PROFESSIONAL DIRT BIKE RIDER

Well I must say that I'm pretty proud of myself. I just got back to Stone Town after riding a Honda 250 dirt bike across Zanzibar to the East Coast, arriving at a little beach village called Paje. I've never even ridden on the back of a dirt bike before but something came over me that day telling me that it was a good idea! And that it was! In no time I was driving like a pro except for the difficulty I had with the kick start and getting on and off since it was so big... but those were just minor details because whenever I was really stuck an African man would mysteriously appear from the bushes and help me get going again! The best part of the drive was through the Jozani Rain forest which is the home of the indigenous colobus monkey. I was 'lucky' enough to see one despite not stopping for any tourist hikes because I almost flattened one with the bike. That, and a chicken... and a giant lizard. No goats this time! But what a beautiful ride. As soon as I entered the park area the rain forest got so thick and green, full of life! I drove like a grandma for about half an hour in awe of it all. Paje was a nice place. Quiter than Nungwi (so very quiet), but it is low season because of rain. The beach was more beautiful than Nungwi because it stretched so far and had a perfect line of palm trees that must have gone forever. I tested out the water which was just as warm as the north coast and got some more sun. I'm looking more tanned than ever right now, just to make you all jealous! So, today I'm back in Stone Town doing not too much of anything. This evening I'm going to go eat dinner at a place called Africa Cafe because it's apparently got the absolute best view of the sunset. Tomorrow I'll spend the day wandering the spice markets buying memorbillia before catching the night ferry off of Zanzibar back to mainland Tanzania. I'm not sure yet but I'm seriously considering going to Malawi for a week before returning to the village. It's somewhere I said I definetley wanted to see before I left Canada and since I'm so close and there's no entry visa until after three months within, I feel like I should take advantage of it. The problem is that my heart is in that little village of Shibanze and I miss everyone there so much. I can almost hear them calling my name and the ones that are lucky enough to have cell phones have ALL called to ask me when I'm coming back since I left. But.... it's not going anywhere and it's also important to see different parts of this beautiful continent so I'm still undecided on what to do. Either way, it will be the right decision! So, I hope all is well wherever in the world you are reading this from and I'll be sure to post again soon! Cheers, Amanda