Farewell to Zanzibar

After the previous night's lobster and seafood (served without the lobster that never arrived) dawn broke in the usual spectacular style with a lone fisherman the only person visible on the beach.

By now we were all really fed up with eggs for breakfast, however the mango was still delicious. Unfortunately Rob was still under the weather, although not as bad, from his diving allergy that was still unidentified although he did stick his head in a few underwater caverns that may have been the culprit.

Anyway we packed and jumped into a couple of minibuses, one for us and another for luggage, both of which delivered us to the airport rather than the ferry port continuing the hakuna matata African way that there is no worries and nothing is as it seems. We duly had a missing bag of Deb and Rob's that was promised to be delivered in a third van that didn't exist, although the bag magically materialised just before boarding the ferry.

Interestingly, we had inadvertently booked return tickets with the wrong dates that nobody spotted so we walked straight on, much to the relief of all. The ferry crossing back to Dar was first class and very comfortable, taking two hours with the wind behind us. We also managed to eat more samosas and coke and also with Debs managing to survive the journey without the fish feeding fountain we had from the previous days diving trip!

We arrived back at Dar around three, to a mahem of pushy taxi drivers in everyone's face, particularly Paula who gave a guy a dose of northern sharp tongue along with Rob who was still dazed but still mustered a set of clear instructions to another guy that nobody tells him what to do - although we did agree later the exception being Debs.

We all jumped into a van buried in luggage in stiffling heat to arrive half an hour later at our final location: Palm Beach Hotel. What a little oasis with running hot water and showers along with a tv. Of course like most of this journey we didn't mess about and raced to the garden bar for the usual G&T and vodka and along with Kilimanjaro beers by the handful. We then indulged in nibbles of chicken wings and spring rolls followed later by a delicious dinner including some local fish for some that they seem to overcook regularly.

We have not been great at staying up late and this was no exception with an 8:45 bedtime for all.

A sad moment, as this was our last night in Tanzania and leaving the fab weather and kind smiling people that we won't forget.

By Greg.