All About Zanzibar

Zanzibar is an archipelago of historic Indian Ocean islands, awash with atmosphere, intrigue and idyllic beach experiences. It has a wide range of accommodation choices and plenty to see, do and discover. The island is the perfect place to relax after an exciting safari or after conquering Kilimanjaro. It is also a paradise for honeymooners or a romantic holiday getaway. As the site of Sultans’ palaces and renowned for its spice plantations, the little island republic of Zanzibar is a must-see for any visitor to Tanzania.

Zanzibar is an archipelago located 23-miles from mainland Tanzania. When you arrive there, you might as well be in a different country because while it is officially part of the country, in almost every way - politics, religion, culture, food - life there is different.

As a base for traders from the the Arabian peninsula, the African Lakes region and India, Zanzibar became a hub for the region’s slave and spice trades. Most locals consider themselves Zanzibari rather than Tanzanian, and the territory has its own leader and governing bodies. Tanzania has a mixture of Christian, Muslim, and indigenous groups, but Zanzibar itself is almost completely Muslim.

GETTING TO ZANZIBAR

Most travelers get to Zanzibar by airplane from Arusha or any of the small airstrips in the national parks. If you’re traveling from Dar Es Salaam you can also take a boat. Depending on where you are boarding the plane, a flight usually takes about 1-3 hours in a bush plane. If you depart from Dar es Salaam by high-speed boat (four times a day each way), it takes about two hours, and tickets are cheap.

STONE TOWN

Visitors to Zanzibar tend to arrive and leave via Stone Town, a historic historic hub for commerce and culture within Zanzibar City. This ancient center was the seat of the Sultans, whose crumbling palaces, bath houses and mosques are a legacy of this opulent and vibrant time at the heart of the gold trade. Stone Town remains a wonderful place to spend a night or two, getting lost among the ancient buildings and labyrinthine streets and its ancient spice markets, eating fresh fish on the sea front, and breathing in the sights, sounds and smells of a true Swahili center.

Stone Town was declared a UNESCO cultural heritage site in 2000. It’s charming, but it can sometimes be a challenge to navigate. There are street names, kind of, but no one really uses them. However, on the bright side, Stone Town is small and safe, and not knowing where you’re going is part of the adventure and experience. The locals are helpful, so feel free to ask for directions as many times as you want, but sometimes it’s better to just go with it and let yourself get lost.

FOOD IN ZANZIBAR

Over its history Zanzibar has had many rulers and its long, tragic history is responsible for one of Africa’s most interesting cuisines. A tasty mash-up of Indian, Arab, Chinese, Portuguese and African cooking traditions, all driven by the constant presence of spice (these are known as the Spice Islands, after all, where cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and nutmeg come straight from the source.), this is the original fusion food! Be sure to sample African ugali, Indian chapatti, Swahili curries, and eat as much of their fresh seafood as possible. Keep an eye out for specialties like octopus curry and urojo, a turmeric and coconut-based soup with crispy fritters and spiced potatoes that seems to have the island’s entire history contained within its broth. If you want to try to reproduce these recipes when you get home, head to the Darajani market at the main Bazaar, where the locals shop – but get there early, before the weather gets too hot.

ZANZIBAR CULTURE

In Zanzibar, life moves slowly (pole pole in Swahili). Things don’t always make sense, they don’t always work, or they can take a while so it’s better to enjoy the calm chaos and unhurried pace. Your smoothie might take 45 minutes to appear, but rest assured it will be delicious and well worth the wait.

In Zanzibar, you’re allowed to drink, and it’s also permissible to wear beach clothes in the right places. Having said that, there are times and places when neither is appropriate. For example, skimpy clothing and overdoing the alcohol while Stone Town is best avoided. There are bars in Stone Town, and you can also drink in tourist and expat restaurants or in the fancier hotels in town or on the coast, but you should remember that your waiter probably does not drink, so be patient and kind if their wine-bottle opening isn’t as graceful as you’re used to. There are only a couple stores in Stone Town that sell alcohol, and it’s a good idea to bring your own bag so you’re not seen with a bottle of gin or vodka on the streets.

