Kendwa Rocks!

Haji, one of our scuba instructors

The program ended amid a whirlwind of activity and to avoid too much shock many of us decided to head north on the island to a beach called Kendwa. Actually, of the 38 people on the program, at one point, 29 of us were at Kendwa which is pretty special- never have so many people from the program ever stayed together after the program. It’s been a nice gradual transition from the program since it has meant only saying bye to a few people per day instead of everyone at once. Not wanting to go directly from being hyper-busy with school work to doing nothing, at Kendwa a bunch of us decided to get our PADI diving certification. We scored a pretty good deal with a company called Scuba Doo since it's low season and we were such a big group. I have been bitten by the diving bug and am now addicted to it. I love being underwater for that long and seeing so many amazing creatures. It is amazingly calming to be in that kind of environment- although that could be attributed to the perfect, warm, clear water and the white coral sand ocean floor. The day we completed our course we chartered a catamaran (again, we got a wicked deal given the time of year and our group’s size) and took it to Mnemba Island, an island off the east coast of Zanzibar. Those who did the course went diving while the rest of the group snorkeled. We spent the rest of the day cruising around on the catamaran, swimming, and relaxing. To top it off we saw two huge groups of dolphins swimming and jumping not too far from our boat. It was a perfect day.

Kelly and me on the catamaran!

After a week or so of being beach bums we got a car back to Stone Town and spent three more days meandering around Stone Town, shopping for souvenirs, and eating delicious food. Then, on April 7^th, the remaining six of us made our way to the airport and flew back to Nairobi.