SANSIBAR Chapter 1 - 'Hakuna Matata!'

Jambo!

Or as they say in Berlin:

'Grüß Gott'.

Here we are... In East Africa... At one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

Maybe it's even THE most beautiful one... You can't imagine how amazing the sand feels here. 

B-u-t-t-e-r-y soft! 

The beach is several kilometers long and so bright white that it blinds the eyes. It feels like (or maybe it really is) 48 degrees and without the stiff breeze blowing through the palm trees, it would probably be suicide to be outside. 

I think even the sun can't handle the African climate.

Right now, it's hiding behind thick clouds.

The Indian Ocean has retreated from the shore by about 2 kilometers, it's low tide. 

(just like in our wallets after this vacation) 

In the distance, the sea sparkles in all shades of turquoise. It's incredibly beautiful! 

We see women harvesting seaweed. 

Hear men busy hammering on their fishing boats.

Smell the fresh sea air and enjoy idleness.

We have been in paradise for 24 hours now.

Now let me tell you about the journey here and what we experienced before:

Oh... Before we start, a short WARNING - because I'm realistic... And most of you know me. I have never been to this continent. Everything is new. And even if I would TRY to keep it short, I probably won't and will keep you occupied with the most trivial of trivialities over maany paragraphs. For all those who don't feel like reading, go back to the top and just look at the pictures - that's okay too. 

To all those who continue reading, I want to say:

It's your own fault! But don't complain afterwards. ;) 

_______________________________

Finally away from the hysterical corona frenzy. 

Finally sun on our skin. 

Finally salt in our hair and sand between our toes. 

That was our mantra for the past few months and suddenly, I, who never paid much attention to Africa, wanted to go nowhere else. Maybe it was all the dreams with lions that I suddenly had more often, or some other inspiration, but Tanzania was suddenly burned into my brain. 

I gave up on the safari that I had longed for so much. 

As long as they don't accept kidneys as a means of payment, it's just not financially feasible unfortunately. 

But I wanted to see this dream island at all costs. And even if it's not as cheap as you might think when you think of Africa, it's worth every cent or rather shilling. Speaking of shilling. Basically, we were already millionaires here. The largest note here is a 10,000 shilling note and you get that when you exchange just under 4 euros. You can imagine how many hundreds of thousands we are carrying around. 

So... There's not much to say about the flight from Berlin. Except that it was with QATAR. Very well known and one of the best airlines, as they say, although I have never booked with them. But traveling in these crazy times is associated with a lot of struggle and I heard that Qatar is (still) very relaxed about it, so there weren't many other options anyway. We flew from BER. It was like working on a sloth farm, but in the end everything went well and we were able to check in. 

Man, you should have heard what passengers with other destinations had to bring with them and consider in advance.

Someone went around the line in advance and asked everyone where they were flying to. Pakistan, Maldives, Korea, Dubai... Everything was there... Everyone needed AT LEAST the Covid test. But many also needed the written confirmation that they had health insurance abroad and that it would cover any potential Corona infection.

Others had to show exactly where they would stay and still others had to download a very specific app. (What exactly for - I don't know.) I had the feeling that people had to strip naked. 

How much money do you have with you? How much money does your mother have, your grandmother, and what does your dog eat for breakfast. What is your zodiac sign and will you donate your organs. 

Boy oh boy, there was so much paperwork everywhere and frantic rustling from all sides that I got nervous myself, even though I wasn't affected at all. 

Because when it was our turn, we were asked briefly. 

'To ZANZIBAR?! Oh, then I don't want to see anything. There are no regulations for Tanzania.' 

We knew that and were still reassured. It also confirmed to us that we had chosen the right holiday destination. 

So we had 2x 6 hours of flying ahead of us. The first one was okay. The second one, which was overnight, was only so-so. I don't need to go into detail now... But every time I think about it, I think I should invest in business class flights. Someday... Right after the red Ferrari...  

So, when we were finally released from the plane after 3 movies and a not so tasty breakfast, we were really happy. And hey. I thought Thailand was crazy. But my goodness (Japanese saying) - the African climate is completely different. It was only 7 o'clock in the morning and the humidity already felt like 9001%. 

But I was also quite distracted. Dealing with fatigue and acclimatizing had to wait. This airport - I had never seen anything like it. Those who have been to Africa know what I mean. Those who haven't may still know. Without wanting to go into too much detail, just one word to describe it:

ORIGINAL! 

All passengers immediately rushed to grab any pieces of paper lying around to scribble on them like crazy. We didn't do anything, as we had already filled out a visa application form on the plane. Also a corona self-declaration. (have you had... fever... headaches... chills... contact with the sick... dizziness... a broken nail... pain in the hair tips in the past 7 days... Well, everything that is important to know for a country where there is officially no corona.) 

