Tanzania has Maldivian water. Of course, unlike Dubai, where sand from the Maldives was poured onto some beaches, Maldivian water was not poured here with a scoop. By nature, Zanzibar has the same color of both the coast and the sea. Tanzania basically feels like the Maldives stretched across the area.
Classically, people fly to this African country for a safari. Safari, unlike zoos, excludes the keeping of animals in open-air cages; instead, observation of wild animals in their natural habitat is organized. The only important point is that it is advisable to be vaccinated against malaria or local fevers.
After celebrating the New Year 2020 in France, we flew to Tanzania for just a week on a direct flight of Rossiya Airlines, which had just taken over Transaero’s planes, and would later take Rossiya itself into its Aeroflot group. Let's leave the showdowns and takeovers in the aviation industry to themselves and get back to traveling. January is high season in Tanzania and it’s wonderful.
Our first activity was diving into the sea with masks, snorkels and fins on a large and beautiful coral reef. Due to the fact that the location was very touristy, in the landing zone there was a mass of wooden boats exactly the same as the one on which we sailed. There are 100 of them, no less, and finding yours while in the water was very difficult and even alarming. Luckily, we found the one we needed and our “cruise” program included some kind of lunch for a hundred bucks. Lunch was served on a tray of impressive size and contents of no less impressive volume. If it costs $100, then for $1000 you can buy Tanzania, I thought. The guys did not spare dozens of lobsters, crabs, and spiny lobsters. It seems to me that we could easily compete in gastronomic accompaniment with the yachts of billionaires. The elephant would eat too much and share it with his friends.
The next stage of the cultural program were horse-sized turtles. There were hundreds of them, just like tourist boats. Many of them were more than a hundred years old, some of the herbivores were 130-150 centenarians. On such a turtle you can not only swim across the river, but also go around the world.
The highlight of the cultural program was the birthplace of Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury and the local colorful market, where everything possible was butchered in unsanitary conditions.
Tanzania, Zanzibar, well, in general, it’s just Like with a capital "L".