Sleeping In Paradise: My Relaxing “Small World”🌎Time at Seasons Lodge🛖🏚️, Pongwe, Zanzibar🇹🇿

“Though the oceans are wide and the mountains are high, it’s a small world after all” – Sherman Brothers.

Sleeping In Paradise: My Relaxing “Small World” Time at Seasons Lodge, Pongwe, Zanzibar

Seasons Lodge! Well this is just a wild one. Seasons Lodge is the place to be. But perhaps this time, this story is more phenomenal than the destination, and a crazier one than many that have gone before. Even the Don’t Stop Living globe in Chiayi City, Taiwan couldn’t have foreseen this wild one…in paradise.

Not quite the Don’t Stop Living Globe, but it’s a small world after all

The story of Seasons Lodge…Zanzibar

“The world around us makes me feel so small, Lyla” – Noel Gallagher.

From Newtownards to Bangor to Bournemouth to Swansea to Uganda to Zanzibar. I was about to encounter a ridiculous coincidence, with another Bangor boy…the backstory…

I grew up on the Northern Irish seaside city (then a town) of Bangor. I used to work in the butchery in Ballyholme long before I left the golden sands of Bangor behind in 2003. I wasn’t the only one to grow up in Bangor in the 1980s and leave it all behind…

Walking Rocky Boy the dog on Ballyholme Beach in my home city of Bangor, Northern Ireland

First day at Bangor Grammar School

Here on the east coast of Unguja, Zanzibar’s biggest island sits a tranquil and popular seaside resort called Pongwe. It is here in Pongwe where the magic of Seasons Lodge could endear even the strictest backpacker’s heart. Alas, after securing my mandatory Zanzibar travel insurance, and a Zanzibar / Tanzania visa, I had 2 quick days in Stone Town (Zanzibar’s quintessential old school colonial capital) doing the Freddie Mercury tour and sleeping at Bottoms Up in a textbook backpacker’s hostel.

Playing Freddie Mercury’s piano. Dressed in yellow and black by fluke!

Backpacking In Zanzibar: Staying At Bottoms Up Backpackers In Stone Town, Unguja Island

That was all cool of course, and I will be writing more about Freddie Mercury and Stone Town. But this was a stressful trip, I had so many mishaps I felt like giving up on the whole backpacking lark again. Sometimes, you just want to sit at a bar with a cold beer in the sunshine, 50 metres from a beach and 50 metres from a pool. I didn’t want to go backpacking or sightseeing anymore, so for my last 2 nights here in Zanzibar…I came to Pongwe. Enter Seasons Lodge…

50 metres from a beach and 50 metres from a pool

I’m supposed to love travel so much that I focus on places to visit, visas to secure, food to eat, bars to drink in, things to see, things to do, how to get there, where to sleep. That’s what made my own blog Don’t Stop Living inspire me to continue. Here though, you’re just getting my story of how to chill out and the wild coincidence that was to follow. And definitely WHERE to sleep! Seasons Lodge!

Sleeping In Paradise: My Relaxing Time at Seasons Lodge, Pongwe, Zanzibar

On a July Zanzibarian sunset, I arrived early evening in Seasons Lodge and was shown to Room 1. The view is instantly epic. See it in the photo above, and the photo below. I’m yards from the beach.

Sleeping In Paradise: My Relaxing Time at Seasons Lodge, Pongwe, Zanzibar

My room was cosy, calm, chilled and just felt like home. It felt like Bangor, didn’t it?

Sleeping In Paradise: My Relaxing Time at Seasons Lodge, Pongwe, Zanzibar

My room was special – check the videos at the bottom of this post, and here were a few of the features I loved…I had a walk in wardrobe.

Walk-in wardrobe

My ensuite had a bath, a shower, a toilet and 2 sinks.

Nice ensuite at Seasons Lodge

I had a desk, a table, a place for blogging and writing. I have been trying to finish my latest book, Average Inhabitant! I’ll share more on that soon…

Writer’s desk

I had doors opening to a calm balcony.

Doors to the balcony

Balcony view at Seasons Lodge

I could wash and dry my clothes here. Budget backpackers never lose such magic. Plus we are up with the morning sun.

Textbook backpacking?

Clothes drying in the Zanzibar heat

You walk down the steps from your bed to the ocean. Perfect for sunrise here.

