A Zanzibar Christmas Carol
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008Day 268
Waking up under a mosquito net in a bed wet with my sweat from the heat of the night isn’t exactly the way most Christmas eve’s begin. Outside Jordana and I sat down for our big fruit and eggs breakfast. Overlooking the swaying palms and the indian ocean, this is a far departure from our usual Christmas eve routine.
After Breakfast we walked to Paje, into the centre of town. Which isn’t much of a centre but a strip of conrete and tatch structures strung along the main sandy road. We found a well kept shop run by a Zanzibarian who lived in Switzerland for8 years. We bought water and $30 worth of airtime for our phone to call home in the morning. We talked with the shop keeper about missing Christmas and how even he missed not being in Switzerland at this time of year.
The rest of the day we lazed on the beach, wading into the water to cool off. Although this did little to refresh us since the water is so warm here. It’s so nice to have finally reached a place where we can just chill out without having to worry about catching an early bus. We hung out on the beach till sunset and walked back towards our hotel. Yet again another incredible African sunset behind the swaying palms. Fire red, I’m not sure why but the sunsets all over Africa have been the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen in the world. For dinner the guesthouse did a fabulous seafood bbq. I stuffed myself silly on the all you can eat seafood. After dinner wasn’t traditional Christmas carols but some traditional Zanzibar music. It sure didn’t feel anything like Christmas but it was a great night of food and music.
Michael Coroneos