Valentine's weekend - special offer!

Last minute bookings - Valentines weekend only 85 $ for full board per person!

We still have some rooms and bungalows available - so just send your booking to lighthouse@pakaadventures.com to get your romantic weekend!

We are located 40 km south from the Kigamboni Ferry, it takes about 1 hour to get there.

Check www.lighthousebeachlodge.com for more info!

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Street food… Zanzibari taste!

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Dedicated to foodies and adventurers… to the ones who are curious to try street food, during a walk around Stone Town’s colorful local restaurants and stalls.

If the question is “How does it taste?”, we have good news for you. Some of the bites and snacks that you can find along your way are very nice and tasty. We advise to avoid raw food and fish that doesn’t look fresh... but you can dare everything is well cooked!

Urojo Soup
This soup is made with tasty local spices, enriched with potatoes, kachori (spicy mashed potato balls), cassava, eggs, meat or even fresh salad. Big feed and a lot of fun!

Chipsi Mayai
A simple and popular street-food in Tanzania: fried chips in an omelette. One portion is a full meal.

Mishkaki
Grilled meat on a skewer, most favourite by local people. You can add chips, rice or ugali (cornmeal mush) and a bottle of fresh local beer.

Chapati
Traditionally Indian, chapati is a thin and round tortilla that is a replacement of bread. A take-away or a snack, to fill with your favourite ingredients.

Coconut to Drink
You can buy young coconuts, still containing fresh and sweet water, from sellers on the beach; they’ll cut off the top on the moment. What a refreshing drink!

Sugar Cane Juice
Plain or with some extra ginger, here you are another amazing exotic drink. Sellers extract the juice from the cane at the moment… so sweet!

Finger Seafood
You can find it at Forodhani, in Stone Town, and pick-up among a wide choice of fresh fish just roasted on fire. For a different dinner.

Vitumbua
Small fried cakes, made of coconut and rice, that are crunchy outside but soft inside. Great with a cup of Tanzanian black tea.

Chai
Chai is the Swahili word meaning “tea”, one of the most common drinks in Tanzania. You can have it with or without milk, plain or spicy. Either ways, will be good.

Mandazi
Typical Tanzanian doughnuts, sweet and soft… and of course, caloric. Just an indulgence, for few coins.

Mtori
The breakfast for very hungry people: mtori is a soup made with bananas and meat. Tanzanian people love to eat this early morning, and if you dare to do the same you’ll be the most welcome!

When the plan is Spa...

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Beauty traditions are one of the hidden secrets of the Tanzanian coast… and we mean it! A precious heritage that still shows elements of the cultures’ mix living in these areas during the centuries, made even more unique by the production and use of natural cosmetics flavoured tropical fruit, flowers and spices.

"Singo" scrub praparation at Mrembo Spa in Zanzibar.

Amazing scrubs, made by dried ylang ylang, jasmine, rose and other flowers, clove, sandalwood, geranium and rosewater, and many more, are probably the most typical treatment loved by many local women. It’s a party for your sense of smell, especially if you add also some aromatherapy and relaxing massages with oils and essences. The best of the best? Choose a Zanzibari "singo" scrub, and you won't get wrong!

You can also try the henna tattoo decoration. Henna is made by pounding the dried leaves of ‘mhina’ plant, which is then mixed with water to form a paste. Decorations (floral are the most typical in Zanzibar, but also the Indian style is quite diffused, especially in the area of Dar Es Salaam) can be made on hands, feet and ankles: after the application you have to wait until the paste is completely dried, before removing the excess brushing gently.

To keep with you a little piece of history that belongs to millions of women, don’t forget to buy some perfumes, oils and essences… the best way to get back, sometimes, to the wonders of the Tanzanian art of beauty spa.

The spices of the Tanzanian coast, in your kitchen

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Spices mania! Discovering the amazing and tasty food of the coast and islands of Tanzania is a travel across taste, history and traditions of this areas...

Spices are the special touch, and local people really know how to use them to make unique dishes. You will probably buy some of them, if you visit any market. So, why not to learn as well how to use and mix properly?

It will be fun to try some experiments in the kitchen, and get back memories of your holidays with tasty and aromatic food. Let’s see how to do!

Ginger

It's a perfect seasoning for meat and fish, such as in the Zanzibari tradition. But it is good also for baked recipes, like cakes and bisquits - put some sweet and spicy together!

Cinnamon

Enjoy its taste in sweet recipes made with apples, chocolate or cream. Pulverize, maybe, on whipped cream. Or use it to flavour tea... delicious!

Black Pepper

Common in the Western kitchen as well, it is commonly used to flavour any kind of salty food. Perfect with meat and for sauces, it can be used in grains or grinded.

Cloves

Both for sweet and salty dishes! Good to flavour fowl and cheese, but also dessert made with apples, wine and liqueurs. Excellent also in infusions, during the cold season.

Nutmeg

A classy touch for dessert, especially pudding and creams. Used also to flavour mashed potatoes and white sauce… at its best, used in the filling of stuffed pasta.

Cardamom

A very versatile spice, commonly used all over the World in very different ways: for curry in India, with coffee in Arabic countries, with wine and hot cakes in Scandinavia, and with many other sweet and salty dishes.

Vanilla

One of the most popular ingredients in bakery. It is widely used as flavour for sweets, cakes and chocolate. In Africa and Asia, suprisingly, also in salty recipes. To try!