Kendwa and surroundings
This northern part of the island is noted specifically for its beaches, white fine sand and consequently the numerous sprawling, gated resorts. It seems that most of the tourists are from Northern Europe, probably similar attraction for them as Mexico is for Canadians… The vibe on the long uninterrupted beaches is so different than that up in the actual town where we’re staying (not too surprising, but interesting just the same). Kendwa locals (and real estate investors from wherever) are putting a lot of energy in developing the town’s infrastructure, power and drinking water sources, and ensuring locals are being included in the labour force required. This area will be very different in the near future as everywhere we see construction. Yesterday we took a walk up to the next town north - Nungwi, almost to the northern most point on the island. It too is under a major transformation. We were able to access the beach and walk all the way back to Kendwa before the tide came up too high. This is when we became aware of how much of a resort area this is! The beaches flow one right into the next without obstruction and it’s amazing how many people can be swimming, strolling along without feeling crowded. The sun was very hot, but to our surprise the sand wasn’t (we learned because it’s made up of so much coral…).
Today we wanted to explore away from the beach and hot sun. Even though we’ve began to wear hats our skin needs a reprieve! The air temperature today was in the low thirties and the ocean temp in the high twenties. We arranged to go to the east side of the island and take a ‘tour’ of a mahogany forest and an adjacent mangrove forest. It was a good diversion for today, exposing us to another type of environment here on Zanzibar.
Last night was the beginning of Ramadan. We’ve been pleasantly surprised today that the religious observances of fasting from sunrise to sunset don’t have to apply to everyone! Being such a tourist oriented place food and drink have been available to us with no problem!
Tomorrow the tide will be very low in the morning so we plan to make our way down to the beach early. We have yet to actually get in the ocean and swim, wading as we walk along doesn’t count!
