Africa // Tanzania, Zanzibar

Written By Mattia Cella

Jambo!

Chiara and I are back for another one of our adventures. This time, one that involves 20 hours of traveling each way - we’ll get to the airlines soon enough…

This year, we opted for Tanzania and Zanzibar; technically, Zanzibar is part of Tanzania, so the title should just read “Tanzania.” That’s right - they are not two separate countries as I once thought!

And to get even more specific: Zanzibar refers to the two islands just outside the mainland: Unguja (the main one, commonly referred to as Zanzibar), and Pemba (just north of Unguja). Well, Chiara and I visited both, so I’ll take you through each of them.

Let’s begin.

*Jambo means Hello in Swahili by the way!

Serious pose in 3, 2, 1….

ITINERARY ↓

  • Terengire → Lake Manyara → Serengeti (x2) → Ngorongoro Crater

    We booked our Safari with Suricata Safris and had the best guide one could ask for, Gorden.*

    *Also called Mister G, Golden and Gordon.

  • We don’t know how we got here. We’ll get to that.

    Pemba is virtually untouched by tourism. Perhaps even more than we expected…

  • Tenchically called Unguja, the Swahili name for Zanzibar.

    Did you know that the mainland used to be under the regime of Unguja? Hard to comprehend, especially considering this island is about 566 times smaller than the mainland.

  • A collection of useful things to know. Honest and transparent.

    A must-read if you are considering to go.

Our 8-stops itinerary across 12 days.

1️⃣ → 5️⃣ - MAINLAND SAFARI

Day 1️⃣ - Terengire National Park

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Day 1️⃣ - Terengire National Park 〰️

We began our day in Arusha, one of Tanzania’s main cities.

As it’s often the case, Chiara and I arrived from two different destinations: Mattia from NYC, Chiara from Milan -but we are planning on changing this!

Here is the sunset from our hotel - perfect scenery to start our safari the following day!

Our tour guide picked us up early in the morning, and we jumped on a safari-designed 2013 Toyota Land Cruiser. This car will be our home for the next 5 mornings and afternoons. Thankfully, not for the nights…

We were a total of 7 people: Smriti & Deepak, Brent, Diogo & Martha, Mattia & Chiara. We got along from the first minute and really enjoyed spending time with each other.

After about a two-hour drive, we got to Terengire National Park.

The park is filled with two giants: elephants and baobabs, some over 1,000 years old!

When we first got in, we started seeing giraffes from afar and kept asking the guide to stop.

But after 20 minutes of driving, we realized they were everywhere and we got veeery close to many of them.

The animal that really caught my eye the most was the ostrich, such a weird bird… did you know that:

  • It can run 70 km/h and has a 5m stride.

  • Its eggs are the largest of any bird, weighing 1.5 kg.

  • Its kick is so powerful it can kill a lion.

This is what we saw in Tarangire National Park: 🐘 - 🦓 - 🐒 - 🦒 - 🦅 - 🦜 - Ostrich emoji (@apple do better).

After some more driving, we stopped for lunch and headed to Suricata Boma Lodge, just in time for sunset. Boma means bungalow, and we all had one for ourselves.

This was our favorite accomodation of the trip, an incredible place nested just above Lake Manyara. Look at this!

Day 2️⃣ - Lake Manyara National Park

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Day 2️⃣ - Lake Manyara National Park 〰️

As a bird enthusiast, this was probably my favorite day. We saw several types of hornbills, eagles, hawks, kingfishers, and more. We also had a very close encounter with a family of lions, which walked right by our car.

I so wanted to see the Bateleur, a medium-sized type of eagle. It was perched on top of a three-branch, almost asking to be photographed. Incredible moment for me.

Fun fact: bateleur means acrobat in French, and this eagle takes its name because of its incredible agility.

Light wasn’t ideal, but look at it in all its splendor! 🦅

Adult male Bateleur eagle perched on top of a tree in Lake Manyara National Park.

Photograph me already!

Here are some more unforgettable moments from the day:

  • Our awesome group

  • A close encounter with a family of lions

  • Our awesome group

  • Some more elephants & baobas

  • Chara & Mattia

The day ended with a swim, beer, pool game, surprise birthday…

And the most intense UNO game of our lives.*

* We still have to agree on the rules.

Day 3️⃣ & 4️⃣ - Serengeti National Park

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Day 3️⃣ & 4️⃣ - Serengeti National Park 〰️

  • Day 3️⃣ - Lake Manyara → Serengeti

I can see why Serengeti is among the most popular safari destinations in the world.

An infinitely vast plain full of all the most incredible animals.

We saw the Big Five: 🦁 - 🐘 - 🐂 - 🐆 - 🦏

  • 🦁 - The King

  • 🐘 - The largest land animal in the world

  • 🐂 - Super unpredictable and dangerous

  • 🐆 - The most elusive of the Five

  • 🦏 - Highly endangered today

I’ll start with the leopard, perhaps the highlight of the day.

