The Zanzibar Trip For Reals...

We (Travis and Charity, Brad and Alison, Keri, Laura Lee and me) went to Zanzibar this past week and it was so much fun! We took the ferry, it's a two hour ferry ride by the way and many people get sick along the way. The morning ride there wasn't too bad. I enjoyed listening to some music and sleeping a little bit since we got up so early in the morning. And it kept me from hearing anyone throw up if there was anyone. We then treked to our hotel and settled in. It was pretty decent considering we spent less than $15 a night for it. We stayed in Stonetown and for the most part all you do is shop. They had some great stores and that's what we did was shop all day. Most of you know how much I enjoy shopping for hours at a time, but I actually handled it very well and enjoyed looking at the various items. I did a bit of window shopping at first because I wanted to get ideas for gifts before I went all out and spent. That afternoon we went to a little cafe and had some good coffee. It's a good thing we don't have one of those around us in Dar, I think I would be in a bit of trouble. It was the closest thing to Starbucks that I've gotten to since I've been here. And that night we went to eat at Forodani. It's basically the park area where the guys sell their fish. We picked out what we wanted and watched them cook it. It was very enjoyable and none of us got sick which is always a plus. We went back and played some games and had some Killer Brownies (no lie, that's what they were called and they were definitely a killer because we talked about them the whole next day and continue to wish we had some). There was first a layer of cake mix and then a layer of caramel with chocolate chips in it and another layer of cake mix. It was very enjoyable! The next day we went out to the beach. It was beautiful, but of course I do enjoy the beach and it's always beautiful to me. Everyone said it wasn't the best one they've been to, but I was just glad to be there. Alison and Brad and I walked out to the ocean, yup definitely walked out there because the tide was so far out. We sunk down into the sand a bit and our feet got a bit muddy, but I was at the beach on the Indian Ocean and it sure didn't bother me! Then we just did nothing the rest of the day...it was awesome! That night Brad, Alison and I went out to enjoy a beautiful sunset and then met up with the rest of them for dinner at Forodani again. We then went and relaxed at our cafe place and eventually went back to the hotel, played some games and went to bed. The next day we were short a couple because Travis and Charity went back to Dar. And we went shopping again but not for as long. We got our suitcases and headed back to the ferry. This time the ferry was not so nice and there were many who got sick. I was a very fortunate one who did not feel sick and luckily I didn't even get sick because others were. It was pretty choppy out there. We sat on top and got a bit wet the first few minutes of the ride so we had to stand.
Eventually that got a bit tiring so Alison and I sat at the top of the stairs and eventually the rest of the crew migrated back to the edge of the benches and braved it. It wasn't that bad and they said they didn't really get wet. But it was worth it because we saw a very beautiful sunset off the Indian Ocean. I got quite a few pictures of it. God is faithful, isn't He?!? And that was our trip. Oh but wait I forgot about the very interesting taxi ride home. We went through parts of town that nobody knew and had no idea where we were going. I of course didn't know being that I've only been here for a little over a month, but Laura Lee and Keri didn't even know where we were. It was great and also a little scary. But we made it home safely and all is well.
The beauty of God, none can compare! And it's incredible when you can take some time to bask in it all. I encourage everyone to get away for a day or two and just bask in His presence. It's an amazing thing to do.