Drinking is not just for beach bars and rooftops - the local tea scene is a great way to meet people that live on the islands. Most tea stands or carts start serving once the sun has gone down so be sure to try the tangawizi (ginger) chai and, if possible, add vanilla. Taking a mug of hot and spicy tea to the side of a road is a fun way to people watch. If you’re in Stone Town, ask for the nearest Babu Chai, and someone should be able to point you in the right direction.

Taraab music, from Arabic tariba (‘to be moved’), blends African, Arabic and Indian influences. Typically, a Taraab orchestra combines Western and traditional local instruments, including an accordian, a violin, a kanun, a nay and drums, plus a singer. You’ll find these groups playing at different venues around Stone Town.

NIGHTLIFE IN ZANZIBAR

When you first arrive, Stone Town can seem scary at night. The dimly-lit narrow streets and back alleys aren’t really inviting to people prone to aimless wandering. But don’t let the travel advisories for extra caution after nightfall keep you in your room. Stone Town’s nightlife is bustling, with kids playing, couples strolling, and people feasting everywhere. The centrally located night market, Forodhani Gardens, is jam packed with locals and tourists tasting the many fresh food stalls. Avoid the skewers of shellfish, which may have been sitting out in the sun all day, and instead go for grilled Indian spiced chicken and Zanzibar pizza with fresh sugar cane juice.

DIVING AND OTHER WATER SPORTS

Tanzania is known for its amazing safaris, but Zanzibar is not the Serengeti. Here, the wildlife is all underwater. With reefs surrounding the islands, Zanzibar is a prime destination for diving. The water temperatures are warm, visibility is typically excellent, the currents are weak and there’s a great abundance of colorful fish, all of which makes for an ideal location for beginner divers. On the North and East coasts, many of the larger resorts have professionally-run dive shops on-site. Please note that qualified divers must produce their certification and a log book.

If you make it to the islands, try and visit one of the many centers offering scuba diving training courses, and views of the coral and Indian Ocean life. But please take note that overfishing and lack of environmental oversight have damaged many of Zanzibar’s best reefs. Some of the best snorkeling can be found on Chumbe Island, a protected marine park about a ten-minute drive and 45-minute boat ride out of Stone Town.

If you’re not interested in diving you can go sailing on a dhow cruise, or try your hand at kayaking, snorkeling, waterskiing, windsurfing, parasailing, jet-skiing, kiteboarding and other water activities.

WEATHER IN ZANZIBAR

Just like the mainland, Zanzibar has two rainy seasons. Every year, there are the long rains and the short rains. On the heels of the hot East African summer, Zanzibar’s long rainy season lasts roughly from March until May. Booking a trip during this period if you’re set on a beach holiday will give you less tourists but you will very likely experience some rain. The short rains generally take place between November and December, but aren’t nearly as intense—they tend to show up in short and torrential bursts, then quickly fade back to blue skies.

WHERE TO STAY IN ZANZIBAR

Zanzibar has a handful of East Africa’s most luxurious resorts, which can be a bit jarring in contrast to what is an otherwise quiet and poor island (the average local earns less than $1 a day). If you’re looking for a beach escape with other Westerners, you should head north to Nungwi and Kendwa, where you’ll find the same all-inclusive packages you’d find in most other warm parts of the world. It is a busy area with a bustling nightlife. For a more Zanzibari experience, check out quieter towns like Paje or Jambiani where the rhythms of village life will mix with your slice of island paradise.

5 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ZANZIBAR:

1. Zanzibar is not a single island; it’s a group of islands just off the coast of East Africa. The two large main islands are Pemba and Unguja. Unguja is sometimes incorrectly referred to as “Zanzibar”. 
2. The Anglo-Zanzibar War between the Zanzibar Sultanate and the United Kingdom on August 27, 1896 lasted only 38 to 45 minutes before there was a ceasefire. This makes it the shortest war in history.
3. The lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, was born in Zanzibar in 1946. His birth name was Farouk Bulsara.
4. In 1973 Zanzibar was the first country in Africa to have color television. 
5. Zanzibar is called The Spice Islands because its main economic activity, after tourism, is spice exports – primarily, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and black pepper. 

