Nungwi is a small village in the palm groves of Zanzibar's northernmost tip. Aside from its beautiful white beaches and crystal clear water, it's also known as a major dhow-building center. (Dhows are traditional Arab sailing vessels typically made by hand). We decided to stay at Jambo Brothers Inn, and as luck would have it so did several other travelers we had met along the way. The eight pictures below offer a sampling of views from our hotel and the surrounding grounds.
As mentioned earlier, it was nice to be able to relax with other travelers our age. Pictured in the set below are Maggie and Ella, two British medical students we ended up spending a lot of time with. That evening we even managed to assemble a group for a 2am swim in the Indian Ocean. Carson and I decided to commandeer a dhow, but natives on shore saw our feeble attempts and swam out to take it back.
In spite of our late night fun, we set off to go snorkling early the next morning via a dhow called the Whaleshark. Lauren and Gavin, two of the rare Americans we met in Zanzibar, also went with us. The set of seven pictures below are from that excursion. The water we were in was arguably the clearest ocean water I've ever seen.
Snorkling was great and we were fortunate to see lots of exotic fish and coral. But having sat on top of the dhow during the whole ride, both Carson and I were badly sun burned. Nevertheless, we didn't let it stop us from enjoying our last day on the beach. The first image below is of us with friends taking a lunch break as rain blows over. From the balcony of the restaurant we could see people building a large boat by hand (second picture). But the beach we were at was somewhat far from the hotel, and by the time we started back the high tide had cut us off. The third picture is of us taking a trail back. In the fourth picture children sit eating food I gave them as we wait for our taxi driver to return.
Our time in Africa had drawn to a close, and both of us were sad to see it end. Each leg of the adventure was a unique treasure that I'll never forget.
