Tag Archives: beach

Zanzibar Spices, Snorkel Safari, and Solo Stonetown

March 4, 2026 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

The island of Zanzibar is rich in culture and history. As rich as the smell of the spices on the air.

Our CEO (Chief Experience Officer) Kambi (Shoutout for awesomeness!) took us through a spice plantation, where we learned the use and diversity of all the different spice plants that grow there. We had the option to buy some Zanzibar tea, chocolates, or if we were feeling fancy, we could get the raw version of Chanelle #5.

Part of the plantation had Coconut trees, where we were each provided our refreshing beverage, and given our plant-jewelry adornments. Kombi climbed one of the trees alongside our plantation guides, singing along to Jumbo Bwana, and the whole experience was fascinating, educational and fun.

Once finished at the planation, we continued onto the coast were we stayed at Uroa Bay Beach Resort. The all inclusive resort provided a slice of paradise, with everything you could need to pamper yourself. You could get additional services like a mani-pedi, and a message… Me being my rough and tumble self normally, I decided to splurge and get my first pedicure and a few massages. Sitting on the beach with a drink, looking out at the water and outrigger sailboats, it was a lovely little vacation from reality.

The next day was the adventure of a lifetime. In one of the local sailing vessels, our group ventured off to reefs and islands just off the coast. Having grown up sailing, the prospect of trying to find one of these boats to go out for a sail was already high on my list of things I wanted to try. Luckly, as part of the snorkeling tour with GAdventures, WE GOT TO GO SNORKELING FROM THE SAILBOAT! I was ecstatic before we put foot on the deck. We were given some loaner snorkel gear (pro tip, I usually travel with my own mask and snorkel if Im planning on snorkel/SCUBA. If you dont have room in the bag, I recommend just bringing snorkel. Its a personal sanitary thing.) Once out at the island, we could dive right in and the clear water was a magical other world of sea creatures. From the boat we were given the option to be shuttled to an island for lunch, or we could swim into shore and walk across the sandbar to the island as the tide was low. A group of us start swimming our way in to the beach. The process took us a while longer to get to the lunch station than those who shuttled, but it was worth it! Once on the beach, we navigated the shoreline and across the shallows. The ecosystem that existed even in the shallowest of water was breathtaking. Different types of starfish and crabs, even a Spanish Dancer which captivated our attention for a while.

Coming off the sandbar we walked trough the forest of boab trees and mangroves. One significant Boab was easily the largest tree that I had ever seen, and had fallen over on its side. One of the branches had taken over and continued to grow, making it look otherworldly. Of course when given the option to climb the fallen trunk, I jumped at it. A buffet of seafood and small craft vendor booths awaited us as we came out of the trail from the beach. After a delicious lunch and a bit of shopping, we walked out on the low tide beach for a distance before climbing back into the sailboat. We had favourable winds the whole way back to the dock, and as I sat there looking out at the fleets of other sailing vessels that were making their way along the horizon, I had a moment of the most wonderful ‘I’m here’ feeling.

After a couple days at the resort our tour officially came to an end, and i made my way to Stonetown to await my flight two days later. Pulling away from the resort, about 5 minutes in, I discovered the worst feeling imaginable… I had left my camera at the resort. The shuttle with people from my tour, as well as a very accommodating shuttle driver, we return and they had my camera! Once back in shuttle, I realize that the lady staff member who saved my camera had taken a selfie, and i will forever be grateful!

With a full day as a solo female traveler, Thankfully I was able to meet up with a couple people from my tour and get lunch and dinner. There was a different feeling of the city after dark, and I made sure to be back to my hotel before then. During the day, I would wander the narrow allies of vendors and food, enjoying the scenes that could only be seen on this island city. Its architecture telling its stories, its atmosphere rich with spice and salt sea-breeze.

If you are ever interested in booking a tour or travel like mine, please reach out! This trip made me want to become a travel agent so I could help people have amazing experiences. You can contact me HERE.

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', East African Adventure, Videos

Hakuna Matata: Zanzibar

April 21, 2024 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

An early morning shuttle took us to the Airport where we hopped onto a larger prop plane, headed to Zanzibar. The seatback magazine recipe for a shrimp dish kept me entertained while my seat mate took photos from their window seat.

