Today, we actually did something other than sit under the sun all day. Shitty life, I know. Over the previous few days T and I worked kinda hard at finding a good deal on some kind of sea excursion where we could see some wildlife of sorts. Yesterday, we made friends with a beach hustler named Alex who we paid 60,000 Tsh to set up a snorkeling trip for today.
After breakfast, which is getting old here quickly, we met at the “Cappucino” dhow boat anchored right off the beach in front of our resort. We had to wade waist high into the water to get aboard the vessel. There were about 15 of us on the boat including the four jacked crew guys. Almost everyone sat up top, but T and I started the day out on the front along with one other young couple from Florence. Their names were Andrea and Gemma.
I am really, really happy we didn’t go see the dolphins yesterday because the weather was incredible today. Didn’t hit cloud cover once. We left around 9 and made one stop in Nungwi to get fitted for flippers and goggles and such. The beach here was not large, however the water remained about waist high forever so we had to walk several hundred feet in the water amid rocks and starfish to get to shore. There was a store next to the snorkel shop that had a big ice cream sign. I was tempted, even at 9:15am but I resisted. I had already had a snickers at 8, before breakfast.
Everyone re-boarded the dhow and we were on way. The voyage to Mnembu Island was marked by fairly large waves and watching fisherman in their little three-piece wooden canoes. The entire coastline on the north and northeast parts of Zanzibar are extremely shallow for hundreds of meters, so we had to boat to the island far away in deeper waters. We and the other couple entertained ourselves along the way by looking for the big waves we were consistently hitting. The only other thing worth noting was that there was a line of maybe five dhows on the way to the island which was quite a site.
When we finally got to the island, which was only a few kilometers from the northeast part of Zanzibar, we were given just a few rules and then allowed to snorkel around the reefs for two hours. We jumped right into the almost electric blue water. There were fish everywhere, of all different sizes and colors from lurking right under the boat to the ocean floor. I wished I had my camera the entire time. There were a few moments where I thought coral was going to rip open my stomach and allow my guts to spew all over the reef and beckon Jaws. The reef was incredible. I want to take pieces home, but I can’t.
Sooner or later my feet started to feel uncomfortable in my flippers so after a few more bottled nose Jake dives to the ocean floor to go face to face with some fishies, we retreated back to the cappucino. We didn’t sit for long. Soon after, we were jumping off the top of the boat and we got the Italians to join in. Once we were tired of that, we just got comfortable on the top in the sun until we left.
A quick jaunt from the island parking spot over to the “main land” and we anchored next more boats at what felt like a private beach in the middle of the ocean. A large barbecued fish along with rice, pineapple tomato sauce, and fruit was waiting for all of us to eat. The setting was so fucking surreal. Five anchored dhows and three fishing canoes floating aimlessly in the shallow water set the tone for an oasis you see in movies. Other than the people at the BBQ, there was no one in sight. The food was delicious. Yes, I’ve learned to eat some types of fish on this trip, not sure which ones, but I digress. I made T do her best swimsuit impression and crawl along the beach while I snapped photos at a machine gun rate. We weren’t the only ones. There were probably ten other groups doing similar things. In fact, that has been a theme at the beach. Modeling by the water.
Lunch was finally finished and people had taken enough photos, so we began our trek back to the west side of the main island. The boat guys had another little surprise for us. They put the sail up. Doing so was a little bit of a show as it took three of them to complete the process as well as some shuffling of bodies. The end result was pretty awesome. The wind carried us all the way back to the northern tip of Zanzibar at which point we switched back to the motor. The path back to our resort from the BBQ area was taken much closer to shore as the tide has risen considerably which allowed for the dhow to skim through the now slightly less shallow waters. The differences in available beach on the coast was greatly noticeable on the way back with some beach now nonexistent. When we dropped off the snorkel gear, we were now able to pull right up to the shop instead of several hundred feet away. Nungwi is also known for it’s dhow building business and this was extremely evident on the way back. There were hundreds of boats clinging to the bay. The entire way back, the sun was hitting the water ever so perfectly to create breathtaking colors. This makes me want to come back yearly, if possible.
We made it back around 3:00pm or so and found a beach chair to drop our things and immediately went back into the water as we knew our hours to enjoy the Indian Ocean were drawing low. We saw several beach salesman we recognized and had to turn down several others. Alex, the guy who set us up with the snorkeling trip, ran into us again and we set up a ride to Stone Town for 40,000 Tsh.
The sunset was enjoyed in the refuge of one of the restaurants’ hammocks. As we swung in the hammock, we watched a very eclectic mix of people play beach volleyball in front of the restaurant. Among the eight players was a heavy set dada (sister) all wrapped up. At first T and I could not believe our eyes, but after watching her serve, we couldn’t believe our eyes even more. She could play. She even laid out for some balls and blocked some spikes. Wow. The setting of the sun yielded the very edge of the moon which marked Ramadan. Tomorrow there should be lots of partying amongst the people. We then found a seat amongst the restaurant and ordered pizza and chipsies that we dipped in the chili sauce. The pizza was ok, but not as good as Kendwa Rocks. It was however, much cheaper, by about 4,000 Tsh. I ended up dipping the fries in my new favorite sauce (chili ketchup) and topping the pizza with it. This added a little more flavor.
This last meal concluded what was an amazing time on the northern end of Zanzibar. Tomorrow we will be embarking around 8:30am to Stonetown, which is the main hub of Zanzibar.
