After the debacle with the train and taxi, we spent one night in Iringa and then we caught a flight back to Dar Es Salaam. We stayed in a great Ramada using only 13,500 Wyndham points. They had a huge 54 meter pool and an expansive breakfast buffet.
The next day we caught a cheap $54 flight (for two!) to Zanzibar. We checked into an Airbnb in Stonetown. Would have been $171 if we had paid cash, but we used our free Airbnb credits obtained through our Amex business Gold cards.
While in Stonetown, we went to the Freddie Mercury museum (he was born in Zanzibar), the Mercury bar and explored the many narrow alleys and streets.
Unfortunately, there were some island wide issues with wifi. Our Airbnb also lost power one day, which caused it to lose water too. Other issues with our Airbnb were an A/C that only had a full on or off setting and a bed that only had a sheet (no blanket). So we were either too hot or too cold. So that sucked.
On our last full day in Stonetown, we took a tour that included swimming with dolphins, snorkeling by a small reef, feeding turtles in Salaam Cave and swimming in Kazu cave.
The day ended with a trip to The Rock restaurant which is literally located on a rock out from the shore.
After the dissappointing Airbnb, we were ready for something nicer. We stayed at the Le Mersenne Zanzibar, Autograph collection on the east side of the island. We used 2 Marriott FNCs + 14,500 points to top off the certificates + $15 in taxes. I paid about $100 for extra points that we used. So our total cost was $115. Avoided cost was $796.
This is a fabulous hotel right on the beach.
