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Home  >  Trip Reports  >  She Tried to Deny Me Entry Into Zanzibar!
Trip Reports

She Tried to Deny Me Entry Into Zanzibar!

Matthew Klint Posted onJanuary 5, 2017January 7, 2017 11 Comments

zanzibar-dar-es-salaam-ferry-02

When we left off, my friend Denny and I had reached the port of Zanzibar and were making our way off the ship.

Throngs of people emerged from the boat and most were rushing out of the port through a single exit. There were no exit controls that we could see.

Time out. First a brief history lesson.

The United Republic of Tanzania is a union between Tanganyika (the mainland) and Zanzibar (the island). Tanganyika was like a hot potato during its colonial period, passing from Portugal to Germany to Great Britain before securing independence in 1961. Zanzibar was also initially occupied by Portugal but in 1699 Omani ships arrived and conquered it. Zanzibar became the hub for the Arab slave trade and remained under puedo-Omani control until the bloody Zanzibar Revolution in 1964. In reality, the British pulled the puppet strings after the Anglo-Zanzibar War in 1897.

The newly-independent Zanzibar government leaned communist and concerned western nations worked to forge union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar to create present-day Tanzania. Although there is technically only one nation, I observed that Zanzibaris pledge allegiance to Zanzibar first and Tanzania second.

Now back to our story.

As hundreds of people streamed through the port, it felt like a Tokyo subway during rush hour. All of a sudden, I felt a tug on my shoulder and a woman demanded to see my passport. 5’5″, portly and wearing a Kanga garment, I just ignored her. Denny was several paces ahead and she had no uniform, badge, or ID of any sort.

But like a bouncer at night club, she muscled up to me and blocked my path, grabbing me on my shoulder and physically stopping me from proceeding. I thought she would body slam me to the ground!

She identified herself as a representative of the “Zanzibar Health Ministry” and wanted to see my passport and vaccination card.

Uh, vaccination card? Not this again!

> Read More: Another Costly Travel Screw-Up: Yellow Fever Vaccinations

I told her that I did not have my vaccination card. She asked me if I had been to Africa before and I said yes. She grabbed my passport and started leafing through it.

HER: You liar. There are no stamps in here!

ME: Look at date of issue of the passport. I just had it renewed. I’ve been all over southern Africa and Arab Africa. I just got my vaccination shots in September 2014!

HER: I don’t think so! You’re coming with me.

She started dragging me to the left and I still had no idea whether she was legitimate or not so I shook loose of her, grabbed my passport and made a run for it!

By now most had alighted the boat and left the station, but a few “guards” in tan slacks and white shirts were standing around.

“Stop him!” she yelled.

And they did.

I was led into her office, which turned out to be a legitimate office in the corner of the ferry port.

Entry Into Zanzibar

I apologized to her. Explaining that I had been scammed so many times and did not see any ID or other indication she was official, I asked her what we needed to get me on my way.

“You can have a new shot now. It will be $50USD.”

Ruh roh.

I again explained that I really had received one just a year and a half prior and did not want another one. Perhaps foolishly, I asked why she had stopped me and not my friend.

“He’s an old man” she quipped.

Oh okay.

For the record, Denny does sometimes use a cane to get around, but does not look like an old man as far as I am concerned…

Where was my vaccination card? Why didn’t I bring it with me? Good questions. Suddenly I remembered — I had left my vaccination card in my old laptop case at my parent’s house in Los Angeles.

I whipped out my phone to see if there was a wi-fi signal. There was! It was even free.

Thanks to FaceTime audio, I called home, hoping my parents were awake (it was a~6am in LA). My mother, bless her heart, answered and when I explained the situation she quickly located my laptop case and found my vaccination card inside. I asked her to send me a picture of each page and she did. Moments later the snaps arrived via iMessage.

During this time the health ministry woman argued with another American woman about the same thing. I handed her my phone and told her that my mother had sent me pictures of my vaccination card.

She studied them for several moments, then handed me back my phone and passport and told me I was permitted to leave. A Zanzibar stamp had been added to the passport.

I thanked her for sparing me another shot and apologized again for initially resisting her. She nodded, not at all amused by my flattery.

And then I quickly left.

The taxi touts were terrible outside, but we resisted and walked to the Park Hyatt. That was another mistake — it turned out to be a long 1KM…

Tips for Arriving Into Zanzibar via Ferry

There’s just one tip actually–bring your Yellow Fever vaccination card. In fact, just put in your passport case and take it with you wherever you are in the world. That’s the third time I’ve had a yellow fever problem (wait until we return to the other Africa report).

Zanzibar is semi-autonomous and has its own passport control and vaccination requirements. Yellow Fever is a serious problem and Zanzibar is serious about vaccinations, at least for younger foreign guests.

I felt bad that I disrespected that woman’s authority. At the same time, I wish she had a badge on or some other type of ID. Thankfully she accepted my vaccination card copy and did not retaliate in some other way for my initial resistance.

So there you have it.

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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11 Comments

  1. Ghostrider5408 Reply
    January 5, 2017 at 9:23 pm

    That has got to be the most arrogant self serving “picture’ of you on the plane. I mean really. Not many readers as well.

    • Stien12h123 Reply
      January 6, 2017 at 1:28 am

      Don’t blame him, he could be blind for all you know – can’t look at the person serving you if you can’t see where they are.

  2. JZ Reply
    January 5, 2017 at 9:28 pm

    Thanks for sharing with us this amusing story with the ZNZ health dept lady. Any idea how much it would cost for a taxi ride from the port to Park Hyatt?

    Thanks!

    • Matthew Reply
      January 5, 2017 at 9:54 pm

      Only $10–I figured that was too much for 1km…to my regret.

  3. MFK Reply
    January 5, 2017 at 10:13 pm

    I stayed at that Park Hyatt last year and can’t wait to get back when some relatives of mine move to Dar. I found it to be a truly amazing property and have recommended to everyone I know who might visit the area. I better tell them to bring their card too 🙂

  4. Aptraveler Reply
    January 6, 2017 at 1:30 am

    Get story Matt, and thanks for the brief history lesson on ZNZ. I too learnt my lesson of always having the need to carry my Yellow fever certificate. It happened once on my arrival to South Africa and was able to wiggle myself out of being vaccinated then and there!

  5. Aptraveler Reply
    January 6, 2017 at 1:32 am

    *Great story, that’s what I meant to write..

  6. Bojana Reply
    November 14, 2017 at 7:27 am

    Hi Matthew,

    Im going to Zanzibar in 10 days,Im flying directly to Zanzibar,do you think its better to do yellow fever vaccination in my country which is 100 euro or should I do there at the airport.
    Thank you in advance

    • Matthew Reply
      November 14, 2017 at 10:06 am

      I would get the vaccination prior to arrival, if possible.

  7. Shara Reply
    January 14, 2018 at 5:47 pm

    Hi, I’m going next month from DC with 3 hour layover in Ethiopia. Do Zanzibar officials check everyone and would an exemption certificate be adequate?
    If appears ZNZ makes up their own rules and doesn’t follow CDC/WHO guidelines. Technically I do not need shot. Thanks in advance.

    • Matthew Reply
      January 14, 2018 at 6:36 pm

      Shara–it seems highly arbitrary in enforcement.

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