Between a rock and the deep blue sea
Nikhil HemrajaniZanzibar, November 14, 2011
First Published: 11:46 IST(14/11/2011)
Last Updated: 11:46 IST(14/11/2011)
I can count the number of
times I've awoken at
dawn, without any assistance,
on the fingers of
one hand. In most cases,
it wasn't pleasant. But
this time, from my beachfacing
bedroom on
Michamwi Beach, Zanzibar,
has all the remarkable qualities
I could ask for.
Zanzibar, a large
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island
off the coast of Tanzania,
derives its name from
the term Zinj el-Bar,
which was coined
by Arab traders
around the third
century. It
means Land Of
The Blacks.
It's 6 am and my
Greek-styled Spartan
white room is flooded with
the first light of dawn.
Drawing away the mosquito
nets that enshroud the bed, I
walk onto the porch of our
boutique villa. There, in the
middle of the beach, amidst
the incoming tide, is a monstrous
limestone rock. It
looks so alien in its environment,
almost as if someone
planted it there. But that's
not all. Some enterprising
soul has built a restaurant
atop it. There's even trees
growing on this thing; you
can see their roots reaching
out, eager to meet the crabs,
barnacles and corals below.
You can walk over to the
rock during low tide or have
the restaurant's boatman
take you there during high
tide. Right now, at 6:15 am, as
the boat gently bobs up and
down in the glassy water, the
sky's a dull grey-blue with a
smattering of clouds. I pull
out my camera hurriedly to
capture the moment when
the sun breaches the surface
of the Indian Ocean -- like a
deoxygenated diver steadily
making his ascent. I want to
get closer to the action, but
the tide is high and walking
into the water isn't a wise
choice.
Michamwi isn't your typical
tropical island beach. The
seabed, even in ankle-deep
water, is awash with dead
coral. A wrong footing could
end up giving you a nasty
cut. And may God help you if
you accidentally step on a
trepid sea urchin. As a local
beach boy puts it, "You step
on one and you won't be able
to stand up again."
Spherical and spiny, sea
urchins are the porcupines of
coral-land. These creatures,
from the same family as sea
cucumbers and starfish, help
maintain the coral reefs' delicate
eco-system. But they're
not nice at all when concealed
in seaweed or hidden
in cracks between rocks. The
black sea urchins that populate
the beaches around
Zanzibar have spines that
can reach up to a foot in
length. Even the native
Zanzibari people, who cultivate
seaweed (that gets
exported to China) in the
shallow water, wade out
wearing thick-soled shoes.
The angular rays of the
sun now begin to hit the
beach's pristine white sand
and highlight something
peculiar. Michamwi's 'sand'
isn't actually sand -- it's
more like minute bits of
shells mixed with the occasional
grain of sand. This is
in stark contrast to, say, the
sand on Matemwe Beach
that's further up north,
which is so consistent that
you'll have a hard time differentiating
it from corn flour.
As my camera zooms in on
the horizon, there's a splash
in the distance. It's a school
of dolphins, and one jumps
out of the water, disappearing
just as quickly.
A concierge from the villa
walks up, saying "mambo",
which is Swahili for "How're
things?" If everything's cool,
you reply, "Poa". He asks if
I'd like my glass of bungo
juice right now. Bungo, a
fruit native to Tanzania,
tastes like a mix of mango,
pineapple and orange. It's an
excellent refresher, especially
after cycling on the beach
under the midday sun.
Passion fruit with avocado is
a good choice too, but bungo
gets first priority, if only for
its novelty.
It's 6:30 am as I crawl back
into my bed. There's a lot in
store: the rest of the trip
includes completing a scubadiving
course; taking a trip
with Captain Kikoko into a
bog to see wader birds like
flamingos; visiting the
ancient but still habited
Stone Town; and taking a
relaxing swim in the much
safer, turquoise waters of
Paje Beach.
But right now, it's time for
another nap.
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