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JULY 2005 ‚ 1720 HOURS ‚ BREEZES BEACH CLUB ZANZIBAR
Today was excursion day, and from the variety available, including dolphin tours,
trips to Prison Island to see the giant tortoises that reside there, we opted
to stick close and take a walk through Jozani National Park, home of the endangered
red colubus monkey and the only place it can be found. On the way, we learned
from our driver Edreesa that Breezes is closest to two coastal villages, Bweeju
and Paje. Upon arriving we were introduced to a Mr.
Ali who would be our guide through the park, which is divided up into three parts:
the forest part, the monkey part and the mangroves. After a 30-minute loop through
the 
astounding botanical wonder of the first section, filled with tall red mahongony,
sprawling ficus trees, expansive ferns and palms of many varieties (and the occasional
black monkey), we made our way across the road and barely had to step
back into the foliage before finding ourselves surrounded by a large group of
red colubus. While most were sleeping, one very inquisitive and demonstrative
youngster would leap and climb down to a point only a few inches above my head.
It didnít take long for others to wake-up and decide to do a bit of foraging.
Whereas I felt a bit rushed during the walk through the forest area, I shut Mr.
Ali out of my mind and just set myself to capturing picture after picture of
the wonderful primates. I even succeeded in capturing stills of them making great
leaps from one tree to another in their quest for edibles, and Susan manned the
video camera while I was snapping so that we could get a recording of the high-pitched
calls they make.
According to Mr. Ali there are
but about 1,500 red colubus in existence, but their numbers are increasing,
thanks in large part to the creation
of the national
park, which opened only last year. The park itself is some 5,000 hectares in
size, and we capped off the visit with a low-tide stroll along a boardwalk
through
dense stands of
mangrove trees. Though the ocean is some two kilometers away, my Garmin showed
us to be about 10 feet below sea level and Mr. Ali said that during high tide
the water rises almost to the height of the wooden path.
Back at the hotel,
Susan and I had lunch and then grabbed a couple of beach lounges
and relaxed on the sand. Showers and then dinner will follow tonight
and tomorrow weíre going nowhere
but under the sun and near or in the water on a mission to relax and do some
snorkeling and relax some more on what will not only be our final fully day
in paradise but also the last day in Africa, for Tuesday morning we
begin the journey
home. Has it really been more than two weeks already? Where did it go?