Monday-Tuesday, Nov 14-15. Endless return home. Spend the day at the resort. The day began as a typical hot one. There was a tour of the local village on the schedule, but only one went. Later a cool front came by and I regretted not joining the tour. But the front moved on and in the afternoon it was again hot.

Departed at 4 for the airport and a short flight to Dar es Salaam. I felt we could have made this trip yesterday and spent time in the city, thus splitting up the trip home a little. Arrived at the international terminal at 7, only to learn that the counter won’t open until 8 (then 8:50). Found a lounge, took a shower. Waited for our 23:59 flight to Amsterdam. 9+ hours in the air. Nice flight.

Had snacks in the lounge in Amsterdam. Flight to Atlanta. 9+ hours. Awful neighbor.

Had a shower, plus food and drinks in the Atlanta lounge. 5 hour layover. Flight to San Diego. 4+ hours. Time seemed to stand still.

Lyft to the house in a very noisy, smelly car. Slept anyway. Total travel time: 40.5 hours.

[Today is the 19th. It’s taken this long for me to feel some semblance of health. I’m getting too old for this.]

The Trip Leader was wonderful. The drivers were incredible. The animals were all I could hope for. But the heat was worse than projected and I had a intestinal bug that is still with me. Those issues and a few others will have a negative impact on my memories of this adventure. Overall, the Ultimate Africa Adventure of 2020 (with Victoria Falls) was a better experience.

Sunday, Nov 13. Visited a spice farm. It certainly wasn’t what I expected. Woods with trees and plants seemingly randomly located, containing spices and fruits. It was mildly interesting, but I was expecting a facility for collecting, packaging, labeling and shipping spices. Much of the time was spend while various fruits were skillfully sliced up and shared. Carving up a coconut was done in a way certainly not recommended by the Boy Scouts!

The rest of the day was free. I again went for a swim in the ocean, but I learned that when the tide isn’t all the way in, the water is only waist deep for a hundred yards out. Icky bottom.

Farewell dinner.

Saturday Nov 12. Motored out to a reef and snorkeled. Nice, not great. Picnicked on a mostly deserted island. Sailed back.

In the afternoon the vacant outdoor bar was occupied by monkeys. Great fun watching them jump around. Swam again in the ocean. Group from South Africa had tried to swim from here to the mainland yesterday (23 miles). One succeeded, the others were picked up along the way.

The night was interrupted until 2:30 by live music in the nearby town. Hot, humid, noisy. Not a good night.

Friday, Nov 11. Drive to Fumba Beach Resort. Stopped at the Zanzibar National Park to see the very rare Zanzibar Red Colobus monkey. I expected to only see them at a distance, but they were very human-friendly. Three feet away, calmly snacking. One person got within hugging distance until ranger told her they scratch. Ranger said the males fight for the Alpha position, often to the death. Long claws.

Mangrove Forest. Dense. Similar to Everglades, but not as dense.

Butterfly Reserve. Great fun trying to capture nice photos. A photo-rich environment. A small area for chameleons. Appropriately, they were hard to find. The guide pointed them out for us.

The resort faces west, so the sunset was very nice. Not sure why, but I got the only bungalow with a beachfront view. Wonderful. Lunch and dinner were slow affairs. “Zanzibar time”, we’re told. We didn’t have a set menu. Options are good.

Another hot day. But I used their infinity pool and also swam in the Indian Ocean for the first time. A bit of sunburn. Sleep was difficult in the heat, but it was better than I feared.

Thursday, Nov 10. Tour of the city began with the food market. Nothing new here, except that the city is building a fancy new marketplace, so their existing stalls are pretty temporary and poor. The fish market portion is surprisingly small. Guy on scooter tried to sell fish (photo), left disappointed.

Slave Museum was well laid out, but incredibly sad. The last panel pointed out the number of “slaves” that still exist today. Arranged marriages, for example. David Livingstone had a significant hand in ending slavery auctions on the island. The auction site was overbuilt by a non-denomination church.

Extremely hot. Gift shop had AC. Freddie Mercury Museum ($8, skipped), old fort hot without shade, “House of Wonders” (sultan’s old home) closed for repairs. An underwhelming walking tour. Had lunch and dinner at Mercury’s. Why mess with success.

