We started our journey for a quick trip to Zanzibar today. Our first flight would be on Ethiopian Airlines from Mumbai to Addis Ababa. I had booked a window seat for myself and an aisle seat for the wife in the last row of economy with the hope that the middle seat would remain empty. But the flight was completely full and we had a co-passenger who was assigned the middle seat. He would have agreed to take the window or aisle in exchange for his middle seat but we just decided to continue with our assinged window and aisle seats where both of us were individually comfortable. The flight was uneventful and I slept most of the time. There was breakfast service before we landed.
We had 3 hour 35 minute layover in Addis Ababa. We had access to the Plaza Premium Lounge with our Priority Pass so we decided to visit. The lounge was nice and I especially liked the selection of Ethiopian food on offer, Chechebsa and Shiro Watt.
After spending some time there we headed to the gate for our next flight. We flew south after take off and and it was nice to see the African plains below. This was the third time we crossed the equater into the southern hemisphere. Lunch was served during the flight.
Our flight to Zanzibar was a one stop service with a halt in Kilimanjaro. I was really hoping to get to see Mt. Kilimanjaro while landing. Having checked how flight usually approach, we were seated on the correct side of the aircraft. But as we got closer it became clear that there were low clouds and we only got only fleeting glimpses of the mountain.
The stop at Kilimanjaro was quick. More passengers got off than got on. Soon we were on the way again. We approached Zanzibar from the north, which meant the other side of the plane got to see nice views of Stone Town on final approach.
We found out after landing that we had to purchase mandatory insurance for Zanzibar inspite of already having travel insurance. This set us back by $80. Immigration and baggae claim was smooth and we walked to the parking to collect our car. We had booked with Zanzibar Maneno Car Rental and they also arranged for our Tanzania Driver Permit for an additional fee.
We withdrew some cash from the airport ATM and then filled in some fuel for 50k TNZ. We drove north and passed Stone Town on the way. Just as we passed the Mahonda Police Station we were stopped by the police. They wanted to check out documents so I showed them the rental car document and the Tanzania Driver Permit. They wanted to see my original licence which was in my bag. So I got down to get it and show it to them. Then another policemand came over and they were talking to each other and smiling/gigling. Seeing that we figured out what was to come next. Then they said that I should not get down from the car and should always have my seat belt on. Trying to explain to them that I got down only to show them my licence which they asked to see, was futile. The new policeman said I would have to go to the court to settle this and pay the fine or I could pay them a bribe of 70k TNZ and carry on. I was damn pissed off since I had not done anything wrong, but we were here only for 4 days and we didn’t want to spend that time runing around getting this sorted. He gave me a book in which I had to keep the money and give it back to him. I did that and we drove on. I was not happy, more so due to the incident than the amount, I thought this was not a good way for our holiday to start. We were stopped again after some point and but this time they just checked the documents and let us go.
We reached the hotel late in the evening and decided to have dinner at their onsite restaurant. The food was nice and we enjoyed the meal by the pool side. We then headed back to our room for the night.
🚘 Zanzibar Maneno Car Rental
🍽️ Babalao Bungalows
🛏️ Babalao Bungalows