Our tent* was waiting for us, but we didn’t want the day to end.

We enjoyed an incredible sunset as a family of hyenas was eating right in front of our eyes, all while a black kite flew above our heads. Magic.

A hard to beat Serengeti sunset.

Now dinner, campfire, and sleep:

  • Yes, we slept in a tent inside the Serengeti

  • Yes, we heard hyenas and lions through the night

  • Yes, someone needs to walk you to your tent when it’s dark

    • Carrying a knife

  • Yes, we were scared, but we survived…

    • With some difficulties… right Chiara?

Day 4️⃣ - Serengeti → Ngorongoro Crater

We are alive. Buongiorno.

Our tent name was Nguchiro, which means mongoose.

Sleeping in a tent inside the Serengeti was a once in a lifetime experience. We didn’t get the best quality of sleep, but it was all well worth it.

We had an early start the next day, which allowed us to admire the sunrise before departing.

It was an amazing one.

(Sunset or sunrise?)

This was gonna be a long day, we drove for hours and hours to Ngorongoro Crater, passing through incredible scenery and Maasai tribes.

Maasai are an indigenous ethnic group of semi-nomadic people who live mainly in Kenya and northern Tanzania. They’re among the most well-known African tribes worldwide because of their distinct culture, traditions, and close connection with East Africa’s wildlife regions.

  • Roads are bumpy to say the least; sleeping was very hard. Our guide, Gorden, calls this the African massage.

    Chiara and I do not get car-sick so we were fine, but I was surprised that this wasn’t really mentioned during my research.

    If you are prone to getting car-sick, seriously consider whether a Safari is really for you.

We continued to see lions, elephants, and a secretary bird.

We also saw a Leopard with its baby approximately 200m away from us, but my iPhone couldn’t really capture them!

After about 5 hours, we got to our accommodation near Ngorongoro Crater.

We went to sleep right after dinner. We left at 5:40 AM the next day!

Day 5️⃣ - Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha

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Day 5️⃣ - Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha 〰️

  • The Ngorongoro Crater formed about 2–3 million years ago, when a massive volcano erupted and then collapsed inward, creating the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera 🌋

And today, it hosts an incredible wildlife diversity

Around 25,000 animals live there year-round, supported by the crater’s water basins, which make it a very fertile geographical area.

Can you imagine seeing the most amazing animals in the world, all inside a crater?

After lunch, we made our way back to Arusha, concluding our safari.

Honestly, 4 days would have been too little, but 6 would have been too much. Unless you are really into seeing animals, 5 days is the sweet spot.

Anyway… ✈️

Chiara and I flew to Zanzibar that same night, with an early morning flight to Pemba the following day. The only problem is that we flew with Precision Air. Possibly, the worst airline in the world.

Take a look at this:

  • Our flight was supposed to be at 8 PM

  • It then got moved to 9:45 PM

  • Then to 11:55 PM

  • Then back to 10:55 PM

    • I walked in front of the line and asked the staff:

      • Hand to God, the flight departs at 10:55PM?

      • Yes

  • The flight was moved to 3 AM

    • I had chatted with the staff earlier, and found out about the change about 1 hour before everyone else.

    • He told me, almost secretly, that a flight was coming in from Dar es Salaam, and he’d find two seats for Chiara and myself.

    • He did, we were out by midnight.

  • Don’t ask me what happened to the other people. I am still praying for them, just in case they’re still waiting for the flight.

We were very tired (see below 👇 ), but getting out of there was a win.

The night in one picture.

5️⃣ → 🔟 - PEMBA

After the previous night, landing in Pemba felt like a miracle.

And it kinda was, to be honest. I wonder what happened to all the other passengers.

Never, ever, ever, fly with Precision Air.

But back to us.

We stayed in the north-western part of the island, in a hotel called Pemba Paradise. The transfer took about 1.5 hours.

There is only one paved road on the island. The moment you deviate from it, roads get bumpy.

The island is full of green. We even saw flying foxes on the way to the hotel.

Besides a few cars and minivans, we didn’t see any other tourists on the way to our place.

I wonder why (and how) so many tourists go to Zanzibar, a 20-minute flight south, and just a fraction of them go to Pemba. It was crazy to see such a difference. Many people didn’t even know about its existence!

We split our trip into Safari and beach, with the idea to rest after all the driving.

It is a great plan, I recommend using this structure to anyone who wants to visit Tanzania.

But anyway, we finally arrived in Pemba Paradise.

The place had a few unwanted surprises in store for us, but it was undeniably beautiful.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t do all the activities (snorkeling, Ngezi forest, diving) due to stomach issues, so I took the 4 days to rest and reset.

