Zanzibar - how did you get there, where did you stay?
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Anonymous
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We will be there for 3 days after climbing Mt Kilimanjaro early next year. Is that enough time for touring, shopping and snorkeling? What is the best way to get there? Please also recommend a hotel with character and comfort.
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Anonymous
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fly from Arusha, for sure. If you want to relax AND shop/tour you probably need to split up your stay - stay in Stonetown to tour and shop, check out markets, etc., and head out to a beach resort for the other.
we stayed at what used to be emerson and green, now 236 Hurumzi, in Stonetown. A 10 in character, probably a 7 in comfort (not a western style hotel with great water pressure and fluffy towels for ex.): http://www.i-escape.com/236-hurumzi/overview. If you're willing to accept holiday in comfort I'd highly recommend. We had a similar experience at Matemwe Beach - lovely, real "corona commercial" beach, but not exquisite comfort. I think you could find that elsewhere if you wanted but we wanted local charm. Also look carefully about snorkeling - IIRC there wasn't much to see in that area - we went diving but they drove us out to another location to catch the boat. Jealous, so jealous... we loved Zanz. |
Anonymous
| that was supposed to be "holiday inn" comfort, as opposed to Ritz Carleton... |
Anonymous
| PP again - this about sums up our experience in Stonetown - and was also the booking agent we used: http://www.africatravelresource.com/africa/tanzania/c/zanzibar/stonetown/236-hurumzi/ |
Anonymous
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Dear PP: thank you so much for all the information! We will check out 236 Hurumzi.
Zanzibar always evoke a far away exotic place in my mind. Can not believe I will be meandering there soon 
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Anonymous
| OP here again: did you get the yellow fever shot? |
Anonymous
I had it from a previous trip to the amazon basin, so I dont recall if it was necessary for Zanz - sorry! But I dont remember it being a big deal, i.e., painful or icky side effects. As I recall, too, we took malaria meds because we were on safari but at the time there was no evidence of malaria on the island. May have changed and my memory may be wrong, but since you will be climbing Kili I dont know if you will need malaria meds. There were, however, definitely skeeters on Zanzibar, so you might want your spray and/or permethrin treated clothing. At any rate, definitely go to a good travel clinic and have them run a report for you. I use Farragut Clinic downtown for all my travels - convenient to my office and very good. Have a great trip! |
Anonymous
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Enjoy it -- Zanzibar is a special place.
Be prepared for the ferry ride from Dar, though. When we crossed over, it was smooth sailing and gorgeous. On the way back, they handed us two barf bags as we boarded. And most of the passengers used them. I actually, literally kissed the ground when we finally landed.
But, still, worth it! |
Anonymous
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i have been to Zanzibar on a couple of occasions now, and i have found that it is a beautiful place, i would highly recommend it to anyone . in response to your question i flew over, if you have not yet booked i would recommend these chaps for some good holiday packages in Zanzibar, i hope this helps and if you have already booked, i wish you all the best!
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