Sailing in a Dhow

Here's a highly recommended activity if you should ever find yourself on the island of Zanzibar. Take a sunset sail on a classically built sailing vessel and be awed, like we were, by the gorgeous vista of white sandy beaches, calm azure-blue waters, and brilliant end-of-the-day sunlight.

Sharmala, Jan, and I boarded a well-kept dhow late one afternoon after selecting snorkeling gear (fins and masks) readying us for an experience never to be forgotten.

We motored along the coast about 4-5 km until we reached a coral garden where we then donned our snorkeling gear and plunged overboard. The seabed was covered with sprawling mounds of amazing corals (brain coral, fan coral, staghorn coral) and the sea, the bathwater-warm sea was swarming with schools of fish. Because I have such poor eyesight, I missed many of the details BUT was able to spot flashed of Nimo-like fish and was thrilled to swim through schools of sergeant majors with flashy stipes!

I lost sense of how much time we spent in the water, but our guides encouraged us to stay and explore as much as we wanted. Once we were back on board, the sails were hoisted and we sailed silently over the iridescent waters - nothing could be more peaceful or calming for the spirit. Finally, we turned about and headed back towards the Flame Tree Gardens and I must say we were mesmerized by the honey coloured sun dipping into the sea.

Zanzibar Days

Our trip to Zanzibar was our final adventure while in Tanzania. After a brief but memorable safari in Mikumi, we traveled to Dar es Salaam on April 17 where we met Sharmala at the thankfully-air-conditioned Econo Hotel. After weeks in the cool refreshing climate of Mbeya, we found Dar to be extremely humid and hot.

Sunday morning we were up and off to the terminal to catch our ferry to Zanzibar. First-class tickets got us comfy seats, AC, and weird Tanzanian movies. Although the early morning rains were over, the sea was a bit rough for the first hour of the trip.

Once we landed on the island, we had to pass through customs which may seem surprising since Zanzibar has been a part of Tanzania since 1967 but they are very protective of their identity and sovereignty (they have a separate branch of government which only the people of Zanzibar can vote for).

You never know when you’re going to bump into someone you know . . .. as we stood in immigration lineup, a young white woman asked Jan if she was Meredith Wilson’s mother from N. Van . . . and of course she IS! Jan recognized this woman as a friend of her daughter from her HS years. She was traveling with her husband on a 3-week holiday in Africa!

Our driver whisked us up to the north west end of the island, quickly passing out of Zanzibar City and into the village-strewn countryside. The vegetation was lush and tropical; trees bursting with blooms and fruit (bananas, jack fruit, mangoes, all sorts of palms...)

We arrived at Nungwi Beach Resort after just over an hour; hot, somewhat bedraggled from the heat & travel only to find that our resort of choice to be less than what we had hoped for. The good points were it was on a beautiful small stretch of beach and the price was right. The not-so-good points were: loud music from the bar/restaurant; strong-smelling pesticide in room; inadequate chairs, hangers, tables in our room; low/no water pressure; thousands of flies around our eating table while being served at the cafe; limited beach furniture (with a price tag for usage); I could go on but you get the picture. The music blared into the night (it turns out there was a disco on the property right behind our cabin so we got “surround sound”) and was only silenced by a 3-hour power outage between midnight and 3AM.

Needless-to-say, we were on the hunt for a new place right after breakfast the next day - stalking the beaches for something more agreeable. After all, it was the low (rainy) season so we thought we might be able to talk someone into a deal (for us, of course). The thing is, we wanted to stay another 3 nights so wanted something comfortable, affordable, and a place where sleep was possible.

The 3 of us were immediately “taken” with Flame Tree Cottages but unfortunately, they were out of our price range. The thing is, being the low season, all of these resorts were VERY quiet. In fact one large place seemed to be deserted except for the Maasai guards draped in their famous red-blue robes.

