Are you generally a sociable person or a recluse? What's your priority during travelling? Do you prefer the crowd favourites or do you go hunting for unexplored territories to find peace and quiet? Well we are a mixture of both. Sometimes I can't even truly decide whether I want peace and calm or total chaos that would drain all my worries away.
During our 7 days stay on this heavenly island, we stayed in 3 resorts, in totally different parts of Zanzibar, for a novel experience. We scheduled our second stay in Nungwi, one of the most happening beaches of Zanzibar. Properties were really expensive here, so instead of booking a beach resort, we booked a nice hotel with a pool (my non negotiable) that was few hundred meters away from the beach. Since we had the car, reaching the beach should not have been an issue.
We were surprised on our first visit to the Nungwi beach. Firstly, the entire Nungwi village was bustling with locals and tourists alike, something that was elusive in our previous stay in Jambiani. And when we reached the beach, we were astonished. The water was absolutely turquoise, the sand was pristine white and there were innumerable restaurants that looked incredibly fancy!
Not only that, there were so many night clubs that the place was vibrating to the concoction of beats, coming from various clubs. And the souvenir market scene was the best that I had seen in the entire island.
And when night crept in, we were fortunate to witness a fire show...something which I am totally mesmerised with! The next morning we had our boat tour for dolphin watching from there. After we came back in the afternoon, we had the time of our lives swimming in the warm waters. The ocean at Nungwi felt different. And it definitely was, because unlike other beaches in Zanzibar, the ocean does not recede 2 kms during low tide! Neither does it flood all the properties during high tide like in Paje!
There's a humungous reason as to why Nungwi is the most sought after beach on this island, even if is located at the Northern most tip, which means 80 kms from the airport. However, my heart still lies in Jambiani. Maybe for the peace, maybe for our boutique resort; maybe because it was our first stay in this paradise; not exactly sure why.