Zanzibar Day 3 – Chillin’ in the Heat
Woke up early this morning at 7ish, showered and went for breakfast, in my shorts, thinking this cannot be Christmas Day. But apparently it is.
Spent the day chillin’, as the young ‘uns say. Weather scorching, mid 30s. This is a bit to hot for me. I walked down the beach with a guy on the trip for lunch at 1:30-ish and felt the full power of the sun. It really felt like being in an oven. I retreated back to my deliciously air-conditioned room and read.
I went for a dip in the ocean at around 4ish when the air had cooled down slightly. I approached it with memories of wading into an Irish sea. You’d nearly get frostbite and this would be summer!
It was so different here. It was like wading into warm milk. The water was fairly shallow near the shore, no more than a few metres deep for several tens of metres out. The bright sun shining on the very white sand underneath and through the shallow sandy water gave it a wonderful aquamarine, almost pearlescent quality. It was so delightful, I could have stayed there for hours but was very mindful of not getting my head burnt by the still hot sun. Back to my air conditioned room, just a few metres away from the beach, to shower.
Did I ever tell you I don’t like beaches?
We met for chrimbo meal at 7pm. It was a barbecue buffet and 90mins late. Some of our fellows were disgruntled at this and some left early. I could understand why they were annoyed but thought to myself that Africa is too big and too hot and too old to fight with. Best to roll with the resistance and just accept, without rancour, that this is just how it is here in Africa. Way less stressful this way.
The meal was OK, not good, not bad, but there was loads of it. Our large table was set up on the beach and under the stars. It was a good setting. We exchanged our secret santa gifts. Mine was a bottle of champagne, non-alcoholic.
I’m lying in bed writing this and listening to the insanely amplified thumpa thumpa music coming from the local bars and practising rolling……
Happy solstice greetings to you all.
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