Chloe and Angie's Tanzanian Blog: Week 5... Zanzibar part 2

Thursday we arranged with one of the beach boys to go to the south of the island to go swimming with wild dolphins. Obviously we were SO excited, so had to book it! It was going to be quite expensive, therefore we had asked Mr Wise (the beach boy lol) if he could find more people who wanted to go with us. After a while and a few days of organising, we managed to get 3 other people to come along which meant the price went down to 47,000 shillings. This was a fantastic price considering Mr Wise, well lets just say could definitely not work out the exchange rate between dollars and shillings, meaning in the end the trip only cost about £20! Amazing! The day entailed a 6am rise to make the 2 hour car journey to the south. However in the morning the 3 other people did not show up. Thankfully the driver said the price would not change because of this... phew! We slept the whole way there until we reached the beach on the south where we got our snorkels, masks and flippers! We were taken out to sea on a much smaller and faster boat than our previous snorkelling trip. We set off sitting on only a few wooden planks on the bumpiest boat ride ever!

It seemed like a lost cause trying to find dolphins in all the open water. However the tour guides were fantastic and managed to find so many dolphins... we could not believe it! They would drive the boat so fast next to the dolphins and say get ready with your flippers and snorkel. Following this you had to dive off the boat and you would then be surrounded by so many dolphins. This was exhausting as you had to get on and off the boat every time the dolphins dived down too deep and we would then begin the chase all over again! This was definitely the best day of our lives, a truly amazing experience that we will never forget.

Managed to get stung by a jellyfish! But I was so excited by all the dolphins it was easily forgotten about! Chloe decide to stay on the boat after a few swims with the dolphins to take some amazingly good photos!

We set out with rather low expectations not hoping for too much and we definitely never imagined that we would be able to touch and swim along with so many of these amazing creatures. Absolutely fantastic day!

On the taxi ride home we stopped off at Jozani Rainforest where we got to see so many red bearded monkeys. They were everywhere and came so close to you. Great ending to this fantastic day!

When we got back to the hotel and went to pay the driver he expected more than we had given him. There had been a mis-communication between him and Mr Wise, but after about 10 minutes of explaining we were paying no more than we signed for, he left and we ended our cheap day out on the beach catching the last rays of the sun!

On Friday we went to Stonetown as this is a must when you are in Zanzibar.

However it was a bit daunting to say the least after hearing about the acid attack on the two British girls the day before! It's unbelievable, yet believable at the same time that this had happened. Life in general here is very different from home and we were told by a shop owner that these things happen a lot more often than what is let on! It's very sad because it is such a beautiful place yet you never feel 100% safe. Stonetown was lovely though and we had a fantastic day browsing all the shops and market stalls. We also went to a place called Lulu's for lunch which was fantastic! Best soup and pasta ever. A total must if you are ever in Stonetown!