On the edge of perfection

Source: http://www.getaway.co.za

Dirty Boots Adventure Guide


September 2008

Scott Ramsay visits Zanzibar and Pemba Islands for two different holidays.
Scott Ramsay Despite being so close to each other, Zanzibar and Pemba Islands off the coast of Tanzania offer two different holidays. Scott Ramsay discovered the reasons you should – and shouldn’t – visit them.

The dolphins appeared quickly. Moving fast, they cruised up to our dive boat, a few kilometres off the north coast of Zanzibar Island.

The boat's Swahili captain, Abdullah Mtwana, seemed almost bored - he'd seen this group of about 20 bottlenose dolphins every week for the past few months. The rest of us, many from office jobs in congested cities, were frantic with excitement. None of us had ever been so close to anything this wild, or this free.

Everyone scrambled to get their snorkel gear fitted before the dolphins disappeared. There was no time to fit scuba tanks. A mask and fins would do just fine. Over the divers went, jumping into the aquamarine wilderness. The inquisitive dolphins circled back to us.

The divers drifted apart till each was alone in the warm Indian Ocean. I drew a deep breath and kicked hard with my fins. Down I went to a group of four dolphins. They came closer, peering at me, a look of mammalian recognition perhaps. I reached out to touch them, something you're not supposed to do. But I couldn't help myself. It seemed an obvious, natural response. The dolphins moved effortlessly away. Out of breath, I surfaced for air.

Back on board, the divers were ecstatic. 'How cool was that?' 'Incredible!' We'd seen the brochures, but
hadn't realised - until then - how special Zanzibar really was.

Small islands, big influence
The islands of Zanzibar and Pemba lie six degrees south of the equator and about 40 kilometres from the coast of Tanzania. Combined with the mainland into one country at independence in 1964, it is a measure of their importance that Tanzania's name is derived from Tanganyika (formerly German East Africa) and Zanzibar.

Although only 86 kilometres long and 34 kilometres wide, and with a population of just under a million, the southern island - Zanzibar (known locally as Unguja) - has always been far more important to East Africa than its size suggests. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in history, culture and influence.

For more than a thousand years up to 1900, Zanzibar was the commercial centre of East Africa and the wealthiest part of an economic region that stretched from Mozambique to Ethiopia and west into Malawi, Zambia and the Congo. Since 600BC, Persian, Sumerian, Chinese and Assyrian traders sailed the East African coast. A Greek merchant in AD60 recorded Zanzibar Island in his guide to the region, The Periplus of the Erythaean Sea. But it was the Arabs who settled there permanently and transformed the
territory, starting in the 7th century AD, and intermarried with the coastal Bantu people. The name Zanzibar is derived from the Arab term Zinj el Barr, meaning 'land of the black people', and referred to the entire coastal stretch of East Africa.

The Arab influence is undeniable and nowhere will you see this more than in Stone Town, the capital of Zanzibar Island. The Arab past is on every street.

Young Moslem boys wearing kofias head off to madrassa, where they will study the Koran. The buildings, constructed with coral stone, are bedecked with Arabian designs. The labyrinthine design of the town's narrow streets is intimidating at first, then it becomes mysterious, then endearing. Big, ornate doors stand sentry to many building entrances. Carved from Indian teak, some are more than 200 years old.

Men sit talking to each other, drinking tea. The language - Swahili - a melodic polyglot of Arabian and African terms, bounces off the walls. 'Salaam aleikum' - the traditional Arab greeting. 'Jambo! Habari?' - the informal Zanzibarian way of saying 'Hi, how you doing?'

Muharam Ahmed was my guide around Stone Town. Typical of most Zanzibarians, he is Arab and Moslem, a descendant of Omani entrepreneurs who used the trade winds to sail on dhows between the Arabian Gulf and the east coast of Africa. He considers himself first a Zanzibarian, then a Tanzanian. The islands have their own regional government and are still staunchly independent in spirit, if not in law. He's proud of his island. 'Zanzibar is a small island with a big history, but Tanzania is a big country with a small history,' Muharam told me.

Muharam has relinquished his family's heritage of dhow sailing and tour guiding. But his job is an indication of Zanzibar's ongoing economic evolution.

