Chumbe - one day adventure

At Mangapwani - 6am after a long night of fishing (well, for these guys):






























RIGHT, now I am sitting at the roof top hotel using internet, having a drink, and spending some time with friends. It's nice and cool up here because of the wind. But it has been cooler. The past two days I have woken up to a rain storm. The heat has broken and is no longer as oppressive. The rain falls and everything feels better. It's weird how a change in the weather pattern makes a place feel so different. In the rainy season, farmers all over the island are more successful in growing their crops (mostly rice), growth for the rubber trees, providing fresh water and happiness - things like that. The rainy season almost means fertility here in Zanzibar and I get the impression that it's fully welcomed. At least I am welcoming it. I'm tired of 100 degree weather.
      We are in transition now. We left Pemba and have had two days back in Stone Town (I think that's the longest we've been here since kiswahili classes). We had one full day off and then today we went to Chumbe Island. It's about a 30-50 minute boat ride, depending on the weather. I think it was one of my favorite days. This morning started with a terrifying boat ride to the island - it was pouring, thundering and lightening. I was nervous. I purposefully put on my rubber flip flops thinking that maybe, just maybe that made me safe. 50 minutes of rolling waves later we landed at Chumbe Island. It is off the west coast of Unguja and much smaller than I expected. We started by learning a little bit about the island's history and the coral reefs there. This was a lesson from Hamis. HE WAS GREAT (for example, during our second lecture of the day he sang an entire lullaby song to us because we looked tired). Regardless, he knows his reefs! We decided to get in the water and not test our luck. It was the most amazing things. I feel like I'm finally comfortable enough snorkeling now that I can dive down pretty far, etc, and the act of snorkeling doesn't get in the way of me swimming with lots of fish. We saw many different species of parrot/butterfly fish, a large grouper, multiple large schools of beautiful fish, two sting rays and three sea turtles! It almost didn't feel real. At least not until I was swimming next to the turtle and realized I needed to come up for air. I think this was the best coral we have seen so far. The part we swam in was protected.
      We then went for a nature walk in the jungle and I saw a 400 year old Baobab tree! That's older than America! We saw mangroves, tones of hermit crabs, multiple species of trees with medicinal purposed and delicious fruits. We we're very excited for lunch by 2pm, to say the least. This was followed by another lecture about ecotourism and climbing the lighthouse on the island, before heading home. It was a fantastic day. It helps when everyone is super friendly. It helps when there is rain and sun. It helps when you're with great friends and get fed great foot. It helps when you can hear the 94 species of birds singing in the woods. It helps when the water glows nearly as much as the moon.
      During our boat ride back, I saw flying fish leap out of the water and drop back in yards away. I watched terns fish and dive - maybe for 20 minutes. I watched other sail boats out on the water with men hoping for a good catch. I watched the sun get lower in the sky and the colors turn to pastels.

And I watched everyone else on the boat watch them, too.