Because life is the way you want it to be… Just make it yours, click here to learn more about the Zanzibar life and culture.
Zanzibar Sightseeing
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Category Archives: Travel
Culture on Bicycles
There is so much culture and history to explore in Zanzibar. It is said that it has been home for humans for over 20,000 years. Zanzibar was used as a base for trades happening between the Middle East, Africa and India. Zanzibar; a Swahili culture, influenced very much by the Omanis and many Arabs who immigrated and passed through Zanzibar for trade over the years. Zanzibar then became part of the Portuguese empire in 1503. In 1698, Zanzibar became under the Sultanate of Oman. Around the late 1830’s, The Omani Sultan moved the capital of Oman from Muscat to Zanzibar. In 1890 it became a protectorate of Britain until 1963 when Zanzibar finally became an independent country.
Because life is more beautiful on a bicycle, learn about Zanzibar by clicking here.
People of Zanzibar
My favorite part was the diversity in their wardrobe, influenced by many cultures, the Swahili culture influenced by the Omani culture. The last photograph is a picture of what their public bus looks like. Learn more about Zanzibar by clicking here.
Zanzibars Heaven Side
Zanzibar (also known in Arabic as Zanjibar) is a beautiful Island to explore by the Indian Ocean. We first went to Paje beach, which is located in the southeast of Zanzibar, we stayed in a hotel that looked beautiful but was extremely dirty (Paradise Beach Bungalows). Make sure there is an air condition working in your room, it is very hot. Paje is a lagoon and it is famous for its kitesurfing and kiteboarding.
Visit The Rock Cafe which is on the Michamvi Pingue just 10 minutes away from Paje by car, the Cafe was voted to be one of the most beautiful restaurants around the world. Make sure you do early reservations as it is always fully booked. You can also try Upendo which is opposite of The Rock Cafe and offers great food and ambiance.
We then moved to Nungwi, which was recommended by most of websites and people who have been to Zanzibar. It is also known as Ras Nungwi (Ras in Arabic stands for head/tip) as it is located in the far north tip end of the island. We loved it, and stayed there for about a week, our hotel was amazing and is highly recommended (Mnarani Beach Cottages).
I would recommend you settle in one area in Zanzibar and enjoy the breathtaking scenery that you will never get enough of. The distance from one area to another is long, about an hour or an hour and a half from Paje to Nungwi.
Learn how to play Bao, check out the shops by the beach, have seafood, try Langi Langi (an Italian cuisine, with great food), meet their people, stay away from the beach boys who will always try to sell you something (and sometimes you can actually get yourself a good offer), watch the sunset, lay down on the sand and get a beautiful suntan.
Click here to learn more about Zanzibar and what more to see during your visit.
Check out the Wild Beast of Serengeti
They were enormous, I have never seen them before. There were too many, they were migrating for sure, they were real fun to look at, and every time a car passes by, they stop and stare as if they know what they are looking at, they are truly wild, wild like the rays of the sun, nothing can stop them and nothing can dilute them, they are there when they rise.
About the Maasai Tribe
A day to remember,
Days to remember,
Meeting beautiful faces and beautiful people,
Who only like to meet new faces and different people,
Who only invite you to sing and dance with them and cherish the very moment,
Tribes, from all over, any tribe, a tribe,
Just some people who believe strongly in their own values and do not impose them on the other,
A tribe, that holds on close tight into their circle and feel happy to share their wisdom with the other,
Tribes, that surrender in circles, to form beautiful colors of ethnicity and earth figures,
Tribes, that build upon each other and on top of one another, in continuation forming a strong system that connects them together in union,
Tribes, they last long but they stay isolated from everything else in the name of their circle,
That circle, that bonds them and never leaves them alone no matter what,
That circle, that is like light bulbs and no light can turn on without turning the next one on and the next one on and the next one on,
And if one bulb doesn’t turn on, then the whole system mourn together in loss.
What to expect when going on a Safari trip
We planned to try all the camping options during out trip. We booked a night in a Semi-Luxury camp, a night in a regular camp and a night in a luxury camp. The semi-luxury camp was great, we had our private bathroom inside the tent, and we had a separate beautiful tent for breakfast and dinner. We hear the roar of lions at night and the sound of other wild animals. The regular camp was the most adventurous, as we literally have seen a hyena before going to bed, they offered a shared bathroom hall that were located a minute walking distance but was still unfavored and not recommended to be used during the night time, and a cafeteria serving both breakfast and dinner, the food was poorly done, but the experience was incredible. Our luxury camp which I was truly looking forward to was a total rip off. It was located outside of Serengeti, yet outside the wild, it was just like any hotel. It was a beautiful hotel, but luxury camps inside Serengeti offer an unforgettable experience which i totally recommend, even if you have to put a few hundred bucks on top of your budget, do it, you will never regret it, just make sure you see photos of what it will look like and compare it with other luxury camps available.
Creative Writing on my Safari Experience:
When love is nature,
And nature is love,
When looking at earth as a one big piece of art,
When nothing makes sense because everything makes pure sense,
When life taps you on the shoulder to tell you one word, Love.
Because without love, nothing is nourished,
Because without love, everything is dead.
Because to love we belong,
And without love we can never belong.
Because seeing this world can change like every climate,
We choose to see things the way we wish to see them,
We can always look on the other side, but there is always someone looking into our side,
Because no one knows how long we will stay where we are,
And how far we can go to where we want to go,
Life can be a puzzle or a simple passage,
A passage that we can curate or walk through accepting all possible changes,
Life is nothing but a piece of big art,
Big huge painting that can never be framed because it is always changing,
Free of one criteria and free of one identity,
It is open, and spacious, it is multinational and diverse,
It is made for everyone and yet made to no one,
It is so random, yet it so miraculous,
It is always a reflection of what we seek to see,
So seek for good, seek for love, and be that love you wish to see.
Seeing the Elephants
Once upon a time…
Spiritual Writing on Letting Go
Ramadan Lesson number Two:
Let go; by giving, by sharing, by opening up. Let everything within you go. Let your attachments go, let your words go, let your thoughts go, just let go. Free yourself from your own self, and learn to let everything go.
Holding on to anything will cause us pain eventually, and in life, we happen to stumble over and over again onto obstacles and illusions that we only cause upon our self. One way to look at this is how to give without expecting back, how to love without expecting back, how to speak without expecting back, how to share without expecting back.
Train our souls, to give for the sake of the Divine, allow yourself to be His instrument, allow yourself to be the flower that moves with the wind, allow yourself to be the balloon that was set free by the little boy, allow yourself to be the bird that sings. Allow yourself to travel in life, to bring joy to yourself and to others. Practice by giving. Give once each day without wanting back, give for the sake of this earth to grow more greens, give for it to glow, and give for it to multiply.
We always want something back, and we always get so much back, but we forget, we become greedy, we train ourselves to become selfish and greedy. If I am not getting a response, I am never calling again, If I am not being loved, I am no longer loving, if I am not getting paid, I am no longer working. We always want something back, and it is good to get things back, but don’t be one of those who always want something back, who when you don’t get what you expect, you become upset and angry, you loose your joyous self, you loose your light, you loose your human element and become a greedy, grumpy human being.
Learn to let go, to let go of your expectations and thoughts, learn to give for no return, learn to give because you know there is a Divine, because there is something more powerful than you and everyone else, that there is something coming back to you always in different forms, in ways that we find are magical, in ways that we find no answers to, in ways that we can not predict or expect, we just receive, so give in that same way, in that way when you surprise people, when you put a smile into their hearts, when you put light into their eyes, give and ask for nothing back, want nothing back and expect nothing back.
Spiritual Writings & Leopards
Ramadan’s Lesson Number One:
We never know what we are looking at, until we look deeper.
And we can only look deeper when we will and are welcomed to look deeper.
The door is opened, might be slightly opened, or even when it is locked and closed, it still is a view to look into and understand what it really is we are looking at.
First impressions never last, and they can mean something but are never accurate. We miss, most of the time.
But then, we get closer and closer to the true meaning of the picture we are looking into.
It can appear so dark, but once inside, it is so light and peaceful, and it can appear so light and once inside it is the darkest place on earth.
Nonetheless, we can never know just by looking at the cover.
The cover is a form. And our eyes can only have better first impression judgments when one’s vision is pure, and clean.
Other than that, our vision is blurred, mischievous, and malicious.
It is not a vision to count on, until it has been washed out from all vanity and desires. It must be like water, crystal clear.
Stereotypes are conducts of blurred vision. It is a cover that has been poorly interpreted over and over again. Most people tend to be followers, and so they follow the false meaning of the appearance.
Versus in the Quran are all forms, they can be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted over and over again, they can give you a clue to what they might mean, but they are rarely understood within full meaning. The meaning of each verse has a deep story within, and only those who attain high spiritual connection can find it is easy to find true meaning behind each verse.
Life is also a form. It is a misinterpretation. Most things are poorly visible. Most things are apparent more than true wisdom, like flares, they can be easily put off or put aside. Most things in life are easily misunderstood. Because to meaning, it is more than what we just look at, meanings are mostly always hiding inside and behind, only those who are well experienced, and well explored, those who truly understand that behind each one of us, there is something a little something more than what we just put on and walk around with.
So listen more than look, for appearances are only appearances, what truly matters is what lies within.
Razan Masri 