Tanzania Safari Reviews and Testimonials: Sababu Safaris

LORETTA M. // LONDON, UK

February 2020

From start to end, a perfect personally tailored adventure close to the heart of Tanzania! We have just returned from our amazing 6 days private safari with Sababu.  From the very beginning when planning our trip, Denise at Sababu was a pleasure to deal with, quick and on-point to reply to us, prompt to answer all of our questions and offering great expert insights on what would suit us best according to our budget and expectations. We felt part of the family from the start.

We chose Sababu exactly for that, to go beyond the big corporate Safari groups and be closer to the heart of Tanzania, its nature and its people, too.

The itinerary tailor-made for us was just perfect, the suggestions offered on accommodation and the well planned out days were just a perfect balance between adventure and some more relaxed times. Each day was different with the complete option to change our schedule if and when we felt the need to.

Robert (our guide) was an incredible source of information on all aspects of the animals and their habitat! He is such an experienced and incredible guide. He was always happy to answer all of our questions about the wildlife and the many questions we had on the history of Tanzania and Africa. He was an absolute pleasure to spend time with and we learnt so much from him and shared many laughing moments together.

We felt extremely safe all along our trip and the amazing off-road experiences we had. Rob knew where to go and when to go to show us the best places to see the animals and incredible  scenery. We saw all the animals we wanted to and got some incredible photos as Rob knew where to locate them all. We couldn’t have asked for a  better guide and company. Thank you Rob sincerely for making our safari so special and we will always remember our fun time together; we had an adventure and fulfilled our life time dream of doing a Safari.

The ethical conscious approach of Sababu gave us the opportunity to contribute back to the country we visited, too. During our Safari we visited a Masai village and handed out solar lights which was an unforgettable experience.

SABABU and their team gave us the trip of our lifetime. Their eco-conscious ethic and friendly approach was beyond welcoming to a country which will always be in our hearts. We are very glad to have chosen Tanzania for our first Safari, an amazing country with such amazing nature from the Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater to the sandy beaches of Zanzibar, and we can not recommend enough to others that they should use SABABU, as they travel with a purpose and bring an adventure to your bucket list! Go for it, as you will not regret it!!

All About Tanzania, One Of The Best Safari Destinations In The World

Tanzania, one of the premier destinations for a safari in the world, is the 2nd largest country in East Africa. It is actually a combination of two regions/states: the mainland, formerly known as Tanganyika and Zanzibar Island with its clusters.

Almost a third of Tanzania’s land is set aside for national parks, conservation areas, game reserves, and controlled and protected areas. Of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa, three are located in Tanzania: the Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti National Park (with its Great Migration!) and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Tanzania also boasts six World Heritage Sites: the three named above, the ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani, the Selous Game Reserve (the biggest game reserve in Africa) and Zanzibar’s Stone

Town. Tanzania’s famous islands of Zanzibar, Mafia Island and Pemba also attract many tourists to their renowned beaches and diving locations. Kiswahili and English are the official languages. The terms Kiswahili and Swahili are used interchangeably, although the term Swahili normally refers to the people while Kiswahili refers to the language. Originating along the coast, Kiswahili is a Bantu language with many words derived from Arabic. Other African languages such as Bantu and those of Nilo-Hamitic and Khoisan origin are also spoken in the more remote regions.

The currency of Tanzania is the Shilling (TZS). As of this writing, one US dollar is equal to approximately 2,26 TZS and one Euro is equal to approximately 2,54 TZS.

Tanzania is one of the best safari destinations in the world. The Serengeti boasts the highest density of wildlife anywhere in Africa, half of all lions remaining in Africa can be found in Tanzania and the Selous Game Reserve has the largest population of wild dogs. The northern circuit can get quite busy, but the southern parks are relatively unknown so it’s possible to enjoy a more intimate safari experience.

