Goodbye to the Spice Island

Kendwa Rocks Zanzibar, Tanzania
January 21, 2010

I spent an amazing week here in Zanzibar. I stayed at the same spot, White Sands Beach Resort, where I landed after the neighboring resort was filled to capacity (and my tour leader booked me into a room with some dude). I have my own hut, pictured here, with a fan (which shuts off at 3:00a with the generator), a mozzie net and a cold water shower, which I have actually started to prefer to hot showers. So much better than a muddy tent!

I finished the first bit of my diving course--now I'm a certified scuba diver!--and I can upgrade to "open water" in South Africa if I want to. I'm not sure if I want continue with diving (sorry, Meghan)--it's terrifying! You're under the water moving clumsily, with cumbersome equipment strapped to you, it's all blue and green, visibility can be poor and there are scary animals (like manta rays and sea snakes). And I kept skinning my knees and ankles on sharp coral. But maybe I'll come around to it. I have the new few weeks as I travel down to Cape Town to consider whether I want to take the next step or not.

Freddy and I had candlelit dinners on the beach every night, including a lobster dinner to celebrate the end of my diving course. Lobster for 20,000 Tzn shillings (15 USD)--not a bad deal!
In retrospect, it was absolutely the right decision to break with the group and stay in Zanzibar. It's been such a lovely week, like a real vacation, not a muddy, mandatory school trip like the overland trip had become. I'm very, very interested to hear how the rest of the group found Malawi and how their spirits & morale are a week later.