Kendwa Rocks - Full moon party

On our way to Kendwa, in the north of the island, two traffic cops pulled us over to extort us. Listened to their bullshit, paid 40 tsd shilling and drove on. Corruption is a problem, and karma is a bitch. So I am more worried about those two durses than money.

Kendwa Rocks has a full moon party every month on the Saturday closest to full moon.

We rock up there and meet all the crazy dudes that stay with us in the dorm. The resort is situated directly at the beach with hammocks, great kitchen, a spa and sweet music. The people are nuts and like to party. Love it. Watching the sunset is a real treat and the colors of the ocean are to die for.

The full moon party is a blast, with lots of live music and performance acts. I eventually pass out in the hammock around 2. The party is going on till the early morning hours. The next morning we are having a proper breakfast and drinks are back on the table. So we gonna stay another night. And, as it turns out, another one.

That place sucks you in. Time keeps flying.

In between talking and dancing I dip into the insanely warm water and take a lot of beautiful pictures.

The thing that makes this place next to the incredible location are the people. We chill on the back porch of the dorm with mattresses till the sun comes up.

Talking kak and listening to music we put on taking turns. Always good to hear new stuff.

Carl lived in Germany and had a band there called Bodea.

He has a really nice voice and the sharpest brain.

On monday it is finally time to say goodbye and we head back to Kiwengwa.

New people have arrived at the lodge. Some of them volunteers that are gonna build a school in Kiwengwa, the Kiwengwa Nursery & Primary School (KINS).

Chef cooks us another great dinner and after two bottles of Conyagi, the local Gin, I sleep like a baby.

The next morning I drive through to Stone Town, where I will be staying for two nights.

A police officer tries to extort me again. Apparently smoking in the car 'is a problem in this country, because of the petrol in the car'. I have had it and tell the dude straight in the face that I have absolutely no money to give to him. He realizes that I know what he is trying to pull off and let's me go.

I love driving on this island. Through all these little villages connected by long stretches of forest, palm trees and people walking up and down the roads in all their colorful clothes. Little schoolgirls jumping hand in hand and chicken crossing the roads and goats and cows walking around freely. Everything is so green and the air smells like I imagine the rain forest must smell.

I listen to some Madonna and am excited to find my way through that busy city soon.

Kendwa Rocks: http://www.kendwarocks.com/
Kendwa Rocks on Facebook: Kendwa Rocks
Full Moon Party on Facebook: Kendwa Rocks Full Moon Party
Bodea on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/bodea
KINS: http://www.zanzibarkins.com/kins/
KINS on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Zanzibarkins

Moonshine Hotel - Uroa and off to Kendwa

In the morning we have a cup of coffee looking at the ocean and them go next door to the Moonshine Hotel. It is a beautiful spot directly at the beach with a nice pool. We have pizza and chat to the owner, who is from Sweden and her husband's brother from Italy. They are super cool and tell me a bit about the struggles and merits of having a hotel in Zanzibar.  The place is beautiful with stunning views. They have cute dogs as well. After a swim in the pool and some chill time watching the water turning into different shades of azure blue and turquoise we make our way back to Baby Bush Lodge in Kiwengwa, our home base, to get some fresh clothes. High five to Juma, the coolest guy on the whole island, manager of the Baby Bush Lodge, and we are off to the Full Moon Party in Kendwa Rocks Resort in the north. We planned to stay for one night and eventually ended up on a full-blown three day hang-out party with awesome peeps. That place can suck you in.
Even though it is rain season we have sunshine all the time. One of those occasions that changes you, because you see things and chat to people that you know where there, but you have never encountered them before.
But that is a story of its own.

Moonshine Hotel, Uroa: http://www.moonshinezanzibar.com/
Moonshine Hotel on Facebook: Moonshine Hotel

Teddys Place - Paje

From Jambiani we drove to the close by village Paje, where the Kite surfers have fun and checked into the Rasta vibe logde Teddys Place. It is about a 100 meters of the beach and they play amazing music there. The prawns are delicious. We chill a bit and I take my camera to capture the amazing colors of the sea. Our dorm hut is very cool with sand instead of floors. The next day we had melon and pancakes for breakfast and chilled at the beach again watching the kite surfers doing their business and going for a swim in the lukewarm water every now and again. On the afternoon we had to go to Stone Town to draw some money. Stone Town is the only place on the whole island that has ATM's. The drive there is lovely.
Stone Town in itself is busy and full of people. You have to get used to the hectic atmosphere after spending your days on the beach listening to nothing but the rhythmic sounds of soft waves coming in. The ATM electrocutes me every time I touch it and the security guy just welcomes me to Africa. We drive back in rush hour and basically just stand there for a good hour till we finally manage to pass the small part of the road that only allows one way traffic. Smiling at the police officer that waves us through I get back into a more relaxed mood. We come back just in time for the braai and the little party at Teddys.
I buy a cool beenie that one of the dudes, who works at the lodge, made. Kiff!
I go to bed at 5 hoping to hear my alarm for 6 to see the sunrise. Oh well ... maybe next time.

My friend takes me around a bit and shows me Paje by Night, another very cool Hotel/Bar with a funky swimming pool. We have lunch at the Arabian Nights Villas & Apartments, which has a nice Restaurant/Bar right at the beach. Food and view are divine. I have a dip in their pool and the sweet Italian lady that runs the place comes by to see how we are doing. After a kickass Bolognese with homemade Tagliatelle and freshly ground Parmesan next to a cold beer I could not be any better.

We return to Teddys to say our goodbyes and leave for Uroa to stay with another friend for the night.
On our way we stop at a couple of vendors at the side of the road to get some vegetables, rice and water and then spend the evening cooking and talking. The full moon comes up and I can take some amazing pictures.

Then it is time to go to Peru Bar in Kiwengwa for the birthday party of the Baby Bush Lodge manager. We are having the local Gin Conyagi and everybody is dancing. The sound system is the bomb. On our way back to Paje the taxi has to stop a couple of times because of the goats sleeping on the road.

We happily fall in our beds and I am pretty sure I will not see the sunrise, again. Lala salama.

Teddys Place, Paje: http://www.teddys-place.com/
Teddys Place on Facebook: Teddys Place
Paje by Night, Paje, on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PajeByNight/
Arabian Nights Villas & Apartments, Paje: http://arabiannightsvillas-apartments.com
Peru Bar, Kiwengwa, on Facebook: Peru Bar

Flying into Dar Es Salaam and arriving in Zanzibar

Flying South African Airlines was a real treat. Plane almost empty, amazing food, watched the movie Joy. And the view at landing was just stunning.

The immigration at the airport on the other hand was hectic. Bring cash and time.
Almost missed my connection flight with Precision Air. That airline is funny. The whole airport is like a computer hardware history museum. Everything was slo-mo, so in the end the lady at the check-in advised me: 'Now run'. I did in lekker humid 30 degrees. Once in the airplane I could finally relax and look forward to this amazing island that I am now on.
Everything here is so completely different from all I have seen before. The nature is amazing and people are so well spirited. The mini taxis here are called Dala Dala which I think is a very cool name.

Gonna let my first impressions sink in over a great-tasting Safari beer at the Baby Bush Lodge chilling with my friends on mattresses in this beautiful hut-bar overlooking the ocean listening to Reggae.
Life is good!

Even though I enjoy my iPhone camera, I am already flipping excited to take the big baby for a spin tomorrow. Enjoy your evening and stay tuned.

Baby Bush Lodge Kiwengwa: http://www.bbzanzibar.com/
Baby Bush Lodge on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/babybushlodge/