What to bring from Zanzibar as a souvenir for your holiday in Tanzania? Consider the best gifts for family and friends that you can buy, how much money to take with you for shopping before going home, and where it is cheaper to buy a handmade souvenir.
Traveling to interesting places on our planet, we always want to take with us a piece of the memory of the country we visited. Of course, all memories remain in our memory, and we often mentally return to pleasant moments of travel for us. And souvenirs and small souvenirs purchased in this or that country make us smile and pleasant associations.
In every country, and in almost every city, you can buy authentic gizmos that characterize these places. Zanzibar is no exception.
From the island you will want to grab more than one little thing, there are a lot of unusual and interesting souvenirs. You will also find gifts for loved ones and friends in Zanzibar. The main thing is to take a larger suitcase and leave a place for shopping.
Holidays in Zanzibar - Self-Travel Tips
- If you decide to relax in Zanzibar during the coronavirus period, it is worth knowing - they do not require a PCR test for Covid-19 upon arrival.
- You can apply for a visa at the airport (the airport building is small, don't get lost at the exit and you will find a local transfer without any problems). The cost of registration is $ 50 per tourist. Payment is made in cash without change or by bank transfer with Visa and MasterCard. Here you will have to fill out a migration card and a visa application form. Everything will take about 20 minutes.
- Full registration at the airport with baggage claim takes no more than 40 minutes.
- We advise you to change money at the airport. Banks and hotels are holding the most disadvantageous course. We do not recommend changing money on the street - there are many scammers.
- Important! Dollars on the island are accepted not older than 2009!
- You shouldn't take the Euro, here they are equal to the dollar. That is, 1 $ = 1 €, it is not profitable for Russians.
- In restaurants, fruit shops, souvenir shops, cafes - it is profitable to pay with local currency (shillings).
- SIM cards of local operators can be more easily purchased upon arrival at the airport. The cost of a SIM card with a regular tariff is about $ 22 for 10 MB of Internet.
- If you use the services of Fly Dubai, find out if they are fed during the flight, some flights, even long ones, do not have meals. Bring some snacks or extra money to buy food on board with you.
- Find out the reviews of tourists who have already been here and know about all the nuances of a vacation by the sea in Tanzania.
Souvenirs of Zanzibar - what to bring
Made of wood
What to buy in Zanzibar? In the souvenir shops of Stone Town, the eyes run up from the abundance of all sorts of things. There are a lot of wood products, these are masks, figurines, knives, vases and even chairs. Figurines in the form of elephants, giraffes, turtles, hippos and other inhabitants of the African continent look colorful.
Masai figurines especially attract attention - women and men dressed in national costumes look bright and unusual. The figurines can be of any size, from small to large outdoor ones.
Wooden masks and drums are in demand among tourists.
Ebony products are a particularly valuable souvenir. This wood is black in color and has a high hardness. An ebony knife is a great souvenir for men.
Interior items made of such wood look very unusual, looking at them you can feel 100% African style.
Leather and fabric souvenirs
You will see leather goods on the counters. These can be bags, wallets, bracelets and other jewelry. The quality of the items is pretty good.
Colorful fabric home accessories can be purchased in stores or in the market. Colorful pillows, bedspreads, blankets, pillowcases and tablecloths will delight women.
Lovely ladies will like not only household goods, but also clothes with accessories.
On the beaches, local women sell handbags and wallets made from palm leaves. The products look quite exotic and unusual. They are made by hand by the same women.
Kanga and Kitenge are the names for the colorful fabrics that make phone cases, bags and wallets. They look pretty original.
National clothes are in less demand, because in the future there is nowhere to put them on, although there are plenty of them on the shelves. Here you can find brightly colored women's apparel, shirts and robes.
Be sure to find out about the rest:
- prices: for hotels, meals, food, excursions,
- the best resorts for relaxation.
