Set up camp in beach chairs.
Nap.
Take pictures of beautiful turquoise water.
Go swimming in said turquoise water.
Nap again.
Read.
Order fruity drink from beach bar.
Eat.
Repeat.
This has been our MO for the last couple days, and it’s been glorious!
As soon as we arrived at our hotel and were offered a cool washcloth and fresh squeezed pineapple juice, we pretty much melted into a puddle of goo and vowed not to leave the confines of this magical place until we have to check out in 2.5 days’ time.
Apart form a one-hour morning walk on the beach and a quick ramble outside the gates to chase the sunset, we’ve stayed true to our word.
Why would we want to leave paradise??
After all the hustle and bustle of moving around, it’s been one big sigh of relief to just be.
Our first morning here I just sat and watched the ocean change colors with the tides. For two hours.
Who has time for that?
Better yet—why don’t we make more time for that??
We were fortunate to have synced our east-coast island stay with a full moon, so last night we sat in our beach chairs and watched the full moon rise over the ocean. I lingered a bit longer in the hammock, one foot in the white sand to rock me, watching stars poke through the night sky and listening to Billie Holiday. I know I use “dreamy” a lot, but really… dreamy!!!
We keep saying how it feels both cruel and fitting that pictures just don’t do this place justice. We are living in a desktop background. And thankfully it’s still relatively early in the tourist season, so there aren’t too too many other guests here. The staff is charming. It’s just lovely.
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Before this, we did have one busy day of activity — our final day with Francis!
The three of us left Stone Town early Sunday morning for an all-day boat cruise out of Fumba, just 30 minutes due south.
Low tide permitting, we trekked across the sand and hopped into a little dingy that took us to our more permanent vessel for the day — a dhow, a giant sail boat made of mahogany and fit for 16 of us passengers and 3 crew members.
Put me in a boat with a group of people from all over the world and OBVIOUSLY I’m going to initiate introductions (thank you, higher ed!)… I didn’t quite go as far as ice breakers, but I did ask everyone to go around and say where they were from. Sam and I were the only two Americans on board (seems to be a common occurrence), the rest were a mix of German, French, and South Korean… and of course, Francis from Zanzibar!
The journey started off well when we noticed all the other boats in our fleet wizzing past us left and right while we remained ready to launch but unmoved in the water. We turned our gaze to the stern of our boat, only to find our captain had completely disassembled and was in the process of handily re-wiring the motor, all the while reassuring us “Hakunna Matata! Pole pole!” (No problem! Slowly, slowly!) Sure enough, 5 minutes later we were underway!
As Sam said so perfectly—we never doubted for a second he could do it, we just loved/were not surprised this was happening… of course he’s re-wiring the motor! How else would we start our trip? Also have to appreciate things that would likely be a much bigger ordeal in the US, seemingly so easily resolved here.
We had a mix of snorkeling (Sam later swiped over to the page of animal emojis on her phone, pointed and exclaimed, “I SAW THAT FISH!”), lagoon swimming, sand bar exploring, seafood picnicking, and baobab climbing. (Don’t forget the obligatory jumping pic! It’s a thing now…)
It was such a fun last day to spend relaxing and exploring with Francis!
He’s been such a kind host, and even drove us across the island to our hotel after the cruise!! He’s one of the fellows I spent the most time with in Boone, so it’s such a treat to have our paths cross again after 3 years of Facebook messages and hopeful promises of “see you soon!” — it finally happened!!
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Tomorrow is Sam’s last full day in Tanzania. Hard to believe! We have packed SO much in the last two weeks, yet it’s gone by so quickly (as always). As Sam so eloquently put it, our last few beach days here have been “icing on what was already a pretty fucking amazing cake!” 😂 Couldn’t have said it better myself! Also could not have asked for a more fun and flexible travel companion.
At one point earlier in the trip, after some fit of laughter at something I can’t remember, I leaned over to George and said, “You see why I asked her to come with me?” He just laughed, “Oh yes, for sure — life without Sam would be boring, that is clear!”
Cheers to my dear friend, travel companion, and fellow adventurer!
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Up next for me… a week of homestays with fellow Bernard and my colleague Jesse’s family, all in little towns around Lake Victoria. Rumor has it, I might even get to attend a traditional Tanzanian wedding!!
I’m also told WiFi may be hard to come by there, so… talk to you whenever the interwebs next allow it! It may be a few days (or week) ☺️
Thanks as always for reading!
-L
Tanzania Travels 