Zanzibar · Backpacking
ON A BUDGET
Zanzibar is cheap once you leave the resorts — dalla-dallas, guesthouses and street food in Stone Town.
Sleep in Stone Town
Backpacker guesthouses fill the lanes behind the seafront in Shangani and Malindi; the cheaper beach dorms are out at Nungwi, Paje and Jambiani.
What a day costs
Dorms TZS 25,000–50,000, food TZS 10,000–25,000, dalla-dallas a couple of thousand. Roughly TZS 50,000–100,000, about $20–40. Dollars are accepted everywhere.
Getting around cheap
Dalla-dalla minibuses leave Darajani market for Nungwi, Paje and Jambiani for a dollar or two; tourist shuttles cost several times that for the same road.
Free by day
The Forodhani seafront at sunset, the Old Fort courtyard, and Nungwi beach at low tide when the dhow builders are working on the sand.
Paje beach bars
The kitesurf bars strung along Paje are where the island's long-stay travellers gather; cheap beer, music and lifts back to Stone Town.