A Flight Across the Zanzibar Channel

On our visits to Tanzania we preferred to travel around the country by road because we felt that this would enable us to see the country at close-quarters. However, in 2012, when we chose to visit Zanzibar, we had little choice but to fly across the Zanzibar Channel. The 'plane was single-engined so we were a little nervous but, as the only passengers....

....we quickly forgot our worries as we enjoyed wonderful views, first of Saadani, the lodge we were leaving, and then....

....of the Zanzibar Channel on a calm day.

I have often seen ngalowas, the frail-looking dug-out canoes of the Swahili Coast with their lateen sail and outriggers, set off from East Africa's beaches to fish in the channel but this was the first time I had seen them far out. The fishermen tend to be alone in the boat and the weather isn't always as kind, so it is hard, dangerous work.

Most of the channel, which is about 25 miles wide, appeared to be shallow so there were numerous cays of which some, like this one, were inhabited. An island this size, with its white sand beaches, forest of coconut palm and casuarina, and reef close in to the shore, must be as close to paradise as one can get.

We also had fine views of Zanzibar's Stone Town as we made our approach to the airport. The building marked A is the Beit al Ajaib, the Palace of Wonders, where the colonial administration was based and where my mother worked, while the site of the block of flats where she lived, Paradise Mansions, demolished some years ago, is marked B.