Last week I went to Misali Island with the volunteers from CFI, Daimen, Zach and Estelle. My friend, Mbarouk, who is the executive director of Community Forests Pemba, hooked us up with the Rangers who guard the island. Normally, westerners are not allowed to sleep there, but we were given permission to stay there for two nights. Our adventure began with a nice 3.5hr wait at the Wesha Port for the rangers to arrive. We were scheduled to leave at 1pm, but, as with most schedules here in Tanzania, the rangers up around 4:30pm. We also received to unexpected French tourists with us. They were friends of one of the Cuban doctors on the island, who also knows Mbarouk. One of the French ladies didn't know English, so I didn't talk with her much. But I chatted with the othe french lady, and within 5 minutes of meeting her she starts bad mouthing the Tanzanians. Saying they're lazy and always late and this that and the other. Here she was getting a free lift to Misali, which is normally $90, and she's complaining. Not a good start for me considering that I'm about to marry a Tanzanian. Why travel if you're just going to complain about the people you meet? But I didn't let her get me down, and when the rangers arrived we hit the seas. It was a rainy, cold and bumpy ride. It's the middle of the rainy season now, and the weather didn't look too promising. We arrived, and the rangers set us up under a thatched-roof banda for the night. We then got in a bit of snorkeling and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. During the evening, Misali's poster-child awoke... the infamous Coconut Crab. It's known as the coconut crab because this monsterous creature shimmies up coconut trees to snip off a tasty coconut. It then uses its claws to crack open the fallen coconut to eat the tender flesh inside. They're quite amazing creatures. And look how big they are relative to a human foot: That night I managed to escape being eaten alive by the bugs. I had brought a mosquito net with me and it did the trick. Although, partway through the night we were woken by rain blowing in under the banda. But with the minor adjustments we managed okay. The following morning started off with a beautiful sunrise. And as luck would have it, it didn't rain a single drop the entire day. We started off the day with a nice long snorkel. I could try to explain the colors and fish that we saw, but my words wouldn't do it justice. In the afternoon we hiked around the island to various caves where the locals make offerings to the spirits for a good catch. Daimen and I are standing over one of the cave. You can see that water fills its base. On our way back we passed through the fishermans outpost and purchased some octopus for the afternoon and evening meal. You can't beat fresh octopus. After getting back to camp we went for another couple of snorkels and then read our books and caught a bit of shut-eye. That evening brought one of the most enjoyable evening swims of my life. Little plankton that bio-luminesce when given kinetic energy filled the water. We all went into the water to check it out. Zach and I grabbed our snorkels, masks and fins and hit the water. Imagine small blue flecks of light surrounding your body everytime you move a limb. It was as if little stars were surrounding us and moving to our rhythm. I enjoyed closing my fist and then rapidly opening it to imitate shooting off sparks of light from my hand. We were swimming with our own halos of light. It was amazing, absolutely amazing. The next morning we hit the sea again, only this time the wind, rain and waves were even worse. I wore my swimsuit during the ride, and none of us remained dry. But I enjoyed the trip and will never forget it. Take care. Misali sunset... you can't beat it. -- Mike