Independent Traveller (Part 2)

(with apologies to Destiny's Child)

Karibu Inn, Stone Town, Zanzibar

So that's it, then. I've just waved off the rest of the crew in a mini-bus. I'm feeling incredibly emotional right now. I'm struggling, though, to put my finger on the exact reason for this, although fatigue is certainly a factor. I'm glad the trip has come to an end for me. I'm glad I'm going home to see my friends and family. Some of the people on the truck, I really will miss. Others, I'm very glad to see the back of them. The events of the past few days have left a very sour taste in my mouth. I don't know, perhaps this is the sort of stuff that happens to people all the time, only they manage to ignore it. It's had a rather profound effect on me, though. Don’t doubt, though, that it’s been a fantastic trip.

Spent the morning looking around Prison Island (actually used to be a quarantine centre) and feeding giant tortoises, having headed over on a boat with ‘Mr. Bean’ written on the large orange canopy (there was another boat there with ‘Luvly Jubbly’ written on it, too.). We were back to the Karibu Inn for lunch, then everyone loaded up and headed off for the ferry. They’re at Mikardi tonight, then onwards to Malawi and Zambia.

Still, I'm back for three nights only, reprising my role as 'Independent Traveler'. The last couple of times I've been in this situation, it's led to weird and wonderful things happening to me. Let's hope the pattern continues. Ali has told me there's a shared taxi going to Ngungwi at 1pm, so I'm killing half an hour until it gets here.