A Year in Dar: Weekend in Zanzibar

We have gradually become aware of how much low grade stress our last two months have involved. Yes, our apartment is a refugee but outside of it everything else is stressful. One is admonished to keep their wits about them when out on the street in Dar. At all costs you should avoid looking lost, confused or indecisive. Whenever you are at Muhimbili, in a store, walking to work or anywhere outside you are "on". People stare at you because you stick out as a foreigner or "mzungu" as they call us here. You are more an object of curiosity than of derision or resentment.

The irony is that most of the time you ARE actually confused! Dialog inside your head ranges from the benign such as "Do I ask for a bill and pay here or go over there to pay" to the more sinister "Is he talking to me" or "Why are they laughing?" You want to trust what you are told but cannot be sure that you are not being taken advantage of or worse. It is a common phenomenon in foreign lands that most of us have experienced. You get the picture.

We chose to go to Zanzibar, a fascinating island archipelago off the eastern coast of Tanzania for a three day weekend. It joined Tanzania politically in 1961 but is semi-autonomous and culturally distinct. It was the seat of Arab trade with East Africa and heavily Muslim today. Much about Zanzibar is widely considered to be exotic. It's unique history and culture as well as its beautiful beaches and reefs drives tourism, its primary industry. We were not looking for this side of the island but rather hankered to be where we could go outside and sit on the beach without being hassled. We hankered to be "off" and found the ideal place to do this in Pumzika Beach Resort on the extreme southeastern part of the island near Makunduchi.

The sleek Kilimanjaro 4 that took us to Zanzibar from downtown Dar

Downtown Dar from the harbor

Upanga, where we live, as we left Dar

Dar's Fish Market where fisherman pull their boats onto the shore and take their fish directly up to the market

Ferry boarding pass. This is "on".

Two hours later we disembarked in StoneTown which is famous for it's small alley-like streets, markets and elaborately carved doors. Our driver immediately plunged into it in order to take a "shortcut". It was a breathtaking ride.

Yes. We went straight ahead here in a big Toyota. The walls of houses and shops were very close on either side.

Stonetown shops

Small shops

Outside a market

Most women were in a full length dresses with headscarves, many with veils.

After an hour and a half ride we entered our resort, Pumzika Beach Resort. In Kiswahili, pumzika means "to relax". The grounds were meticulously maintained and gorgeous. The owner/operators are a Swiss couple, a nurse and a vet, who have developed the place over the past 5 years. Guests stay in round villas with individual breakfast areas outside and enclosed upper decks with ocean views. Everything has been designed and built by them using local materials and labor and is executed so as to be environmentally low impact. Walls enclose the property. We inquired and were told that if your land does not have a wall around it in Zanzibar you do not own it!

The grounds are patrolled by two Masai warriors who live on the grounds amongst the guest villas and wield traditional weapons with effect we were assured. The safety and freedom we felt were refreshing after the security consciousness one needs when out in public in Dar. All the staff live on site giving this resort a very unique feel. There was one other couple there during our stay. It was extremely private and relaxing. All meals were prepared by the owner, a gourmet chef.

PBR Entrance

Our bungalow

Balcony ocean view

Private beach

Beach front platform

High tide view from water. Platform is mid-picture.

One of many murals painted on villa walls by local artists

The mural is signed simply "Mr Songa". I found the imagery very kinetic and uniquely African.

Breakfast outside our bungalow with hot freshly baked bread, fresh fruit salad and an assortment of locally sourced jams and jellies.

Our evening meals were all four courses. This was a salad one evening. Everything is local and fresh. the offerings were creative and delicious. Our cold soup one evening was pumpkin with watermelon juice added. Another evening it was cold beet soup with a banana puree. Mmm...

At low tide the distinctive feature was the dark mounds of rocks filling the near edge of the lagoon. These are placed by local women in order to weigh down coconuts in the water as part of a sisal rope manufacturing business they individually operate. See the video clip below. The lagoon was filled with these for about 30 yards off the shore line.

Local women extracting and drying sisal from the coconuts that have been soaking in the lagoon for 3 months. The work is laborious. They literally beat them open in order to free the sisal which is then dried in the breeze. The sisal is then woven into sisal rope and sold.

Inside the bungalow. The mosquito nets proved unnecessary given the continual breeze but were much appreciated. The bungalows are round and spacious.

Sand crabs were in abundance and watched us warily whenever we went beach walking. The surf is very gentle as this is the inland edge of a large lagoon created by a reef about 1000 meters off the beach.