December 28th -January 2nd - Nungwi, Zanzibar, Tanzania

December 28th was another quiet day on the beach.  Well, I shouldn't say quiet.  It's actually quite busy these days with lots of tourists around.  Our restaurant is almost always full from morning to night.  And at times, especially in the afternoons, it's hard to find a spot to sit or spread out a towel anywhere in the shade.  We have both commented that the beach itself - a lovely large stretch of beautiful white sand - seldom has anyone on it.  The people are just not laying around in the sun like they used to.  Everyone, young and old, seems to stay in the shade.  There are lots of people walking on the beach and maybe up until 9 or 10 a.m. there may be some people sitting around but it is well after 4 p.m. before anyone ventures out again to sit in the sun.  Either the sun is hotter here than in other places or people are actually getting smarter about sitting in the sun.

I moved locations several times today and I had two very short walks on the beach.  When I want to walk in the erly morning snd early evening the tide is too high and I can't get around the rock outcroppings in either direction up the beach.  The water was very rough today and it was windy.  The kite boarders were out in full force.  We have at least six of them here in the hotel.  It's one group of people from Romania and they are here for two months just to kite board.  Well, the men kite board.  The ladies just seem to relax all day.  I don't know what they do for a living but money does not seem to be an issue and neither is getting holiday time.  (Of course they probably say the same thing about us so it doesn't mean much.)  Then they go out partying each night.  They asked us to join them one night but we said we were too old.  Heck, I'm generally in bed by 10 and they are just thinking about going out then.  I couldn't keep their hours.

This is a very Muslim island and I have to say that the ladies and children who go buy totally covered up are absolutely fascinating.  Their colours are so vivid and amazing.  Purple, yellow, orange, red, green, blue, etc. in all kinds of combinations.  I don't know how many times I've commented on the vividness of the colours.  They brighten up everywhere they go whether at the beach, in town, in stores, in restaurants, or in a country field.  Even the uniforms the school girls wear, which include the head cover (sorry I don't' remember the correct term) are beautiful.  I always knew that the African ladies in general had a real flare for colourful, vibrant dresses and hats but I never realized that it included the Muslim ladies.  I always thought of them as more in black.  Regardless, my drab clothes certainly pale in comparison.

Tuesday the 29th was another windy day with lots of waves and white caps on the water.  Just watching the snorkelling and diving boats go out and rocking back and forth and up and down on the water made me glad I was on land.  The kite boarders loved it.  They were out in full force and some of them were doing some incredible jumps.  They are fun to watch but they certainly take up a lot of the beach space by the time they have blown up their big kites (well, really only blowing up the seams) and strung out all the guide strings that go with them.  We spent a long time sitting in the restaurant eating and staring at all the activitiy on the beach.  The only thing missing was the cows.  Eventually I moved to the shade for some reading and relaxing and stayed there until about 5 p.m. when I moved out to the sand by the water.  The waves were still big and it was great fun watching the kids play in them.  Even some of the adults were being knocked over by the big waves, and a lot of people relaxing on the sand were suddenly jumping up quickly as the water reached them and their towels and other possessions.  The usual walkers and runners were also out on the beach so occasionally they also got surprised by a wave.  As soon as the sun set I went back to the room and was totally inundated with mosquitos and other tiny insects.  There has to be at least drawback to every little piece of paradise, right?  I sat on our patio smelling like bug spray while I checked e-mails and ate my dinner, which was a pizza left over from lunch.  

Wednesday the 30th was a blustery day with some early morning cloud but still hot and very enjoyable.  Breakfast was long only because I did my banking and other important e-mails after.  The early mornings seem to be the best for the internet so one does want to make use of it when available.  I now think I have my bills all paid for the year end and travel arrangements all made right through to March which feels good.  I'll be in South Africa from January 2nd to February 24th with 30 days in the middle taken up by a tour through South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia.  Then I fly to South America for a tour in Bolivia that ends March 9th.  After that, who knows, but I'm guessing I'll start heading north toward home shortly thereafter with a few stops along he way of course.

But back to the 30th, as usual I spent time reading and relaxing and watching the activities on the beach from a comfortable spot on the shade.   That was the afternoon though.  About the time we were going to head to the shade in the morning, a young couple we had met previously a couple of times showed up so we sat and talked to them until it was lunch time. They headed off down the beach and we had lunch.  About 5 p.m. Randy always heads over for a coffee at a nearby restaurant so I joined him (for ice cream instead of coffee) and the couple was there again so we sat and visited some more.  Now we are going to have New Year Eve dinner with them as well.  

They are a really neat couple, probably around 30.  Alvaro is from Spain and Claudia is from Chile.  They spent the last six years in Chile and now have just moved to Spain.  They needed work so started a small clothing business in Chile - very mobile at the start but with three outlets and nine employees when they finished.  They sold the business when they left and had enough money to buy a flat in Barcelona with no mortgage needed, and to do some travelling which is why they are here.  They have both travelled extensively so it's fun talking to them about all kinds of different countries and experiences.  They are also very intelligent people and very up to date on world news - certainly can put me to shame.  One minute we'll be talking about the salt flats of Bolivia and the next minute about Catalonia wanting to split away from Spin or education in the US and Chile or Spanish history or the Canadian dollar.  Their English is great and they are very easy to talk to.  I can see him as the President of Spain someday.  He's just a well-rounded individual who understands business, politics, history, geography, culture, etc.  She is equally fascinating as a person but not quite as talkative, although she seems to know about everything he's discussing (which is more than I can say for my understanding on some of the subjects like Chinese cars and how they have a knock-off for almost every car made).  Tomorrow's New Year's Eve dinner with them should be fun, although again very expensive.

