One adventure by land, Another by sea

I've been on a couple of adventures recently; Sunday took me to Jazani Forest, and Tuesday to another day at sea. Between those, I celebrated our Independence Day.

Jozani forest is the largest protected region on the Island, which allows it to flourish unhindered. Many of the island's endemic species exist in this forest, most notably the Red Colubus Monkey. After a walk through the region's mangroves, we were able to see some of these endangered monkeys. Their species split from the mainland after the last ice age, and habitat deforestation along with hunting has led to its endangered status.

The tour ended with Jozani forest itself, which provided an amazing green spectrum rising in color as one scans  from the floor to the canopy. The natural silence, broken by bird calls and monkeys, was a welcome break from the hustle of Stone Town. I sat down to read some Vonnegut as the afternoon broke.

The next day was America's Independence Day. Not much celebration here as we had to prepare for a cruise the next day. For dinner though, we experienced Thai-flavored pizza in an African country; with that this obvious clash of cultures was perfectly American.

Tuesday was our first time attempting the water sampling techniques, which includes semicircles of radius 3km, 6km, 9km, and 12km. This organization will help us determine what direction the pollution travels on a specific day. We hope multiple days of sampling coupled with coral health will give an average of the pollution path.

The cruise itself was incredible; we were floating around in a dingy in the Tropical Indian Ocean, collecting bottles of water. Absolutely surreal. We made anchor near a reef on one of the outer sandbars for lunch. Incredible visibility, amazing sunlight, just perfect; I saw a lion fish, huge schools of anchovies, some giant starfish, and had a couple chapati to eat. We finished the cruise completing all of our samples, and the day with a few beers during the sunset.

Somethings Interesting:
-Yesterday was a holiday, "Saba saba"; it was the seventh day of the seventh month.

-Plastic bags are outlawed on Zanzibar; they would all eventually end up in the ocean. There is still a problem with trash, a lot of it plastic, but no plastic bags.

-There are seven species of wildlife endemic to Zanzibar. The Zanzibar Leopard is the most awesome, though only rumors have existed since the early 1990s.