The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see. Gilbert K. Chesterton
There are so many day trips to choose from when you are on holiday in Zanzibar. There is Stone Town, snorkeling off Mneba Island, visiting a local town where they build Dhows and many more. However, there is one that everyone talks about…
Safari Blue!
Every tour operator will tell you that his Safari Blue tour is the original one, but most probably they are all the same. It is a full day excursion on a dhow or boat to a sandbank, snorkeling and then eating your heart out.
Some tour operators have their own snorkeling gear ready to go and others you have to stop at a local guy that has the gear. We take our own snorkels and masks… just saying, because some of the people that went on the trip struggled with the gear.
…and off we go!
We arrived at the boats around 10-ish (low tide) and had to wade through the water – and over sea urchins. Some of the women complained, but I thought it was awesome because I got to take this photo 🙂
…out in the big blue sea
I still think it is amazing that sandbanks appear at low tide in the middle of nowhere in the ocean – and I’ve seen it a few times. You can literally see the sandbank being swallowed by the sea as the tide rises…and it is amazing.
You never have to invite me twice to jump off on a sandbank for a swim and a fruit picnic. When I did all that I was in the water taking pictures of dhows sailing by.
…snorkel
I can snorkel, but don’t drop me off in the sea… I want to be close to sand. I have nightmares when I’m in the sea and can’t stand (thanks to a near drowning incident in Thailand).
Hubby dived off the dhow and snorkeled while I sat in the boat feeling a little green with camera in hand. I will still load the images on Instagram under the #ZanzibarGoddess tag.
400 years and a crayfish craving
Next up we saw the 400 year old Boabab tree on an island.I’ve seen some big baobabs, but this one, even fallen over, is HUGE! It even has a little dam in the middle.
Then we went off for our seafood lunch (on the same island). This was hubby’s only thing he wanted to do on the whole trip, eat crayfish. He ate 4 whole crayfish by himself!
The island life is for me
While everyone was shopping around and swimming I wandered around with my camera as per usual and snapped this image of fish hanging on one of the empty shops.
Gone shopping on the beach….
Look at the oar! Using materials that would’ve ended up on a landfill somewhere.
…and this is how a dhow looks with its sails down.
At the end of the day, as the sun barely punched through the clouds, we sailed to Zanzibar’s shore and made the hour’s drive to the hotel.
