Nungwi

Nungwi is a town capping the northern tip of Zanzibar island. All the beach hotels and bars cluster right at the ocean. Instead of a second and third row like in Kendwa, the rest of the town is where the locals live, with very little attention to the tourist industry. Almost all houses are single-story, made from cement and corrugated metal, almost all streets are unpaved, and there are no sewers so a good rain turns the place into an atoll. Some streets become impassable.

Still, that’s what makes Nungwi more charming than Kendwa, which has sold out to tourism. You can walk here for hours without seeing another tourist. Everyone is friendly.

During a heavy thunderstorm at noon I was chatting to Emil, a local guide, for two hours. He walked up to me and asked about the role of Otto von Bismark, the leading German politician until King Wilhelm fired him in 1890 so he could get some colonies and maybe start a world war soon after. A unique request… Emil was also curious about why Europe is so much more successful than Africa, so I proposed some theories by Jared Diamond in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, which I like a lot. You should read it!