Will there be lego in Africa?: On big fish little scuba divers and Capt'n Josh

So today was the dolphin safari which, much to Zac and Josh's consternation, involved getting up at 5:15AM! There was something mildly therapeutic in making the boys get out of bed at that time against their will, if nothing else I felt that we at least managed to get one point back on the ‘being woken up TOO early’ scorecard. The place we are staying at, Panga Chumvi Beach Resort were fantastic and had a great breakfast all sorted in time for us to fill up and head out on our trip.

Shark...quick Zac get him!

So we're ready, check whistle, mask, snorkle...bring on the big fish.

Zanzibar has some very well organised excursions and also has the kind we go on which at best can be described as prit-stick tours. That is to say they are a bit cobbled together but ultimately work well enough for you to be left with a sense of adventure. We schlept up the beach and met our guide come new best friend ‘Bob Marley’ who arranges our haphazard excursions.

We drove to Kizimkazi where we introduced to the skipper of our launch for the morning. Bob, who had by now spent considerable time with the boys had taken to calling Josh ‘Capt’n Josh, having let him skipper the last boat we went on snorkelling. Everyone was fitted for the deep blue and we were off. It was not long before the dolphins were dancing along the water,a truly majestic sight.

Unfortunately this was not nearly as idyllic as I first envisaged as in no time there were ten other boats all off loading various obese mezunga into the water over the top of the dolphins. Zac, Zanner and Josh went in a couple of times before they too felt this just wasn’t the way to see the dolphins and we all stayed together in the boat. The irony was that had the dolphins been left to their own devices they would have happily swam around the boats.

We took some great shots of them but at the end of the day this was another example of the Zanzibarian’s not really working to protect their natural resources and effectively selling off their heritage. There is a desperate need to educate so this wonderful island will be here in generations to come.

We retired to Stone town where the boys were fed again and we enjoyed a cup of wonderful coffee at Archipelago. Stone Town deserves its own entry so look out for that soon.