Where to buy souvenirs in Zanzibar
There are souvenir shops both in large villages near the beaches and in Stone Town. On the beaches, the Maasai wear a variety of shell beads and wood figures. All of them are made by hand. But in large stores, Chinese fakes can also be found. Therefore, it is better to buy such products in villages that are far from the city and tourist life.
Stone Town has great gift shops. One of them is Memories of Zanzibar. You will find everything in it, but whether these products are manufactured or made by hand by local craftsmen will remain a mystery, the quality is excellent.
In addition, in such stores, prices are fixed, and bargaining will not work, the cost of goods is quite high.
Decorations
Bracelets, earrings and beads are sold everywhere in Zanzibar. Women with whole bundles of jewelry can be found on the beaches. There are whole racks of them in the souvenir shops of Stone Town. Jewelry is made of leather and beads. There are also multi-tiered beads of Maasai women.
Most of the jewelry is authentic and made by local needlewomen. Chinese consumer goods are rare.
In addition to inexpensive jewelry, you can also find jewelry.
Jewelry stores sell gemstones that are mined in Tanzania. These are emerald, diamond, sapphire, tourmaline and tanzanite.
Fossil - tanzanite is mined only in Tanzania, and only at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. This unique stone has a deep blue color, its second name is blue diamond.
Where to buy jewelry?
On sale, jewelry made of thread, beads or leather can be found everywhere, from village counters to large shopping centers. But jewelry, in order to avoid fakes, it is better to buy in Stone Town in specialized jewelry stores.
Natural spices
If you have not yet decided what you can bring from Zanzibar, be sure to stop at the spices. Most of them are grown here and are natural. It is worth buying them in the market, in special shops with souvenirs they are many times more expensive.
At the spice farm, after the excursion, the products allegedly grown right here will also be offered to you, but its cost is 3-4 times higher than at the market in Stone Town.
In Zanzibar they grow: cinnamon, pepper, turmeric, cloves, vanilla, nutmeg, ginger, lemongrass. These spices are worth buying here.
But tea and coffee in Zanzibar is better not to buy. The quality of these products is poor. Tea looks like fine dust and tastes, to put it mildly, not very good.
Where to buy spices in Zanzibar?
In the Kariakoo market, spices for all tastes. There are both beautifully packaged as souvenirs, and loose in whole bags. Bargaining is possible and even necessary, for persons with a European appearance, prices are inflated several times, try to look and dress simply.
Tinga-Tinga Paintings
These pictures look very unusual. They delight most tourists.
Works are written with the help of enamel. The writing style is a bit abstract. The paintings most often depict Africans, the savannah and its inhabitants, the Maasai tribes look very beautiful. The background of the paintings is almost always white, and the drawings are bright and catchy.
Such a picture will not fit into every interior, but I really want to buy at least one.
Where to buy paintings?
Often, paintings are sold directly on the beaches, with entire galleries displayed on the sand. In Stone Town there are entire streets with such painting - Kenyatta Road and Gizenga Street.
Fruits
Fruit can be grabbed as a gift for loved ones or for yourself, in order to prolong the pleasure. Of course, they will take up quite a lot of space, and they weigh a lot.
It is best to take mangoes, they are incredibly tasty in Zanzibar, we definitely do not have such. The main thing is, when choosing, buy a little greenish so that they do not get crumpled until they get home.
You can buy a marakuyu, it is small and light, it does not take up much space. In addition, the dense skin will protect against damage.
Jackfruit will be a special exotic at home. To transport it, you will need a lot of space, in shape it is like a large watermelon.
You will be interested to know:
- where to stay, the beaches of Zanzibar,
- the best hotels by the sea 4 and 5 stars.
At customs
If the amount of fruit is large, Zanzibar customs will offer you a $ 5 certificate. It states that the fruit is not contaminated and is absolutely safe. This document must be presented to everyone who tries to take away your precious cargo, including customs officers at home.
Now you know what you can bring from Zanzibar, the main thing is to prepare more backpacks and suitcases!
