2/12/14: ZANZIBAR, THE NORTH: BEACHES

2/12/14: ZANZIBAR, THE NORTH: BEACHES

The place we are staying is full of murals.  The photo above makes it look much more interesting than it really is, but, hey, it's the least expensive digs on this side of the island.  Service is very simple with no extras - no soap, toilet paper, changing linen, etc

They do provide breakfast and the guy cooking just got back with groceries from the store, with a big smile, as we wait.  There's a substantial hole in the screen across the window, so mosquitoes are numerous and they seem to like the inside edges of the mosquito net, which also has holes. Yehudah did a great mosquito killing job last night and this morning.  We discovered two outlets, both high up and needed to create clever ways of using them.  There are hooks, a shower, a current model toilet and a table for stuff.

Last night was the night of itches, thunder and lightening.  I was awake scratching all the small jellyfish stings and other bites and welts on my body while Yehudah slept, enjoying the very noisy fan at full speed.  I did finally fall asleep and feel fine this morning.

We will try to walk to another beach along the water which is supposed to be very wide and one can swim at any time.  The sky is overcast.

We walked about an hour along the water from Nungwe to the next beach over,  called           Kendwa, a very broad beach that in the past five years has grown to include an exclusive Italian hotel and restaurant with Masai who speak Italian, several other gorgeous bungalows and restaurants.  On the way we stopped to talk with some artists and are considering buying a large painting of three Masai jumping, the subject of one of my dream poems of the past.  I considered asking a guy and gal Masai to jump with me for a photo, but have been too shy.

We also past by some fisherman cutting up their catch of sting rays:

We took turns swimming in the gorgeous ocean, luxuriating in "just swimming".  I managed to have a conversation about Italy in my broken Italian with an older man who lives in Florence, of all places!   And Yehudah wound up scoring by finding a snorkle mask by the ocean line that belonged to a couple's children, using it to swim out to an area where there was a small coral area with small fish.

We found a good place to have Zanzibar pizza, relaxed some more, I gave Yehudah a massage, we walked up the road to find a ride back to Nungwe because the tide had risen and one couldn't walk along the beach anymore.

Kendwa Restaurant

We took showers, had dinner of aubergine curry and a tuna and coconut curry at a cheap, local spot, with great food.  We are now at the Internet cafe with air conditioning and hi speed internet.

We will see if the blog photos post.  Hope so.

We leave for Stone Town tomorrow and will take the matutu.  We are told the cook will make mango pancakes for breakfast!

No luck at wifi place.  We are now at DoubleTree Resort with a pistachio milkshake, a band and a few of the blog posts have uploaded.