After 4 wonderful, memory-filled days in Northern Tanzania, my last stop in Tanzania was Zanzibar Island. The name of Zanzibar, an autonomous island state affiliated with Tanzania in the Indian Ocean that has been the center of the spice and slave trade in the past, comes from Zengibar, which means “Negro Island”. Morning of 02.04.2014; We left the “Bristol Cottages Kilimanjaro” hotel where I was staying in Moshi, Tanzania, and headed towards Kilimanjaro Airport. I arrived at Zanzibar Island with a short 80-minute flight on Precision Airlines’ jet number PW 0421, which will fly to Zanzibar Island. Zanzibar Island’s international airport is one of the smallest airports I have ever seen. After waiting for half an hour at the airport, an officer of the “Zanzibar Unique” agency came to pick me up. Together with the agent of the agency, we reached the Pongwe Beach Hotel with a view of Pongwe Beaches on the east coast of the island, where I would spend my first 2 nights on the island. After checking in at the hotel, I walked from the hotel’s retreating Indian Ocean beaches to the Rock fishing island restaurant, which is within walking distance. When I reached the cute islet that had been converted into a fish restaurant, the view was magnificent. On the Indian Ocean coast of Zanzibar Island, tides occur twice a day. The ocean waters, which receded for meters, come back again towards sunset. The dazzling view of the coast, worthy of postcards after the waters receded, was worth seeing. It was slowly starting to get dark, and the ocean waters were slowly approaching my hotel room. If I were to give some information about the location of the hotel I stayed in; A hotel consisting of authentic rooms lined up two by one on the Pongwe beach strip full of coconuts on the Indian Ocean coast of Zanzibar Island. It was as if I was in touch with members of the Masai Tribe here. During my walk on the beach, the lifeguards, the waiters in the hotel’s restaurant, the hotel’s security personnel and all the other officers whose names I could not name were all dressed in friendly Maasai costumes. After my first night spent with the sound of ocean waves in my room, we headed towards Jozani Forest with a private taxi I called from the hotel reception. The views I encountered along the way were very impressive. Children were waving at me from the carts they were driving, pulled by humped oxen. At one point, we stopped on the side of the road by asking my driver. I wanted to experience that moment personally and I walked over to the children driving the ox cart and accompanied them. Finally, we reached National Jozani Park, one of the most important places to see on Zanzibar Island. In the forest of this park, I would be able to see Red Colobus red monkeys, which are found only on Zanzibar Island. The monkeys jumping from branch to branch were very humane, there were dozens of monkeys around me, it was possible to touch them and be in the same frame. We continued to wander around Jozani Forest with my guide. One of the unforgettable memories I had in the forest was when I encountered the students on the school trip lining up to take a souvenir photo with me while visiting the Jozani Forest. Then, by walking, we reached the area in the forest where the water rises and falls. The roots of the mangrove trees growing on the water, which emerged after the water receded, were worth seeing. After my half-day trip to Jozani Forest, we headed back to my hotel in the same taxi I took here. On the way back, when I turned from the main road to the dirt road, I asked my driver to take over the taxi. Getting behind the wheel with the magnificent authentic view of Zanzibar Island, driving with the song “HAKUNA MATATA” playing on the tape recorder, and waving to Zanzibari farmers and children from the window along the way was another one of my unforgettable memories. That day, I spent the afternoon at my hotel. It was wonderful to swim from my hotel room’s door opening to the Indian Ocean, abandoning myself to those warm ocean waters. In the evening, when the ocean waters returned, we went out of the hotel and walked through the forest to reach the Rock fishing island restaurant, accompanied by a Maasai officer, as the water was surrounded on all sides. It was the same island, but two different views were reflected in my photographs. As it was getting dark, we captured this moment and headed back to my hotel. While walking, I came across little kids from Zanzibar playing in front of their houses. I reached my hotel by offering the little ones some of the candies I always carry in my backpack and photographing them. After the first 2 days I spent on the east coast of Zanzibar Island, my destination was now the STONE TOWN region on the west coast of the island. The next day, another officer from the Zanzibar Unique agency came to pick me up. My destination was STONE TOWN, the stone city on the west coast of Zanzibar, a spice-scented port city famous for the old palaces and Arab mansions along its winding streets. I will spend my last 2 nights on the island. After checking in at Tembo House Hotel in Stone Town, I settled into my room. My hotel was in a very central location opposite Freddie Mercury’s house, so there would be no problems with transportation. As soon as I settled into the hotel, I asked the taxi driver in front of the hotel to take me to Zanzibar Park, which I had previously added to my travel list. Coconut trees welcomed me at