Monday, December 21st - Nungwi, Zanzibar Island, Tanzania

I had a slow morning after an almost sleepless night.  Sometimes I really feel old and last night was one of those times.  I was fine all day and then after dinner I got up and I was really stiff and my right hip hurt.  Before I went to bed I did some stretching hoping that would help and once I got in bed I sat for a while doing blogs and that was fine.  However, once I tried to stretch out, no position was comfortable.  It was like a big bruise even though there was no bruise involved.  It almost seemed like the bone itself was hurting. As a result I did a lot of tossing and turning and very little sleeping. 

I tried to sleep in a bit longer this morning to make up for the lack of sleep during the night but since my hip still hurt that didn't help much.  I did a lot more stretching trying to work it (whatever it is) out but to no avail.  So at 7:30 I got up, put on my bathing suit and went over to breakfast.  I sat at the table for a couple of hours enjoying the view but getting up regularly to get tea and other things from the serving table.  I could move but it was a still painful.  So who knows what is wrong this time?  Maybe it's arthritis.  I know I have that in my knees so maybe it has spread to my hip.  And maybe this much more humid weather is getting to it and that's why it's bothering me now and not before when I was in drier climates.  Then again, maybe I've just been sitting too long and it's getting stiff.  I don't buy that theory since I had two walks along the beach yesterday, both about an hour, so that's not exactly doing nothing all day.  Perhaps its from walking on the sloped beach.  That sounds like a good theory.  Maybe I'll go with that and just skip the walks to see if that helps.  Yes, I know.  I'm being lazy again.

After breakfast I moved to a lounge chair in the shade and prepared to spend most of the day there reading and relaxing since I had to pay for the chair.  I'm determined to finish the book I've been reading, The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden.  It's not a great book but has its moments and it does keep me wondering what's going to happen next.

I did move from the chair occasionally to go to the bathroom and to go to the restaurant and eat.  Those are important things in any day.  I also had to get up severl times and move my chair so it was still in the shade.  The sun is very hot here so shade is essential.  I did a lot of reading and finished the book, and I slept a little (or at least tried to).  Other than that I enjoyed the scenery and the breeze and had a very relaxing day.

Lunch and dinner are not fast and always take a couple of hours so eating takes up a big part of our day.  Staring at the  beach is another big part.  Yesterday the excitement was that the dive centre right next door had a missing diver.  That created a fair bit of panic but eventually the diver was found and he was healthy so everything turned out okay.  It seems strange that they could lose a diver but I guess if someone didn't count heads before and after it would be easy to do.  I guess the moral of that story is to ensure someone else knows you are on board and will look out for you and make sure you are on board on the way back.

So what this blog has made me realize is that it is really silly to try and write something every day when you really aren't doing anything of importance.  As a result, I will probably only write every few days from now on, unless something exciting happens - and I hope the excitement doesn't mean any more missing divers or snorkelers or swimmers, especially if it's me!