Day 16: Paradise

Breakfast was at 7:30 and as much as i'm loving all of this citrus and delicious-ness, my mouth is not. I have a ton of small sore-type things that are giving me hell. Anyway, enough of that. TODAY WAS FREAKING AMAZING!!!!!!

First, we walked less than a block to the beach and along the sand to a little wooden shack where we recieved our snorkeling gear. I was so excited, I had never been snorkeling and could not wait to get in the ocean. 10 of us were allowed in each boat and luckily most of the Zebros made it onto our boat. We joked and had a great time as we sped out into the deep blue. The water was gorgeous, crystal clear and blue like sapphires. We travelled for about 25 minutes out toward a small island where we were told there were great reefs and a cool beach to relax on. I figured, this is it, and slipped my flippers on. As others climbed down the ladder into the ocean, I plunged off the side of the boat and was immediately stunned by the reef I saw below. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!! There were so many species of fish, coral, urchin, everything! I couldn't believe it! I snorkled near the surface for a bit before holding my breath and diving down to the reef for a closer look. I swam through schools of fish and had a clownfish come right up to my mask before quickly turning away and swimming off. It was existential, life-changing, amazing. I was meant to be a mermaid for sure. 

Next, we hopped back on our Mr. Bean boat (all of the touristy boats had words/names painted on them and ours was Mr. Bean), and travelled to a different island where there are prison ruins and a HUGE tortoise refuge. There, we entered the refuge and were given wads of spinach to feed to the massive amount of giant tortoises that were roaming around the refuge. They had veracious appetites and came at us from all sides. It was crazy! There were tortoises as old as 150 and higher there! I fed a few and petted them. I even got to give one a good under-the-neck rub! They feel so strange, but so cool. They loved getting pet and fed :) We also saw the babies and were taught about how they breed. Awkwardly enough, two of them decided that was an appropriate time to demonstrate which led to much laughter and inability to look away. It was great.  

After the tortoises, we saw the ruins of the prison that was built on the island, but never used. I found some pretty flowers that I put in my hair, and we decided to spend some time down on the beautiful beach. We were warned to be careful, and not step on any urchins, but one of the boys ended up doing exactly that and now has about 20 little pricks on the bottom of his foot to show for it. Clancy and I decided to swim out to the boat and retrieve our snorkeling gear for further sea exploration. The swim was a little far, but not a problem, and gave me some much-needed exercise (I haven't lost any weight here because they feed us well and bigger is more beautiful in Africa, so our host families encourage us to eat until we are very full). We got our goggles, snorkle, and flippers and hopped off the boat. Once under water, we saw swarms of starfish! They were everywhere! There were starfish of almost every color and so many different sizes. Some had spikes, others were spotted, and some were giant! I began picking them up and showing them to the people on the beach. They took pictures while Clancy and I compared our finds, then we took them back to where we found them and left them with their starfish friends. 

The whole experience was so amazing, I never wanted it to end. I could have snorkeled all day and then some i'm sure. However, it had to end, and we took the boat back to the beach before walking to the Maru Maru hotel for lunch. The staff of the restaurant were a little overwhelmed by our large group size, but accommodating and friendly. After lunch, we took a walking tour of stone town where we saw the historical sights, and the museum. It was nice to walk around town and see everything. The buildings are all so lovely!

After the tour we made our way back to the beach and onto another boat for our sunset cruise. We cruised around for a few hours as the sun set drinking delicious white wine, getting a stunning view, and having traditional music played by live musicians. I bellydanced for everyone on the boat and shocked most of my new friends who were unaware of my talent. Some joined in the dancing, and others clapped along with the music. Then, we watched the sun set over the gorgeous Indian Ocean.

For dinner, we went to a food market of sorts where vendors are lined up side-by-side like food trucks in the US. There was all sorts of food, but I decided to get Swahili pizza, which is a super thin dough filled with ground beef, cheese, veggies (if you want), and a little mayo. It was delicious and the vendor was a total goober. He told us we were all beautiful and he wanted us to all be his wives (all 10 of us). Then, he individually told us what about us was beautiful, asked if we had boyfriends, and proposed to us. He said he had a good name and was nice and therefore I should marry him. I told him I was loyal to my boyfriend and he told me to compare the two and that I should live for right now and be his wife. I laughed so hard! He was joking and smiling the whole time, and it was honestly, really funny. 

After dinner, we came back to the hotel and I passed out so hard. I was exhausted. 

What a wonderful day in paradise. I have to come back to Zanzibar!