the entrance of the park. Afterwards, I observed the park’s giant turtles, which are nearly 200 years old, took selfies with them, and fed the turtles with my own hands. Like everywhere else, I came across little students who came on a school trip in this park, and I made these little ones happy by distributing balloons and pencils. In this park in Zanzibar; First of all, I observed wild caracal cats, crocodiles, various kinds of monkeys, and various winged animals and took photographs. I spent the rest of my first day in the center wandering around and shopping in the narrow, winding streets of the Stone Town area, all leading to the coastal road. On the same day, after dark, I visited the famous Forodhani Square of Stone Town. A market place is set up in this square every evening, and one of the most important stalls of this market is undoubtedly the sugar cane stalls. I enjoyed the sugar cane I squeezed with my own hands at one of these sugar cane stalls. Afterwards, I returned to my hotel by taking step-by-step photos of more than 500 different decorated wooden doors in Stone Town, which contains traces of rich history in Zanzibar and reveals the harmony of different cultures with all its strikingness. Because I was going to hit the road very early the next morning. They would pick me up from my hotel at 05:00 in the morning for the dolphin and snorkel tour that I had previously purchased. The next morning, I left my hotel early by taxi. Our destination was Kizimkazi Beaches, located at the southern tip of the island, an hour away from the Stone Town area where I was staying. We reached Kizimkazi Beach early in the morning to swim and snorkel with the dolphins that live in the Indian Ocean. I picked up my snorkeling equipment from the beachside counter and sailed into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean with my boat captain. It was wonderful to watch the magnificent view of the sun rising in the Indian Ocean, accompanied by dolphins swimming in flocks in the waters of the ocean. After the tour, we had breakfast served by the company on the shore and moved from Kizimkazi Beaches towards the central Stone Town. On the way back, my driver hit a child who ran onto the road. Probably because it was early in the morning, my driver was also going fast. Thank God nothing happened to the child, but he fainted, was not conscious and his head was bleeding. I thought we were immediately taking him into our taxi and taking him to the hospital at full speed, but it turns out that according to Tanzanian law, a report must first be obtained from the police. So we took that child to the nearest police station for 20 minutes. On the road where we had the accident, we had taken the child’s father and one other person into our car, the child was in their arms and they were trying to keep the child awake along the way. Finally, we reached the police station, where they had the child’s father fill out a form. They also took the taxi driver’s information and gave us a piece of paper so we could go to the hospital. Afterwards, we arrived at a hospital in the Stone Town area. While I was waiting in the taxi, my driver and the child’s relatives entered the hospital. After waiting in the taxi for half an hour, my driver came and dropped me off at my hotel. I later learned that the child was in good condition. After this harrowing incident, I observed the last sunset in Zanzibar from the courtyard of my hotel. Afterwards, I rested in my room and prepared my suitcase for my return. I had now come to the end of another trip, my return flight was in the evening. Therefore, in order to make the most of the last day, before checking out of the hotel, I visited the Anglican Cathedral, which I had previously put on my list of places to visit and see. A monument commemorating the slave trade and a small museum were built in the garden of the cathedral, which was built on the site that was once used as a slave market. I witnessed the events of that day by visiting the rooms in that section of the museum where the prisoners were chained. Afterwards, I returned to my hotel and waited for my agency officer to take me to the airport. The Zanzibar Unique officer came and picked me up from the Tembo House Hotel where I was staying and dropped me off at Zanzibar’s international airport. A very long journey was waiting for me. First, I would fly from Zanzibar to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and from Nairobi to Amsterdam with a transfer. While we were waiting in the waiting room of the airport, they announced that my flight from Zanzibar to Nairobi was delayed by 2 hours, because the plane that would take us to Nairobi would take off from Nairobi with a 2-hour delay. In this case, it was not possible for me to catch my Nairobi-Amsterdam flight. The officers immediately directed me to the Dar es Salaam plane. Because there was a flight from Dar es Salaam to Amsterdam at that moment and there were empty seats on that plane. I immediately flew from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam, where I saw the lights. This flight was the shortest plane journey I have ever taken. We flew to Dar es Salaam in about 15 minutes. After my customs formalities in Dar es Salaam, I reached Amsterdam with a Dutch Airlines (KLM) plane and ended my trip with good memories. www.mehmethan.com www.facebook.com/mehmethancom Mavimore Turizm is a travel agency registered with TÜRSAB. Document number: A-8307