Reefwalking

So, it was a little difficult to get to sleep last night, at least until my body acclimated to the humidity a little. We were up basically with the sun (and it rises right in our faces since we face East). Angela and I took a walk on the beach before breakfast (it was low tide and the tide goes waaayyy out) and the dhows were teetering on the sand we could see sticks sticking out of the water. There's basically nothing on down the beach to the South, at least not for a good ways.

We met our next door neighbors; a German couple in Tanzania on holiday. They came kind of on the cheap (like they took a bus from Dar to Arusha and have been to several places in Zanzibar. Apparently they are avid divers and have really enjoyed the diving off shore. They were having their breakfast served on their veranda when Angela and I got back from our walk.

Breakfast was delicious, but very similar to what we had in the bush: eggs cooked to order, fresh fruit, crepes, and toast. We were approached by one of the hotel staff about our interest in going on a reef walk when the tide was right. "Great," we said. As is so much in Africa, no specific time was agreed on, but it's a small property and he would be able to find us pretty much wherever we were. In keeping with the "decompression theme," we repaired from the breakfast table to the pool and set the lounge chairs in such a way as to be able to see the ocean yet still be in the shade.

At "reef walking time" (which was about 10:30) our new friend came to get us and had a stack of beat up tennis shoes and water shoes for us to try on so we didn't shred our feet on the coral. I'm not sure why I didn't remember I had my keens, but I didn't and so chose one of the pairs that "fit." The reef walk was pretty fun. One of the "industries" here is seaweed farming. The village women will attach seaweed clusters to sticks or to strings that have been strung between two sticks and when the clumps get big enough will pick them, dry them, and then sell them at a market somewhere. Our guide said that you can make $1/kg and they can harvest up to 30kg/mo. There are enough sea urchins in the water off Matemwe beach to keep the entire US sushi industry going for a year. We saw some gorgeous starfish that looked like this and loads of hermit crabs. The tide goes out very far, and we were able to walk out in thigh deep water several hundred yards to an exposed sand bar where our friend started looking for octopus, which are prized catches that bring good money thanks to their popularity in restaurants and the difficulty in finding them. On our way back in, we ran into our German neighbors who were going out past the sandbar to do some snorkeling.

I had pan-fried fish and chips for lunch (the same kind of fish that Michele and Angela had last night), while Angela had some kind of salad and Michele had fried rice noodles with vegetables. After lunch we returned to our lounging and played Backgammon or read or whatever. I've never done "nothing" like this in my adult life, I don't think. Even veg'ing out on the sofa at home involves watching TV of some kind.

The afternoon passed very lazily as we continued our "decompression" by being hypnotized by the wind and surf. Angela and Michele were "entertained" by some local kids playing on the beach in front of our bandas. Michele would chat with whomever came by walking on the beach (the locals appear to use the beach as a sort of road and we've seen guys ride mopeds and bicycles on the firmer sand), and I read and dozed off in the chair on our veranda. It's amazing how fast a day can go even when you're not doing anything.

We ate dinner at the hotel again; maybe tomorrow we'll investigate eating at a different property. I had some skewers of grilled octopus and prawns with rice and vegetables, while Angela had the same noodles that Michele had for lunch and Michele had a tuna steak. We were suprised to hear that they had desserts, including iced cream that they make in house. Michele and I had mango ice cream that was sublime while Angela had plain vanilla. Chichi says that we are getting picked up tomorrow morning at 9:15 for our snorkeling trip.