Matatizo. (problem).

Matatizo, the Swahili word for 'problem'. A word you hear on the day basis here.

I was reluctant to write about my feelings / thoughts of the island because quite frankly, I didn't want us to appear like the epitome of a privileged white couple complaining about this "postcard picturesque" tropical island that WE chose to move to. Meanwhile, there are people suffering with far less & don't complain.

Let me be clear, I love Africa, so much. I LOVE Tanzania. I thought the island (which is a part of Tanzania) would be similar. I couldn't have been more wrong. The island is by far my least favorite spots in all of Africa.

I find most locals to be unfair (probably because I am a woman). I feel like it is their mission in life to make every possible situation as difficult as possible, in hopes you will just give up and they do not have to work. And i believe 99% of the expats that live here would agree with this.

We had a realization early on that our favorite people here, are all from mainland. Completely different mindset, completely different values, completely different morals.

Security Instantly Regretting His Decision By Making Problems with Maasai.

Here is a perfect example of the locals making issues out of NOTHING:

Maasai vs Locals:

::to be clear:: Maasai are not from Zanzibar, they come here to earn a living to support their villages back on mainland. Locals here on island have an issue with mainlanders, this comes from their government tho. At one point in time, Zanzibar wanted mainlanders to show a passport to come here. (ITS THE SAME COUNTRY.) Maasai are peaceful, friendly, happy tribesmen.

Maasai (aka beach boys) walk the beach with their full attire on, shukas, their tire sandals, beadwork's, and usually have their club with them. Now the club is really used for herding their cattle, never as a weapon. The Maasai are NOT trouble makers by any means....But Zanzibarians are. Maasai make good money selling to tourists and also, the Maasai are very VERY desirable amongst European white women.. So perhaps this causes a bit of jealousy?? Anyway, A bunch of Maasai were walking the beach and some local security guards decided they didn't like the Maasai carrying their clubs. so they went down to try to take them from the Maasai (mind you, these are security guards from hotels). It broke out in a fight with security clubs and Maasai clubs flying. It ends with the security guards running away, instantly regretting their decision.

In the video, you can actually see the security guards trying to take the Maasais clubs and start hitting them first.

This was a big ordeal on the island. The Maasai are treated like absolute shit by the locals; but I do believe this is from jealousy. The Maasai are very friendly, likable and not to mention they are sought after by European white women.

Prices:

Its like Zanzibarians must be some of the most greedy people I have ever met. They are out of control with their pricing. It's like they want all the benefits from gentrification, but they do not want the investors here that are making it happen.

A local will be selling a plot of land and ask a ridiculous price of 1.5 million USD, but end up selling it for 10k.

A local will give you a ride in his tuktuk for 1/4 of a mile that used to cost 25 cents, now they are demanding $10 USD.

A local will now TRY to charge you $8 for a bundle of bananas, where we normally pay 75 cents.

A local will charge a tourist $20 for a large water jug, where it should only cost about $2.

Again, it is like their greed blinds them. They want all the benefits of the gentrification and the funds from tourism, but they do not see that their greed is causing them more harm then good. No one will leave with a good feeling about this place if they feel they are taken advantage of, even if it is just for $2.

Power Surges / Power Cuts & Fires

They keep advertising "invest in Zanzibar!" all over the place, and people get distracted by the beautiful beaches and tropics... that somehow overshadow the bare necessities you need to survive; if you were to come here with the dream to open a boutique hotel. The main power lines to the island are completely maxed out, one which is 100% maxed out and the other is nearing there. Instead of switching to solar, because the governments pockets are in with the Power Company, they just plan to add another line to the island. Owning here, you have to worry about power surges, a very major thing. This fries refrigerators, tvs, basically any appliance out there. Power surges can become extremely dangerous and are the #1 cause for our very common massive fires here.

Power cuts are completely normal and although it is "illegal" to put out a schedule for power cuts, they did it anyway. 6-9 hour power cuts, in the most populated village on the island with tourists, in the busiest month of the year. Imagine booking a dream holiday, and you cant even shower in your hotel room? or flush the toilet... Tourists left the island early from their dream vacation that turned into a complete nightmare.

There is a WhatsApp group where you can report power cuts or surges, but the power company responds to about 3% of the calls/messages. Quite alarming when you are in the group and you see power posts completely up in flames, the the power company completely just does not give a shit.

You can buy a generator for your property which will cost you a fortune in fuel each month. But the island tends to run out of fuel when every house and hotel is out in search of fuel for their generators.

Ramadan.

Ramadan is about 1 month long, where the locals fast during the day, no food no water, until the sun sets. During Ramadan, hotels and restaurants either close up completely or they put up barriers so tourists can eat and locals do not have to see it. They do this out of respect for the Muslim community.

Ramadan is part of their religion. It is NOT a law.

We witnessed government force come in to Paje (our village, one of the more touristy spots) and rip down some of the barricades restaurants had put up out of respect. Imagine that, imagine putting your earned money into trying to be respectful and the government sends armed troops in to rip it all down and then try to fine you.

A tour operator was fined for giving tourists bottles of water during the day in Stonetown. Made a huge scene about it, probably scared the shit out of the tourists. Gave the tour operator a fine, later even tried to throw him in jail. But thanks so social media, hire ups caught wind of it and since it is NOT a law, this was intervened.

Accidents:

When accidents happen, it is common for looters to arrive to the scene and instead offering help, they just ransack the scene and steal everything and anything they can. It is disgusting.

Sanitation / litter / trash problem:

There are many organizations all over the island that are small, but trying do to right for the island. There are women who are recycling glass and making beautiful tableware. There are groups that recycle the plastic, melt it down and make everything from chandeliers, to pots for plants to keychains.

Some of the villages organize beach / village clean ups and put up recycling centers in place. But then there are villages, like Paje, that is growing unbelievably fast, and the litter/trash is too. Organizations to individuals have gone in to the District Commissioner Sheha office in Paje to get the permits for such an event, and can you believe the Sheha wont let it happen unless they get a cut!? They want to be PAID for volunteers to take time out of their own lives to come in and clean up their village / beach.

The ONLY thing Zanzibar has to offer is its beaches. That is it. and to see the build up of trash is disgusting. Typically, I love to walk barefoot on the beach, but now I am too disgusted to, so I always wear my sandals.

It is absolutely infuriating that the beaches are WHY tourists come, but yet the Sheha demands for a bribe in order to allow a beach clean up.

The trash is horrible... There are trash companies in place but the government does not enforce this. So. boutique hotels and developments can hire anyone with a truck and they will come collect the rubbish from the site and then just dump the trash elsewhere on the island.

In this case, in our development, our HOA hired a company to come empty our trash bins, and no exaggeration, the guys collected the trash and dumped it right out front of the gate to our development. Perhaps this was ignorance, or perhaps this was a big "Fuck you" to the investors.

The Jumpers:

Young boys (teenagers) jump of the pier into very shallow water with funky tricks & jokes for the tourists. It has become a viral hit on instagram with thousands of followers. While in Stonetown, tourists go looking for the jumpers to watch their show. For a small tip they will include you in their little and make an awesome video for you on you phone. A lot of these jumpers are Mainlanders. They were even able to get Letitia Wright the actress to pay them a visit! The Government saw them getting more and more famous and clearly had to intervene. They shut down the jumpers altogether. The jumpers moved the act to Dar es Salaam, the city on the coast of Tanzania. With instant negative backlash for this, the Government quickly changed their mind and invited them back .

I could go on, but I wont. It is exhausting dealing with this island, the island itself is MATATIZO.