On our second day in Zanzibar we went on a tour called Safari Blue! We had talked about visiting a beach and maybe relaxing for part of the day but Aisha encouraged us to do Safari Blue... she said if she only had a day or two on Zanzibar its what she would do. So we went for it.
We started the day with breakfast at the hotel and then Lukmon picked us up and took us to the meeting point for the Safari. We got there a little early and watched them load all the things they needed for lunch onto speed boats and dhows. It was quite the production!
There were also a few people who had set up little shop areas with hats and towels and the like for sell on the beach. I quickly realized that there was going to be a whole lot more wading into the water than I anticipated so I bought some cheesy "Hakuna Matata" Zanzibar shorts and I'm super thankful for it because the pants I had on would have been a disaster...lol
We picked out our snorkeling gear and then waited a little bit before we were put in groups and then directed to our boat. We had to wade through the water to get to a speed boat that took us to our Dhow.
One of the Dhow's. These are some of the oldest style sailing vessels there are. Their exact history is unknown and speculated but its thought that they were invented sometime between 600 BC to 600 AD (according to Wikipedia) by either Indians or Arabs... again, theres a lot of speculation here. They are widely used in the Indian Ocean and are really beautiful.
The island we were headed to for Lunch
Some of the pictures don't do the water justice... it was absolutely gorgeous!!! This jewel toned aqua... just stunning!
And then a storm blew in...
We dropped anchor on one of the small islands in the archipelago and wandered around for a minute or two before the rain started and then we headed back to the boat!
Michelle and I!
We headed off to our first coral reef to snorkel! At this point the rain had pretty much stopped but it was still pretty overcast. I wish I had thought to bring the go-pro because the fish were absolutely gorgeous! A lot of the coral was dead from idiot snorkelers who stomped on it but the anemones and fish were so bright and beautiful!
Michelle had a waterproof cover for her phone but I couldn't get it to actually work and take a decent picture... got this gem though...
And one of three under water pictures I managed to get...
After about 45 minutes of snorkeling we all clambered back on the boat and went to another reef. Michelle sat that one out but I hopped in.
The water was crazy at this point though and I felt like I was just being thrown all around. The water was a little murkier and even though I saw some pretty fish, I didnt last long on this stop and no one else did either.
On our way to the island for lunch a small pod of dolphins swam by! My stomach was roiling and VERY unhappy at this point so I didn't get to enjoy watching them as much as I would have liked to. Michelle snapped these shots of them... they were a little shy, but you can see them a bit here. There were even some little baby dolphins with them!
We left the dolphins and, blessedly, headed to the island for lunch. The tide was out so they had to weigh anchor further out and away and we had to wade in.
Lunch! Curry veggies, lentils, rice, bread, and of course- Stoney Tangawizi! Not pictured are some locally caught prawns that were delicious! Or the multitude of fresh fruit we had for dessert.
Music and dancing!
A Baobab tree
After lunch we walked around a bit on the beach. There were some shops set up and of course, the whole beach so we meandered around a bit. Michelle waded into the water and I was hanging out in the shade when she motioned for me to come out. So I started walking in... The water was so warm and so clear!
The tide was just rolling back in so it was shallow this far from the beach- I was only knee deep at this point.
Some of the dhow's anchored out
The water started to get a bit deeper, so I hoisted our bag on my shoulder... at this point we were headed towards our dhow with a few other people from the boat.
We got to the dhow- the water at this point was about boob deep on me and a nice South African guy took our bag and dropped it off with the boat..... and then a speed boat showed up with the rest of our people. It was hilarious! There were about six or eight of us that had waded all the way out to the boat when all we needed to have done was just wait. It was so funny and we had a much better time than those rule followers anyway...lol
On the way back
But the fun didn't end once we got off the boat... Lukmon wasn't able to pick us up so one of his colleagues did. He said it was going to be about an hour and a half to get back to the hotel. Michelle asked if there was traffic and he just laughed and said "No." We shrugged it off and hopped in the car. A lot of time goes by at this point and we realize that we're going a completely different way than how we'd come that morning. No biggie, we just assumed it was a different way. We passed the spice farms and more Zanzibar landscape... and then we realized we were about half an hour or so past the spice farms and that they had been super close to the hotel the day before. I said to Michelle, "He's taking us to the Stone Town Doubletree, right?" We just looked at each other and Michelle asked him. He looked back at us and then jerked the car over on the side of the road and spun around in his seat. We were definitely on the way to the North Side of the Island to the other Double Tree hotel.... and we were halfway there!
After some profuse apologies he called Lukmon, turned us around and we headed back to where we were supposed to be.
Now. All of this wouldn't have been a big deal except. I had to pee when we got off the boat and figured I would just wait the twenty minutes til we got back to the hotel. It had, at that point, been an hour or so and I was seeing yellow. And then he took us on the absolute worst road I have ever been on. And again... would have been fine. But my bladder was full to bursting and it was INSANE!
