We're staying in a nice hotel for five nights so we crossed the island to get there this morning. I got to see some more villages, where some of the houses had walls made out of mud. This pleased me. The Tanzanian countryside is littered with blue plastic shopping bags. They seem to be absolutely everywhere. Apparently the non-biodegradable ones have recently been made illegal, but it's seemingly too late. It's a sad blight on the scenery, but one that serves as a fitting metaphor for Western influence perhaps.
Usually when you arrive at your holiday hotel you have just got off the plane and are a bit tired and out of it. It was unusual to turn up fairly sorted and together and capable of understanding everything that's going on.
A typically friendly and smiley man was at reception to greet us. He briefly explained the lay-out of the hotel. "Over there is the main bar," he told us, "We call it the Zanzi-bar" and then he broadly smiled at this pun, even though he must have to say it to a dozen people a day, every single day. One couldn't help but smile back at his enjoyment of this fairly average pun, but clearly we were not smiling enough as he added, "It's like the name of the island, but also it is a bar." It was all the funnier for the explanation. But when someone shows as much delight at their own joke as that then you can't help but enjoy it too.
I have been eating and drinking way too much and so I was glad to see that the hotel has some nice swimming pools and a small gym. I am in danger of returning to the UK as fat as I was at the end of Edinburgh so have to try for some damage limitation. I haven't exercised for a week due to travelling and the dizziness that preceeded the holiday (thankfully now abated - I am pretty sure it was mainly down to exhaustion, I am much better rested now), but today decided to enjoy the nice restaurants and the bars (including the Zanzi-bar, a name which I think you will find works on two levels). Tomorrow I will get back down to a mini-fitness regime, although I did catch my little toe quite badly today and it's gone a bit purple, so maybe I can use that as an excuse.