The beach at Seasons Lodge

The beach at Seasons Lodge and my travelling Northern Ireland flag

Then there are the bars…the main one I drank in is called TEMPLE BAR! What a great name, not just a homage to Dublin but it feels rather spiritual here. Temple-like with stunning views.

Temple Bar at Seasons Lodge

A Safari beer at Temple Bar at Seasons Lodge

Another bar just past the lobby is called BAR ES SALAAM. I loved that, a pun on the Tanzanian capital city.

Bar Es Salaam

There’s a swimming pool too of course…

Swimming pool at Seasons Lodge

The Bangor coincidence!

But then there is the crazy Bangor coincidence, the punch in the storyline. The punchline in the story. On the first night I am invited to a party nearby, in Pongwe at “Pete’s Bar”. Pete is a lad from Sheffield who lives here. However, the invite came from Mike…Mike is the owner and boss at Seasons Lodge. He runs the show. And he grew up in Bangor in Northern Ireland!! He even used to live in Ballyholme, where I worked and went to school. We also went to the same school – Connor House/Bangor Grammar School. This was the wild coincidence!

Mike and I on pina colada shots. Two Bangor seaside boys back by the seaside, in Zanzibar!

Mike is a couple of years older than me and left Bangor back in the 1980s…since then he has lived in Uganda, Tanzania and even Wales! Mike comes from a family that has had a huge impact on life in Africa! Mike’s father, Ian grew up in South Armagh and has written books, opened a hospital (Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda) and runs a coffee farm and lodge. From 2011 to 2016, Ian was mayor of Makindye Division in Uganda. What a story!

Clarke Coffee Farm and Lodge In Uganda

So the first night I was at a cool party nearby with a lively group! Mike and I chatted about our respective journeys from Bangor to Zanzibar. It was amazing!

Our squad for the party on my first night in Pongwe, with Mike

The next day, I just chilled out as I planned. I relaxed by the pool, had a swim, did some writing, drank some cocktails and beers and chatted to Mike.

Having a cocktail with Mike in Seasons Lodge

I tried a drink called Dawa (Medicine) which is Zanzibar’s own, as well as Melon Dacquiri and the Tanzanian beers Safari and Kilimanjaro, plus the spirit Konyagi. I’d actually tried those three before in 2013 when I was on a sponsored safari trip with Shadows of Africa visiting Tarangire National Park, The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

Local drinks in Zanzibar/Tanzania

Mike also now has a copy of my first book, Don’t Look Back In Bangor, which mixes John Lennon’s imagine with Prince’s Raspberry Beret, with Bangor the city, with Bowie’s Look Back In Anger and with Oasis’s Don’t Look Back In Anger.

Mike reading Don’t Look Back In Bangor by the Indian (Africasian) Ocean at Seasons Lodge

So there you have it – a really small world! I relaxed in paradise for two nights here and recommend it highly – you will love it. There is also a souvenir, fast Wi-Fi, plenty of places to chillout and easy organising of tours and transport in and out. A place of sheer travel bliss and the highlight of my “Rainy Summertime” tour. A shout out to the other cool guests I met – the two German girls Hanna and Maya, and the French group pictured below.

Fellow guests from Germany

Fellow guests from France

The bars and restaurants serve up good breakfasts, lunches and dinners to your desire – by the beach, by the pool, in your room…with a range of local and international options.

Breakfast at Seasons Lodge, Pongwe, Zanzibar

Octopus and chips at Seasons Lodge

Here are a few more photos of the magic of Seasons Lodge…

Sleeping In Paradise: My Relaxing Time at Seasons Lodge, Pongwe, Zanzibar

Here are the details for booking a stay at Seasons Lodge, Zanzibar:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seasonslodgezanzi
Website: https://seasonszanzibar.com/
Address: Pongwe Beach, Pongwe, Tanzania
Phone: +255 774 348 224
Email: [email protected]

Promotion!! Special Offer: Stay 4 Nights, Pay for 3!

Book your stay directly with Seasons Lodge (skip the third party) and enjoy an extra night on them!! Stay for 4 nights and pay only for 3 – a perfect way to extend your getaway while saving more.

Limited time offer. Book now to take advantage!

+255774348334 what’s app call or message

Finally, thanks to Mike, from Bangor (!), for being such a welcoming host and all the great staff here at Seasons Lodge. An unforgettable part of my journey!

Here are some videos from my stay at Seasons Lodge, Zanzibar: