Hakuna Matata or Don’t Worry: How to forget all the troubles and set a full reset with the help of a trip to Zanzibar

Let’s be cold and honest, in a very gray winter, most importantly, I want to escape to a place where the coveted vitamin D can be obtained not from silver bubbles, but from the original source and a voluminous down jacket. stretching your teeth for three cold months) can be easily replaced with a bikini and a linen shirt. And in general, it would be nice to arrange a small reboot to enter the spring season with renewed vigor and great ambition.

So, inspired by the story of Julia Roberts in the previous movie Eat Pray Love, I decided to replicate the success of her travels. Referring to the fact that he’s also a journalist, I thought, “Well, we have a lot in common with him,” and I started looking for the perfect place to reboot. Of course, I did not have a whole year like the hero of the movie. But there was a week and there was a great desire to fit everything into it.

And so, after brushing aside all the burning deadlines, I sat down to review current travel routes. Turkey looked too banal, the Maldives too extravagant, and Bali too “Russian” (if you know what I mean). It’s really hard to please me, so an old friend came to the rescue, who had just returned from Zanzibar a few weeks ago and brought as a gift a wooden giraffe and a bright pareo with a national print. Beautiful photos of a friend of mine from a mysterious island flashed in my head as an African animal figurine was right in front of my nose. When I pictured myself surrounded by palm trees and white sand, I immediately realized: this is it! And I immediately bought tickets and booked the Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa. Then everything is in a fog: packing a suitcase, a long flight and finally the mysterious shores of Africa.

In the end, the choice was completely justified and the task of “starting again in a week” was more than possible, so I decided to share my tips and explain why Zanzibar will become a major travel trend very soon.

living by the ocean

What could be better than a room with an ocean view? So it seems to me that nothing. Indeed, at moments like these you realize that the morning can be truly beautiful. Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa, which I chose for a detox from the hustle and bustle of the capital, ranks first, so the view from the balcony is mesmerizing from the first minute.

In total, the new hotel, which opened in December last year, has 250 luxury rooms, its own wellness centre, conference centre, kids club and even a diving centre. I’ll talk about all this a little later, but for now I suggest turning to numbers.

Big (and very soft) beds, lots of mirrors (where you can take traditional hotel selfies in a white robe), and a bathtub in the bedroom (especially for romance fans). The area of ​​the hotel is of striking scale: many green roads leading to number blocks, three swimming pools, four restaurants and several bars. It has everything you need to escape reality. By the way, the resort is already included in the premium collection of the World’s Leading Hotels, and that already says a lot.

Dance like nobody’s watching

What would you first associate Africa with? From safari? Music? Or maybe dancing? Any of the above answers may be correct, but the last one appealed to me the most. So when I found out that the department would be able to sign up for dance lessons, I immediately added it to my plan. And I did not guess. I haven’t experienced such a discharge from unnecessary thoughts in a very long time.

By the way, about the dance. Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa has a rooftop bar that often hosts loud parties. Thus, it will be possible to apply the movements studied there. And considering that the bar is right over the ocean, the pleasure is doubled.

Eat like diets don’t exist

As mentioned above, the hotel has four restaurants for every taste. If you want something Asian – welcome to Asiatique, if you want lunch on the ocean – you have to go to the Beach Club & Grill, and if you want to get into the hunter’s house – go to Carnivorous (wooden accents and animal skin interior). Well, what would classic hotel breakfasts be without buffet lunches and dinners? In this case the Aqua restaurant is provided.

Learn to live according to the principle of “Hakuna Matata”

“Jumbo” and “Hakuna Matata” are two phrases that you will definitely come across in Zanzibar. The first means “hello”, but the second translates as “don’t worry”. It seems that all the inhabitants of the sunny island live according to this principle. Their optimism and broad smile should be learned by anyone living in the north (read: in Russia).

To completely throw off all thoughts and feel the philosophy codenamed “Hakuna Matata”, I went to the hot spring, hidden in the most secluded corner of the resort, away from noisy parties and bars.

The spa has a small (almost never crowded) pool and several treatment rooms that seem to give the best massage. By the way, almost all skin care products come from a local African brand, which is not inferior to European ones.

Enjoy the colors of Africa

The next item on my reboot checklist was to explore Stone Town (Zanzibar’s historic centre). There you can feel all the African flavor and feel a bit like Carrie Bradshaw in the second Sex and the City movie. But instead of Abu Dhabi, there was Africa. Yes, and it was not possible to come across the conditional Aiden, but this is the best. When I returned from there with loads of souvenirs and an overflowing photographic film, I decided that I would definitely return to Africa more than once, giving Emerald Zanzibar Resort & Spa six stars out of five.