The Future of Safariing is Here!

  Zanzibar, Zanzibar Archipelago, Tanzania
January 04, 2016We are up early so we can take one last shot at seeing a leopard for Karen since she has only seen 4 of the had some bacon and eggs and then were on the drive shortly after 7:00. The Maasai warriors, camp staff and a solitary giraffe bid us farewell. 

There was a nice view over the early morning planes with two hot air balloons slowly drifting up over the horizon. We stopped briefly at the hippo pond near the airport to see a couple of sleepy lions hidden in the grass. The balloon operators reported that there was a leopard near their take off site. We drove out to the spot hoping to see it, as did one other vehicle. When we pulled up and scanned the tree with our binoculors we were surprised to see them pull out a drone! The guide navigated it over to the distant tree and then beyond Nice Grass (and a lion). The guide had to hop in the vehicle to go and retrieve it. When he drove back he circled the tree, but still no leopard!!
We headed out toward a cluster of kopjes. We did not see any lions or leopards, but we did see a couple of hartebeest, lots of birds and a small herd of elephants in the distance. 

Back at the hippo hole did have a great time viewing the people who were trying to view the lions. Apparently a male and female had been displaying mating behaviour, so it drew a crowd of more than 25 vehicles. All we saw was the top of a head and a bum. The funniest part of all was that I had earlier spotted a male lions sleeping 20 metres away and he was mostly visibile. I don't think anyone else had spotted him yet! Our flight was at 10:30, so we did not have time to wait around, but were completely blocked in. Wolfgang had to back us out to the hippo pond and let some safaria vehicles and a road maintenance vehicle by so we could go forward and get around the vehicles that were now double and triple parked In the Airport Lounge. It was such a gong show that we had to boogie our way out!
We arrived at the airport with time to spare, so we shared the last two Serengeti beers that were in the cooler. We met with a Costal pilot who told us that we were not on his direct flight to Zanzibar, but our connection through Arusha would be arriving shortly. The pilot returned a short while later to tell us that he did have our names on his manifest, so we would be flying directly and arriving a couple of hours early! He said,  "today is your lucky day!" and I replied, "I am married to Bill, every day is a lucky day!" and he started to walk away and muttered under his breath, "well, that was awkward!". LOL!
5 minutes before takeoff our fellow passengars strolled in from the Four Seasons. Dad rolled out of the front seat and started doing up his pants, the eldest son sauntered to the toilet with his neck pillow on (funny enough, he did not have it on during the flight), and one of the daughters had the shortest shorts I have ever seen (and it was not a good look) Sleepy Lion. I guessed it would be an interesting flight. 
While boarding, they all hurried to the front of the line and claimed their seats while totting their massive boxed lunches. Dad ordered son out of the front seat, claiming it for his own. I guess even though I am in front of him, because he was taking photos of the family boarding, that I will not be taking that seat... When everyone was on board except Bill, the pilot mentioned that someone could sit in the copilot seat. Of course, there were lots of volunteers, so I shouted from the back, "Bill, you can sit in the copilot seat!". It worked, and Bill was able to get the best view of our flight! Score one for the little people! 
From the air the water is beautiful shades of blue and green. Looks amazing! We arrived in Zanzibar 1 1/2 hours later and were driven to our hotel by Motto. It was nice to be in a van with a/c! We discovered that the old city, called Stone Town because of the limestone buildings, is close to the airport Drone on Safari. It is an area that we want to explore while we are on the island. 

By the airport the homes are massive and are surrounded by walls. In the city the houses and street-front shops desnsely packed and were cement with tin roofs. There were lots of buses, vans, cars, mopeds and the occassional cart with ox or donkey. Many school children were walking along the road. The girls had uniforms of white head scarves that covered at least their shoulders, white loose tops and long blue or burgandy skirts. The men wore anything from t-shirts and jeans to long white robes. All of the women wore head scarves that covered at least their hair and shoulders; in many cases it covered their arms completely too. A couple of women had their faces covered to. As we drove closer to the resort there was some farmland with farm animals grazing in the fields. 
We were a bit early for check in, so we went to the restaurant for lunch buffet 20 Vehicles to see the Grass. The island chicken was really good! After checking in Karen and I headed to the beach. It took us a while to find free lounge chairs, but once we were situated, it was very enjoyable. All of the chairs are set up under palm trees and we can feel a nice breeze off the ocean... that is until some elderly European couple amble over and decide to reclaim "their" chairs. Apparently just having towels on a chair is enough to stake your claim. We mildly protested until the gentleman said "lunchy", so we gathered everything up and headed to the other end of the beach. 
We did not find any open chairs and eventually just grabbed some mats and laid them on the beach. Bill joined us after our nap and noted that some people had started leaving the beach, so we were able to secure a couple of chairs for an hour or so. 
The sand is nice and cool, so it is great for walking along the beach and collecting sea shells. You have to check carefully though, as most still have someone living inside! When you walk along the beach you have to deal with the locals trying to sell you trinkets or their services Lobby in Zanzibar.
After a short afternoon of beach, sun and reading we had dinner at one of the onsite restaurants. We selected the Indian one and it ws quite an adventure. It took a long time to get drinks and we noticed that people who arrived after us were given menus before us. They finally gave Bill and I menus, but did not say anything to Karen and walked away. The three of us decided to share appetizers and mains, but when we tried to order it was clear that they had a four course meal arrangement that had not been explained to us. 
We finally got it all sorted out and place our order after 45 minutes. Well, long story short, we were there for 2 1/2 hours to get appetizers, salad and 3 main Indian dishes. We gave up and skipped the ice cream because it was tutti fruiti flavour instead of the originally stated vanilla. 
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