One of the locals climbed all the way up the palm tree (barefoot, I might add!!) to get us some very tasty young coconut.
On the North Beach of Zanzibar, we saw this boat and wondered about the second level. First class perhaps??
Now, here's a gorgeous view of the Indian sea on Zanzibar's North Beach (yes, we stayed here for three days).
It is interesting to note that at the end of the busy tourist season, there are still almost no people on the beach. Is this heaven, or what?!
Another view of the beach... still barely anyone here!
And, here is what the beach looked like at sunset.
I am sad to report that 89% of the North Beach burnt down four days after we left due to a kitchen fire. So, as enticing as the beach pictures look, you may want to check on their re-building progress before you plan that trip to Zanzibar.
The famous spider in between our huts was the size of my hand. And, next to our door, the spider shed it's skin.
(We had a hot debate on whether spiders shed their skin or not. After having asked several friends, here is my theory. Spiders do shed their skin as spiders have exoskeleton and as they grow, they need to create a new skeleton to fit their bigger body. Anyone disagree?)
Interestingly enough, this was the only large spider we saw on the whole trip. Phewph!
In East Africa, women everywhere (and some men) carried bundles or water pails on their head - that were two to four times the size of their heads. I didn't try this -- I didn't buy that many souvenirs this time!
This picture was taken in Lushoto, back on mainland Tanzania.
Here are the houses in Lushoto, a small countryside village (part of the money spent on our trip was donated to the development of this village).
Most houses are built in East Africa of sheets of metal or brick and cement.
Coka-cola - they are everywhere!! This was by far the brand that was THE most promoted in East Africa. I just couldn't get over the fact that these Coke kiosks were everywhere in the countryside. (They might have made good houses too!)
As we walked around Lushoto, we heard some music and as quickly as you can say tricked tourist, we walked towards it to discovre its source (or purpose). We found out the source, these three men playing next to a church (not all that well either), but still weren't too sure of the purpose other than asking for money (a request that we were well used to by the end of our tour in Lushoto).
To the left, in the sky lies Mount Kilimanjaro (ths is as close as we got), the world tallest mountain from base to peak (Mount Everest is the tallest mountain against sea level, but its base begins much higher). Next to Mount Kili is Mount Kenya. Both Mountains' pictures and names are found on the labels of popular local beer brands.
Many people recognize this picture of a man-eating snake from the internet. Don't believe it... it's true!! Anacondas from the Amazon (and an other type of snake from Indonesia) ate several humans. See picture for details.
And of course, not thwarted at all by the pictures of man-eating snakes, I proceeded to take on a three-foot long Olive Grass Snake. It seemed to really like the warmth of my neck... almost scared me as it moved quickly partway around it as you can see!
Camels! We went on camel rides near the Maasai Warrior tribes, but I question the authenticity of camel-riding in East Africa. I didn't see any other camels during our trip other than the ones we rode! (However, there are camels on the Kenyan Shilling... just no live evidence to prove it!)
These guys are cute, but they are pretty testy... they grumble and groan when they get up and down (which is a real rollercoaster ride - I got bruises from the rocky getting up and down process!).
All the camels were tied close to each other... so we had to work to keep the camels face behind us... far behind us.
The camels took us to a Maasai village (next to the snake park and near Moshi, Tanzania) that receives community support in exchange for sharing their culture with tourists.
Here is our temporary fan club of Maasai children, with these flat beaded necklace. It was really strange to us to see some of them wearing thick winter jackets.
As you can tell, the necklaces and the shoes seem to be one size fits all.
Here the Maasai women are pounding Millet.
Here are four Maasai warriors singing traditional songs for us. The most impressive part was not the warriors, but the children who seemed to walk, mezmerized, towards the warriors, all the while moving their shoulders back and forth so as to move their necklaces back and forth. Truly fascinating.
The warriors also danced for us -- Their most famed dance is sort of a jumping contest. While one warrior at a time tries to jump as high as he can (without a running start), the other warriors keep the melody going. The one who jumps highest is the winner.
