Each week we have 1 day off. It’s our Sabbath day. A day to be renewed physically, emotionally, mentally, & spiritually. We spend it differently but most of the time, our team goes to town to check email & take a break from active ministry. However, this past Monday we took our Sabbath day & 4 of the 5 of us went to ZANZIBAR. Zanzibar is an amazing island off the coast of Tanzania with pristine white beaches & fun tropical things.
(Sunrise from the ferry!!)
Normally I HATE “resting” & doing touristy things. I don’t find sitting around doing nothing fun at all. It just makes me feel like I am wasting time & wasting my life. Nor do I enjoy walking around to point sights with lots of strangers. But on Zanzibar that’s exactly what I did (minus the touring pointless things). And somehow I enjoyed it. A…N…D… I felt RELAXED. Huge
I had the privilege of planning the trip…making the hotel reservations, figuring out the ferry details, & the like. I love to PLAN!! (I should have thought about that & been a wedding planner…oh well.)
So Monday morning the 4 of us set off at 5:30am to head to the 1st ferry to Zanzibar. We brought a friend of our contacts so that we were not ripped off while purchasing tickets. We got our tickets, got on the ferry, & enjoyed our sunrise journey to the Island, 2 hours away.
Everything was going great until they handed us immigration forms to fill out. Eeek! Zanzibar is Tanzania…we shouldn’t need our passports…the passports we left in Dar Es Salaam, 2 hours behind us. We got the ferry and I tried to act normal & just walk completely past the immigration officer. But apparently my white skin stood out too much & I was caught. We were all caught. Alex, our team leader, had to then write a petition to the island of Zanzibar, requesting all of our entry. It was hilarious & super sketchy. But without hassle or a bribe we entered Zanzibar without passports. FAVOR FROM JESUS ALONE!!! PTL!!
So we headed to our waterfront hotel, checked in, & quickly went out for breakfast. On our way home we stopped into a few overpriced shops before heading back to the hotel for a day of swimming & relaxation. The smell of chlorine filled the pool…its humorous the little things I miss from America. We all jumped in, played a few pool games, swam, & laughed a lot! It was the most relaxing thing I’ve done since I left home.
We walked on the beach, swam in the Indian Ocean (a first for me!), & I even found royal blue sea glass to remind me of how much God loves me. As we were swimming in the water we could see straight to the bottom in & wooden sailboats were floating past us close enough to reach out and touch. It was epic.
(Tracy & Alex)
After drying off in the sun, we got ready for dinner, & a little more pictures at sunset! It was wonderful. Nothing was rushed. We just got to go with the flow & chill out. (Things that aren’t easy for me all the time.) So we went out for a nice Italian dinner where Tracy set up some ground rules.
Rule 1: No talking about pooping. (We talk about it often…its normal.)
Rule 2: No talking about what you are going to eat when you get home. (We are dreamers.)
Now this is African nice, so we were outside hitting mosquitoes off of us. But still…it was better than fried fish.
I was super tired & felt sick, so that was a bummer. But in the evening we went for a night swim in the ocean…delightful…before skyping with our family & friends. Oh and taking advantage of the BEST shower & water pressure we’ve had in 5 months.
Our trip marked our halfway point of the race. Sometimes it feelings like I’ve been gone FOREVER. Sometimes I feel like I could never go back. But that day in Zanzibar I just soaked up the delight of relaxing & the beauty surrounding me on the island.
The journey ended after a wonderful out of sleep in an EXTREMELY cold room & in a comfy bed. We headed back to the main land on the 9:30am ferry. The trip was a success for all…no stress & high relaxation mixed with beauty & wonderful friends.
I’m grateful!!! Thanks Mom & Currie for my early Christmas present. It was way better than going on a safari. Love you!!
