If you want to compare Zanzibar to anywhere else, the Caribbean might be a good place to start. It’s certainly what my friend did herself after a recent visit to Saint Kitts and Nevis with her boyfriend – and concluded that the latter was a poor imitation of the African island she and I had fallen in love with as backpackers 17 years ago.
“The beaches sucked compared to Zanzibar,” she announced loudly for the entire cafe and her friend to hear. “The sand wasn’t even white.”
It’s kind of funny that anyone can go to the Caribbean and complain about the scenery, but Zanzibar’s beaches are virtually second to none, surrounded by seas so blue they look like antifreeze washing onto snow.
But while the African archipelago may be more beautiful than many Caribbean rivals, have less litter than, say, Bali or Thailand, and have more culture and history than its Indian Ocean neighbors (the capital of Zanzibar is like a mini-Marrakech), there is one thing: that’s not really the case – and that’s a wild party scene.
That is why the recent press reports describing Zanzibar as “the new Magaluf” have caused such a stir among my friends living in the semi-autonomous region of Tanzania. I’ve visited Zanzibar five times, and like the expats and locals I befriended on those trips, I’m baffled as to how anyone could compare their sleepy equatorial home to the Mallorcan resort so beloved of oversexed teenagers and drunken bachelor parties. bachelor parties.
Yes, the beer can be cheap, as correctly identified in the reports, with some local bars selling bottles for as little as £1 each. But no one is going to fly all that way – and spend more than £450 on airfares – to save a few shillings on drinks.
The two places couldn’t be more different. Zanzibar actually only has one annoyingly loud bar that blasts dance music into the starry sky (and drives the neighbors wild). And while there are plenty of chillout lounges and even some bijou clubs, the vibe there is more “cocktails on the sand” and “sundowners with ocean views,” than vodka shots, group T-shirts and all the other that you associate. with an affordable Mediterranean bending machine.
Even the famous full moon party on Kendwa beach couldn’t be less “Magaluf” if it tried, with African DJs belting out Swahili hip-hop to a mixed crowd of locals, expats and thirty-somethings in a post-safari flop.
“Anyone looking for Magaluf will be disappointed,” explains Sally, who moved to the island from England during the lockdown. “I went to Magaluf when I was 17, and once was enough. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere like that.
“There are certain neighborhoods in Zanzibar where people party. But it is very limited. It’s not all of Paje or Nungwi, maybe just a few bars.”
It is a sentiment echoed by Fikile ‘Fix’ Moeti, a former MTV Africa presenter, who used to be a DJ in Kendwa.
She said a lot of Spanish and Middle Eastern-based “DJs, club promoters and publicists” were flying to Zanzibar, causing some commotion in places like Paje, but added that it was nothing like the kind of raucous atmosphere you would expect in Magaluf.
The South African, who moved to the island two years ago, runs a fitness studio and bar in the eastern beach village of Kiwengwa, where she occasionally spins the decks. Her beachside Yoga Bar (yogabarzanzibar.com) is fairly typical of the kind of meeting place you’ll find on a Zanzibar holiday – relaxed, quiet and extremely friendly, with guests chatting over their shoulders to the other holidaymakers at tables, half lost in the sand.
This easy going is what is great about the dozens of fishing villages like Kiwengwa and Paje, around which Zanzibar’s tourism industry has formed.
They’re not full of soulless, residents-only resorts like you’ll find on other islands in the Indian Ocean (or the Caribbean). They’re also extremely safe, meaning that instead of being cooped up in your hotel, you’ll happily spend your days (and nights) walking along the white coral sands, dropping in on all the small, independent bars and hotels where you stop by for a while. a few drinks and a dip in their pool.
The locals haven’t been driven out by tourism either, meaning that even in the more developed villages, like Paje, you’ll still find boat builders repairing dhows next to your lunch spot, and schoolchildren enjoying a game of sunset 25-a-side on the beach.
That’s quite an achievement, considering the surge in popularity of resorts like Paje since 2020, when Tanzania’s late president – a chemistry PhD candidate – rejected lockdowns and other restrictions, leading to a surge in visitor interest and investment.
Everywhere you look, new guesthouses, holiday homes and kitesurfing schools are popping up among the coral stone houses and banana plantations in places like Paje, Nungwi and Kiwengwa.
But while the number of tourists has soared, from around half a million a year before Covid, to just under 640,000 last year, the numbers are still relatively low given the size of the island and the fact that tourists are so widely dispersed. around the north and east coasts.
In fact, you only have to look at the statistics for Mallorca (16.5 million visitors, to 900,000 locals) or Saint Kitts and Nevis (540,000 visitors, to 47,000 locals) to understand why most of the 1, Zanzibar’s 8 million residents still attract twice as many visitors. sight of a pale mzungu (foreigner).
This is especially true on the northern island of Pemba, where you’ll find only a handful of eco-resorts, backpackers and the occasional luxury hotel like The Manta Resort (themantaresort.com), famous for its underwater room with tropical fish swimming past the window.
But even on Zanzibar’s main island, tourism has barely made an impression beyond the beaches and maze-like former capital Stone Town, with very few tourists taking the opportunity to hike through the rainforest or visit the crumbling Arab palaces, harems and slave dungeons . . It is something that the authorities are keen to rectify.
However, it won’t be easy. Zanzibar’s beaches are insanely difficult to tear yourself away from, and with everything from scuba diving and dolphins to some of the best kitesurfing conditions in the world, it’s no wonder they leave such a lasting impact.