Jambiani, West Coast, Zanzibar

I stayed 3 nights at Villa de Coco. It is run by 2 Italians, Marco and Manuela. They came to Zanzibar looking for an affordable investment in the hotel/restaurant industry and bought this little place and fixed it up. The love story takes a twist...they had dated for 18 years, moved to Zanzibar to start up this hotel. Manuela fell in love with their African chef, Sadiki. These two are to be married next month. Manuela and Marco run this hotel as partners and now he is dating an African women. They were all such wonderful people. I had one night talking with Manuela and Sadiki. She had a very heavy italian accent and ended her english words w "a". "How do you like the hotela? Let me explain the swahili fooda. These beaches are-a very cleana, We hope you come back againa." Part of me was listening to what she was saying and part of me was listening to how she spoke, I really liked her. He was so pleasant, mild mannered, spoke english very well, clean cut. They were a good-looking couple. I could see how in love they really were, all googly-eyed and flirty. According to Kassim, my tour guide, they are an exception. They are an exception bc the African man is marrying the white woman bc he truly loves, not bc she could help his status or quality of life. According to Kassim, some men want a handout and are lazy, but Sadiki is an excellent chef and works really hard.

These beaches are pristine!! It's like walking on white flour. So soft. The water has so many different colors to it, it truly looks like paradise. The island is surrounded by shallow reef, so the waves break about 1/2 mile from the shoreline, so the water lapps up onto the sand. There are shells everywhere!! I walked and walked and walked and walked on the beach. I could not sit still. It felt so good to be there. One of the best memories is after dinner, the moon was out, I took a stroll on the beach w my new African scarf blowing in the breeze, just thinking "oh my gosh, I am really in Africa! I made it here all by myself!" I was really proud of myself that night and kept smiling on the inside and the outside.