Today I went snorkeling off of the southwest coast of
Zanzibar with a group of maybe 10 from various hotels nearby. They drove us to the beach where we donned
flippers and snorkeling masks and then hopped aboard a boat to head out into
the water. Our guides mentioned they had
seen dolphins that morning and asked if we wanted to try to track them
down. We resoundingly agreed and set off
to find Flipper and his friends. We went
maybe 30 minutes out from shore when we saw their fins; there were so many of
them! Snorkel gear assembled, we hopped
into the water (very salty! note: avoid inhaling some when jumping in) and swam
off after them.
It was a cat and mouse pursuit for quite a while, when every
time we saw their fins and headed that direction they darted down to the bottom
and switched routes. Finally, when I was
just nearing full exhaustion, they stopped playing coy and came to the surface! There were at least a dozen dolphins and they
just swam among and between us, coming so close you could touch them! One had a few scratches from an apparent
tussle, while another looked at me directly and opened his mouth a bit. I’d like to think he smiled. =) It was absolutely amazing and totally
worth the bit of sunburn that came with the process (just a bit though; I wore
SPF 70).
After snorkeling we went ashore and had a lunch of rice and
fish (with skin and bones still attached… I had to work my way through that
one) and dessert of the most delicious mangoes ever. Then it was off to a nearby forest to track
down colobus monkeys, little red-backed things that lack thumbs. Thanks to my super telescopic lens I was able
to grab quite a few awesome shots of the adorable creatures, along with a
gigantic snail (about the size of a softball) just chilling by the side of the
road.
Then it was back to town, where I fought with the airline I’m
flying tomorrow (they made a pricing error, wanted me to pay $85 more, I
refused nicely then a bit more forcefully, blah blah blah, we compromised on
$30). Now I’m blogging and uploading
pictures (obviously) then it’s back to my hotel before dark. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it: the
electricity is out on the entire island and they only have generators in use a
few hours a day. This is fine when it is
light out, but when it is dark, it is really, really dark. Last night I tried wandering home around 9pm
(after checking out the street vendors in a park – see pics!) and not only do
the streets not have signs, I couldn’t see them if I wanted! It was pitch black! The stars were lovely though. In the end I stumbled upon an Indian
restaurant whose proprietor felt sorry for the lonely, lost girl and pointed me
in the right direction using houses and landmarks for cues. I’m hoping to avoid such an experience
tonight (though after the fact, it was quite romantic and lovely!).
Tomorrow I’m flying to Kilimanjaro for an overnight layover,
then off to Kigali on Christmas!
