Travelblog by Jurgita and Thomas

We thought we have seen lots of amazing beaches and it would be difficult to surprise us. Well, how much nicer than really nice can it get? Well, we realized it can be even nicer than really nice…

Our driver Juma drove us to Kendwa, north on Zanzibar this Friday. We booked two nights on Sunset bungalows together with a few friends from the Haukeland house. The plan was to chill and celebrate Jurgita’s birthday.

And what an amazing place we came to! The bungalows were on the beach which was wide and soft, and white sand took us into the crystal clear water. We have to admit, we have never seen anything like this before!

We spent the weekend literally on the beach- from the morning to the evening… We had an amazing weekend with great people!

Before we left our new favorite beach-destination, Jurgita said; This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I think we have to go here once a month (hope she means while we are here in Zanzibar…)

We will let the photos beneath tell the rest of the story!

And yes, Jurgita’s b-day celebration was fantastic: “Happy b-day to you” was performed in Swahili, English and Norwegian J We didn’t meet any Lithuanians there, but we decided to sing it twice in Lithuanian next year, so it’s ok…

Fantastic beach on the northern end of Zanzibar

Taking a dip in the warm waters of Kendwa

Blue and crystal clear water

Just before it gets dark at Kendwa

A place to relax the whole day

Wooden boats on the beach

Our bungalow where we stayed for two nights

Around 30 minutes boat-trip from Stonetown, there is a place called sandbank: it’s an island, a sand heaven that you can see when the tide is low and disappears when the tide is high.

So we checked the tide-schedule and went there on Saturday. And you know what? People didn’t exaggerate: it is a paradise on earth! It’s literally a beach surrounded by the Indian Ocean with crystal clear water and amazing shells… We would have stayed there so much longer, but the water started to claim it back. It’s good our captain was waiting for us in the boat (he was sleeping, but we managed to wake him up).

This is one of the places at Zanzibar that we are sure we will visit again and again.

T&J

On our way to the sandbank 30 minutes from the coast

We found it! This must be Paradise.

Two women with colorful clothes walking on the sandbank

Nice beach, crystal clear water

One of many fascinating shells

Just 10 minutes walk from Haukeland house there is a beautiful Hotel beach with a nice pier and sunbeds. It´s a perfect place to relax and swim (in relatively warm water:). There is also a bar/restaurant with a beautiful view for the sunset. The interesting thing here is water: last time we were here, it was low tide- we could see so much sand and shells, while today it was all covered with water.

Think we´ve got a good friend there as well. He likes beer, and is really cute and entertaining! We have to find a name for him!

Thomas and Jurgita

Beautiful beach located 10 minutes walk from our home

The Pier is nicely set up with sunbeds and umbrella.

View from the pier to the beach

Our little friend wants beer

Yes, we like Zanzibar!

A bar/restaurant with a perfect location

Jurgita enjoying the sunset.

On Sunday (5^th of October) we went to the capital of Zanzibar (and the birthplace of Queen-singer Freddy Mercury): Stonetown. A beautiful little town, full of small shops, cafes and narrow streets. Big part of it faces the sea, and we spent a few hours just sitting at beach-cafes watching people passing by. We loved it there and we`ll be going there as often as we can!

Stonetown is only six kilometers from Haukeland House, so it`s easy for us to get there. Today we used local transport, called daladala, which basically is a truck that they fill up with as many people as possible… We realized that tuk-tuk in Bangkok is quite safe and luxury compared to daladala here J But it was fun and we are going to take it again.

A few pictures from Stonetown and The city beach below.

Warm greetings from T&J :)

Jurgita enjoying life at Livingstone at sunset

Stonetown – capital of Zanzibar

Stonetown is full of narrow streets like this

View from a rooftop terrace

Lokal kids taking a dip at the city beach

The pier with a restaurant and beautiful sand underneath

Finally there!

It`s our second day out of 300 here in Zanzibar. We have already moved in to Haukeland house where we will spend the next 10 months together with nine other Norwegian families. The flat is nice with our own bedroom, livingroom and shared balcony. We live on the top floor, close to the beautiful rooftop terrace with a fantastic view towards the sea (Zanzibar Channel).

Jurgita has started her job at Mnazi Mmoja Hospital. She will be picked up by the driver 7.45 every morning. She met other Norwegians for lunch, so we started to know some people here.

I came to meet her at the hospital after she was finished (well, you know Jurgita: she wasn`t ready on time… so I was kindly asked to wait for her till she finished discussing some things.)

On the way to the city center we meet our neighbors from the Haukeland House. They showed us around and gave us some very important information (like where we can by wine!! :)

The day (2^nd Of October) was finished with a dinner at the restaurant African House just meters from the ocean and with an amazing view to a beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow will be our first visit to the beach. Looking forward to it!

This will be our home the next ten months.

Sunset from African house in Stone Town