Monkeys, Seaweed, and Soccer

TESS: Last day in Zanzibar. The trip is flying by so fast. I can't believe we only have one week left not including the climb. It was a beautiful day today - made for an incredible view at breakfast. For the morning, we drove to see the Red Colobus monkeys and take a rainforest walk. The group I was in pretty much drudged through the Amazon, or at least it felt like it as the water in many areas was ankle deep, and we learned about the local vegetation. However fun it is to play in the mud,unfortunately few of us were dressed appropriately and ruined our shoes (sorry Mom). The Colobus monkeys were everywhere. They very cute and playful and didn't seem to really mind we were there, in fact some of them seemed as interested to see us as we were them. Most just went about their way as they normally would only a few feet away from us. Scotty and Bailey were even able to get close enough to hand a few of them leaves to eat. Next was the Seaweed Project in a nearby village where we learned how to grow and harvest seaweed. Unfortunately the tide was too high to really see the whole process so the visit was relatively short. The lunch location might have been the best yet - in a pavilion at a secluded beach, one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. Except for a few of the locals we were the only ones there. Pretty much every day someone has to mention that it's the Indian Ocean, amazing.
After eating we had a few hours for some afternoon beach fun.
Some swam, some layed out and napped, but the ILA boys rumbled in soccer. The sand was so soft it would sometimes unexpectedly sink under your feet causing some pretty funny nose-dives. The game was intense and I would say pretty closely matched, but in the end Bailey, Tyler and Stuart came out victorious with a 7-5 win. It was so nice outside we were lucky enough to convince them to give us a little bit of extra time and take some great pictures, particularly the new Zanzibar soccer team made up completely of ILA mzungu's. Zanzibar beware. All in all a great time with only one minor injury - Mama Yusta, a chair, and a 2-inch wooden splinter, but happy to say she is doing alright now. Back at the hotel the rest of the night was ours. While some ran out to do some last minute market shopping, Alex, Liz and I went to the roof to watch the sunset. It's one of the tallest points in Zanzibar and a gorgeous view. It was actually kinda surreal like something you would see in a movie and I have about 25 pictures of the exact same buildings to prove it. ILA joined up for dinner at a Chinese restaurant - still not getting away from the rice. It was pretty good, but to be honest we're all starting to miss food from home. For our last night, we chose to skip out on the Zanzibar night life and hung out on a balcony at the hotel and played cards. I think everyone had a great time in Zanzibar but now its on to the much anticipated game parks! If Bailey doesn't see a giraffe soon, there is no telling what he'll do.

EDITOR: We have a link to the article covering our meeting with Mr. Mengi: http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2007/05/24/91127.html