Boat ride on a Dhow with the ubiquitous lateen rig. Very old and poorly handled. Incredible leeway. Almost like sailing sideways. But an interesting cruise.

The heat and humidity was stunning. Guide confirmed that it was unusual, even in Zanzibar.

Wednesday, Nov 9. Before our departure, we visited a cultural center that doubled as a souvenir shop. Lots of metal statues. Bought some chopsticks with animal heads.

Tour and lunch at a resort that doubles as a workshop for disabled people. Took, printed and gave away lots of photos. Skipped lunch.

Small airport. Bought a hat. Small plane (Dash 8).

Quick flight to Zanzibar. A local guide (who talks in a slow, repetitive cadence that I found difficult to follow) greeted us. Hotel in Stone Town, which has no cars, but many motorcycles. 5 minute walk to the hotel. Messy, disorganized streets. Nice hotel, sort of. At least the room has some semblance of AC. Hot and humid, as expected. Good rooftop bar. Excellent margarita. Found a restaurant called Mercury’s, thought they didn’t play Queen music. Wonderful spaghetti.

The city (mostly Islamic) reminds me strongly of Morocco. But unlike there here virtually all women are covered. Salesmen everywhere.

Tuesday, Nov 8. Town visit. The market was large, busy, and bossy. T-short salesmen, etc. assailed us while we tried to buy food for our home visit. Flies.

School was fun. Principle was a take-no-prisoners kind of woman, with the size to match. “We have no trouble with parents.” Period. All students have nearly shaved heads, so the girls are identified by the skirts. They all wear sweaters! Crazy from my perspective. Balloons were a BIG hit. Took photos too.

Home tour was at a middle class family with a small but efficient farm. Nice people, but certainly not a representative demographic of the country’s poverty. Good food.

Afternoon was free, and I took advantage of it. Pool, beer, rest. (Almost) no dust.

Monday, Nov 7. Departed the Serengeti. Encountered a male lion just sauntering along the road. Great final photos. Dusty again. We are all very tired of the dust.

Climbed back up to the Ngorongoro Crater rim. Drove down inside. Massively large area, with both an alkaline, undrinkable lake and a fresh water swamp. Story is that animals inside the crater do not leave. An entirely different ecosystem is in place. Oddly, no giraffes. Every other animal seems present. Pink flamingos in the alkaline lake.

As we exited the crater Emanuel offered an extended drive through the crater. Only two people took him up on the offer. Most of us were eager to return to niceties such as endless showers and private rooms with solid walls. Took a dip in the pool. I skipped dinner (and lunch). After two nights trying not to snore, I needed rest.

Beautiful full moon.

Sunday, Nov 6. Drove west to new terrain that was much closer to what I envisioned the Serengeti to be like. Endless, flat grasslands dotted with wildlife. Today was dominated by giraffes. Had tea at another camp with a tremendous view and an infinity pool. Lunched at a tiny empty airfield that had wifi!

Cocktail hour was fully attended, a first. Dinner was celebratory, with the staff singing and dancing.

Very dusty day again. Bucket showers aren’t quite cutting it. Tomorrow we tour the Ngorongoro Crater, then return to the same hotel we left four nights ago. Camping, even glamour camping, has gotten old.

Saturday, Nov 5. Five companions went off for a balloon ride. [Their flight featured far more animals than mine. Jealous.] We were able to view their flight during our morning ride. Meanwhile, we encountered lions multiple times. The ENCOUNTER OF THE TRIP was with a family of four adults and an indeterminate number of cubs (4?). Precious! (I’m having such a hard time trimming the photos to a manageable number.) One lion, hiding in the tall grass, seemed to be checking out a herd of wildebeests, but it turn out that the lion was injured and actually hiding. The wildebeests caught wind (literally; they have poor eyesight) of her and chased her away. That’s when we noticed the limp. The other adults appeared to hustle the cubs away. The wildebeests actually seemed to be aggressively looking for the lions. One adult lion, with a monitor collar attached, climbed a tree, followed by one cub. More precious!

We saw several other lions. In the afternoon we visited a hippo convention in a pool of river water way too small for them. The floating mass of hippo manure was both disgusting and incredible. These hippos included some that were far larger than anyone expected.

Another hot day, but a fun one. Lunch included pasta with meat sauce that really hit the spot. Skipped dinner.