Day 1 - Johannesburg to Zanzibar
Whose bright idea was it to schedule this flight for 07h45? Brian didn't pack the night before (which is how we ended up with a mask that didn't work and no bootees for his fins...) so it was up at 4.30am to pack and get to the airport on time.
My airport paranoia kicked in early, with Flea demanding to drive and refusing to engage in argument with me about her driving (through clenched teeth: "I will not argue with you on the day you go on holiday") her speed, her lane choice, highway construction or any other subject I chose. That's kids for you...
The new ORT layout is confusing at 5am, which terminal? The electronic confirmation didn't help, resulting in some aimless wandering once dropped off. Note to 2010 visitors - demand that your travel agent provides you with a map of the airport!
The trip was fairly uneventful. Of course the luggage was wrapped at ORT (Brian insisted they re-do it as it wasn't done properly the first time - and eventually the sullen wrapper agreed), and all arrived in good order on the other side. We didn't buy a camera in duty-free because we were running out of time and needed coffee (the check-in process is quite ridiculous, check in for an international flight in the domestic departures area then schlep all the way over) We were also told that the return flight would be back an hour late since they're extending the runway at Zanzibar airport necessitating a stop in Dar es Salaam to refuel (so it's not long enough to take off fully laden with fuel). This required a call to flea to let her know how to organise her day when fetching us - as well as checking that she got home safely and managed the "dodgy" offramp with all the construction work going on.
It's 1Time, so you have to buy your food & drinks (much scuffling around in purses for money, eventually the credit card was hauled out - you'd think an international flight would at least include a bottle of water and some peanuts! Some passenger didn't get on the plane, so luggage had to be offloaded, then 1Time changed their minds and let her on - requiring the luggage to be onloaded again. Welcome to Africa
Zanzibar airport is - well, rustic. The 90% humidity level hits you as soon as they open the doors of the aircraft - then it's a general rush to get inside. There are 3 queues for visas, this is quite a high-tech affair in a low-tech environment. It involves getting a photo with a little web cam and then waiting while they glue this into your passport. Oh yes, and US$50. It works quite well, though, then you go through to the "luggage collection" area where you can see the luggage carts being offloaded and track your suitcase from beginning to end (which, for a South African, is comforting). Brian was asking why there's no luggage carousel, but that's just because his came off last while mine was one of the first. Everyone's luggage is opened, then it's outside to search for your transport. I should mention that there is no litter lying on the ground outside, this struck me as a very good start. We had Gallery Tours, really professional. Muraji greeted us with very welcome wet towels, cold bottled water and a spotless, airconditioned taxi.
The ride to Mapenzi is around an hour - at breakneck speed on narrow roads with much polite hooting to warn cyclists, scooters and pedestrians. I spent the entire trip looking out the back window so as not to see the oncoming trucks/cars/pedestrians.
My first impression, once we left the city, was of the trees - great big fat African trees laden with fruit. Frangipanis, mango trees, breadfruit trees, banana trees...We passed rice paddies as well, but mainly tropical forests and small villages. Mapenzi is on the east coast of Zanzibar, near a town called Mahonda
The hotel drive is is a riot of Bougainvillea and hibiscus with some small palms and no less than 2 security clearances. The building is enormous, bright white palm-thatched with moorish touches and loads of wide, tiled stairs. Very clean, airy and promising, lovely touches. Check-in was relatively painless but I wasn't altogether sure about the dayglo orange hospital tags firmly attached to our wrists to identify us as hotel guests (why? in case of having to identify us later? - visions of sharks...) We were instructed to meet at the "disco" at 7pm for a briefing
Our room - no 174 - had a double verandah with a day bed and 2 chairs and table.
and a wonderful view down to the pool...
and then we rushed down to the beach to see the sea
Did I mention the humidity? Although not that hot (for a Zambian, anyway) at around 32deg C, the 90%+ humidity is a killer. This requires lots of water combined with very few clothes (problem 1 for a fat middle-aged woman), fortunately the room was airconditioned.
