Matembwe beach.
After having finished the workshops, we decided that we should explore the island a little more and get out of charming, yet stiflingly hot, Stone Town... A lot of the places that I called were full but there was space at a cozy hotel called Barahani Villas in the village of Matembwe. Our guide's driver took us out there for a pretty penny but when we came back this morning, we caught one of the local dalla dallas and paid a tenth of that price so it evened out. And hey, we also got to see a woman almost forcibly throw her daughter off the truck... it turned out that she had skipped school to go to Stone Town with her mum, who was none too impressed...
House on the way to Matembwe.
In any event, we had a couple of very relaxing days and were really taken with the wonderful staff at the Barahani. It would have been perfect if I hadn't cut my head on one of their solid wood umbrellas... (sorry, no pics available), for which I would have felt stupid had not everyone else at the place also cracked their skulls at one point, including an Austrian guest who also drew blood like me...
The most interesting feature of this part of the coast is that the village is right there alongside the hotels and thus you get to see the daily life of the people from Matembwe as they go about their business collecting seaweed at low tide and fishing and scaling coconut trees (to get the fruit or simply to strip the leaves).
Ladies collecting seaweed.
Low tide haul...
Seaweed drying on shore.
Another benefit of our low-key place to stay was that the diving centre, which was cleverly named: Scuba Libre, had the best prices around for exploring the nearby reef and the area that they call "The Aquarium."
Impromptu fish market on the beach.
Big-ass spider near the pool... species, Duma?
We took a trip out the boat on Sat. and the location lived up to its name... the snorkeling was amazing. The Indian Ocean is terrifically warm (although there were some cold currents away from shore) and when I say warm, I mean like 25 degrees warm... like taking a bath.
Sunrise.
All in all it was a very enjoyable little holiday away from the sabbatical (please, no abuse...) and now we're into our last day in Zanzibar -- tomorrow morning, it's off to Arusha.
Not quite sure why they gave us neoprene but hey, it makes you look good!
3 comments:
Well, since you asked, I'll take time away from my research of dried sausage fermentation to tell you that your little friend is a Nephila inaurata madagascariensis, commonly know as the Red-Legged Golden Orbweaver. It's actually related to the large Banana Spiders that used to drop down on your head when you walked the streets of Utila.
Thank you Mister Science! : )
How cool to have a name like "Orbweaver"...
i've certainly been called worse.
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