just getting more and more blue, isn´t it?

Lunch with friends at Nungwi.