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Catalans Abroad
7 February 2016 2.00 h

Miquel Casaramona

Zanzibar

Under an African sky

Miquel Casaramona is from Sant Quirze del Vallès but has lived in Zanzibar since 2014. Miquel is the chef at the Hotel Karamba.
Why did you leave Cat­alo­nia?
I had an offer to come here to man­age the bar and restau­rant in a hotel owned by a Cata­lan and with the eco­nomic sit­u­a­tion of most Eu­ro­pean coun­tries, es­pe­cially in Spain, the job sit­u­a­tion was quite com­pli­cated.
Why did you choose Zanz­ibar?
Zanz­ibar is where the hotel is and it is very sta­ble, and it is a par­adise.
How long have you been liv­ing there?
I ar­rived in Oc­to­ber 2014, so it's been a year and a half now.
Are you happy with the job op­por­tu­ni­ties there?
Work­ing in a coun­try like this is not easy, the local ad­min­is­tra­tion makes it fairly dif­fi­cult. Things are quite scarce all round. And get­ting things fixed or work done, which in Eu­rope might take no time, here things like that can be a big prob­lem. How­ever, the work is fun and there is some­thing new every day. The risk of falling into a rou­tine is non-ex­is­tent.
What do you think is the best thing about liv­ing in Zanz­ibar?
Liv­ing in Zanz­ibar for me is great. But being re­al­is­tic, I live in a lit­tle piece of Cat­alo­nia with the all of the scenery and cli­matic ad­van­tages of Africa. It is a lit­tle like liv­ing in­side a dome.
What do you think a first-time vis­i­tor should see?
Zanz­ibar and all Africa are very in­ter­est­ing for any­one who has never been in this mag­nif­i­cent, gi­gan­tic con­ti­nent. Zanz­ibar has a cap­i­tal city that is of­fi­cially World Her­itage, Stone Town. It is very in­ter­est­ing to visit any part of the coast; it is like a par­adise and luck­ily where I live and work even more so. For ex­am­ple, the fish­ing boats are still small wooden ca­noes.
And if vis­i­tors get a chance to come back?
We have a lot of peo­ple com­ing back to the hotel. The air we breathe here is very re­lax­ing. Al­most “dolce far niente”.
What do you miss most from home?
What I miss most from Cat­alo­nia has three names: Marc, Aleix and Pol, by order of age, along with other fam­ily mem­bers and friends. Then there are the long spring af­ter­noons and hav­ing a beer with friends on the ter­race of a bar.
Do you plan to go back home?
To Cat­alo­nia? Sure, I just do not know when.

Some suggestions

Can you recommend a place to have lunch with friends?
A place to share a good lunch or dinner....I would have to say the hotel KARAMBA at Kizimkazi Dimbani. It is my restaurant and I'm the chef. I get very good reviews.
When is the best time of year to plan a visit?
Any time outside of April and May, which is the rainy season. When it is winter in Europe the weather here is quite hot, but the rest of the year is fantastic.
What is the best kept secret about the area?
It is a Muslim country and is very tolerant, welcoming and warm. Here there is no misery or poverty, people lead simple lives, it is a privileged setting, away from the big resorts like in the Caribbean. There are incredible coral reefs, white sandy beaches and a huge ocean, full of tasty fish. From my home I can see the most amazing sunsets and a sky filled with stars in the deepest darkness.
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