I spent my Easter break on a beach in Zanzibar, which is not such a bad way to spend the holiday. The first time I went to Zanzibar, I was taken by the beautiful beaches, the rich culture 
and history of Stonetown, and the pockets of the island that smell like spices. The trip this weekend was beautiful, relaxing, and yet somehow very odd. There were eight of us (American, Canadian, and Finnish), and we went to a beautiful beach hostel in the northern part of the island. The beach was completely white, and the water was some of the clearest I’ve ever seen, but something about the place really bothered me.
Zanzibar is generally very rural and undeveloped. Driving down the road, all you see are villages with mud and cinderblock huts. The simplicity of life in those villages is a little appealing, but it’s really weird to see them set right next to a 4-star hotel. Even the backpacker lodges are fairly nice, and they are much more expensive than necessary. It seems that out of all that money that gets dumped into these lodges, very little trickles back into the local economy.
When I got to the resort, it was like culture shock all over again. Everyone staying there was white, and the only Tanzanians were the wait staff. No one tries to speak to you in Swahili, and everyone just lies on the beach all day perfecting their tan. I couldn’t help but wonder if people come to Tanzania and this is all they see. It just seems weird to come all this way and then seclude yourself from the culture. Or maybe they are just on vacation like me. Either way, it was very different from school. As frustrated as I sometimes become trying to get used to Dar es Salaam, I don’t think I could ever get used to life on a beach resort.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about my weekend in Zanzibar. I had a blast. Some of 
us went SCUBA diving on a few nearby reefs, and that was great. The coral was fantastic and the marine life was really cool. We even saw a couple of sea turtles! Still, it was difficult to reconcile my weekend on the beach with my experience of Tanzania for the past 2 ½ months. Next break I might go to the mountains instead…
and history of Stonetown, and the pockets of the island that smell like spices. The trip this weekend was beautiful, relaxing, and yet somehow very odd. There were eight of us (American, Canadian, and Finnish), and we went to a beautiful beach hostel in the northern part of the island. The beach was completely white, and the water was some of the clearest I’ve ever seen, but something about the place really bothered me.
us went SCUBA diving on a few nearby reefs, and that was great. The coral was fantastic and the marine life was really cool. We even saw a couple of sea turtles! Still, it was difficult to reconcile my weekend on the beach with my experience of 
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