Kwa Herini means goodbye in Swahili. How do you end a journey that has had a profound impact on your attitude and renewed your appreciation for who you are and what you have? We are spending our last three nights at the beach resort Mapenzi on the island of Zanzibar. It is all-inclusive, which means we eat and drink as much as we want and every need is catered to. Karlene and I added on facials, which were relaxing and soothing, while Michael took advantage of the quiet time to read (his version of the ultimate pass time). This resort is the perfect ending to our perfect journey. We are taking advantage of some much-needed down time. When we got here we were warned about the Beach Boys (hoping for a concert, instead finding young African men on the beach offering to be guides for anything and everything). The area around this island is extremely shallow, so when the tide is out, you can walk a mile out before the water is above your knees. When Karlene ventured onto the beach, she was accompanied by two of these young men, who walked her out, at least a half mile, directing her as to the way to go, what to avoid, and local ocean wildlife. They also sang the entire “Hakuna Matata” song from The Lion King for entertainment. They, of course, wanted to be paid for the unsolicited service; and Karlene (against all Resort advice) was willing to pay them, but she made them bring her all the way back before giving them $2. When she realized she had left her shoes on a high spot some distance back, one of the young men produced them, having silently picked them up for her, noticing when she walked away without them, announcing “No problem”. He got another dollar. We have spent one entire day doing “very much nothing” as the Gallery Tour representative phrased it when we said we did not want to schedule anything.
Tomorrow we will go on one last excursion, an all-day boat, walk, snorkle trip.
Until then, I think some acknowledgements are in order:
Thank you to my sister, Karlene — without your encouragement, Michael and I would still just be talking about going to Africa “someday” and without your careful research, who knows what kind of experience we would have had. Thank you to Masha, our driver/guide for 7 days, for your incredible knowledge, sense of humor, patience and command of the English language. Thank you, Benique and Meredith for your great company and for appreciating our sarcastic senses of humor (some might find us silly or annoying — what’s that about??). Thank you to my husband, the best traveling companion EVER, for putting up with me, waiting on me, and for focusing on the good stuff and making fun of the bad (instead of copping an attitude). Thank you, Africa Adventure Company, for selecting all the right places to visit,
for providing invaluable information every step of the way, for having someone to meet us at every destination, and for answering all our questions. Thank you, Ranger Safaris for employing Masha, we hope you pay him a lot, cause he is worth it! Thank you to the people of Tanzania for welcomimg us to your country and for learning English so you could communicate with us (something else Americans take for granted). Thank you, Gallery Tours for making our last three days such a great ending. Thank you to all the staff at the lodges where we stayed — your customer service is something to behold.
The Mapenzi Resort from the beach.
Our bed decorated with fresh flowers from Mapenzi Beach Resort.
Karlene being walked out by two “Beach Boys” to see starfish.
Safari So Good 
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