The next day after my bus ride to Dar es Salaam, I took an early ferry to Zanzibar. The trip took two hours, but went quickly while talking to a really nice guy from Denmark. He even invited me to stay in his apartment during the summer! After reaching Zanzibar, I decided to head north to one of the beach towns, Kendwa. It took an hour and a half cramped daladala ride, and then a kilometer and half walk down a dirt road through farms to get there.
Boats on the beach
Kendwa is a really small town, with a few beach hotels but a lot of construction going on. The weather was pretty nice, but since it's the end of the rainy season it would rain for maybe 30 minutes a day. It wasn't too hot which was nice, and when the sun came out fully, it would get warm enough to really want to get in the water. The beach was really nice, with soft white sand. There were local fisherman on the beach with their wooden canoes and larger wooden dhow boats. At night, the water would be full of dhows and made for a beautiful scene, with the sunset in the background.
The sunsets were beautiful
My first two days I kind of just bummed around on the beach and played some volleyball with other travellers and locals. On my third and last day, I went on a snorkeling day trip to Mnemba Atoll. It took maybe an hour and a half on a dhow to get there, and there were great views of the Zanzibar coastline. We went snorkeling on two different reefs around the atoll. I saw a ton of fish, including two I've never seen before - an eel and a lionfish. There were a lot of huge schools of fish and they are a lot of fun to watch. It's really interesting to see them make synchronized movements, as if one being. Unfortunately, I got somewhat burnt on the trip... but I blame it on the malaria medication for making me sensitive to sunlight.
On the way to Mnemba Atoll
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