Day 20 - Safari Blue

I woke up during the night hearing the mosques call for prayer. My phone indicated that it was 4 am, but I did not think that the mosques would start that early, so I started thinking that my phone was off again. I mean, it could have happened during the flight or something. In case my phone had reset to Dutch time, it would have been 6 am in Zanzibar, but it was still too dark for that. But being one hour off, was a possibility and the mosques starting at 5 made some sense to me as I had heard people say that that’s when they start. Then I thought I could check teletext, but there was no time indication available on tv. So I decided to call the reception to ask for the time. It took them some time to answer the phone, but they said it was little past 4. I could have taken this as a confirmation and reassurance, but then I figured that this guy had probably been asleep as well, so he could be wrong. Since I did not want to be late for the activity to come, I took 5 am as my working hypothesis and went back to sleep. Then when I made my way to breakfast quite early that morning, I was greeted by my neighbors (also group members) who had just gotten up and told me that I was one hour early. Ah well, still better than being late.

From the resort we were taken to a location on the coast south coast. Since it was low tide we had to wade through some soggy soil for a bit before we could board one of the traditional sailing boats there. The weather was perfect, there was some sun and some shade on the boat, as well as cold drinks and snacks. Things really started to look like the way vacation is supposed to look in my opinion. We went to a tiny island (or rather white sand bank) on motor power to pick up snorkeling gear. And then we moved to the snorkeling ‘grounds’. Although there are many things that I did not see, given my eyesight without glasses, I still loved being in the water, swaying along with the waves and tranquility of hearing nothing but your own breath.

Then we heard that some of the other boats had spotted dolphins, so we all went on board again and made our way there. We did indeed get to see quite a number of dolphins swimming along with our boat, then disappearing only to reappear somewhere else later. At one point, when they were swimming alongside us again, one of our group members jumped into the water with them. The dolphins moved away almost immediately, so he came back aboard. We all got our snorkeling gear this time and jumped in with the dolphins when we caught up with them again. Our other group members saw the dolphins swimming under them, but since I had to wait jumping in the water to make sure not to jump on others, I missed this. It was good fun nevertheless.

We had lunch on an island together with groups from other boats. They had long tables and an African band for entertainment. Since we were last to arrive, we were asked to get in line for lunch. A great thing about this lunch was that you got 2 plates and both were needed indeed to accommodate all the food that they had on the buffet - yes, I know, it really does sound like vacation! The food was delicious, fish, meat and vegetables and for desert, one of the cooks came to our table and started to cut up all kinds of exotic fruits, some of which I never had before. After lunch, some of us joined the band for a dance, while I took to the white beach to read a book . I made sure to stay in the shade, because I could already feel the skin on my calves starting to burn.

For our trip back to Zanzibar we did not need the motor, so we sailed back. On our way, we saw a similar boat that looked like it was having cows on it, which we could not believe and since we could not see well either, we were not sure whether to believe it. But when it came closer, it became clear that that boat was indeed filled with cows.

When we arrived back at the resort, my bed was made and covered in flowers again. And when blowing my nose, I noticed that the last bit of African sand dust had been cleaned from all corners up there as well by the sea water. We finished the day with a cocktail at the swimming pool. The sunset was beautiful, until the mosquito’s came out and since malaria is a big problem here, we made it back to our rooms to get covered up. Since I got severely sunburned during my previous snorkeling experience, I had taken the precaution of getting all sun-lotioned-up and covered up by a T-shirt. It was better than last time, but unfortunately it turned out to not have been enough, and especially my legs seemed to have gotten too much of the good stuff. A few cold showers and aloe vera lotioning sessions during the evening and night did ease the burn a bit. But it was sooo worth it anyway!