Matemwe, Zanzibar

We came to Zanzibar with mixed feelings after reading a news story while in Nairobi about how the ministry of health is targeting AIDS clinics to arrest gay men. Horrible policy in every way! Some of the people we love and admire most are gay, so this offended us deeply. We thought of how we might protest by donning rainbow bracelets or t-shirts, but couldn’t find anything suitable (no surprise). Unfortunately, many of the countries we’ve visited have similarly dim human rights records (especially related to gender and love equality). Sigh…
In any case, we left mainland Africa and flew to Zanzibar from Nairobi, arriving late to a small beachfront hotel on the east side of the island near Matemwe beach. We stayed here a few days with our only plans being to laze around before we start a busy month touring Madagascar. It was great having a few days doing nothing except thinking about where we have been and what we have coming up over the next few months. It was surprisingly easy to get in a routine of waking late for breakfast, swimming, reading, napping, swimming, eating dinner and then going back to sleep. It was pretty great.Read more