My epic adventures into the depths of Earth

I stood seemingly alienated in a market place. Yet thousands of miles from home, I was brought head-on with the eyes of my grandmother in a complete stranger’s face. At that moment I felt like a child being caressed in her mother’s arms although the only affection I sought at the time were friendly smiles. And in an instant my mind was brought back to reality and to the island getaway that is Zanzibar, to the simple white bench I was standing in front of at the market place and the woman’s eyes which I had mistaken for my grandmother’s. I had walked through intricately carved teak doorways infamous to the island and passed women sitting on their haunches, carefully painting hands that were perched on their laps. Hordes of salesmen sang to me, “welcome friend (rafiki)! Everything here cheap! No tourist prices!” as I smiled into their box-sized shops. Gangs of cats prowled around my feet in the streets near the ocean bazaar fearlessly awaiting an abandoned plate of leftovers. I watched as a sunset glowed on the distant horizon and the ever-blue shore floated up to meet my toes on the hot sand. Under shady thatch roofed houses I lounged overlooking pools of infinite blue where I was waited on like royalty. Tourists like me couldn’t feel any more at home in the relaxed island atmosphere. It eats you, consumes you – this place. It is an oasis in the depths of reality. I hadn’t left, and wanted to book a return flight immediately.