I had packed my camera and lenses in my day pack, nestled at my feet and was able to get a couple photos with the help of my seat mate, and looked out over mainland Africa one last time before the attendant gave me my mango juice and cashews. (Definitely felt like a step up from tomato juice and peanuts.)

Our arrival into Stonetown, my group descended the staircase and crossed the tarmac into the terminal. My bag came off the carousel when rounding the conveyor corner, landing with a loud THUD. I counted my lucky stars that I transfer my lenses to my small pack for flights.

Outside the airport we joined up with another GAdventures group that had just finished climbing Kilimanjaro, and bypassed the safari segment that the crew who continued with me had done. Our trip had departed a few good people, and gained a few more. By the end of the trip I counted up that I had made 20 new acquaintances from 7 countries, and from the US from 4 other states. Talking with my guides, they both said that one of the reasons they love their jobs is the very different people they get to meet from all over, and getting to show people their little corner of the world.

Our next guide for this portion of the trip, Kombi, loaded us up into a bus and headed into the city to our first nights accomodation: The Spice Palace. To get to our hotel, the bus cannot make it down any streets in the main city. The narrow streets being from long before car transportation was a consideration in building plans. We loaded all of our bags onto a wooden cart, making a towering mound of all the luggage. A smaller older gentleman who approached and loaded it began to pull it down the alleys. We follow, stopping at the stairs at the front of our hotel, each of us claiming our bag and beginning the check in process.

After dropping bags in our rooms, there our group gathered and made our way to lunch at a nice little place near the beach, The Silk Route. The first thing we noticed was how friendly the stray cats were to tourists. No doubt having their share of seafood from the tourists who take pity on the creatures. To that end, Its safe to say that Zanzibar probably doesn’t have a rodent problem.

After lunch we went to the historic slave market museum. Stonetown had been the major slave trade port for Arab controlled East Africa. on the historic grounds they had the ‘whipping tree’ which had been cut down, and over its place a church was built, a circle on the floor where the tree used to stand. The displays in the museum showing the evolution of the slave market, and the original holding cells for the slaves before they were loaded onto ships. It was a somber experience, but one I am glad gets visited and people learn this history.

We took a walking tour of the town after, learning about the ties of stone town to Queens’ Freddie Mercury, the town even hosting the Freddie Mercury Museum. A group of kids down at the sea wall were filming jumping into the bay with poster boards reading ” Welcome to Zanzibar!”, shouting ‘HAKUNA MATATA!’ and ‘WAKANDA FOREVER!’ We continued down the narrow ally ways, where doors are adorned with large spikes. The reason? People who moved into these areas were from India and would have spikes on the door to keep elephants from barging in. When they moved to this city, with streets far too narrow for elephants to ever pose a risk, the style of door came along anyway.

Back at the hotel, I joined the Canadians and the Aussies for a drink at the rooftop bar. The resident stray coming up when I notice he was underdeveloped and was missing an eye. My own cat at home being massive and named Sully after the Monsters Inc character, I felt it was only fitting to nickname this little guy Mike Wazowski.

That night we all ventured off for the night markets, which was a bustling scene of food vendors and people. Our guide recommended certain foods we could try if we were feeling adventurous, but warned against others as it’s ‘laid out’ a few westerners.

Finishing up at the Freddie Mercury Bar, we dined and drank and listened to some wonderful local live music before making our way back to our hotel.

Next Time: Visiting a Spice Plantation, given the royal treatment, and get to visit my first resort.

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Mother-Daughter Adventure, Uncategorized

Iceland: Fire, Ice, and Elves

October 13, 2016 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

The last stop on our Round-The-World-From-Scratch included a week in Iceland. Iceland Air offers a deal, when traveling from North America to Europe, to have a free stop over for up to 7 days.

Making the most of our time there, while still allowing ourselves to relax and enjoy the last of our travels, the Reykjavik city pass allows you free entry to some of the city hot pools and many of the museums, with discounts to other museums, hot pools, and restaurants. (available at the tourist info centre, by the Knitting association shop where you can pic yourself up a nice Icelandic jumper.)

One of the free things to do is to take a ferry over to Viðey island just off Reykjavik. Once on the island, the small hiking trails take you on a maze of the small island where you can see artwork my various artists including Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace Tower.

