Zanzibar

With a break before we needed to be in Kigoma, we decided to spend a few days on the fabled island of Zanzibar. With its beautiful white sand beaches and tall palm trees set beside turquoise blue waters, Zanzibar has a well-deserved reputation as a tropical paradise. But it has a dark history. Colonized by Persian and Arab explorers, it was once the home of the Sultan of Oman. It was the center of many East African trade routes, especially for spices and slaves. In the early 1800's, over 50,000 slaves a year were transported through Zanzibar, with 80,000 more dying in transit before they ever arrived.

We arrived in Stone Town - the old quarter of Zanzibar Town - named for its abundance of ancient stone buildings constructed along a bewildering labryth of winding alleys and cobbled pathways. No city planning or zoning laws when this town was started. After spending a night in Stone Town, we traveled an hour to the East side of the island to spend 3 days in Entemwe, a remote fishing village known to have clear blue water with beautiful coral reefs that are great for snorkeling or scuba diving.

We weren't disappointed. The beaches were gorgeous and the Indian Ocean was warm and inviting. You couldn't walk more than 5 feet on the beach without seeing a beautiful sea shell that looked like it belonged in a souvenir shop. Since it was a fishing village, we negotiated with a local boat owner to take us to Mnemba Island to snorkel around its famous coral reefs. With its clear water, we could easily see at least 40 feet to enjoy many kinds of coral formations and dozens of species of tropical fish.

After snorkeling for a couple hours at two different reefs, we told the boat owner we were ready to head back. He informed us that it was now low tide and that we would have to wait 3 hours until the tide was high enough to return. What are we going to do on a small fishing boat for 3 hours?... wait, are those dolphins jumping in the distance. Sure enough, we were lucky enough to find a pod of dolphins and swim with them for about 10 minutes. The most playful one was a baby, probably only about 3 feet long. It was an amazing experience to swim side-by-side with four dolphins and to see them so clearly underwater, sometimes only about a foot or two away as they swam around us. So it turned out that our "bad luck" on the tides turned into an incredible experience that we'll never forget.

- Steve