Arusha Airport, the city's national airport, is worth seeing: there is no queue at security, but there are several steps leading up to it. But that's no use, because our full water bottles aren't objected to, nor is the fact that an alarm goes off when I go through the metal detector. I still have my watch on and that's enough of an explanation; further checks are unnecessary.
A member of staff from Leopard Tours checks us in while we go to the waiting area. Here, under a metal roof, you can buy souvenirs or something to eat and drink. This is not necessary for some guests, as they have been given complete lunch boxes by security.
Our plane is an ATR 42 of the state-owned airline Precision Air with 66 seats, making it by far the largest plane here. The suitcases are pushed onto the plane by hand and loaded, and we can take off on time.
We land in Zanzibar ahead of schedule with all our suitcases and have to complete a pointless second entry. This means filling out forms, showing passports and having our suitcases and hand luggage scanned again. Fortunately, everything goes quickly, as no one really checks the forms or looks at the monitor with the pictures of our luggage...
Ali from Fernandes Tours picks us up and three Zanzibaris load our suitcases. This is and remains a challenge, because we regularly fill the means of transport with 7 people and 7 large suitcases are not planned. But we are in Africa: "Ha kuna matata" - no problem.
Two things immediately stand out: the climate is tropical and we wonder where the shorts and light T-shirts in our suitcases are. The second is the Muslim character in contrast to mainland Tanzania, which is reflected in the people's clothing and the mosques with the calls of the muezzins.
After about 1 1/2 hours we reach a small paradise: the Unguja Lodge, our home for the coming week. The lodge welcomes us with chilled (!) wet towels and a refreshing drink and the Dutch manager Martin and his assistant Amour give us an overview of the facility.
The lodge with its scattered residential buildings and the main building for the bar and restaurant was planned in the densely overgrown natural surroundings. This means that maximum consideration was given to nature and no large trees were felled. Furthermore, almost exclusively local building materials were used, so that the complex represents a small park.
Included are the local inhabitants, e.g. elephant shrews, two species of monkeys, lemurs, etc. And all this right on the beach, with a pool, loungers and a view of the sunset.
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