Today is the first day we truly relax. After we each enjoy an hour long massage in the morning, Nico lounges by the pool while I sequester myself in the loft and spend the day reading Three Cups of Tea, the story of a failed K2 summit attempt which led to a life long mission to bring schools to the children of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Jeanine thought it would be a good read given our Kili adventure. I can highly recommend it.
Despite the day’s snorkeling activity, Nico and I were totally relaxed by the end of the day and enjoyed the waning light from our beach chairs.
Our bungalows were adjacent to an area on the beach were several wooden boats were undergoing repair using traditional methods.
I nearly had a heart attack when I almost walked right into this spider. It was larger than my fully outstretdched hand and her web covered a diameter of 5 or 6 feet and was situated across the path I was exploring.
A daytime view of the entrance to our dining venue of the previous evening.
This is Nicolai’s first time snorkeling and he is anxious to jump in. The water is supremely beautiful, if a little cooler than one would expect. Fortunately we were both wearing wet suits.
Despite our plan to lay on the beach all day, we quickly opt for a half day of snorkeling out on the reef and join a dive boat headed that way.
It takes little time before Nicolai locates the perfect place for relaxing in the warm sea breazes.
Nicolai befirends a stray cat as we relax on the beach before breakfast is served.
With morning we get our first glimpse of paradise.
Dinner this evening is served outdoors in a unique circular enclave defined by a tall natural fence made of tightly spaced long thin poles. The lack of light precluded a photo of this very beautiful venue but did not prevent Nicolai from making several long exposure motion blurs of the candle at our table. We were joined by a group of six Irish lawyers (Marie, Ciaran, Michael, Sara, Gillian and Teresa) who had also come from climbing Kili. It was wonderful comparing stories and when they learned of Nicolai’s fundraising efforts they suprised us at the end of the meal with a very sizeable donation for the cause. We were entertained with live music all evening and when I was pulled from my seat to dance with the very attractive lead singer, Nicolai was quick to grab the camcorder and switch to infra-red recording. Mysteriously that footage has been deleted to protect the innocent.
The drive from the airport to our destination at Matembwe Beach on the northeast side of the island takes about an hour and by the time we arrive it is close to dinner time.
As we approach Zanzibar and the small islands surrounding it, we are exposed to an entirely new palette of colors.
Flying out of Kilimanjaro, we get a nice bird’s eye view of a traditional Chagga extended family homestead. The central structure is a pen for livestock surrounded by the dwellings for the parents and their grown children.