Karibu Zanzibar: Paje (Paradise!)

Monday evening of spring break we drove about an hour or so to the other side of the island to spend the rest of the week in a town called Paje at Teddy's, which was separated from the beach only by a few palm trees! The entire place was just sand, even the floors where we stayed, and most of us opted to go barefoot the entire week--such a freeing experience!

The girls' home for the week

Inside our hut

A short walk to the beach

Paradise.

Tuesday we lounged and read and slept on the beach and it was absolutely wonderful. While the pace of things here in Kenya is slower than I'm used to (no more late night cram sessions for this girl!) I am still busy, and it was oh so nice to have some time with no responsibilities or obligations.

I have also decided that swimming in the Indian Ocean is the cure for any and all ills; it was absolutely magnificent.




Wednesday we went on a "spice tour". Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island because spice trade routes used to pass through here. We visited a spice farm that had dozens of different kinds of spice-producing trees and plants and it was...kind of interesting. The tour guide kept trying to make us guess what type of spice each tree produced and we would all say "Seriously, we don't know." He was shocked that we truly had no idea...I guess that shows just how spoiled we Americans are that our cinnamon and cloves come in jars and we have no clue what they originally looked like. We ended the visit with a delectable lunch cooked with many of the different spices we had seen: pilau, cassava, cooked bananas, and salad. Yum!

Thursday was by far the most exciting day of the trip. We departed Teddy's at 6am and drove about a half hour to another beach. After gearing up with goggles, snorkels and flippers, we climbed into a pair of fishing boats to go in search of dolphins! I have never been a big animal aficionado (besides the fact that I don't want to eat them) and have never had a specific desire to swim with dolphins, but this was an absolutely amazing experience. We would motor around until we saw dolphins flipping in and out of the water, then the boat would get as close as possible to them and we would jump in and look down as quickly as possible. I'm telling you, there is nothing like floating in the ocean and looking down below to see four dolphins...incredible.

Later that morning we took a walk out to the reef off the beach and IT. WAS. AMAZING.

We were able to walk probably about a half mile out and the water never reached deeper than our knees. Along the way, we saw tons of starfish, little tiny crabs, sea anemones, coral, and all different kinds of fish. As we walked we also carefully dodged what I began to call "minefields" of sea urchins. This walk was by far my favorite part of the trip: I was literally stepping over creatures that I've only ever seen behind glass in the aquarium. I would do it again every day if I could.

Unfortunately on the walk back in I stepped on a sea urchin and got some spines in my foot. There were a  few minutes of panic after some guy on the beach told me I was going to die, but we dripped some fresh papaya juice on it and plucked those spines right out. It's all part of the adventure, eh?

Friday we had another beach day and we took the opportunity to relive our childhoods and build the best sandcastle ever (the Coke bottle is a nod to a movie we watched earlier in the semester in our African film series, The Gods Must be Crazy).

Our trip to Zanzibar was a perfect mix of touristy learning experiences, exciting sea adventures and plenty of time to catch up on a good book and soak up the sun.

Best spring break ever.