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Let me invite you into the magical world of Zanzibar.

 

Last month, as we were ending our time in Tanzania, we decided to take a few days off and take a little vacation. And what better place than a 3 hour ferry ride to the island of Zanzibar?

Zanzibar is a beautiful island off the coast of Tanzania, East Africa. Most of the population is Muslim.

 

We ended up staying in beach cottages on the sand. And by sand I mean I was barefoot for 3 days, our front porch was sand, and the waves sang me to sleep. I think it might have been the most beautiful beach I have ever been to. It had the whitest white sand, the bluest blue turquoise water, and made me the happiest smiling girl. 

 

The sunrises were unreal, I don’t know if I’ve actually seen the sun rise over the ocean before, it’s maybe the only bad thing about living in California.
    
 

After the sun rose the tide began to recede, and recede, and recede. It went back hundreds and hundreds of feet. Then you could just walk around and look at all the sea life (minus fish, obviously) on squishy sand. I have never seen anything like it in all my life, there would be boats just stuck in the sand that used to be floating in the water and tiny little dots of people far out where the water began. Then slowly by slowly the tide would creep back in. Around one o clock or so the water would be back to normal and you could swim in it. Then when you were soundly sleeping in your bed the water would get as close as your pinky finger. There is no picture that could possibly capture something so amazing.

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One day we went on a dolphin excursion. It was the funniest thing ever. First of all we all packed into this little boat called Sunset and headed out to open waters and even bluer seas. Then, I’m pretty sure, every single one of us got seasick. It was literally like that pirate ship ride they have at carnivals and amusement parks that goes up really high and comes back down- you think it’s over… then, oh wait! the boat goes up on the other side and your stomach hates you… it’s really fun… We got to jump out somewhere along the way and snorkel and see a whole bunch of electric blue and hot pink starfish. Then comes the extreme sport: dolphin hunting. All of a sudden we would see a pack of dolphins and everyone would start screaming like five year olds, so our boat would race the other 4 boats to see who could get to the dolphins fist and THEN they would yell, “JUMP IN JUMP IN!” and in the panic and chaos, you obey. Everyone is flailing around in the water desperately looking through their snorkels for a glimpse of a dolphin. It was a little surreal to be so close to these creatures in the wild. During the pandemonium my arm landed straight on top of a jellyfish, and did I mention that I stepped on a sea urchin? Regardless of these things we jumped in about 10 times just to swim next to them. And let me assure you, if you want to live wide eyed and in wonder and you are into adrenaline rushes… become a dolphin hunter. Bigger adrenaline rush than bungee jumping. And yes, I would know this.

After we left the pretty little island of Zanzibar and headed for the mainland we began a new excursion to Jinja, Uganda… the source of the Nile. Where I, yes, bungeed my way into baby Moses’ old home.
The Plunge of Death
And then, my friend, it was time for white water rafting. I don’t even know where to begin this adventure. There were two men on our raft that, well, made the experience that much better. The first, his name is Kevin. Kevin is a priest. The second’s name is Rod. Rod is a scientist who is from England, but has lived in California for the past 14 years. We began our journey down the Nile and hit the first class five rapids and needless to say, we all fell out. It was scary at first to be sucked under the water and to be drifting down the rapids, at an alarming rate, by myself. Our dear friend Kevin, the priest, got sucked under the boat and dislocated his arm, ending his journey with us. And our dear friend Rod was pretty terrified when we got back into the raft. He told us he had gone rafting all over the world and when we asked him to describe this experience he said one word, frantic. Ahaha. I knew I liked this guy. The more I got to know Rod, the more I liked him. His toenails were all purple so I was nosy and asked him why… he said he had just hiked Mt. Kilimanjaro… and get this, proposed to his girlfriends of 11 years at the top. Dear future husband, you have some big shoes to fill. Just kidding, but really. Rod has traveled all over the world and said Cape Horn was one of the best, he said it’s the closest you can get to Antarctica without actually being on Antarctica.
He was just really cool.  I reckon it’s not so much what we do or where we go but the people we meet along the way. I don’t want to be so focused on the task at hand or where I’m headed that I miss opportunities.
I just want more of God and so much more of Him for the people around me.
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“I sought trains. I found passengers.”

 
 
 
PS
mom and dad, this is for you: