Hakuna Matata!

Greetings from Zanzibar. We have had a few days to relax on this beautiful island and enjoy a little sunshine at the beach (finally!!!) We left Malawi a few days ago for Tanzania, and when we pulled into Dar es Salaam there were American flags hanging everywhere and banners saying things like "Tanzania loves President Bush." We were a bit behind on the news, so it took a little while to figure out that Bush is planning a visit to Tanzania (probably while we're still in the country, but most likely not in the same city.) We didn't spot Madonna in Malawi, so maybe we will have luck seeing Bush in Tanzania.

We took a ferry a few days ago from Dar to Zanzibar, when we left the mainland it was overcast and very gray, when we landed in Stone Town, a port of entry into Zanzibar, the sky was beautiful and cloudless and the water bright blue and green. We had a couple of days to wander around Stone Town- named because of all the stone used in constructing the buildings- where there are lots of alleyways you can wander down and get lost in. It reminded us a lot of Venice, once you escape the craziness of San Marco Square, except without the canals.

We then headed north to Nungwi, where we are now, stopping for an afternoon to do a spice tour (one of the things Zanzibar originally got famous for.) We saw a cinnamon tree- the actual wood of the branches is the cinnamon we think of, and the roots are used in things like Vicks Vapor Rub and are very smelly! We also saw "Butterfly"- a 40 year old coconut tree climber, scale a 70 foot coconut tree with his bare hands and feet and a piece of rope tied in a figure eight that he hooked his feet into, cut down enough coconuts for a group of 25 people to enjoy, and then did a few acrobatic tricks at the top- all completely terrifying and amazing at the same time.

We're now in a little hotel in Nungwi and are enjoying the beautiful beaches, while trying to dodge all of the bracelet / wood carving salesmen that like to walk up and down the beach and harass you until you buy something. I guess every paradise can't be absolutely perfect!

In a few days we head to Uganda, where we'll get to track mountain gorillas in their natural habitat and hopefully see a few up close. Originally our tour took us through Kenya, but our company officially decided to cancel that part of the trip because of the unrest in areas we would have gone to- it's fine with us, safety first, but disappointing and it's taken a lot of last-minute adjustments to our travel plans.

After Uganda we head to Europe, and are looking forward to meeting up with family / friends in Greece, Turkey, and Italy. and We've managed to meet a lot of great Europeans on this tour who have offered free places to stay if we come visit their countries (the down side is that it's all the northern european countries- Holland, Sweden, etc where it will be really cold when we get there) so who knows where we'll end up after Italy.

It's time to go enjoy the beach for a while, hope you're all doing well and had a very happy Valentine's Day!

Cheers,
Anna