Safari cont.

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CONTD.

I forgot to mention on the way back from the Serengeti we stopped at a Massai Village. It was really interesting to see. They all wore African robes and had a lot of piercings. They perfomed a local tribal song for us and then held a competition which they do which involves jumping they chant and see who can jump the highest. was really interesting to see, probably sounds really stupid but they can jump really high! We then got shown into their houses. They were TINY mud huts- they had a fire inthe middle for cooking- apparently they smoke themselves out easily!Then they have tiny platforms with cow skins on for beds- the house is only about 3m by 3m absolutely tiny but its amazing how they make it. The houses are all circled around a middle enclosure which is where they keep all the livestock at night to protect it from lions etc. Was really amazing to see how they live! We also got shown into one of their schools it was tiny and they only taught up to 5 year olds purely for basic english adn then after that they had to help out in the village!

After the serengeti and crator we had a few nights at different camps moving across tanzania before getting a ferry across to zanzibar island. We spent the first day at stone town which is an old town- reminded me of a sort of European suburb of a city-old cobbled streets etc. We had a tour and got shown about the slave trade which was interesting. We then had a 'spice tour' we went and tried LOADS of different spices- you name it we smelt it / licked it/ picked it off a tree cineman ,cocoa the lot- even a lipstick tree which flowers the colour pigments used to make lipstick we tried! Was really interesting, we then got given loads of natural herbal teas etc to try some were really nice vanilla etc, some i physically remember gagging at!. We then watched a guy with no strain at all climb an EXTREMELY high coconut tree. Just using his hands adn feet- again very impressive!.

We spent the night in stone town. Walked past Freddie Mercury's house- apparently he was born on Zanzibar island! never knew that! We spent the evening at the fish market at the beach - in me adn klucys case not eating fish (eurgh) but unreal pancakes 😊 The next day we spent the morning looking round the local markets. There were sooo many spices on sale and a lot of dead meat and fish just left lying around to the flies (not so good!) Then looked around a lot of the small side streets and got a few paintings/ material wooden carvings etc. All for so cheap! After a morning of shopping me Luce adn amanda had a well earned icecream and then left it a bit to late so had to run to get teh taxi booked for us to take us to the coast (Smmoooooth!)

The journey was about 2 hours so wasnt that bad. our place at teh beach was AMAZING. We had our own beath chalets literally about 100m from the shore. The beach was amazing looked just like a caribbean beach white sandy shores and turquoise waters 😊 Spent the rest of that day chiling at the beach drinking some cocktails 😊 We went out for some drinks that night - turned into a late one got into bed about 3ish was a good night though😊.

The next day we were up on a boat for 9- we were off snorkling in teh Indian Ocean. The island we were going near was privately owned so we werent allowed to touch the beach but it was beautiful! very picturesque! Took me a while to get used to the gear and teh whole breathing scenario but once i was used to it it was great! Saw a lot of coral and a lot of fish- even a squid! Snorkled for about an hour and then on the way back to the boat got stung. A lot. It really hurt! Felt like you were swimming through a massive patch of jellyfish (i may have been i dont know!). Decided it best on the way back to catch some rays so sunbathed on the roof of the boat! 😊 When we got back to shore we found all the guys from the truck literally passed out on the sofas at the bar (theyd been on a guys fishing trip drinking since 6am!) therefore toninght turned out to be a lot quieter!

The next day was a quiet one. Spent most of the day sunbathing swimming etc, drinking cocktails and having a massage! very nice! The next day we got the ferry back to Tanzania mainland. It wasnot a fun ride- somehow there werent enough seats for all of us so ended up sitting on the floor on the outside of the boat surrounded by endless amounts of crap washing machines etc which people felt teh need to take with them! Getting off was even worse was such a big rush everyone trying to get all their fridges and washing machines off despite the fact that we were still standing in the way waiting to get off. Lesson learnt- do not get in the way of an african man and his washing machine- he doesnt care if he basically pushes you right off the boat!

We eneded up back at Absolute Africas camp which was on the beach. We played some cricket (very competitive of course) and then My group was on cooking so cooked some spag bol for dinner then we all crashed in the lounge part on the floor ready for a very early start!.

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