I hardly get the chance to do this in NY, as I tend to fill all my weekends with trips and long cycling rides. The only way I really rest, unfortunately, is if I have to. I am convinced that without the stomach issues, I’d have made my Pemba stay an even more adventurous time than Safari.

At least, that’s what I am telling myself.

When I saw that our stay was beautiful, this is what I mean!

And the food was great (even if very polepole) - right Chiara?

All I could eat was rice and pasta, but at least Chiara enjoyed it!

We really used these days to rest, so they were pretty uneventful. Hence, I am keeping this section shorter.

However, it felt nice not to have anything planned and just be in a place.

Waking up late, walking to the beach, sleep, eat, sleep, room, beach, sunset, dinner.

And repeat.

  • Our house. The place gets filled with baby bushes at night.

  • Those beds were in front of our place. We spend a lot of time there.

  • Chiara went on a boat trip to a sandbank with crystal waters.

  • A pied kingfisher enjoying a sunset. Or perhaps waiting for its next prey.

🔟 → 1️⃣ 2️⃣ - ZANZIBAR

We stayed in Kendwa.

Our room was in Furaha Beach Rooms, a wooden hotel directly on Kendwa Beach.

Very colorful and joyous atmosphere. Even though extremely polepole.

Actually, before we get to Kendwa, we should talk about our flight to get there…

I normally don’t have issues when it comes to flying. Chiara can’t say the same.

The plane we took resembled one of those used for skydiving…

This is a picture from the back of the plane; we were the last passengers to board.

The thing danced even with minimal contact with clouds.

Our plane from Pemba to Zanzibar.

But nevertheless… victorious!!

Chiara 1 - 0 Plane.

As I was saying…

Our hotel was directly on the beach, like many others in that area. We were told that Kendwa is a relatively chill part of the island, but it certainly didn’t feel that way.

There are several hotels on the beach with many tourists from all over the world, and just as many beach boys trying to sell you anything.

We weren’t too impressed with Kendwa - it even resembled Miami in certain instances.

Even if the water was on another level!

We ended our holiday with a UNO game. Could it have ended in another way?

Yes, Chiara won.

Things to Know

➕

Things to Know ➕

I want to add a more practical part to this entry: a collection of tips and things to look out for.

Honest and transparent.

A must-read if you are considering this trip.

    • People here are really kind, but everything moves super slowly. Like, “wait an hour for lunch? sure” kind of slow.

    • “Polepole” (piano piano) is everywhere — it’s basically a lifestyle. At first, it was frustrating waiting or repeating things five times to get a point across. But after a day or two, we just went with it. Honestly, it’s kind of nice once you relax into it.

  • These are not your usual tips. At least, I didn’t come across them during my research:

    • If you get car sick, think twice. Safaris are hours and hours in bumpy cars every single day. Chiara and I are fine, but some people really struggle — it can ruin the whole trip.

    • How long to stay:

      • 4 days: kind of rushed

      • 5 days: just right for most people

      • 6+ days: only if you’re really, really into animals

    • Bring good binoculars. Seriously, don’t skimp: 10x42 or 8x42 are perfect, you’ll see so much more.

    • If you need anything, ask 30 minutes ahead. Food, water, napkins, advice… anything.

    • Precision Air = nightmare. Delays, cancellations, zero way to reach someone, no notifications. Just avoid it at all costs. Seriously, don’t even think about it. Air Tanzania is not better.

    • Consider Flightlink from JRO instead.

    • If you’re thinking about going to Pemba Island: maybe reconsider if you’re scared of flying. The only way to fly there is a tiny 20-minute flight from Zanzibar, and the planes are… questionable, to say the least.

    • We did typhoid and malaria shots — no side effects at all.

    • Bring strong mosquito repellent (Ben’s works well, 100ml per person).

    • Pack OTC traveler’s diarrhea medicine, rehydration salts, and paracetamol — trust me, you’ll thank yourself.

    • Read reviews before you book. We should’ve done more of this. Big difference.

    • In Zanzibar, we stayed in Kendwa, which is supposed to be one of the chillest spots. People also recommend Paje.

    • Most areas are touristy unless you’re in a 5-star hotel with private beaches.

    • Beach vendors will try to sell you stuff as you walk. Just ignore them, they’ll leave you alone.

    • Meals mostly: rice, chicken, beef, fish. All tasty and safe.

    • Breakfasts: usually eggs and PBJ, nothing fancy.

    • Coffee is always instant, but honestly it’s fine.

    • Cashews are everywhere and way cheaper than in the US. Our favorite snack, so good.

    • Make sure you only drink bottled water.

    • Karibu → Welcome

    • Hakuna matata → No worries

    • Jambo → Hello / Hi

    • Polepole → Slowly

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