December 22nd to 27th - Nungwi, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Well, it's a good thing I decided to combine a few days because things would have been very boring otherwise.  They may only be slightly boring now.

Everyday the sun is up about 7 a.m. and by 8 a.m. it is too hot and humid to do much other than stay in the shade and relax.  Luckily I don't have anything else on my agenda so that works really well for me.

The 22nd was spent doing not much of anything except eating, reading, relaxing, internet, etc.  We did try out the one restaurant next door for lunch just for a change of pace so that was exciting.  Randy went for many walks and swims.  I did not.  The blister on my leg did leak a lot last night, which I think is good, but there is quite a large blister still there so I'm still avoiding the water and the sand although the latter is virtually impossible.  I actually paid to rent a good lounge chair for the day and that was actually a treat.  The beach is fantastic but too hot for me so I have to stay in the shade.  Unlike other hotels, this one does not have any lounge chairs for its guests, which I find really stranage.

The 23rd was pretty uneventful.  I think it was another day of reading, relaxing, doing computer work and of course eating.  Randy as usual went for several more walks and swims and then had a scuba refresher and practice dive this afternoon so he's ready for his adventure tomorrow.  I wonder what my great adventure will be for tomorrow?  Oh, we did go book our Christmas dinner at another hotel down the way.  It is expensive but at least it's turkey and we get to eat casually as we sit out on the sand.

The 24th was pretty similar to the other days for me.  I did do some laundry at one point though and I did go for a couple of short walks along the beach.  At one point on the walk about 6 p.m. there were hundreds of children in the water learning to swim.  It was fun watching them.  Many had white plastic jugs to help them float more easily.  I finished one book in the morning and started another in the afternoon. Randy was out diving from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and said it was great.  I really wasn't very hungry at lunch so went to the nearby store and bought some cheese and crackers, a passion fruit drink, and an ice cream bar which I had to eat first so it wouldn't melt.  I sat on our patio and ate lunch and thought it was a pretty good lunch although I was hungry again by 6.  We skipped the special dinner at our hotel tonight because it was too expensive.  Instead we went next door and ate for half the price.  I had king fish again and it was very tasty.  The mashed potatoes and actual hot crunchy vegetables were delicious.  Then we went for a walk along the beach and only got bothered by one person who was a tour guide but not very pushy, and one guy wanting money to support his family although I'm thinking it was more likely to support his habit as he seemed a bit out of it.  That was a very unusual request that you don't get often here.  When we said no he then wanted my water and I actually thought he was going to grab it at one point.  However, he went away as we entered into our hotel area.  Oh yes, our hotel had acrobats for its big dinner.  We got to watch them from the restaurant next door so we didn't miss too much.  By 10 p.m. I was done for the day.

Merry Christmas!  Christmas Day was like any other day here - hot and sunny and beautiful.  And like every other day here I didn't do much of interest.  I had breakfast early and did some computer work until the internet totally died.  Then I found a spot in the shade and read until lunch time.  After lunch I went down to the beach to take pictures of Randy having his Christmas sail.  It was actually a harder task than I had envisioned.  Not only was it hot out in the sun at 2 and 3 p.m. as he started and finished, but it was also so bright that I really couldn't see anything in the camera screen so I had to just shoot and hope.  I think I got at least a couple decent pictures for him.  For the rest of the afternoon I did more reading and relaxing in the shade, then about 5:30 when the sun wasn't quite so hot I went for a walk along the beach.  After that we got ready for dinner and had some munchies while we waited.  

Our Christmas dinner was at 7:30 at the next hotel over.  We sat out on the beach with our toes in the sand and staring at the water.  The temperature was just right - probably 28-30 degrees with a light breeze blowing.  The full moon came up over the hotel building part way through the meal so the setting was perfect.  As soon as we arrived we received a flute of champagne to enjoy, and we had fancy, colourful crackers on our table.  Inside we had paper hats, which we did not wear, jokes that weren't all that funny and a gift.  Mine was a tiny 1" cookie cutter in the shape of a Christmas tree and Randy's was a little triangle 5 cm ruler/straight edge.  We left everything behind when we left but the thought was nice.  

Our first course was a very tiny dish with lobster in a sauce.  I forget what fancy name it had attached to it.  Next came a seafood chowder that was delicious.  Then a crab cake and salad, which was good but not excellent.  Then we had some delicious passion fruit sorbet to cleanse our pallets before the main course which was turkey (two generous pieces: one dark meat and one white), a light gravy, two thin spears of asparagus, and a puree de marron, which seemed very sweet and we were guessing at what it was.  Even the person who came around near the end and asked how everything was, did not know exactly what the puree de marron was.  We later did an internet search and discovered it was a sweetened chestnut paste.  It definitely wasn't the same as mashed potatoes but it was an interesting change.  Dessert was fruit cake and a chocolate sponge cake on one plate with some pineapple/mango chutney and a dab of sweet whip cream.  Randy liked the fruit cake so I gave him mine.  I liked the chocolate, even though it was not very chocolaty, but he did not share his with me.  Hmmm!  We also had a bottom of wine with the meal, most of which he drank as I just wasn't into wine after the champagne, and we had a large bottle of water.  The total bill was just under $100 US so expensive by our standards but not bad given how fancy the meal had been.

Part way through the meal a band started playing.  Well, they called it a band but technically it was just four drum / percussion instruments.  They were good and then the noise level got a bit louder and suddenly there were four dancers singing/shouting as they danced to the rhythm of the drums.  I assume it was local music but it was hard to tell.  The dancers were dressed in a black and white squared material which made them look like court jesters, but it was fun to see and hear none the less.  They only played for about an hour before they left.  We thought they might be coming back later but when we went for a walk down the beach after dinner, we thought it was the same group playing and dancing at another establishment down the beach.

On the 26th we had a lazy day again and I didn't do anything noteworthy except go for a couple of walks on the beach.  Otherwise it was the usual eat, sit, relax, read, do computer work, etc.  As it was Saturday the beach was a bit busier with some locals as well as the tourist.  We also had a whole herd of cattle on the beach for most of the day.  They are brahmas and I don't know if that means they are totally different than our cattle but these guys stayed in the hot sun for hours and hours.  There is nothing on the beach except sand so they had nothing to eat and they certainly weren't drinking the salt water.  They were just standing or laying in the sand like all the tourists, except the tourists were on towels or blankets while the cattle didn't seem to care.  Then when they did decide to leave the beach some of them again tried walking through the restaurant which always creates a bit of a stir as the staff try to steer them away (pardon the pun).

Sunday the 27th was only slightly different than all the other days in that Randy went out scuba diving again.  He had a great time but commented on the really rough seas.  I'm glad I wasn't with him as rough seas and I do not get along.  I guess I'm not the only one though as he said one of the divers today got seasick and couldn't do her second dive.  We went further down the beach for dinner tonight and the food was delicious.  The food at our place is starting to all taste the same and it takes a long timeto come.  Every meal ends up being at least 2 hours in length even though we are only having one course or item..  Very strange.

Well, I think that's enough for one blog.  I'll get back to you in about a week to update you on what exciting things have happened.  Please don't expect much!