Shangani Beach

This weekend I went to Mtwara, the largest city on the south-eastern coast of Tanzania. With three of the other "volunteers" we drove about two hours east to reach Mtwara. In Mtwara we stay at one of the villas owned by the Benedictine Fathers, located on Shangani Beach. The beach house has 5 bedrooms - (perfect for our group of volunteers to share) and these spectacular views of Shangani Beach and the Indian Ocean. The gate leading to the beach is about 10 yards from the back door.

The hospital administrator Mr. Piet, myself, Sheena (lab tech), Francijn (Dutch doctor) and Diane (community HIV coordinator) shared the house Friday night along with the former ambassador to China who is temporarily living in the beach house.

If you read the Bradt Guide to Tanzania, the South Coast of Tanzania is described a "fascinating, thought-provoking and often enchanting area, endlessly rewarding to those with a sense of adventure and curiosity."
This is definitely true. The highlight of the weekend was by far the snorkeling. Shangani Beach has a magnificent, beautiful coral reef that is perfect for snorkeling. During low tide you can snorkel for a couple of hours.... The reef has an amazing variety of fish, and aquatic life. I couldn't name a quarter of the fish we saw but the bright fluorescent colors are awesome. Among the fish were a lot of jellyfish! Scary at first but they are really harmless. The sea urchins are amazing with sharp shiny blacks spikes and bright orange eye. In one picture we are heading back from snorkeling (Mr. Piet, Francijn, Sheena and I).

The coast line is amazing ~ 360 miles of pure white sand along the Indian ocean - also amazing is that there are virtually no tourists! There are a few Tanzanian boys running along the beach and a few fisherman. There is a rare sailboat visible along the horizon.

After snorkeling we drove into the city of Mtwara (population ~100,000) to do some shopping. A very productive shopping spree- I bought a bike and a lot of food, pasta, cereals, noodles, tuna fish, etc, lot of canned foods, and some wine to last a while.

In the afternoon, its high tide so we went swimming - the Indian Ocean is not only amazingly blue this time of year but the water is "soupy", the warmest natural body of water I've been in, felt like a heated pool!

We ate dinner at the Southern Cross Hotel - described as the best restaurant in Mtwara - and the food was certainly good - but what is the best is ambience - we sat outside on a large outdoor patio overlooking the Indian Ocean. At night when there are no clouds the sky is filled with stars. Last night, a full "golden" moon arose from the horizon and lit up the sky. Quite amazing site. We enjoyed Indian food with a nice Chardonay overlooking the Indian Ocean.....

For after dinner entertainment we drove to one of the other volunteers' (Mikaa) home for a little party. Mikaa is another dutch doctor/HIV coordinator who has been living in Mtwara for almost two years. She had a party for one of the volunteer's birthday, so we stopped by her house to catch the end of their dinner and then we stayed to watch a movie.

Today was more R&R. Snorkeling this morning during low tide and then relaxing by the beach with a book this afternoon. We drove back to Ndanda late this afternoon. I unloaded my new bike, all the food, + wine, + liquor into the house and then went to the Abbey kitchen down the road to buy my milk, jam, and bread for breakfast tomorrow.

I'm on call tomorrow so I'm going to sleep early tonight, to be rested and prepared for the unexpected tomorrow.....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21232655@N07/ If this link works I'll try to put up more pics!