From Zanzibar to Mikumi National Park

We have been on the go for so long, and have seen so much, that unstructured time makes us hyper-unproductive.  We arrived at the Amaan Beach Bungalows in Nungwi on the northern coast of Zanzibar on Tuesday afternoon. We promptly spent the next several days on vacation from our travels. Other than lounging by the pool, spending time on the beach, reading, and sleeping, we did not have a lot going on.  The north coast reminds me of Tulum in that there are nice resorts along the beach, with local activities, guides, merchants, and boat captains all trying to help you spend your money and time.  Most of the folks selling on the beach were Masai (or dressed like Masai anyway), mostly polite but pushy and persistent. We did take the opportunity to find a nice dinner spot, overlooking the beach, which boasted of good food and great sunsets. 

Yesterday we journeyed back to Stone Town, and back to the Shangani Hotel. The hotels on this trip, either those organized through G Adventures or Intrepid, are billed as “clean and safe.”  To both of these descriptions I would add -ish. They have been clean-ish and safe-ish. Not the sort of places we would normally stay when not trying to survive Africa for a summer, seeing as much as possible, and not going bankrupt. That said, they have been serviceable and as long as they have WiFi, the little ones are satisfied.  Once back in Stone Town we headed to a local cafe for a late breakfast/lunch, followed by a walk through town until we reached the point of the walk where everyone agrees, based on the decrease in tourists and increased signs of plight, “maybe we should head back the other way.”

Instead of dinner last night, the best we could do was find our way to the local gelato shop.  That’s how we roll sometimes. You are so hot and tired that gelato comes first. After that, dinner seems superfluous.  It was an early night as we were booked on the first ferry back to Dar es Salaam this morning and breakfast started at five.  The ferry was more of a roller coaster this morning which didn’t bother me at all until the crew started handing out barf bags in a frenzy. All I could think of then was Vince Vaughn’s character in Four Christmases (https://youtu.be/0mKZgC8J5AE) and how I might have a problem after all. 

We made it safely ashore and through some sort of security screening during which everyone getting off the ferry pushes each other, elbows each other, and scrambles to get their bags onto a conveyor belt/x-ray machine. The then walk through a metal detector, which always beeps, and you push the same people out of the way again to reclaim your bags. I don’t think the x-ray machine was on, at least I never saw anyone looking at a screen. Today’s lesson - McLains need to learn to be pushier. Luckily we still have time to work on that. 

A short bus ride to the Millimani City Shopping Mall and we were reunited with The Beast, Dan the Man (our driver), and Emmanuel (our chef). We are now on our way to the Mikumi National Park and the next adventures, whatever they may be. I am happy to be back on tour and to a structured existence in which someone else, in this case Michael (our Julie McCoy), is responsible for keeping me active and entertained. The last few days in Zanzibar have convinced me that I do not currently possess that skill. 

• Dave