Septemba 6, 2022
Dakika 2. Soma

“From Amsterdam, Straight to Fumba”

With 14 suitcases the Van Bemmel family arrived in Fumba Town straight from the Netherlands, ready to start a new life.

Some homeowners buy for investment, others to rent out, you have come to stay?

Petra and Frank Van Bemmel: That’s right. We have no return ticket.

Why Zanzibar, why Fumba Town?

We stayed in Kenya for 3 years when we adopted our two children Darcy, 13, and Sifa, 10. And Frank wanted to live on a tropical island for a long time before he was turning 50. Now we have just made it!

You came with your companies? 

Petra: Yes, we are both independent. Frank runs an online advertising company. I write education curricula for primary schools. Our business fits in a suitcase. But our main reason to relocate were our children, we wanted them to grow up in an East African culture.

Are they happy here?

First we worried, if they would adjust. We specifically bought them a dog to have a companion. But on the very first day of our arrival in May they met a lot of age mates. Now it is us who are stranded with baby shepherd “Boef”.

Sifa: Every two weeks our parents ask us, if we want to stay or go.

And?

We like it here, we have found many new friends.

What does the whole family enjoy most?

European comfort in Africa, good Internet, attentive caretakers. And that the children can play outside all day long without fear. 

You occupy one of the prettiest units in Fumba, a 3-storey sea front house with a pool…

Every morning we try to swim 50 laps. We are only renting here, we bought a bungalow.  An advantage of Fumba Town is that there are many options.

What’s missing?

Frank: Maybe more shopping options. We tried online shopping and I ordered two pairs of jeans from Japan and believe it or not, a few weeks later the post office texted me in Swahili to pick them up. 

Shiriki hii

Makala zinazohusiana-Related Articles

Machi 31, 2021
3 dakika.

Two Fumbas – One Idea

Find out all about new exciting seaside developments just outside Zanzibar city It’s all happening on the Fumba peninsula: Two major real estate developments creating modern living space with holiday flats and permanent family homes near the overcrowded capital. By ANDREA TAPPER Both aspiring seaside communities, started in 2015/16, fascinate locals as well as a […]
Soma zaidi
Juni 6, 2023
3 dakika.

Work & Play by The Sea

200 new holiday apartments for sale on the west coast. By Andrea Tapper Known as The Soul, Zanzibar’s first residential resort continues its unique success story. After selling out in Paje on the east coast, the holiday apartments go west. In Fumba Town buyers can even opt for a new move-in-pay-later scheme. It’s one of […]
Soma zaidi
Mei 23, 2023
2 dakika.

GLOBAL SUCCESS WITH WOOD 

Austrian company revolutionises construction in Zanzibar It started out as a humble family sawmill and became one of the world’s biggest and ambitious timber manufacturers – now active in Zanzibar.  The Binderholz company, founded in the idyllic green hills of Austria, has become one of the partnering firms in Fumba Town, constructing timber houses exclusively […]
Soma zaidi
Mei 16, 2023
Dakika 1.

HERITAGE TIMELESS BEAUTY

How do century-old history and modernity go together? “No problem” for Malia and Tessa, Zanzibar’s next cosmopolitan generation, who modelled for us at one of the most intriguing spaces of Stone Town, the Secret Garden. How to preserve the past and yet aim at the future, is a question often asked in traditional societies like […]
Soma zaidi

Je, unatafuta mali Zanzibar?

25 essential questions and answers to buy property in Zanzibar

READ MORE
Whatsapp Nasi