Scuba Diving in Zanzibar

If I have any readers left by now, I'd be amazed... yes I am still talking about our wonderful, relaxing holiday in Zanzibar.

Today is the last day of scuba diving that we have prebooked. Another 2 boat dives either here off Zanzibar or off Pemba Island.

All the stories and photographs will be added in here when I get home - so don't forget to check back!

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Today we dived with East Africa Diving Company again. We arrived early and took a long boat ride out to Mnemba Atoll for 2 dives. The water is simply indescribable - clearer and warmer than any pool I've seen and this is the open ocean!

Both dives were spectacular. It was as if we were gliding through a huge tropical aquarium. Absolutely stunning, tonnes of tropical fish, coral and we even saw a turtle.

The trip back was gorgeous too. At one point we saw a school of dolphins and in our determination to go swimming with the dolphins we (nearly all of us!) managed a quick pic before bailing out of the boat and swam for our lives. 

Of course the boat went one way and the dolphins the other way and we had to wait to be rescued!  It was totally worth a try though! hee hee hee

When we got back, we wondered up and down the beach and finally found a little restaurant that wasn't too expensive and whose pizza's were wonderful. 

After nearly 4 days of not eating, my appetite was back and we'd found a lovely place to chill for the rest of the day. If you do go out that way, look for the Nungwi Inn, Restaurant and Bar. Highly recommended and right on the beach with stunning views!! (They also do accommodation right on the beach which is probably worth checking out if you're heading this way)

Scuba Dive Pemba Island

Today we have another 2 boat dives booked, although I'd really like to see whether we can get to Pemba Island for a dive instead.

For more info / images see here: http://www.swahilidivers.com/diving.htm

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID, THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Having still not eaten anything since my dinner on Thursday night I was feeling really weak and lethargic. None of the food in the restaurants was appealing to me and they were really expensive too! We'd seen a sign for a toasted cheese & tomato sandwich for $8 (that's about R80) 

Yesterday while I was in the room, Marco went for lunch on his own. He ordered a beef fillet for $15 and was given an over cooked minute steak.

I guess we were just shocked at the cost of bad quality food available from most of the restaurants along the beaches. We eventually found a stall that sold some fruit. We bought mangoes, papaya, oranges and had that for breakfast in our room.

I won't go into detail about it but there is a fly problem too and with all the restaurants being outdoor ones it makes having meals a bit challenging. The locals seem to think its hysterical that we keep swatting the flies away off our food.

We didn't make it to Pemba Island (unfortunaltey) but we did manage to go for 2 local boat dives today with East Africa Diving. They were very organised throughout all the dives, had excellent quality gear to hire and I would highly recommend them.

The water is just superb! It's warm and it's so clear. The dives were both fairly easy which is great. The coral, tropical fish, star fish, turtles and rays all make these dives unforgettable!

After 2 gorgeous dives we headed back up the beach. We stopped off at Linga Linga for dinner. This awesome restaurant is right next to our room (although not part of the same complex) and offer accommodation in addition to their very cool restaurant.

Marco enjoyed his dinner - and mine. I still couldn't stomach anything (although their food was very good).

We enjoyed some cold Kilimanjaro beers and a gorgeous sunset. After dinner we just headed back to the room for some more blessed air-conditioning!

Happy Valentine's Day

And what better place to celebrate it than in Zanzibar?  Last year we spent Valentines Day with Rex & Angelica in Kingston in the UK - movie and a dinner, I recall? 

Well I have to say that Zanzibar beats Kingston (sorry guys - but it's true!)

Today (aside from *celebrating* Valentine's Day) we have 2 boat dives planned.

The scuba diving in Zanzibar is supposed to be spectacular. See for yourself:

http://www.zanzibar-diving.com/pics_underwater.html

http://www.scubashackzanzibar.com/photos.html

http://www.scuba-do-zanzibar.com/PhotoAlbum.htm

Hopefully by this stage I not only have my little waterproof camera with me, but I also have the right memory in it and batteries that work!

THAT'S WHAT THE BROCHURE SAID AND THIS IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

Unfortunately I couldn't do much *celebrating* on Valentine's Day. Thankfully we got the water turned back on and thankfully the room was air-conditioned. I spent most of the day in our room recovering. I could not eat anything; the very sight and smell of food made my stomach turn - which meant that I was a really shitty date. Literally.

There were some other romantic couples who hired some of the Dhow boats for cruises. Very sweet, the boats were decorated with red & white balloons, some of which ended up floating past our room.

The tide changes were pretty huge - over night the water was right up to our balcony. In the pic below, the water would rise to about 1/2 up that coral rock. During the day is went to low tide - low enough to expose this beautiful beach.

The water itself is AMAZING. It's very warm and very salty. It is so clear that we could swim out really far and still be able to make out every grain of sand on the bottom and every little fish, star fish, sea urchin and other little sea creatures in the water.

Due to being sick I forfeited my 2 dives that I had booked for today. Because Marco was looking after me he forfeited his two dives as well. Sux for both of us. The dive company did lend us snorkeling kit instead and we went out in the afternoon when I started feeling a bit better.