Beyond the city, which is home to 2/3rds of the population of Iceland, remains the almost desolate expanse of green and black (the remnants of lava flows) with the occasional waterfall, (10’s of thousands just that are known by locals, not including the ones inland or away from popularly traveled routes.)

The two most popular tours through many of the tour companies include the Golden Circle, And the South Coast.

The Golden Circle journeys inland and will normally stop at the Geothermal Powerplant (which powers the nation), The National Park (the location of the first parliament, the rift between the North American and European plates, and filming location for Game of Thrones), Two of the major waterfalls, The geysers (including ‘Geyser’, the one that we got the name from,) and the crater lake in the sunk-in remains of a volcano.

The South Coast goes, you guessed it, along the Southern coast. The Highlights include The Black Sand Beach, Eyjafjallajokull (‘ay-ya-fall-ya-yoke-ul’, the volcano that stopped the world in 2010), Seljalandsfoss (the waterfall you can walk behind), The glacier, and Vik (a small farming town along the south coast.) We got lucky, and at the Black Sand Beach, even though it was foggy and rainy, there were more puffin than our guide had ever seen before!

And bonus! We got to see an elf rock, and some of the Icelandic horses.

The two tour companies we recommend are

Extreme Iceland

https://www.extremeiceland.is/en/

and Your Day Tours

http://www.yourdaytours.is

Uncategorized

5 Hostel Report; Surf n Sun

October 2, 2013 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

*These reports are done in the order I stayed in them, and have nothing to do with their ranking. Read through to see what I thought and information on the hostel.*

Surf n Sun –

Located 20 paces from the beach, has been dubbed the #1 hostel in Australia by HostelWorld. While I am unsure of their criteria to reach such a status, I know my reasons for putting them in my review, and saying they made my list to the three way tie of hostels in Australia.

1. Customer service
****
While its not easy to “keep the customer happy” while still keeping that upbeat vibe, they do it in spades. While some hostels draw the line between staff and guest, here it all melds together into a friendly melting pot of nationalities and personalities.

2. ‘At home’ feel
****
Perfect. The kitchen joins with the TV room and turns it into a giant hangout. Roommates aren’t just “those people you have to share a bunk bed with”, they are the the people you hang out with while getting ready for the club. I do have to caution you, I got comfy enough to hang up all my clothes around the room, and I had a jean jacket nicked. (As with all hostels, keep an eye on your stuff. But there wasn’t a bad problem with it. After mentioning it, we wished her bad karma, and I had a little more room for souvenirs.)

3. Night Life
*****
This is a party hostel! With that being said, it is hopping every night. Don’t feel like going out, but still want to have a beer and meet people? Before going into town, everyone gathers by the pool/bar area and the fun begins. The hostels lively atmosphere makes it hard to resist going out with the lively group. Being a 10 min walk from the city center and a minute from the beach, can you expect anything less?

4. Cleanliness
****
The dorm rooms have their own bathroom, and are cleaned daily. The kitchen is always tidy, and (other than having to shake sand out of your sheets from going to bed straight from the beach), you get a nice clean, comfy bed when you arrive.

5. Location
*****
I’ve mentioned this a couple times now, because it is so wonderfully located. Its just far enough from town to be quiet, just close enough to be a quick walk, and no distance to the beach.

Surf n Sun

Overall

**** $$

07 5592 2363

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Uncategorized

Florida; The (Liquid) Sunshine State. Pt. 2

August 16, 2013 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

The 2^nd part of the week was mostly dedicated to family activities. Of this, we spent a few days at the beach, grabbed a few drinks and I spent a couple nights on the boat. Our mornings were cool, and afternoons rainy.

Staying on the boat is fun. It feels like you are on your own private island. As you sit back, you can contemplate how to save the environment and the meaning of life. Being the clichéd traveler, sitting in the cool air in solitude is relaxing and peaceful.

But then night fell, the mosquitos came out, and I happened to choose the one still summer night that lacked the breeze.

The second night was better, and I awoke refreshed and ready to surf.

The summer months, as some of you may know, are not known for their surf. Family surf day turned into ‘tan day’, which to me was the day to burn. By the time we were out of the water, I was a bright coral pink. Styling the lobster look, my siblings and I would paddle around.

