The beach in the North East of Zanzibar

Some islets just off the coast of Zanzibar as we approached the island on the ferry

Dhows and shallow reef or sand bar

Tide out, the shallows 

Seaweed farmers and seaweed farms in the distance

I took the ferry to Zanzibar, something I had been meaning to do since I first arrived. I like islands, water, beaches - so Zanzibar seemed like the prefect destination and it didn't disappoint. Some members of my family came out to visit and we all went to the North East of the Island and stayed in a lovely boutique hotel, right on the beach next to a small fishing village called Pwani Mchcangani. It was quite strange staying somewhere so luxurious right next to such a poor, run down and simple fishing village. My family were not accustomed or used to African life and they found it a shock. On arrival we all went for a walk along the beach and we were surrounded by young children asking for money, sweets, shoes. There were also pareo sellers and small shop owners selling paintings and African crafts who kept on hassling us, it took away a lot of the enjoyment from sitting and walking along the beach. It was annoying but I had got used to it, although we did attract even more attention that I do in Dar being a group of white tourists clearly on a family holiday. An easy target.

The beach was amazing, the tides were vast but I enjoyed the white sand and amazingly warm water, watching dhows sail past and fisherman go out onto the reef, seaweed farmers harvesting seaweed into raffia sacks.

In the distance on the horizon was Nmemba island. A small private island on an atoll, a huge reef. Bill Gates has stayed there apparently. The resort is incredibly exclusive, we went snorkelling around it one day but were not allowed to actually set foot on the island itself. The snorkelling was among my most memorable experiences in Africa. On the way out, in the boat, we saw a couple of dolphins, had we been able to get closer we would have been able to swim with them. When we got the the reef itself we were surrounded by luminous, brightly coloured fish of all shapes and sizes. The reef dropped down like an underwater cliff, with flippers on I was able to get down pretty deep and swim gently underwater. It is such a liberating experience, if you can relax and just enjoy swimming along, you can stay down for longer than you expect. I got down to the same depth as some scuba divers and I had a lot more freedom than they did with all their kit on to look around and just enjoy the scenery. I really like free diving, I don't know why I don't do it more often. My sister had an underwater camera and I think she managed to get some good photos of the enormous schools of tropical fish.

It was nice to just be by the beach and swim day in day out and relax, instead of having to battle with the dala dalas in Tanzania, the heat, traffic, stress of the city. Apparently Mafia Island is a more untouched version of Zanzibar where the snorkelling and diving is second to none. Now on my to do list!