The proprietors of the Flame Tree Cottages were very accommodating, and generously offered us another rate that while more than we had planned, was impossible to turn down. And so we stayed and enjoyed and soaked in the stunning setting.

African bird pictures

The Lilac-breasted Roller


Here are some pictures I found on-line of birds that we were lucky enough to spot while on our safari in Mikumi National Park. At one point, while driving along the track, I spotted what at first glance appeared to be a blue garbage bag - like the common recycling bags used in Canada - lying on the side of the road. As we got closer, this "garbage bag" gathered itself up and flew off -- it was a gorgeous lilac breasted roller. Take a look at these wonderful birds:

Male pin-tailed Whydah

Marabou Stork

African Fish Eagle Kori Bustard

Off to Mikumi National Park

It's been nearly 3 weeks since Jan and I left Mbeya after 7 wonderful weeks with Sharmala and her boys. We were sad to say good-bye to all our Mbeya friends but excited about heading down the road to Mikumi National Park.

We left Mbeya in the early hours of the morning, leaving aboard a busline whose reputation was as yet unknown. We were a bit sceptical when a man with a wrench scrunched under the front wheel to do who-knows-what before we took off. Our pathetically slow driver seemed most intent on taking his time, letting many other buses pass us by and taking longer than usual to reach various mileposts such as Iringa. Shortly before lunch, as we dropped down from the highlands, a second drive took over who speedily made up the time the first driver "lost". We careened down ravines and through stands of boabob trees as the climate got more and more tropical. After about 7.5 hours,we were safely deposited at the main gates of the Mikumi National Park where we eagerly looked for our driver - Philbert.

Although there was a bit of confusion (Philbert arrived but with other clients in his SUV), we meet our "new" driver - Kenneth - with whom we quickly planned our first safari drive around the park. Intermittent rain showers did not dampen our enthusiasm as we drove around for about 2.5 hours - herds of zebras, elephants, impalas (the male "bachelors" separate from the female harems of one or two alpha males), baboons, giraffes, buffalo, interspersed with the incredible looking Marabou stork! Not the kind of stork you want delivering your new-borns! By the time the sun set in a spectular halo of clouds, we had seen not only the above mentioned fauna but also hippos largely submerged in their mud pool, a large monitor lizard, and numerous birds including: shrikes, plover, ground hornbill, vultures, African fish eagles (like the one we saw at Matema), guinea fowl, the stunningly colorful lilac breasted roller, oxpeckers, southern red bishop bird, hammer coops, and a corey bustard . . . oh, yes, how can I forget the saddlebill stork. This fellow has an eye-popping yellow and red bill like nothing I've ever seen before!

We headed back to our bomba to cleanup and to go for an evening meal set in a lovely outdoor setting over looking a watering hole. With the park being powered with a generator, we were glad that the power went off by 11 giving us more excuses to hit the hay.

We were back on the trail again with Kenneth by 6:30 the next morning. In addition to the animals and birds already mentioned, we spotted silver back jackals, and warthogs but not the elusive lions! Our drive was just over 2 hours and we welcomed the chance to get out of the increasingly oppressive sun for a large breakfast of fresh fruit, eggs, toast, and bacon. Riding with your head and shoulders poking out of the roof is wonderful but we had to keep the sun exposure in mind.

While eating our brekkie, we chatted with a young couple from the UK who had also just come back in from a drive. They HAD seen a lion - in fact it was a lioness and her two cubs, feasting on the carcass of a wildebeest. Well, that was enough for us to hear and we quickly tracked down our driver (who had also heard of the sighting) who was agreeable to another drive out to the place where this mom was spotted. I'm happy to say we had our lion sighting.... pictures not very good due to quality of cameras and the cubs were no longer visible (we think they must have been resting in the tall grass near their mother) but the female was visible as she sat quietly in the shade of a tree not far from the track. We stayed to watch her for quite sometime; reluctant to leave this unforgettable tableau.