More from Zanzibar!

Hello again!
We are taking advantage of the close-by Internet cafes to squeeze in a few more blogs before the semester ends...

Today, the divers completed the underwater portion of the scuba certification process, while others did cultural things around the amazing island of Zanzibar. I (Zoe) was part of the diving group, while Vicki did the Spice tour and checked out some museums, so we'll each have good input to the blog.

The diving was amazing, we lugged our diving bags onto the boat and once again headed out into the impossibly clear ocean. Once we arrived, we got in the water, and finished up some of the required skills needed for the certification. These include mask clearing, emergency swimming ascent, finding the regulator if it falls out of your mouth, and using your buddy's air source if you run out. And a whole lot more. We were split into pairs, each pair went with an instructor. The groups of three split and even though we weren't far apart, there's so much to see that we all saw different things. For example, Taylor and I were lucky enough to see a sea turtle and a ray! Everything about both dives today was amazing. After a lunch break on the boat, we set out for yet another dive, the fourth one of the required four to be certified as an "open water diver." When we surfaced, we all got high fives and congratulations. It was all very exciting. So now I'll let Vicki take over, so she can tell you about the other awesome stuff that is happening on Zanzibar!

OKey dokey peoples! Yesterday, Taylor, Izzy, Becca, Chris and I went to the Palace Museum after their scuba dive and it was pretty cool. The Palace Museum is like a "kingdom by the sea" with views of the ocean outside of the royal bedrooms, balconies and windows. One of the most fascinating things we learned was about Princess Sayyida Salme of Zanzibar and the many different cultural ties she had.

Today, Karen, Becca and I went on the Zanzibar Island Spice Tour and we got to see, taste, smell and take back some of the spices and fruits. On the first stop of the tour we saw Persian baths and then drove out to the spice farm where we walked around smelling and tasting nutmeg, cardamon, starfruit, Jack-fruit, cloves, cinnamon...

We also received some hand-made bracelets, rings and necklaces from the local guys who also came on the tour- one of which proposed to Karen with a coconut leaf ring. LOL. We were also given lunch which was absolutely delicious- rice cooked with cloves, coconut sauce, spinach and chapati. After that, the last part of the tour was time spent swimming in crystal clear beach waters!

We will continue to update you all with the events of our last few days together! we can start by saying that tomorrow we leave the beautiful island of Zanzibar and we head back to Dar Es Salaam, where we will spend the rest of the time (all of a day and a half) before we say our goodbyes to Africa!

Much love from Zanzibar!

Zoe and Vicki! <3