Eeny, meeny, miny, moe – Bill judiciously picked a cab driver to drive us one hour north to a village called Nungwi. Nungwi is known for its lack of wind, white sand beaches and turquoise water. 

It’s hit and miss taking photos out of a car but here’s a look at the countryside.  The island is mostly Muslim, homes are mostly made of mud and transportation is mostly by motorcycle or on foot.

Click to enlarge photos…

We continued walking five miles a day hoping I would sweat out my sickness. Here we were in paradise and it was hard to put one foot in front of another.  It was suggested the I try antibiotics. We always have Cipro in our arsenal.  That was plan A .  Plan B was to go to a hospital (scary) or fly home (not any easy task with Covid and PCR testing – it would have taken days).   48 hours of later I finally turned the corner.  

Life on the beach was interesting. Right outside our hotel several Maasai warriors interacted with tourists all day long. Maasai are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting Kenya and northern Tanzania. Known by their distinct dress. They wear checkered patterned fabric much like a sarong to cover their bodies and carry a long stick. Customarily they live in the country where men and boys herd cattle and goats. It seemed strange to see them on the beach. More about them later…

The coast is riddled with wooden boats and fishermen.

Everyone including children forage in the sand for worms and for fish in the tide pools.

Large groups of colorfully dressed women sorted through silver fish much like oversized anchovies.

They must eat puffer fish. I thought they were poisonous.

Starfish (some look like Covid) and especially sea urchins were plentiful.

A swing had me captivated.

Our beach came alive as the sun lowered.

 

A dress code wasn’t enforced at the hotel but we read that in town women with uncovered shoulders and/or knees and shirtless men were subject to a $1,000. fine.

We vegged the last two days so I could gain some strength back. Walking was probably better than laying in bed but laying by the pool worked better. I lost six pounds in only a few days.