Flying over the isles that make Zanzibar, the ocean water is a canvas of divergent blues – dark where the sea is deep and translucent around the atolls.
Waves driven by the winds hit the reef and a white surf rolls onto the shoreline of Unguja island, the biggest and the most important island of this ancient archipelago.
For more than 3000 years, sailors from the east caught these winds, famously called the monsoon winds to sail to Africa, trading silk, porcelain, beads, brass and other ornaments for gold, ivory, animal pelts, coconuts, slaves and spices.
Many dhows were caught in turbulent sea-storms and sank into the deep seas loaded with their wares.
Sitting in the lounge at Blue bay resort and spa, fashioned in Swahili-style architecture with notches in the walls to hold the brass urns and Chinese porcelain, tables inlaid with spices of the island, there’s another world now under the sea that holds so much of the seafarers treasures.
A brochure on the table reads ‘For the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage of Tanzania’.
For centuries, the seas have protected shipwrecks, which are now called underwater cultural heritage sites.
Land-based heritage sites like the Old Stone towns of the East African coast, the sacred coastal forests of the Mijikenda, have long been known but now with new diving technology the underwater world is opening up like a book of secrets.
You can venture to the dive centre hoping to sign in for a dive. “Zanzibar is a destination with diving,” enthuses Karl Svenson, the diving instructor at ‘One Ocean’.
“There is lots to see both on land and in the sea.”
Besides the shipwrecks, there are over 250 species of reef fish, a healthy green turtle population, dolphins to swim with and the occasional shark in clear warm waters. The dive boat to Mnemba Atoll, a 45-minute sail in a speedboat is full and the waiting list is more than a day long – you will just have to book in advance says the instructor.
Beautiful tropical gardens designed by a landscaper from the world-renowned Kew Gardens in Britain surround the lounges and rooms – with features of Swahili architecture – a fountain in the foyer to cool the hot air, carved wooden doors, beds and chests inlaid with brass – in spacious rooms – white-washed with high ceilings.
Tall palms sway in the wind with a soft whistling sound. On the palms bush babies take a peak into the balcony for a chance to steal from the fruit platter n the room. The night’s menu is seafood and grilled meats with tons of fresh vegetables and fruits finished with freshly brewed kahawa/coffee infused with the islands’ spices.
To work off the calories, there’s the ultra-modern gym and the spa on the top deck looking out at the sea. Sea-scaping is definitely good for the soul.
Zanzibar packages
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