Body temperature was measured for everyone and we had to submit the self-declaration along with it. By the way, the bored lady in charge didn't look at the temperature display once, and no one ever looked at the stack for our anamnesis. 

I call that a thorough diagnosis. 

Charming ;)

All in all, it was very busy and bustling there and even though according to an employee, we were standing at the wrong counter and should have filled out the other form as well, no one was interested in it in the end. After quickly noting down our details, we got a new stamp in our passports for $50 and officially obtained a visa for 90 days, and were finally allowed to leave the airport legally. 

Mask off and let's live! 🎈 

Outside, we were immediately overwhelmed. By the air. The heat. The smells. And the noise. People were everywhere. Taxi Taxi - shouts... Raised signs... People trying to convince you to go to the beach with them right away, and so on and so forth. We just wanted to get out of the hustle and bustle for now and take a breath. Me fresh air. Juli, her nicotine. But in the end, we asked a guy if he could drive us to our hotel for a lot of money, which fortunately wasn't too far away. The short ride was quite intense. What we saw there, I only knew from TV in part.

Poverty and desolation were two of the most prevalent words in my mind. But when I saw the sea, I was quickly distracted to be honest. And then the taxi suddenly stopped in front of a house at the port, which compared to the buildings next to it, looked really good. 'good hotel. The best here', the driver mumbled as he lifted our backpacks out of the car. 

Well... Okay... . My hours of research must have been good for something.
At the reception, I was a bit disappointed. I don't know what I was expecting... Probably not a red carpet. But the manager and all the other staff members were so chilly and almost impolite.
But luckily it was only a brief stopover to check this off...
Man, it was exciting to arrive in Zanzibar.
Right outside the hotel was the port.
We just wanted to explore the surroundings a bit.
But there were men everywhere, throwing a Jambo! at us and trying to make contact.
With us, it's like this:
We see a tourist trap and instead of avoiding it, we cheerfully and with a run jump right into it.
After 30 hours of sleep deprivation, completely exhausted and standing next to us, this little walk felt like running the gauntlet.
I just wanted to hide somewhere.
We couldn't take a step without at least 127 guys approaching us.
They all wanted something.
(Your best. Your money.)
And yes, I didn't know any better (well actually I did) and obediently stopped at the first boys and men and pretended half-heartedly to be interested in their tours, while Juli stood tired next to me and urged me to move on.
I don't know how many African numbers I have in my phone now. I will probably need a new SIM card soon. 
I was so relieved when we were back at the hotel.
The room was bigger than our apartment and the bed was calling out to us.
But you know how it is.
Afternoon naps are a bit tricky.
Sometimes you wake up after a few hours and you're completely disoriented.
What time is it? Where am I? And what year is it anyway? Like you've left your own orbit.
So that's how we felt on Valentine's day.
While other couples were having a romantic candlelight dinner, we were looking for ourselves.
But we didn't find ourselves that day.
But we did find crazy people, and as the daylight faded, there seemed to be more and more of them.
Man, where did they all come from?
The tide had also reached the port by now, and where we had just seen the stony and littered seabed far below us, the endlessly long quay wall was now completely surrounded by water.
Hundreds of locals were standing on it, jumping into the port basin in sometimes wild formations. Loudly cheered on by those standing next to them.
God, I was tired.
You have to digest all these impressions first.
That's when I felt the same thing I felt when we were in the green hell.
Some persistent followers of the blog probably know what I mean... And I swear to you, even though we weren't in Thailand and even though the small big-city jungle here can't be compared to the rainforest of Koh Chang... But let's put it this way: we did ask beforehand how long this tour would take. '1 hour. Maybe 90 minutes. But 1 hour, I think.' We were at least 3 times as long on the way and truthfully, at 26000 degrees and a pace as if the guide really had to go to the bathroom urgently, it wasn't so much fun anymore after a while. I was glad when the march was over and we could finally sit down. After a cold Coke, we just had to wait for the pre-ordered taxi, which should take us to our new accommodation. And it did. We were on the road for a good 80 minutes, but we saw so much along the way that it was hard to get bored. At one point, there was a jeep driving in front of us. 4 guys were sitting in the back. When they noticed us, they cheerfully shouted Jambo! and threw us a handful of freshly harvested lychees through the open window. Our driver slowed down and drove in a way that made it possible. Unthinkable in Germany. And folks... When we finally arrived here at our new accommodation... I don't know how to put it into words. Incredibly insane simple. But most of you have probably already seen the video on Facebook. Among all the hotels, guesthouses, rooms, resorts... I have ever booked in the world (and there were many), this is by far the most extreme!!! Admittedly, also the most expensive. But worth every single cent. With this realization, I conclude the 1st chapter of Africa. I thank you for any form of attention and remain with a friendly 'KWAHERI' Or as we say in Berlin: 'see you again!'