Tanzania
Zanzibar & Mnemba Island
From June 8th to June 11th, 2023
Day 1
We flew in from Frankfurt to Nairobi, Kenya on Lufthansa Airlines. We met Norm & Julia at the Frankfurt airport and arrived in Nairobi around 9pm. The drive to our Hotel Hemingways was about 1 hour, and by the time we got to the hotel it was 10pm and all we could do after a long day of travel was head to sleep.
We woke up at 4:50am the next morning, loaded into the car at 5am, drove an hour back to Nairobi airport. We didn’t know beforehand, but halfway through the journey back into Nairobi we had to get out of the car to cross a security checkpoint via foot. Only cars with solo drivers were allowed to cross the checkpoint. Once we all crossed over and our bags checked the scanner test, we hopped back into the vehicle and were on our way. Our driver educated us that apparently the security checkpoint was set up when Obama went to Africa originally, and they never took it down.
We made it to the airport and had to go through security again before entering the airport. After going through that security check, we then went through another round of security for the actual airlines. After we passed that check, then we went through again for our checks through immigration (we were leaving Kenya and going into Zanzibar).
We flew Kenya Air 1.5 hours from Nairobi to Zanzibar. We landed in Zanzibar and were greeted by Julius, a very friendly local who helped us gather our luggage and find our way to our transport. The drive through Zanzibar was a colorful one. We saw many things, many people at work (wood carving, construction, etc), kids walking to/from school, people cycling goods from 1 place to another, many people sitting outside their shops of all shapes and sizes, kids swimming in water, petrol tankers waiting to fill up their tanks, farmers selling corn, potatoes, spices and bananas roadside, women carrying their babies, tires for sale, fish for sale, birds (ducks, chickens, doves, pigeons, etc) for eating, clothes hanging from clothes-lines, doors for sale, fans for sale… anything you can think of for sale.
After the 1.5 hour drive halfway across the island to the north we made it near Muyuni Beach and waited for our boat ride over to Mnemba Island. Almost there! We were surprised to understand that we needed to walk through the beach and sand to reach the boat. So we picked up our roller bags and walked as best we could to the boat. We had to take our sneakers off, roll up our pants, and hop aboard the boat to make it to paradise on Mnemba island; a 15 minute boat ride away.
At around 10am we settled in our beautiful indoor/outdoor rooms. We walked around the entire circumference of the island that was all but 30 minutes. The tide was low so we had a lot of sandbars in our path and it was beautiful to see. There were crabs digging holes all over the island and we enjoyed our warm and humid walk around the island with a crisp glass of white wine.
At 1pm it was lunchtime and we had big appetites for fish tacos, chicken tacos, prawn won tons, beer, and polished it all off with churros and chocolate.
It just so happened that the day we arrived is also when a nest of green sea turtles were ready to ‘hatch’ and make their first dash into the ocean. At 3pm we walked over to the nest area and watched as the island conservationists uncovered the nest and encouraged the little turt-lings to wake up and start their descent into the water. About 82 baby turtles came out of the hole and all raced to the water. It was such an amazing sight to see in person and just feet away from all the action.
After the baby turtle excitement we were set up for sunset cocktails in front of our room. Rajab, our butler, set up a table, chairs, and libations for us to enjoy while we watched the sun go down our first night. We had red wine, white wine, margaritas and beer. It was a great way to wind down with the day.
Dinner that night was a BBQ style and we headed to the main eating area to join the other hotel guests (there were only 6 others) for the fire grilled dinner. The food choices included salads, meats, fish, lobster, prawns, potatoes, vegetables and a delicious traditional naan like bread.
Day 2
In the morning we woke up to baby antelope ‘outside’ our room. There are hundreds on the island and they look like baby Bambis walking around. After an incredible breakfast spread (yogurts, fruits, healthy juices, eggs to order, etc) we went for scuba training with Rob around 10am. After an hour or so of introductory scuba lessons we went out for some water training in the shallow water around 11am. Most of the training was about breathing under water, taking off your mask underwater, understanding hand signals, and what to do in case of emergency,
We came back to the main area for lunch at 1 and a nice sushi lunch was prepared with king fish, tuna, more prawn, chicken sushi (a new one), and egg.
For our second dive we went into the deeper water, about 20 meters and Norm & Julia went snorkeling around the area at the same time. We did more scuba lessons underwater with removing our mask, losing our air, finding our emergency respirator, and running through other underwater scenarios.
We wrapped up and were back on the beach by 6pm for another lovely evening of sunset cocktails. At 7:30 we headed over to dinner and were surprised that our table was set up in the ‘forest’ behind our room. Paper bag lanterns were all around the floor, fairy lights were hanging from the trees and the table was decorated with candles. Rajab strikes again!
Because of the forest excitement, we did go to bed a little later this night and around 11:30pm we got a call to the room to let us know that a turtle had come ashore to lay her eggs. We were able to join the conservationists if we wanted to see the circle of life in action. We missed seeing the turtle laying the eggs, but we did get to see two turtles covering their nests after they had already laid their eggs. One of the turtles got stuck in the trees, but we helped clear the space for her to make it down to sea. A beautiful way to end the evening!
Day 3
We woke up around 8am for yoga and were feeling a little slow and maybe a little hungover. We went through an hour of restorative yoga before heading to breakfast for fuel. Another fabulous breakfast spread helped us recover a little before we had our dive lesson for the day at 11am. We brought our PADI books and took the tests after each chapter so our divemaster Rob could gauge how much we had learned. We went out into the water after taking the test, this time down to 40 meters, with a few more emergency drills, face mask tests, and hand signal recognition.
Came back in for lunch around 1pm and had sesame grilled local fish and salad. We went out for our second and final 2:30pm, and this time we were able to just relax and enjoy the dive; no tests. We saw an octopus, stingray, at least 10 lion fish, cucumber fish, needle fish, flute fish, small yellow box fish, 2 different eels, looked like watersnakes, feather plant, plenty of coral, hovering sand fish, clown fish, and plenty more.
We came in by 4pm for massages and a dhow sailboat ride around the island. The dhow boat ride felt very authentic and serene. After the ride we made it back to shore to catch a 6pm baby turtle hatching from another nest. This time 62 baby turtles emerged and we even got to handle the turtles and help (with gloves on, of course).
We had dinner on the beach that night, a meal of spinach risotto, eggplant & cheese, chicken soup, grilled fish and chicken. They brought out a message board that had a congratulations message for Max and I for passing our dive certifications and becoming scuba divers!
Day 4
After a hearty lunch, we left midday to head back to Zanzibar and then back to Nairobi. We drove 1.5 hours to Abeid Amani Karume International Airport. Halfway through the drive we were stopped on the side of the road for about 15 minutes because of a military escort motorcade driving through town.
Here’s a look at what the rest of our African Safari trip looks like:
June 11th-12th - Nairobi (Hemingways)
June 12th-14th - Maasai Mara (Angama Mara)
June 14th-15th - Kigali (The Retreat)
June 15th-17th - Volcanos Park (Sabyinyo)
June 17th-18th - Kigali (The Retreat)
June 18th-21st - Cape Town (One and Only)
June 21st-23rd - Franschhoek (Leeu House)
June 23rd-25th - Sabi Sand (Singita Ebony)
June 25th-27th - Victoria Falls (River Lodge)
June 27th-29th - Moremi (Wilderness Mombo)
June 29th-July 1st - Okavango Delta (Vumbura)
July 1st-3rd - Linyanti Concession (DumaTau)
July 3rd-4th - Johannesburg (Four Seasons)
July 4th-8th - Seychelles (Six Senses)