The Police Station
Crazy off road traffic
We finally made it to the hotel, bladder intact and not exploded. We showered and were getting ready to head to dinner when I noticed that one of the shells that I had picked up for Stella on the beach had a stow away... I had checked, double checked, and triple checked the two shells I got and I never saw anything in there... apparently he was really good at hiding. So, instead of heading straight to dinner, we had to head to the beach and drop him off.
When we were dropping our stowaway off we were treated to this gorgeous sunset...
We walked around Stone Town just a bit and did a bit of shopping. We were both exhausted at this point but I wanted to get a couple of little things for Christopher and Stella and I love walking a new city in the evening...
We headed back to the hotel and had a bit of dinner and then back to our rooms to crash! We were up bright and early for our flight the next day...
Sunrise over the airport
Ahhh the airport. Let me just explain something to those of you haven't had the chance to travel outside of the US or big European cities. Sometimes airports look like this... simple. Small. Only one or two flights waiting to leave from what would be considered a regional airport in the states. And these places don't have Starbucks or McDonalds. You get some sketchy food thats been warming for who knows how long and some questionably old candy bars.
This is the face of someone in dire need of breakfast, coffee, and a nap. This person did not get breakfast, nor coffee, nor much of a nap since she was relegated to a middle seat on a tiny airplane for five and a half hours. Landing in Dubai and racing to Paul to fill my hangry body with pastry and coffee was a euphoric experience.
And then we landed to this dusty mess... ah Bahrain... I am not going to miss the haze and dust when we leave...
So I did something a little different this time. I've had people ask me what I pack and how much I spend for quick trips so I kept track and thought I'd give you the break down.
What I packed:
- Outfits- I packed some light weight pants and sleeveless shirts
- One nicer outfit- teal jeans and that floral shirt
- Pajamas and undies
- bathing suit- I packed two- my regular suit and then my rash guard and shorts and a sports bra to go under the rash guard
- black bathing suit cover up
- hat
- lightweight cardigan for the airplane
- Toiletries (deodorant, face wash, moisturizer, minimal makeup, sunscreen, toothbrush and toothpaste, flossers, carmex for my lips because they always dry out on the plane)
- Medicine bag
- Kindle
- Purse (with wallet, passports, hand wipes, deodorant wipes, sunglasses and a little stuff inside itself shopping bag)
When packing for trips I try and pack as light as possible. For quick trips I do carry-ons so I always want to make sure I've got enough room to bring back and souvenirs I find and I don't want to deal with the hassle of checking bags and waiting for them at the airport.
When we travel I always make sure I've got medicine for any possible occurrence with me. So I usually have:
- Bonine for motion sickness
- Pepto and Charcoal tablets for tummy troubles
- Tums because I'm an old lady now and get indigestion all the damn time
- Excedrin Migraine
- Motrin (plus kids Tylenol for Stella)
- Tylenol cold and cough drops
- Benadryl
- Immodium (I especially make sure to pack plenty of this when we travel on this side of the world since the food can be so different and the water can sometimes cause stomach problems. So far we've been fine and we're pretty used to curries and unique fruits and veggies)
- Moleskin for blisters
- bandaids
- nail file
Okay lets talk money... the break down of the whole trip is this (and the hotel, tips, and tour prices are my half of the total cost):
- Flight- $561
- Hotel-$175 (including breakfast AND dinner)
- Entry Visa- $100
- Airport Transfer and tours- $160
- $20 in tips to all our guides, driver, and the boat
- $6 in drinks from the hotel
- $22 for spices and tea
- $30 for souvenirs
Total: $1064
Some trips are less expensive or more, depending. Looking at it, Zanzibar was on the expensive side. Our whole trip in Sri Lanka for Stella and myself for 5 days was only about $2000 and thats everything included-- food, hotel, plane, etc. Its worth it though. Travel sets my soul on fire. Seeing the world and experiencing the world first hand and being able to show it to Stella is absolutely priceless in my book. We travel smart and cut costs where we can but I don't ever want to be sitting in my house when I'm old and gray saying, "Man. I wish I'd gone to Zanzibar." and I really don't ever see us saying, "Well, we shouldn't have traveled the world. What a waste of money." My dream life is not some giant house with fancy cars and more money than we know what to do with... my dream is a small place to call our home base that holds our books and art and feels like home that we can jump off from and see the world.
Travel changes you in so many ways. It challenges you; challenges your ideals and preconceived notions. It shakes you up and makes you think and feel and its incredible! It makes me a better human. It forces me to fight through anxiety and do things anyway and helps me to realize that I'm bigger than my mental health. It teaches me and guides me and gets me lost and found all over again. Seeing the world is such an incredible gift and its worth every minute of research and every penny we spend on it.
