We almost never go back to a place we have visited before. But we did make an exception for our beloved island of Langkawi in Malaysia. Years ago, when I did author visits to international schools in Kuala Lumpur, we asked teachers what their favourite holiday destination was. And we were told ‘Langkawi!’ It took us years to actually get there but it was love at first sight. Langkawi is gorgeous, with friendly people, and inexpensive enough to spend a good part of winter on the beach.
After working for 3 weeks in schools, speaking to hundreds of kids each day, and after bumping around the hot and dusty interior of Tanzania, we decided to conclude our time in Africa with a few days on the beach.
Zanzibar had long been on our bucket list. Images of its white beaches and aqua marine water made me drool. However, the more we read about Zanzibar, the less sure we were about going there. It seemed very busy and crowded with 1.5 million people, a plethora of shops, restaurants, vendors, disco’s and bars…
Our travel agent at Mambulu Safaris, knew exactly what we needed. “You’re looking for Zanzibar the way it used to be,” he said, “You should go to Pangani.” No one I asked about it had ever heard of Pangani. But what we read online sounded just like what we were looking for: white beaches, palm trees and warm water.
