Zanzibar: Life on the Beach

Scenes from the beach in front of Panga Chumvi:

One mode of transportation on the roads and beaches. Otherwise it's by bike or on foot.

We woke up to low tide every morning and the waters full of fishermen and seaweed farmers. Most walk through the waters with a spear and bag looking for Octopus. We had a few meals at the lodge with octopus bought right off the beach. We came home one afternoon to find the cooks on the beach preparing and washing baskets of white snapper. That's what we had for dinner that night!

Just before sunrise....

People walking home from the Eid al-Adha celebration, also called Feast of the Sacrifice.
It honors the willingness of the prophet Ibraham to sacrifice his young first-born son Ismail. Everyone dresses in their best clothes and gathers for prayers and 3 days of feasts in the towns. 

The view from our banda.

On the way to choral reef for some snorkeling with some local fishermen from Watemwe.

 A Dhow

This is actually a hotel, fairly well camouflaged.

The beach along the east coast of Zanzibar. It's known for its incredibly fine, white sand (almost feels like flour) and miles and miles of palm tree lined beach. In the south there are some large Italian resorts, but otherwise things are quiet and we saw mainly locals doing their thing.