Matemwe to Jambiani on Zanzibar

Since arriving in Matemwe, we’d heard about what would happen on the morning of Eid.  We knew that cows would be slaughtered and festivities would follow.  While we obviously couldn’t participate in all of it, we wanted to see more of what would happen.  We woke up early and went to the market, which was next to Key Bungalows.  It was bustling with people and the recently slaughtered cows were being cut up further to be sold.  Their heads appeared to be on display and they used the skin as a cutting board.  Different sections of the cow were sold in different areas of the market and we wandered around observing.  

 

 

 

Two men were carrying a large section out to the water and we followed.  They cut open the intestines and proceeded to clean out the poop into the water.  Meanwhile, there was a group of kids further up the beach that were playing soccer with a rat, which we hoped was dead.  After discussions, we decided to get a kilo of beef for lunch and spoke with Dondo one last time to coordinate our meal.  We decided to have pilau as we had yet to try the authentic Swahili dish yet.  

 

 

Back at the hotel, we ate breakfast and packed our things.  After lunch we’d be moving to other section of the beach so we wandered around the village one last time.  We also took advantage of the time to try to find a driver for the afternoon.  Due to the holiday, this was harder than we had imagined, but knew we’d get a ride.  Dondo came to get us for lunch and we walked to a new house.  The woman who had prepared our meal was there with a baby and they sat nearby as we ate.  This would be our last meal on the floor of someone’s home trying to eat rice without utensils.  We enjoyed the new dish and left a good amount of leftovers for the family.  

 

 

 

 

Our last stop was the soccer field to watch as people gathered to celebrate.  We watched as people came and went and many gathered under tarp-covered tents that blocked them from the sun.  It was getting later and we knew it would be a long drive to Jambiani.  So we found a taxi and loaded our things.  We said our goodbyes to Dondo and sent our regards to Rafiki, who was celebrating the holiday, and headed south.  

 

 

It was dark by the time we arrived and our driver took us to where we thought we’d stay.  As we hadn’t made a reservation, we found the place completely booked.  There were 2 nearby hotels so we split up and got prices.  Margaret was able to negotiate a better price at one so we unloaded the car and made ourselves at home there.  We went for dinner at the restaurant of the hotel that didn’t want to bargain with us and then found ourselves in bed shortly after since we’d had an early morning.

We slept in and enjoyed the fact that we had nothing to do.  The beach was more inviting as there weren’t sea urchins so we walked in at least 500 meters as the tide was out.  We decided to rent bicycles to go to Paje and explore the town, but stopped just up the road in the center of Jambiani for lunch before continuing on.  It was 9 kms (5.6 miles) to Paje and it took us longer than we had expected.  We took the bikes to the beach and watched the kite surfers as the town is known for activity.  As it was already late afternoon and we didn’t want to bike on the main road after dark, we headed back to Jambiani.  We booked a dolphin tour for the next day and then ended our night with dinner.

 

 

 

As we didn’t have many more days on the island, we woke up for the sunrise and wandered around the shoreline as it was low tide.  There were little volcanoes that had air escaping from under the water and little creatures moving around the pools of water.  We took the morning to move to the hotel we had originally wanted, Uhuru Beach, as the owner had a room open up and had much more space as we had a small apartment.  

At 10, we got into a taxi that would take us to Kimikazi, where we’d get a boat to search for the dolphins.  The boy who had sold us the tour had encouraged us to go in the afternoon as everyone goes in the morning and it is chaotic.  Despite our hesitations, we took his advice and hoped for the best.  We waited for the morning boat to return and ordered our lunch in the meantime.  Someone had offered us a menu in dollars and we had refused as we wanted something in shillings.  He produced another menu, which had the same items but with the prices in shillings.  They totaled to less than half the cost of the original menu and we made our selections.  

As we boarded the boat, we were the only ones going out as everyone else was coming in.  Our boatman asked boats as we went for the last location of the dolphins, but as we kept going we began to lose hope.  We passed more fisherman than we could count, some using boats and other swimming along with a buoy and spear.  He continued to ask people, but the dolphins were nowhere to be found.  We went around the southern tip of the island out into deeper water, but after an hour of searching we came up with nothing.  

