Sailing into the sunset in Michamvi

At the northerly tip of the particular peninsula that we are staying on is a place called Michamvi Kae. This small village is West facing so witnesses the sunset, has some of the most gorgeous beaches I have ever seen and is also home to loads of mangrove trees. Mangroves are trees that can grow in salt water and in harsh coastal conditions. We’ve seen a fair few of them down the coast of Tanzania and they are also spread out around Zanzibar. When the tide is out these trees merely stand up out of the sand, but when it’s in they are almost completely submerged with just their busy tops sticking up out of the water.

One day Claire and I decided to go for a stroll to Michamvi. The walk was about a mile along the main road in the baking heat of the sun. Despite leaving relatively early in the morning we were still being cooked as we wandered along the road. Eventually, Claire and I arrived at the beach to find the tide was out. All of the boats were resting on the sand and the water’s edge was a hundred yards away. The scene was tranquil and there were hardly any people around. Though we did bump into Tina, a friendly German girl who was living on Zanzibar for a few months running a party boat called The Free Spirit. We had previously met her at Pweza as she is a friend of Phillip’s. Tina lent Claire an umbrella to keep the sun off her shoulders, before we said our goodbyes and went for a stroll along the beach.

Mangroves at low tide

As we slowly wandered along the empty beach hundreds of small white crabs scuttled and scurried around, disturbed by our presence. We took our shoes off and walked burying our toes in the lovely white sand. We’ve spent a lot of our time in Tanzania wandering along beaches and it’s a fantastic opportunity to zone out and let your mind do what it wants. It’s also a great time for Claire and I to chat away about whatever it is we’ve been thinking about in the last few days. Our conversation often turns to what we will do when we get home, as we discuss one of Claire’s many business ideas or my chances of making it as a freelancer. There’s also something nice knowing that whilst you’re soaking in the sun enjoying the calm serenity of an empty beach, everyone back home is hard at work.

After making our way across the beach we arrived at the mangroves. When the tide is out the roots are exposed and the thick, dense forest is a real sight with most of the trees standing around 20 feet tall. The roots stick up out of the sand and the leaves are incredibly green. In fact, these trees look much less tropical and rather more like they have been dropped out of the English countryside.

The next time Claire and I saw these trees, the following day in fact, the tide was in and we were swimming among them. It was the day of the highest tide of the year and we were on the party boat The Free Spirit. Claire and I were joined by Phil, Tina, Tash and Chaz – the two Auzzie girls staying at Pweza, and a bunch of other people including two friendly German guy called Tim and Carsten. The boat was a small dhow with four crew members and a mini upper deck, like a slightly bigger version than the one Claire and I stupidly took across from the mainland. The crew had taken us right amongst the mangroves which were now almost completely covered by the high tide and we’d dropped anchor to go for a swim. The water was lovely and warm and everyone floated around for ten minutes or so chatting away.

Mangroves at high tide

Earlier that day, before we left Pweza, Phil told us that we were soon to experience the highest tide of the year. And when we arrived at Michamvi, where the boat set off from, we could already tell. The tide was coming in so fast you could actually see it. Water was rushing up the road, flooding the entire north part of the peninsula. Claire and I had never quite seen such a drastic tide. And once we had made our way to the mangroves, we were able to almost swim up to them and touch their tops, where the day before they had been towering over our heads.

The boat trip was a ‘sunset cruise’. Essentially you get a bunch of people together, fill a cool box with beer and Conyagi – Tanzanian gin – and head off to cruise around the bay, stopping a few times to go for a swim, before watching the sun set and sailing home. We had a mix of cool and awful music to accompany our trip and enjoyed chatting to all of the new people, Tim in particular was really cool. After swimming amongst the mangroves we then made our way out into the middle of the bay to get the best view of the sunset. The crew put up the giant triangular sail and the engines were shut off. We were sailing, actually sailing. The wind was taking us towards the sun as it began to set bleaching the sky many different shades of orange, yellow and red. And, after a few minutes, the sun was completely gone. Sunsets here in East Africa, where we are near to the equator, seem to be over in a matter of minutes and here in Zanzibar it is no different. After the sun went down we made our way back to shore and disembarked The Free Spirit. The tip of the peninsula was still entirely flooded to we walked back to the car in ankle deep water only to find that it had become stuck in the sand. It took the five of us – Claire, Chaz, Tash Phil and me – along with around five or six local guys, about fifteen minutes to get his car unstuck before we drove home through giant puddles of sea water.

Adam and Tim