In previous centuries, the dhows were the lifeblood of the economy, the means by which ivory, spices, mangrove wood and slaves were moved from Africa to the Gulf. Now it's tourism that drives the region.

The new economy
On the north coast of Zanzibar, near the village of Nungwi, more than 30 resorts and hotels have sprung up in the last five years. All capitalise on the sparkling beaches, warm water and tropical climate - and the iridescent shoals of colourful fish that live on the coral reefs.

However, the unbridled development has come at a cost. One gets the feeling that parts of Zanzibar, including Nungwi, have developed too quickly. Although most of the resorts keep their own private properties neat and tidy, the areas around the resorts are covered in trash. Pollution, plastic bags and bottles lie everywhere on public land, in stark contrast to the glorious wilderness that lies just off shore on the coral reefs. But according to locals, even these reefs are not what they used to be. The rampant demand for fish by the resorts has given incentive to the local fishermen to catch more than is sustainable.

At Mnarani Beach Cottages near the lighthouse at Nungwi, owner Nassor Ali wasn't sure the swift changes were for the best. 'No-one can agree on anything here. It's very hard to get the government and the resort owners to talk to each other,' he said.

But things are being done - albeit slowly. Parts of the coast are marine reserves where fishing is banned.
Nassor took me on Mnarani's dhow to Mnemba Atoll, a protected island about an hour's sail away. The array of fish was kaleidoscopic and the reefs were never more than a few metres deep, making it easy for young and old to experience what is usually only seen on wildlife television programmes. You will, however, be surrounded by lots of other tourists.

Pemba perfect
If it's virginal, isolated coral reefs that you're looking for, then a visit to Pemba Island, about 80 kilometres north of Zanzibar, is essential. Whereas parts of Zanzibar are well on their way to being overrun with tourists, Pemba is comparatively unknown and undeveloped.

A few lodges have opened in the past few years - perhaps 10 on the whole island, which is a bit smaller than Zanzibar - so you can easily be alone on the beaches and in the water. This is good news for the reefs, which are largely unscathed. Eulogised by natural scientists, the sea life there is astounding in its variety and pristine condition - experts consider the reef system of Pemba as one of the 15 healthiest in the world.

Unlike Zanzibar, which is mostly flat and topographically featureless, Pemba is relatively hilly, its geology underpinned by an ancient volcano that rose two kilometres off the sea floor. There are also fewer roads and not many are tarred. The locals seem more conservative and traditional - and the children are less inclined to stick their hands out and ask for money, as happens on Zanzibar.

It's verdant, although only pockets of original rainforest remain, most notably Ngezi Forest in the north. Massive, ancient mango trees (planted by Arab mariners) line clove and cassava plantations.

Below the sea's surface, however, things get even better. Our dive boat stopped near Njao Gap, a few hundred metres from the western shore in the north of Pemba Island. The coast here is punctuated by wide inlets into mangrove swamps, where tidal waters flow in and out with considerable force, bringing an abundance of food for fish. We could see the bottom of the seafloor, about 50 metres below.

'I've dived here thousands of times and I'm rarely disappointed,' said Raf Jah, the owner of Kervan Saray, a laidback, low-key dive lodge on the northwest coast of Pemba Island. He set up the first dive operation in Chake Chake, the main town, before the island was known to mainstream tourism. After years of negotiation, he set up a lodge. Raf has a permanent half-smile and, as we dropped into the
water, I could see why.

Triggerfish, moorish idols, butterflyfish, eels, porcupine fish, lionfish, pipe fish … it was too much to take in, a sensory overload of shape and colour. And more than 200 species of coral in all shapes, all sizes - delicate, intricate, big, small. I let the fish come closer to my mask. They almost tickled my nose, unafraid of the bubbles from my scuba gear.

We drifted with the current along one of the 'walls' of Pemba, the steep drop-offs of the ancient volcano. Visibility was well over 40 metres and an untouched wilderness of fish, crustaceans and coral stretched out before us. Now and again, the deep blue of the water played tricks on my eyes, as large fish would swim just into sight, and then disappear into the abyss again. Depite a few fearful thoughts of being munched by a hungry shark, I felt an overwhelming sense of reverence and respect for the waters we were swimming through.