Kizimkazi, also known as Kizimkazi Mkunguni, Mtendeni or Dimbani is a small village located in south west of Unguja, Zanzibar, Tanzania and once was called Walled City.

Kizimkazi has become a major tourist attraction as daily boat tours are organized to bring visitors off shore to view and swim with Bottlenose Dolphins. This is one ofthe life time experience you don't have to miss another most notable feature is Kizimkazi Mosque, one of the oldest Islamic structures in East Africa.

6:30 am the sun rising on the horizon as the excited chatter of fishermen and locals selling and buying fish. The stench of fish hangs in the air. On the ground are fish of all shapes, color and sizes. The auction continues as other fishermen are gutting the fish at the shore.

Finally our boat arrives back from a fishing trip and the owner Mattia cannot be annoyed as the people of the island have no sense of ownership everything belongs to everyone. We begin our journey to see the dolphins which are the major attraction in this quiet heaven. The plus side is that aside from the journey to see the magical and graceful dolphins we get a tour and an up close look at Kizimkazi.

Wind blowing on our faces, gentle waves pushing our boat while protecting my camera and lens and the sun rays gently meeting the water reflecting the calm green of the water. We begin to take in the scenario surrounding us. It’s a string of luxurious hotels and bungalows all spookily quiet. We all wonder how much it costs to spend a night in such glamour. Imagine king sized bed, sauna, spa and private pool relaxing right??????.......... Well yes but only if there is someone there to cater to you. Sadly these hotels have been abandoned by the investors who built them and are now nothing but sad reminders of what used to be. Why these hotels are abandoned no one knows. In one of these hotels Masai have actually taken possession and are using it as their personal residence.

On the plus side the locals get to have fun and swim for free on the abandoned beaches of these hotels. However it is also risky at night to be roaming around in these areas. It is sad that no one does anything to stop these places from falling apart.

We saw the bridge that leads into the ocean from the shore of an abandoned hotel as we rode past it we thought of the promises, laughter and walks shared on the bridge that is now nothing more than a decaying ruin and it broke our hearts. For we knew that this was a place full of history and opportunity. Opportunity that was wasting away without anyone knowing its full potential. We rode on to be with our magical friends from Italy and Czech Republic, giving a last glimpse to the lost heaven of kizimkazi.

Finally the moment has arrived. Mattia told us to wear snorker mask and foot flipper to jump in and i was like "For now just get me a the video footage on my go pro and will be here taking pictures" glad he did and I end up getting amazing photos. We saw many many dolphins and I cant event express it was amazing lifetime experience.

Assistant Author: Elizabeth Anne

Footnote: Shot on a Nikon D810 w/ Nikkor 24-70mm f/ 2.8 and GoPro 3 HERO 3+ Silver Ed. w/ water proof case.

Kizimkazi Dolphin Tour