Zanzibar

To round out our safari vacation, we enjoyed four days on lounging of the beach in Zanzibar. It was very different from the beaches of Florida, and in some strange way, also very similar. All in all, it made me quite homesick for the beach I grew up on... if only the Gulf of Mexico had the beautiful blue waters of the Indian Ocean.

We flew to Zanzibar in a little single prop. This is the flight line of the local airport in Arusha,Tanzania.

I don't know about Jen, but I just love flying! Some people dread it, or fear for their lives, but I love every minute, especially in little planes that remain within viewing distance of the ground or water.

Our hotel in Zanzibar was right on the beach, sand right up to the porch.

Of course, as soon as we got there, we had to take a walk down the beach. One of the first and biggest differences we encountered on those beaches were the peddlers. The Maasai people were out there trying to sell you hand crafts or the locals would try to offer you their services as tour guides. I realize they see us as a means for them to make a living, but I hate being approached by people wanting money. They come up and start with small talk... how are you, what is your name, where are you from, how long will you be staying. And I hate to be rude so I answer the questions in as short of answers as possible and don't encourage the conversation in any way. But they are persistent and you have to eventually stop them and say something to the fact that you are not interested and have no intention of purchasing whatever it is they are selling. Really spoils the serenity of the beach.   

We did buy a snorkling tour. We obviously had no idea what we were buying because what we got was crazy. Crazy good, but all the same, crazy. We had the hotel arrange the tour. The staff member told us to be ready in the morning and wait by the seawall of our hotel. So, at the designated time, there I was. Waiting for what, I was not too sure of. In this picture, you can see the Maasai at the foot of the hotel steps with his crafts for sale. They are not allowed on the hotel property, but you have to walk through them to get to the beach. They will call to you as soon as they see you, so you can't even sit on the seawall in peace! Anyway, you also see the guy with the boat waving to me. I told Jen, "ha, I think this is our tour, the guy is waving at me". Well, I was only kidding when I said that and turned out, the joke was on me, because, yes, that was our tour!  

Me and our captain. He spoke no English, but the other guy did, a little.

Cool sail boat, actually. And the guys did a wonderful job. The water was magnificent.

You can see how far off from the shore they took us. The water stayed shallow (20, 30 feet?) for quite a distance. Once we were out there, the guys took down the sail and kind of gestured for us to get in. They gave us fins and snorkels and were nodding at the water. We were like, "what? here? just jump in?" And the one that could speak a little English says, "you can swim, right?" Ahhhhh, yeah... I'm not sure what we were expecting, maybe a little safety brief, or what to expect talk, or something... but no, just jump in! His job was to get us away from the shore and over some kind of coral or rock formation to see a few fish, and he did that. Now it was all up to us what to do with the fins and snorkels. So, what the heck, we jumped in! We did see some fish but I was disappointed with the coral. It was all gray or yellow, obviously in a state of decline. Maybe the days of vibrant underwater colors are limited to controlled environments like aquariums. Sad, but true.

This is the life. I know these guys have little money, but their life is to sail these beautiful waters. I think I actually enjoyed the sailing part of the trip better than the snorkeling part.

The view of the beach from a restaurant we found not far from our hotel. They had no liqueur and it took two hours to get a kinda-crappy sandwich. Really? I was surprised at how little the beach had to offer in the way of "beach bars". Even our hotel only had beer and wine. In this category, St Pete wins, hands down. The food in St Pete is miles better than Zanzibar too.

A Maasai, looking for his next pigeon. Haha, actually, they were very nice and polite. I talked with one and he told me they were from the Kilamanjaro region of Tanzania. They spent about a month at a stretch out on the island selling their crafts. Once they sold everything, they were "allowed" back into their tribe and after some months, would return to the island with another load to sell.

I did end up buying a few things from the beach peddlers, including this scarf.

The last view down the beach before we flew back to the mainland.