Traveling to Tanzania? These Are The Places You MUST VIsit

From snow-capped peaks to safaris and paradise-like islands, Tanzania is reveling in its status of being a hot destination for both luxurious and adventurous travelers. With the help of the experts at Sababu Safaris here are some spots you should definitely consider including in your itinerary:

NORTHERN CIRCUIT

Serengeti National Park
 Serengeti National Park offers the classic African safari setting. The migration of millions of wildebeest and zebra starts here. The vast expanse of grasslands makes the Serengeti a fantastic for spot to potentially witness a lion or cheetah kill because you can see the whole spectacle clearly. The best time to go is between July and October, but you can't really go wrong any time of the year. A hot-air balloon ride at dawn is a truly magnificent experience.

Tarangire National Park
 During dry season Tarangire has one of Tanzania's highest concentrations of wildlife. It's an excellent location for those who love watching elephants, zebra, giraffe, impala, and wildebeest. Tarangire is also a good place to enjoy walking safaris and an excellent birding destination. Be ready to swat tsetse flies here, at certain times of the year they can get annoying. 

Lake Manyara
 This national park is located in both the Arusha and Manyara regions of Tanzania. It’s known as an excellent place to spot wildlife, especially flamingos. If you visit during the wet season you’ll get to see around 300 different species of migratory birds but when the lake waters turn into mud-flats during the dry season you can also see elephants, hippos and giraffe.

Ngorongoro Crater and Conservation Area
 The Ngorongoro Conservation area borders the Serengeti and includes the world's largest intact caldera which contains almost every species of wildlife found in East Africa, including the extremely rare black rhino. Here you'll witness some of the densest population of wildlife in the world and it's an amazing place to take memorable photos. The Maasai still live within the conservation area, and it's also home to Oldupai where some of the man's earliest remains have been found.

Lake Natron 
A soda lake at the base of the active Ol Donyo Lengai volcano (the only volcano in the world to produce black lava), the area around Lake Natron is often described as having a desolate and almost lunar beauty. Lake Natron is found in the northern part of Tanzania, close to the Kenyan border. It is the most important breeding site for Lesser Flamingos in the world. They are able to overcome the strong alkaline content of the lake, and flock to its shallow waters annually to breed and feed on the lake's blue-green algae.

Mount Kilimanjaro
 Mount Kilimanjaro, at 5.895m (19,336 ft) the tallest freestanding mountain in the world, is actually a dormant volcano with three volcanic cones (Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira). It’s also a beautiful and imposing place where you’ll get to see many diverse levels of flora and fauna. There are agricultural fields at the base of the mountain followed by rainforests, fresh meadows, desert and when you finally reach the top, you have chance of seeing snow.

ZANZIBAR

Zanzibar is one of Tanzania's top destinations because of its fascinating past and its beautiful beaches. Famous for its spices, Zanzibar used to be a slave trading post under its Arab rulers. Zanzibar's capital, Stone Town, is a World Heritage site and contains beautiful houses, a Sultan's palace, narrow alleyways and plenty of mosques. Some of the nearby islands offer paradise for the luxury traveler with Mnemba Island being idyllic for a romantic vacation.

Mnemba Island
 You couldn’t get any more beautiful and romantic than this tiny heart-shaped island. Mnemba is just off the East coast of Zanzibar and caters to the luxury traveler. With its beautiful lodge style accommodations Mnemba is the perfect place for a romantic getaway. The surrounding waters are also full of marine life with regular sightings of large schools of fish, turtles and dolphins. If you’re not staying on the island, you can easily take a day trip and snorkel along its beautiful beaches.

Mafia Island 
With fewer than 1,000 visitors per year, Mafia Island is an undiscovered Tanzanian gem with a Swahili culture unspoiled by tourism. It is one of the best places to snorkel, deep-sea fish or dive in Africa. Most of the island and its beaches have been designated as a marine park. You can watch whale sharks, turtles, and many other species of wildlife.