New Years Eve: The beach is a lot busier today and the crowd is a lot younger.  I have a feeling the holiday crowd has arrived to party tonight.  Right now, by 10 a.m. the beach is crowded.  There is a noisy volleyball game going on.  The cows are relaxing in the sand with all the other sun worshippers.  And yes, there are sun worshippers out today.  Luckily it is a bit cloudy and even calling for a thunderstorm this afternoon so they may survive the beach without too much of a burn.  Lots of boats went out this morning full of people going snorkelling .  At least I think they were going snorkelling.  They didn't have wet suits on and those are required to go diving here.  With al the new people on the beach the tour operators are busy trying to talk to everyone and make their sales.  That at lest means they will leave us alone, which is a good thing.  Oh my, I guess I have to shut this machine down now as it's at 5% battery life.

The morning flew by and suddenly it was time for lunch.  We were in the middle of that when Alvaro and Claudia came by and joined us and there we sat until 4:30 when the other three decided it was time for coffee.  The power was out, had been for most of the day, so they had to walk somewhere new in search of good coffee.  I decided to stay behind and relax (as it had been such a tough day so far!).  About 6:00 I decided to shower while there was still daylight.  There wasn't much water but it was okay.  Randy returned around 6:30, right after teh power came back on.  We went to the store to get some water and cookies.  He had his shower and then had a snooze.  I read for a while and then did some internet since my iPad had been charged at least a bit since the power came one.  This waiting until 8:30 to go for dinner is really strange for us.  We're generally done by that hour.  It will be interesting to see how long we actually manage to last tonight.

Well, I made it until after 1 a.m. and didn't actually get to sleep until close to 2 a.m.  Who knew I had it in me?  The dinner was good but I preferred the Christmas dinner.  This one was a buffet while the other was a "sit down and let us serve you" meal.  I started with a seafood chowder tonight and it was tasty.  Then I had some lobster, red snapper, calamari, curried vegetables and roast potatoes. There were other things available too but that's all I had as I was saving for dessert.  It unfortunately was a bit of a let down but at least there was some chocolate available.  We each received a glass of champaign when we arrived and again at midnight.  Our reservation was for 8:30 and we talked a lot and stretched the meal out as long as we could.  A lot of people left early but then reappeared just before midnight.

There was a band where we had dinner and they wee really good - quite mellow by comparison with the hotel beside us which was loud heavy bass modern music.  They also had dancers so that got distracting at times.  Our hotel beyond that had acrobats. All three places had a lot of tables and chairs out on the sand.  By the time midnight rolled around there were hundreds of people out on the beach and it was quite a celebration.  Even the Maori warriors were busy jumping and chanting and entertaining some of the crowd.  There was a bonfire in one location and some tourist was blowing alcohol on the flames, which was actually impressive in the dark night.   The two hotels ((where we ate and where we stay) shut down early but the middle restaurant/bar is thee one still going strong and it is packed with people and a lot of them are locals.   Who knows how long the partying will continue?

Since I was still awake at the time, I can tell you that the music stopped just before 3 a.m.  and the crowd seemed to disappear shortly thereafter.  I was still trying to get to sleep.  As a result, January 1st was a slower morning than most although I was up, showered, finished breakfast and laying on the beach by 10 which is typical.  I guess breakfast was later but I didn't sit in the restaurant as long since the internet was so lousy.  The rest of the day was reading, relaxing, repacking to ensure my one case was under 20 kg.  I flew in with two cases each with a 23 kg restriction but the smaller sports bag was only a couple kg and the bigger case was under 20, so it was a matter of just reshuffling most things and getting rid of a few.  Around 5:00 I walked over to the Z Hotel to join the other three for their coffee break.   They had been swimming while I packed.  I'm the only one flying out tomorrow.  The rest all have a couple more days.  Claudia and I went to the book exchange at the Z and I got a couple more books - not that I needed the extra weight but I did need some reading material   Around 7 they went back to their hotel and we went to ours for dinner and an early evening - still trying to make up for last night's late evening.

January 2nd - I slept really well last night and was up early to shower and get dressed and head down for breakfast.  At 9:30 I went back to the room to finish packing and at 10 we checked out.  We then sat in the restaurant waiting for our taxi which was coming at 12:30 to take us back to Stone City - me directly to the airport and Randy to the hotel for another couple nights.  Alvaro and Claudia came over to say goodbye so we had a last visit with before departing.  It was another hot beautiful day in Zanzibar with lots of people out enjoying the beach.  I never did get in swimming here which was a real shame but what can you do.  The blister on my leg did eventually drain and the top part of it looks fine.  The bottom part still looks rather red and angry though so I decided I'd just leave it alone a bit longer.  The salt water probably would have been good for it but the water gets pretty churned up at the shore and I wasn't sure the sand and other particles would be very beneficial.  Okay, enough of that.  What it really means is that I will just have to come back to the Nungwi Inn n Zanzibar some time in the future to really enjoy the water.  Now I'm off to the airport for a flight to Jo'burg, South Africa for overnight then on to Port Elizabeth in the morning.  I will pick up the story from there in the next blog.