stars and fireflies

We ended our stay on the island watching sunset on the beach, taking a bajaj to a hidden reservoir to see the stars and fireflies blend into one, as the frogs sang their evening songs.

Flying out the next day, bumped up to the cockpit!

mafia island and whale sharks

We arrived to Mafia Island with the primary intention to swim with the elusive whale shark (a type of shark, not whale). Lodging for the week:

Hopping on the boat before the tide escaped us

Whale sharks are filter feeding, meaning they sort of skim the surface and strain matter and food from the water. After a debriefing we all got into the water as smoothly as we could and waited...

Along with lots of jellyfish

Open mouth shot!

Getting photos for research!

Amazing. Suddenly there was a feeding frenzy and no short of THIRTY sharks appeared, which rarely happens but about once or twice every TEN years! Got knocked about so photos are not as good...

Ending the epic day with some South African serenades, post Swahili dinner

stonetown sunsets and souks

Stonetown sights

touch down tanzania

A day later, I was there. Thanksgiving day had vanished in to some time zone over the Atlantic Ocean; it'd have to wait until next year. I landed in Dar Es Salaam after an easy ten hours of sleeping to Istanbul, Turkey, and another seven to Tanzania. After a quick pass through customs at 3:30 in the morning I made a temporary bed on the chairs outside international arrivals, and waited. The sun came up, some rain poured down, but soon friends found me and we continued the travels on a tiny Cessna to tropical Zanzibar after a coffee pit stop in Stonetown.

spice island

Up at dawn my last morning in Zanzibar to take advantage of the beach before catching an afternoon flight back to Arusha. Beautiful morning light, and the beach was all ours.

Octopus

Starfish!

Lone boat

Took a spice farm tour to learn about what was grown locally - basically every spice you could think of! Cloves, cinnamon, pepper and nutmeg being some of the more common. Rain came as we were driving and these Swahili girls were walking home from school. Most of Zanzibar's population is entirely Muslim.

Stopping to buy some African apples from this cutie

My friendly spice farm tour guide, who, like most people asked, "Is Trump really that close to being President?" and yearns to come to America for a better life.

Caught a flight back to Arusha via Dar Es Salaam for a night with friends before beginning our 36 hour journey back home. Asante sana, Tanzania! You were amazing.