WESTERN TANZANIA

Mahale Mountains National Park 
Located on the shoreline of Lake Tanganyika, Mahale Mountains National Park is one of the best places in the world for close encounters with chimpanzees. It’s also a beautiful place where green forested mountains cascade down to the lake shore, clear waters lap against white sand coves and Mount Nkungwe can be seen in the background. Besides the large chimp population the mountains are also home to other primates.

Katavi National Park 
Katavi is one of the top wildlife destination in Africa. It is beautiful, unspoiled and full of animals but is located in the very remote Western part of Tanzania, which makes it great to visit if you're looking for a unique safari experience. There are only two camps and you can only get there via light aircraft. Katavi is best to visit from June to October (dry season) when the pools can be filled with thousands of hippos.

SOUTHERN TANZANIA

Ruaha National Park
 Ruaha is remote and full of wildlife. There are lions, cheetah, leopard, and almost every other African mammal you'd like to see, particularly elephants. The park is home to the Great Ruaha River and during the dry season (from July to December) you can enjoy some spectacular game viewing.

Selous Game Reserve
 The Selous is Africa's largest reserve, a world heritage site, and not as crowded as the Serengeti. Among its wildlife you will see lots of hippos, crocodiles, elephants, cheetahs, black rhinos and African hunting dogs. The Selous swamps, rivers and wetlands allow travelers to go on their safari by boat, which is a big attraction but walking safaris are also popular and you can enjoy night drives as well. Accommodations are limited but they all offer a very intimate and unique safari experience. 

Wellness Tourism In Africa

The wellness tourism industry has seen a shift from experiential travel to transformational travel. And the transformational aspect has become less about "me" but more about "we". More travelers are interested in authentic experiences that also give back to the local communities. We can only be truly well if the communities and the places we visit are also well. Denise Brown of Sababu Safaris talks about the growth in this sector of travel and tourism.

Learn more about "wellness in the wilderness".

Transformational Travel - Social Impacts Of Journeys Abroad

Want to Help Someone? Shut up and listen! is an excellent TEDX talk by Ernesto Sirolli regarding working abroad for charities. Whether someone is setting up a business, charity, or both -- there exists fundamental problems with how Westerners, in particular, help. In this talk, he points out that many supporters either patronize or are paternalistic towards the communities they are supposed to serve. And they often do this without understanding the history, needs, or region’s current state of affairs. This is a template for failure.

In order for any program to be successful, however, & paraphrasing Ernesto Sirolli, you never arrive in a community with any ideas, instead you sit with the local people. You don't work from offices, you meet at the cafe or a pub. You have zero infrastructure. Instead you become friends, and you find out what the person you want to help wants to do. You don't come in as a hero, you come in as a sidekick.

Denise Brown, Co-Founder and Sales & Marketing Director and Robert Tarimo, Co-Founder and Operations Director of Sababu Safaris are exemplifying this practice in the Safari Industry.


Who are you? What is your organization/business/performance? Who are the clientele/audience that you hope to serve/ help? And why is diversity important to such clientele/audience?
I am Denise Brown, Co-Founder of Sababu Safaris. We are a small safari business operating in Tanzania (with an office in New York) that aims to unite safari guests with local communities to build bridges, foster understanding and ultimately make a difference in their lives. We want to give our guests the opportunity to easily do good while they’re having the time of their lives on safari.

We think it’s important for visitors to not only experience Tanzania’s beautiful scenery and amazing wildlife that is unparalleled in the safari world but to also get to know the human side of Tanzania. This is what made me fall in love with the country in the first place. Tanzania’s people are some of the warmest, kindest, happiest and most welcoming and graceful human beings you will ever encounter in your life. And what struck me the most when I first visited the country was that little to no effort is required on our end to make a positive impact in their lives.

