How shared Kiswahili fuels cross-border tourism boom with Kenyan neighbours

By Anganile Mwakyanjala

Naseem Jahangir Hajj is a young Kenyan clinician, a health worker in the Kenyan government, running an HIV/ Aids programme in Kilifi. She had plans to take time off to visit the spice island since December last year but that didn't materialise until we rang the new year. “It was on my bucket list to visit Zanzibar, so I was really looking forward to it,” Naseem mentioned.

Kilifi is situated close to Mombasa, a region a stone-throw away from Tanga in Tanzania, the proximity between the two neighbours and the shared language has played a vital role in trade but equally in tourism and movement of people, even the Maasai tribe are found on both sides of the border.

Naseem acknowledged that did play a role in choosing Zanzibar as her vacation destination, even though her Kiswahili accent and verbatim are easily distinguished from how a Tanzanian speaks but the cultural and communication barrier is almost non-existent compared to if she chose to go for her holiday in other countries.

“There are very small differences between us and I didn't even get the cultural shock compared to if it was elsewhere, plus it's close to Kenya and I didn't have to have a long tiring journey to get here,” she pointed out. “Some people in Zanzibar even thought I come from Tanga.”

Kenyans make a huge number of annual tourists who visit our national parks and our white sand beaches. Naseem attributes that to the fact that Tanzania is blessed, she compares Zanzibar to Maldives in its stunning beautiful beaches and the fact that one uses less money vacationing in Zanzibar.” There are so many nice things you can see in Tanzania, from the wild aminals, the Kilimanjaro and still enjoy the beaches all in the same country,” she added.

From the aquarium system, and the vibrant culture to the well-preserved history, Naseem got to experience it all in the one week she stayed in Zanzibar. The cherry on top is that the experience was budget-friendly. This is her second time in Tanzania and one thing that has always attracted her to make a return visit was the kindness of its people. One of the memorable moments that had her amazed at the same time was when she boarded the public transport dubbed “chai maharage” where the passengers sit at the back of a truck facing each other, she was in awe at how people would conversate in a friendly manner and even tolerate all her questions as she wanted to know. She would later learn that transport is safe and the most affordable to use when going to Nungwi, a famous white sands beach area most tourists frequent.

She stayed close to the beach and in the morning when the water receded the beach was left with beautiful dunes, a sight she loved to see. She also did partake in water sports and later went to the must-visit Baraka Aquarium and swam with the turquoise. The turquoise is an endangered species. “I was happy to see them swimming free in their natural habitat, you know in Kenya they are protected because they are endangered,” she said. Naseem had never seen Touquoise as big as the ones she saw in Zanzibar.

Zanzibar is renowned worldwide for its cuisine and Naseem was introduced to a meal known as “binti delicious” an indigenous Zanzibari snack made up of milled cassava mixed with local baguette and soup, salad among other ingredients. “I enjoyed the food, it was a good experience” she remembers. “I am the type of a person who loves to explore food, it was very delicious.”

She would later take a boat to Prison Island, a reminder of the unfortunate history of the island. She then visited the popular forodhani diving site, made internationally famous by a fellow Kenyan, the Oscar-award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o. Unlike Lupita, Naseem opted not to dive into the water with the diving boys. “ I was scared of jumping, I wanted to go back home alive,” she laughed.

After one week of vacation in Zanzibar, Naseem admits to having become a whole new person, all the stress vanished, and she was re-energised to go back to work.

The rest ride back to the mainland was magical, she sat on the open deck and let the wind breeze across her face, she felt like she was meditating. She emphasises tourism is vital to our people bonding and getting to know each other and at the same time developing both our economies through tourism.