Bwejuu, Zanzibar

It was a long journey to Zanzibar for Liz and me; two overnight flights, two 7-hour bus rides and a ferry. We topped it off with a ride on a dalla-dalla, and made it to Bwejuu, an isolated beachside village on Zanzibar's east coast.

Bwejuu's sand is a gentle powder when it's dry and packs like a firm dough when it's wet. Palm trees line the beach and are met by the gentle waves of the Indian Ocean at high tide. At low tide, the water recedes by hundreds of meters revealing a long, flat beach and tide pools of warm water in gooey sand and seaweed. We were in Bwejuu for a week, long enough to notice the ocean's daily visits to shore shifting from afternoon to morning.

We put our footwear away and adjusted to beachside life. Liz got herself set up with an oceanfront "office" and diligently worked on her thesis in the mornings. In the afternoons, we swam in the ocean, walked barefoot up and down the beach, or went into the village for supplies. I helped Liz with editing and also spent a lot of time in a hammock, reading and listening to music.

We were treated to gracious hospitality and continuous greetings of "Jambo" from the locals. Bwejuu was a difficult place to leave. After seven days, we made our way to Zanzibar Town, commonly known as Stone Town.