Some people might argue that a white savior complex might play a role here, which is a reasonable assumption. However, I didn't come here to lead but to listen and learn. My business partner and our co-founder, Robert Tarimo, is Tanzanian and has lived there all his life. Together, we want to support and work with local projects that are mostly run by the Tanzanian community. We do not claim to know the answers to all the problems, but communities have a pretty good idea of what they need to be able to help themselves. And we just want to support those existing efforts – together with our guests.


What is it that your organization/performance does? What does it hope to accomplish? What is its purpose/mission? How does diversity concepts tie into it? 
Our mission is to use responsible travel experiences to raise awareness of and support successful community projects in Tanzania. We want to create a win-win situation: on the one hand guests will be able to immerse themselves in the Tanzanian culture and gain experiences that will change their hearts and minds and have a long lasting positive impact on them. We believe in the power of transformational travel and how it can be the catalyst to inspire us, touch our souls and make us feel truly connected and alive.

On the other hand, the local communities we support will benefit in two ways. There is the short-term monetary aspect (our guests are charged a fee for their visit(s), which will go directly toward these projects and of which we will not make any profit) and there is the long-term effect we hope to achieve: that our guests will spread the word and maybe even decide to support the project(s) they visited in the long-run, like sponsoring a child and providing for their education, for example.

Where is the office/performance? Where is most of the work done? Is it local? National? International? 
We have offices in both New York and Arusha, Tanzania. All our operations are in Tanzania, since that is where the safaris take place.


When was your performance/organization created? -- i.e. what is some of the history of how this event came about?
 Sababu Safaris was created early this year. I had fallen utterly in love with Tanzania, its awe-inspiring wildlife, spectacular nature and beautiful people, and it was clear to me that I wanted to stay involved and do something on the ground that has meaning. My business partner Robert used to be my guide on my first visit to Tanzania and we became close friends.
We came to the conclusion that we share a brain and – more importantly - a heart, and that is how Sababu Safaris came about. The idea to create Sababu Safaris came naturally and grew organically. Utilizing Robert’s extensive experience in the safari business (over 18 years!) and my own personal experience in event management and in planning amazing experiences was a no brainer. But we wanted to offer more than just “regular” safaris like so many other safari companies do – it had to be something with a purpose and a meaning. And that’s why we decided to call our organization Sababu - the Swahili word meaning “purpose”.


Over time, how have trends in diversity affected your organization/performance? 
That is tough to answer, since we are such a young enterprise. But there is a clear trend in the travel industry toward transformational travel experiences. People want more than just a simple visit to a new destination and crave an authentic, meaningful and life-changing travel experience. And this involves meeting people from all over the world.


Why was your organization/performance created? What needs does it fulfill? What does it do to promote diversity? 
We created Sababu Safaris because we saw a gap in the safari industry. Most safari companies are all about the wildlife and nature – which is absolutely amazing in and of itself but there aren’t a lot of opportunities for visitors to authentically connect with the communities on a deeper level. You land at the airport, get into your safari vehicle, do your safari and return to the airport afterwards but other than being with your guide, you won’t get to interact much with the local population nor will you get a better idea of the true Tanzanian way of life that exists outside the National Parks.

Most safari companies offer to take you to a local Maasai village on the side of the road but these aren’t authentic; sadly, many of them have been commercialized. These visits also usually only take about a half hour, and you will be pushed to buy some bead work. There is nothing authentic about that. We want to show people EVERYTHING Tanzania has to offer and that includes its culture and people –but it has to be done in a genuine way.

Meeting the people in the community and getting to know them and their way of life puts your own life into perspective and might change your view on others back home. It might open your heart to those around you that you might not have previously connected with in your home town. If travel shifts our perspectives of the world, of our self and others, then we will shift our behavior. Ideally those behavioral shifts are positive shifts. When you have positive behavioral changes, they trickle down to those around you, including family, friends and the community.


How does it accomplish it goals? How can someone help the organization/performance? 
We accomplish our goals every single time we take our guests on safari with us. Every single time we connect our guests with the local communities we hope to change their hearts and minds and to make a difference in the lives of everyone involved.

*Article and Interview by Christine Fischer.