The best seafood I've ever eaten

We asked Mkombe to deliver our breakfast to our veranda this morning. It was so windy that it was hard to eat, actually. Angela and I took a walk North up the beach when we woke up and were able to scout out a few very nice properties not far up the beach that might be very good dinner options. This is getting to the very low season on Zanzibar and many of these hotels are almost empty with limited menus that are all very similar to the menu at our own hotel.

We were picked up right at 9:15 by our "guide," James. They loaded a couple of coolers full of waters, cokes, beers, and a bottle of wine into a taxi and took us through town to the north side of town where their boat was waiting for us. Chichi never actually mentioned how our day would work, so we kind of assumed that we'd be on a larger boat with other people, but it was just us, James, and Cassius Clay's doppleganger in a 20ft long fiberglass boat (at least it was covered in the middle) with a 40hp outboard motor heading to Mnemba Island. Because of the tide and the protective reef, we had to go even further up the beach before there was a "cut" through which we could reach the open water. The tide was going out so fast, that I actually had to get out and help shove the boat over the reef.

Mnemba is a couple miles off shore and from the time we got to the boat to when the anchor was down and we were snorkeling it took about an hour or so. The snorkeling was amazing; easily comparable to what we saw in Hawaii. It was good that the tide was out because we were much closer to the reef than we would have been at high tide. We were obviously at the most popular spot because there were a dozen boats all anchored out and probably 50 or so divers and snorkelers.

After exploring the reef for 45 minutes or an hour or whatever, we asked if there were any other snorkeling sites we could get to. There was one other, so we pulled anchor and off we went to the north side of the island (we were on the south side, which was in the lee of the wind that was coming from the north east. The other site was just as impressive, but the waves made it a little harder going, and water would wash into the snorkel so that I occasionally took some nice swallows of seawater. After 30 minutes or so on this reef, James told us that it was time for lunch. There was a large diving boat not far away from us and we all headed in together. I wondered if we would all be sharing this seafood cookout. All told, I was very happy with our snorkeling experience, although I was hoping to swim with dolphins or the elusive Whale Shark.

On the beach, James and Cassius and another guy who was already on the beach spread out a blanket for us under a palm tree and served us the most amazing plate of seafood I'd ever seen: giant prawns, spiny lobster, rock lobster, and under it all a white snapper, with a smattering of potato chunks. It was easily the best seafood I've ever had. We had some cokes and beers in the cooler, and along with the amazing food, it made for one of the better picnics I can remember. We had so much left over that we offered it to James and his crew. I trust that they enjoyed it.

On the way back (we were able to be dropped off right in front of our hotel), all of the fishing boats were coming in with their daily catch to sell at the Matemwe fish market; the largest on Zanzibar. We could see the huge crowd gathered from places all over Tanzania and East Africa.

We spent the afternoon further "decompressing" in the pool or on our verandas and by dinner time rolled around we had no real interest in going off property. Part of the reason for that lack of adventurous spirit, Angela and Michele enjoyed massages "al fresco" up in a tower of sorts that had an amazing view of the beach. They'll serve you dinner up there, if you want, but it's so windy that it would actually be an unpleasant dinner experience. I'm sure it was a nice venue for a massage, though. For dinner, I had those fried noodles with fish while Angela and Michele had the coconut curry that I had the other night. I must say that the noodles were fantastic. Angela and Michele were disappointed in their choices, I think, since the coconut curry wasn't all that "coconutty." Overall, I think I've "won" the Matemwe Bandas restaurant challenge.

After dinner we had a nice chat with Chichi; talking about village life, their culture, his plans for the future, etc. It was a lovely evening.

Tomorrow, Hamiz is coming to get us at 9 to take us to our spice tour and then to our hotel in Stone Town. This beach excursion has been amazing, but I'll be honest and say I'm really ready to get home.