3 minute read
5 REASONS TO VISIT PAJE
Paje’s magnificent strip of white sand is made for beach breaks that stay long in the memory, but the laidback village on Zanzibar’s south east coast offers far more than just a place to soak up the sun. Here are five reasons to pick Paje.
Kitesurfing
With its steady winds and flat, shallow lagoons, Paje offers excellent kitesurfing conditions. Enthusiasts of the water sport head here during the two trade wind seasons from June to September and December to March and the kiters’ easy-going attitude is a good fit with the humble, laidback villagers. Unlike many other beach spots on the east coast, you can kite surf all day in Paje as high tide fills the inner lagoon while you can find similarly perfect flatwater, knee-deep conditions at low tide in the outer lagoon. The calm, shallow conditions are ideal for beginners while more experienced kiters can seek out freestyle thrills with high tide breaks over the coral reefs.
Diving
Zanzibar’s east coast is protected by a coral reef about 1 km off shore which offers excellent diving opportunities. There are a number of dive centres on Paje Beach that will take experienced divers out to the sites or offer PADI open-water courses to prepare people for their first underwater adventures. The nearby Dongwe and Bweju areas offer gentle reef dives as well as more challenging dives.
Kizimkazi, a fishing village about 20 minutes from Paje, has a dive location with regular sightings of dolphins, a range of sharks, rays and even whale sharks during their migratory season. Any days too calm for kitesurfing are going to be ideal diving days with the prime time to be found between October and March when the winds start to flatten.
Seaweed soap
When you are wandering Paje beach at low tide, seaweed farmers wading out into the water to tend to their crop is a familiar sight. Seaweed farming has been big business in Paje for more than three decades and an important source of income and independence for women, who make up the vast majority of farmers. Standing out in the shallows in their sky-blue smocks will be the mamas of Mwani (mwanizanzibar.com). This local company distinguishes itself in not exporting its harvested seaweed – there is a global demand for its use in medicine, animal feed, fertilizer and even as a biofuel – but rather using it to make nutrient-rich soap and skincare products at its centre in Paje village. You can see the products being made by hand on tours of the centre, where you can also buy and browse the Mwani range of products. A number of hotels and outlets in the village also stock Mwani products.
Image: Rosa van Ederen
Cycling
Paje tends to be spared the crowds that head to the beach resorts in the north of Unguja and the relative calm of the south-east coast also means bike-friendly quieter roads and unspoilt wild nature to explore. Hotel, restaurant and social space Paje by Night (pajebynight. net) provides bikes and tours, including a challenging off-road trip into nearby Jozani Forest, home to the endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey, as well as more sedate rides along the laidback coast with stops including the historic village of Makunduchi with its crumbling colonial buildings. There are also organised cycle tours of Paje village itself with plenty of white sand to ride on at low tide as well as coastal caves and forest to explore.
Nightlife
While its position on Unguja’s east coast means it misses out on the island’s most spectacular sunsets, Paje still has plenty to entertain when evening comes. Its coastline is peppered with excellent bars, restaurants and hotels that host regular events, especially during the kitesurfing seasons. With its lounge chairs spread on the sand, beach bar B4 (b4beach.club) is an excellent spot for an evening chill-out and once a week it hosts a movie night. New Jambo Bungalows (@jambobarpaje on Facebook), a hostel with its own kite school, organises beach parties every Friday while the Red Monkey Lodge (redmonkeybeachlodge. com), a 10-minute taxi ride away in neighbouring village Jambiani, runs live music event Sunday Jam Sessions featuring local and international acts.