 

The boatman felt dad for us and offered to let us snorkel and also to do a trip the following day.  We declined both and just enjoyed the views from the boat and the transparent turquoise water.  Back on land, we were provided with a table at an abandoned restaurant and lunch was served.  Even though we’d all ordered different things, we were served 2 bowls.  One was plain spaghetti and the other was its sauce.  In addition, we were each given a plate of the grilled seafood that we had ordered.  When we asked about the differences in the sauces, we were told that the masala, coconut and spicy sauces had all been combined together to make one.  After tasting it, we realized that it was a regular marinara sauce for pasta, but we made the most of the fresh seafood we had in front of us.  

When we were ready to leave, we asked for our change.  Even after being unsatisfied with the meal and telling him, the guy refused to give us our balance or a bottle of water in exchange.  Not overly happy with the events of our morning, we loaded back into the taxi and went back to our new hotel.  Tico and I organized the details for a scuba dive with Buccaneer Diving for the next morning and then we spent the afternoon at the beach bar and relaxing in the sun.  We got dinner at a nearby local restaurant, which thankfully was better than our lunch, and then ended the day.

Since it was our last day on the island, we again woke up for the sunrise.  It was cloudy, but the sun made an appearance for a split second.  The tide was still on its way out so we watched as it slowly went down and women walked out to harvest seaweed.  As the moon was changing, the tide stayed out for much longer.  We ate breakfast on the balcony and watched as the locals went about their daily activities.  

 

Margaret and I went for one last walk around the village in search of souvenirs.  We found a few paintings, but nothing we really wanted to take with us.  Tico and I then went out to try to find food before we would go scuba diving.  As everything on islands corresponds to the tides, we would be heading out to dive later in the day.  We only found crackers, but figured it would be enough to get us through.  A taxi came to transport us to Paje as the dive master in Jambiani had an unfit ear.  We picked up another diver along the way and were given our gear upon arrival.  

The group was briefed and then split into 2 different boats based on the experience level of the divers.  Our boat had a 25 minute ride to Woo South, where we’d hope for good enough weather to be able to dive there.  We dropped down and couldn’t believe our eyes.  The decision to scuba dive was based on our snorkeling experience and we were glad we had decided to do it.  There was a wall of live coral, which was unlike anything we’d seen before.  

 

 

The vibrant colors stood out as the different coral swayed with the current.  There were fish everywhere, some that moved within the coral and others that were in schools of fish on the move.  Tons of small fish moved in unison around us and the visibility was incredible.  We could see for at least 15 meters in every direction.  We even spotted a moray eel as well as multiple lionfish.  It was an amazing experience and definitely the best dive spot we’d had in Africa thus far.

 

Our second dive was inside the lagoon as the waves were increasing.  We’d moved to the other side of the reef and ate fruit during our surface interval.  It didn’t settle well with Tico and before long he had his head over the side feeding the fish.  Thankfully, it was time to get back in the water, which would help his stomach.  We dropped back in and found towers of coral.  There were fish swimming around them, but it was nothing compared to what we’d seen moments before.  

 

 

We were looking for seahorses and after passing the second coral tower, I spotted one along the floor of the sea.  Most of us stopped to look at it, but our dive master didn’t realize that we were still behind.  We continued to watched the creature and then when we turned to look we were alone.  As a group we went a little further in hopes of finding our leader, but he was nowhere to be found.  We decided to abort the dive and went up for a safety stop.  While we were hanging out, the dive master showed up, but communication was still impossible.  We finished out the safety stop and surfaced.  Unfortunately, we missed out on the opportunity to see a blue spotted ray, but at least we got to see a seahorse.

 

 

After we debriefed and rinsed our gear, we got back in the taxi and reunited with Margaret.  We enjoyed our last beers at the beach bar before getting cleaned up and splurging on our last meal.  We went to a nearby hotel and got dinner and drinks to celebrate the week we’d just spent together.  The next morning we’d be heading back to Stone Town and in opposite directions as our travels would take us to different countries.  

 

 

Helpful tips:

• There are many beaches to choose from on Zanzibar.  We chose the east as we didn’t want the resort-style atmosphere of the north.
• There are plenty of kite surfing schools in Paje and Jambiani, but be aware that it takes longer than a day to learn.
• If you pick the right season, you have the chance of seeing/hearing humpback whales while scuba diving.