A Zanzibar Sojourn

[malmomike77]

Great thread, somewhere on my stamp collection as a kid I always wanted to visit. Do you have the inclination to do some diving or snorkeling? Or some land based wildlife, Jozani Forest?

[DrWilly]

Love a good sail. Took a traditional dhow boat for a cruise last night.

https://youtube.com/shorts/BcGQ_v6Hb...pWZCZJKjmfRQ9d

[DrWilly]

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/weather/severe/historic-tropical-cyclone-hidaya-threatens-tanzania-with-major-flooding

Historic tropical cyclone threatens Tanzania with major flooding

Hidaya is the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded this close to the Tanzanian coast

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Deadly floods across eastern Africa may get worse this weekend as Cyclone Hidaya approaches landfall in Tanzania.
[/COLOR]The storm, a historic first for this stretch of coastal Africa, could produce 100-200+ mm of rain around the country’s densely populated capital region of Dar es Salaam.
DON'T MISS: Experts predict an extremely active 2024 Atlantic hurricane season


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Widespread flooding likely

Cyclone Hidaya is a small but powerful storm, packing winds equivalent to those of a Category 1 hurricane. The storm will make landfall near the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam during the early morning hours on Saturday.
Strong winds are a secondary threat to the tremendous amount of tropical rainfall that’ll push into the coast through this weekend.
Forecasters expect more than 200 mm of rain to fall around the Dar es Salaam region, which is home to more than 5 million people. Widespread flash flooding is likely across urban areas and along waterways throughout the region. Landslides and mudslides are possible in the hills west of the city.
RELATED: Kenya flood toll rises to 181 as homes and roads are destroyed
The potential for additional flooding is terrible news for this region of eastern Africa. Torrential rains have hammered portions of Kenya, Burundi, and Tanzania over the past couple of weeks. Reuters reported this weekthat more than 180 people in Kenya have died as a result of the floods.

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While the core of Hidaya’s moisture will remain in Tanzania, the same onshore flow steering the cyclone into land will fuel additional rounds of tropical downpours north into flood-stricken areas of Kenya.





A historic storm near Tanzania

The storm’s maximum winds reached nearly 150 km/h during the day Friday, making the tropical cyclone the equivalent of a strong Category 1 hurricane.
Forecasters with the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) confirmed on Friday that Hidaya is the strongest tropical cyclone ever observed in this part of the south Indian Ocean.
SEE ALSO: A world first, every tropical ocean saw a Category 5 storm in 2023
Most tropical cyclones in the south Indian Ocean form between 10°S and 30°S, with the island of Madagascar and the nation of Mozambique taking the brunt of storms as they track west across the ocean basin.
It’s rare for tropical cyclones to track this close to Tanzania given the country’s location just a few degrees south of the equator. Only four tropical cyclones on record have made landfall in Tanzania, and they all approached land with the equivalent strength of a weak tropical storm.

[DrWilly]

Swamped a few of those boats last night.

[Iceman123]

The place looks amazing, on my bucket list now.

[Edmond]

^ Don't forget to stop off and pickup cyrille with his giant sombrero and sunnies.

[DrWilly]

The place looks amazing, on my bucket list now.

It’s decent. Well worth a visit. But a trip from Aus will be the best part of 30 hours, so you might want to fit in a few trips in one. Obviously a safari on the mainland would be a good option.

[DrWilly]

Apparently the best beaches are in the north of the island. So we hired a van and traveled up for the day (Approx 1.5 hours). The roads, and the road users remind me a lot of Bali. Small, winding, and no road sense. Our van almost got taken out by a passenger on a motorcycle carrying a 10 foot bamboo pole on his shoulder. Words were exchanged.

Then we got pulled over and the driver got done for an expired tax disc.

You can stay at these resorts, or if you want to visit for the day, load up a cash card (around $50) which can be used inside.

[bsnub]

I don't know about that "pizza" Willy.

[DrWilly]

Said cash card.



And the beaches really did look like that!

Full moon parties. Jet skis etc they had it all

[DrWilly]

One of our guides told us these Maasai tribe warriors come in Tanzania to look for a mazungu wife. Apparently do well with the Italian women, but then they marry, move to Europe and change their clothes to western style.

[DrWilly]

I don't know about that "pizza" Willy.

It was a bit ordinary. Posted it for Tax’s benefit.

[Switch]

Love a good sail. Took a traditional dhow boat for a cruise last night.

https://youtube.com/shorts/BcGQ_v6Hb...pWZCZJKjmfRQ9d

Always wanted to try that kind of sailing. It’s been around for generations, so there must be a good reason for it!

[DrWilly]

However, these prawns on mash and lobster tails where outstanding.

[Joe 90]

Your pics ard getting better!

[DrWilly]

Aaand with that the holiday is over.

Getting home was a bit of a clusterfuck. Booked the first flight to Dar in the morning 7:30am... the 8:30 scheduled flight left before ours (and they dont check you through), so you need to get to baggage collection, exit the domestic airport including x-ray machine, re enter the international airport, line up for check in, then immigration et al. A two hour gap was eaten up with a two hour delay. Even though both flights were with Tanzania Air. But we had landed in the international terminal which just complicated matters further.

We had a helpful, but unknowable fellow from Tanzania Air tell us we should have gone straight to transit, but we explained that we needed to go through immigration, so he told us to forget out bags and he tried to take us and a before other passengers in the same boat backwards through immigration check points, but they got grumpy with him and us which didn't really help matters. In the end we collected our bags, jumped the queues at xray (one fellow quite irate about this), and the staff had rang ahead to the check in counters to stay open, we checked in 15 minutes before the flight was due to leave and more or less walked straight onto the plane. Fortunately immigration and security did not have any queues.

Fortunately/Unfortunately, the wife didn't have time to do any duty free shopping.

[DrWilly]

Great thread, somewhere on my stamp collection as a kid I always wanted to visit. Do you have the inclination to do some diving or snorkeling? Or some land based wildlife, Jozani Forest?

We did a spice tour (up to the forest and plantations) - it was a bit shit and a waste of money.

[Stumpy]

Great Thread DW. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to post the pics with some history behind them.

[Topper]

Very nice thread Willy, thanks!!!!!

I do wonder, on the sign for the beach it said "bout i que shop". It's it French for something?

[BLD]

Cracking thread willy

[Neverna]

Thread of the year so far.

[Edmond]

^ walk up to Backspin and kick him in the filipinas why don't you.

[david44]

Wonderful window into another way of life, top mark Willy

[DrWilly]

Great thread, somewhere on my stamp collection as a kid I always wanted to visit. Do you have the inclination to do some diving or snorkeling? Or some land based wildlife, Jozani Forest?

The place looks amazing, on my bucket list now.

Your pics ard getting better!

Great Thread DW. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to post the pics with some history behind them.

Very nice thread Willy, thanks!!!!!

I do wonder, on the sign for the beach it said "bout i que shop". It's it French for something?

Cracking thread willy

Thread of the year so far.

Wonderful window into another way of life, top mark Willy

Cheers fellows. This Zanzibar trip was certainly a highlight trip and we’re planning our next sojourn sometimes soon!

Living far away from seafood and beaches certainly makes you appreciate them more!