Africa Day 15: Zanzibar

August 30, 2011

Today we left the hustle and bustle of Stone Town, and travelled north-east to a spice farm. We spent quite a long time on a guided exploration of the farm (we had the same local guide as our Stone Town city tour yesterday, so he was getting used to the crazy photographers stopping all the time to take photos!). By lunch time we'd arrived at Blue Bay Resort on the east coast of the island, our home for the next two days. Sprawled along the beach, and quite luxurious compared to some of the places we've stayed in, it will provide us a nice environment to relax and continue working on our images, putting off the eventual return to every-day life.

Having been treated to tours of actual Samburu and Maasai villages in Kenya, it was interesting to see the pool-side Maasai dances put on for the tourists after dinner! 

 

 

Africa Day 14: Stone Town

August 29, 2011

Today we did "the tourist thing", starting the day with a guided walking tour. We covered much of the same areas we explored yesterday, but learnt a lot about the history and stories behind it. After lunch we had more time to explore the streets and to relax.

As expected, we're generating a lot less data away from the wildlife. In my own case, only several hundred exposures per day. Partly because we're in wind-down mode, but mainly because the lions aren't chasing the buffalo in front of us!

 

 

Africa Day 13: travel to Zanzibar

August 28, 2011

After fighting our way through the crowds and madness of Nairobi airport, we made it to Stone Town on the island of Zanzibar (Tanzania) by lunch time. After weeks out in the wilds, the manic pressure of town is a bit oppressive (e.g. almost everybody's got their hand out for a tip).

We're staying here for two nights, then moving out of town to "the countryside". In the afternoon we went for a stroll through the narrow lanes of the old city, and everyone was certainly getting excited at the opportunities!