Once we were done with the… um…. Paddling, we went to a tiki bar for refreshments. Terra Formata in Stuart Florida, another recommendation! They don’t serve food, and most of their beverages are alcoholic (great for me, not so great for the under 21’s). Beneath thatched roofs, you can find everything from coronas to ‘Bob Marley green tea’.

The week had ended, and it seems as soon as we were on a plane to Florida, we were on the way back to Colorado.

(Life Guard before the storm)

(The view from my bed)

(Brother looking out at the [lack of] surf)

(The ride to the beach)

Adventures of a 'Gypsea', Uncategorized

A week of Florida, pt 1

July 29, 2013 TravelGypSea Leave a comment

We get into the airport and mum, in her bright purple shirt, lags behind so that my brother, Cole, who is picking us up, doesn’t see her. I see him and give him a big hug and tell him I have to get something at carousel 3, ‘its big and purple and you cant miss it.’ He asked if I killed Barney, to which I told him I was bringing his corpse. I noticed a few people with tilted heads, eavesdropping onto the otherwise bazaar conversation. That is when mum comes up behind us and asks “found it yet?” My brother jumps back yelling a startled profanity, then bounds forward squeaking “Mama!” Wrapping all 6’3″ of pure muscle around her. You could tell who in the vicinity was eavesdropping, because they were now laughing. Our first surprise was a success. We now had my dad, and then my sister on her return from being out of town a few days later.
My brother brought us to my sisters boyfriends apartment for the night, since they were both gone and it was close to the airport. Once we got there, my brother called up my sisters boyfriend, who was out of town and had him give us true “audio tour” of the apartment. We go through a few rooms and in the final room we walk in to my sister, Brie, sitting in the corner. She had stayed behind to surprise us. (Apparently our slip ups were a good enough to tip off my sister, and her boyfriend knew of our plan to help coordinate.) So, the surprise was on us.
The next morning we met with my dad to go diving with the dive boat my brother works on. We met up with dad, who thought it would just be me visiting, at the dive shop. It is sufficient to say he was surprised.
We got our dive equipment from scubaworks, which was extremely fast and the people there were wonderfully helpful and friendly.
Jared, Cole’s good friend and owner of the boat, Kyalami, runs a dive boat out of Jupiter. At the dock, the iconic red lighthouse across the waterway towers above the shoreline, and sets the scene for our nautical adventure. The trip was amazing; sea turtles, and reef fish dotted the reef.
Even though we were diving on a Friday, I found out about ‘lazy Sundays’, a Kyalami original event. Since Kyalami means ‘at home’ in Polynesian, or ‘one with the ocean’, Jared tries to “make you feel like guests in [his] own home”. Lazy Sundays sound like they would be the weekend barbecue in the back yard. For no additional cost, the boat will go out, span a larger area of dive spots, then work up the intercoastal while firing up the barbecue on the top deck. If you find yourself in south Florida, and whether or not its Sunday, this is a great day out! Between dives we had some cut up fruit, soda and snacks, then back in for round two. The crew has the best sense of humor, and knows how to make you feel welcome. There is a playlist that is put on for going out and certain songs put on for their ‘epicness’ to send you off into the water with a ‘Dive! Dive! Dive!’

For more info on Kyalami, visit http://www.jupiterscubadiving.com

The next day, we were at the beach which had been the clearest it had been for a while. My sister who runs to the beach daily, said the turtle nests that spotted the beach had doubled over the last week. We splashed around for a while, rough housing and laughing, when a storm started rolling in. The once crowded beach only took 5 minutes to clear out.
That night it had cleared up, and my dad, brie and I loaded up into the car for a walk down on the beach. While dipping our toes in the water and shuffling through the sand, we saw a double tread-like pattern in the sand. When looking up the track, it doesn’t take long to notice the turtle clawing and throwing sand to make its nest. I set up my camera and thanked the gods for my telephoto lens.

For more info on turtle nesting/hatching, or to find a guided turtle walk to increase your chance of seeing such an amazing sight, visit http://www.nova.edu/ocean/seaturtles/walk-hatchling-release.html

TravelGypsea