Sheepish in Zanzibar, or should that be squidish?

Hello all,
Ok, it's been a long long time, I know! Right where do I start. Christmas kinda sucked as it usually does if I'm not with my family. I just miss them a lot. We celebrated on Christmas Eve anyway by making a huge feast. I helped out Petey (who works for deep sea fishing charters) with cooking a whole pig on the brai. This was great fun!! I particularly enjoyed injecting the flesh with brandy, and then we got hold of some chocolate balls and started injecting them instead (and eating them of course!).

New Years Eve, Nix, a good friend of mine here, brought round the dvd's to the latest Live Aid and we had a few drinks, danced a lot to that in the guest house living room (Bagamoyo), before heading to Cholos, the local bar. Cholos is on the beach. Usually quite chilled out, it's predominantly made out of wooden boats with hammocks strewn around amongst the palm trees. That night it was packed and I spent a fair amount of time dancing on the bar ; )

Generally days all blend into each other here. Diving most days, sunbathing, reading, swimming. My pattern is to get up at 7 - 7.30am, do some stretches, head round to bagamoyo for coffee and toast, see what's happening for the day ahead, dive, watch a little TV or play guitar, go to Cholos for sunset and to catch up with my friends. Have dinner either by making something at home or the guesthouse or visit the mishkaki (kebab, chapatti and chip) stand or occasionally go for pizza or calamari at one of the restaurants). Back to Cholos to chill with friends or have a big one. Cholos is like an extension of all our houses.

A friend of mine, Andy, is the skipper for a catamaran here called Julia. I love her but then I don't have to work on her. The owner won't spend the money that's needed so Andy has a difficult job, but I've spent a few days on it helping him out with guests if they're diving. One day he had to go to Stone Town so several of us sailed with him down the west coast. More than anything else this has made me realise how much I want to live and dive from a boat, moving to new places all the time. How I'm going to do this is a different matter!!

Most of our lives take place in a piece of land no bigger than the average high street. Same faces, same days. Everyone is in everyone else's business but at the same time everyone gives everyone else space when you're upset, tired or depressed. Everyone knows something about what's going on but hardly anyone knows the full story.

There is a constant flow of guests though Bagamoyo which is small, only 4 rooms. Many of these are South African and are friendly, laid back looking to relax and eat a lot. As a change from Cholos, we'll often have big dinners or brais here. I don't know how to expain just how small life is here. Converstaions revolve around fishing, diving, some people gossip alot, inconsequential matters, plans that for the most part will never happen. Hardly anyone knows what's going on in the real world!

Zanzibar has a magneticism all of it's own. I was supposed to be leaving but am now staying until mid April. Then I will definitly leave because it's rainy season also I figure I'll be gagging to be back on the road, but for now it's cool to be part of the furniture.

Mum has just spent 10 days here and it was great to catch up with her and for her to spend some time seeing what my life is like, even if she did find the heat a little too much for her! Zanzibar, like most of Africa, is very friendly and welcoming to all. Frequently a dinner planned for 10 will end up being for 20 : )

Love, relationships, this seems to come up a lot here. Everyone is looking for it, some people have already found it. Much more so than Tofo, Zanzibar seems to tie in with love. I really don't know why. It is certainly more exotic here. More and more I find myself wishing to be with someone who I can truely share my life with, but if the life you are living is extraordinary, then I guess so it follows that the right person will need to be so too. As ever I have found myself surrounded by many wonderful people again.

So that's my life at the moment. I will try and write more often. The last year I've been incredibly slack. I shall make it my new years resolution!!

I still like to write but it's too difficult to write stories, don't have the time or space. Instead I've been concentrating on poetry. I've included a couple of them below for those of you who might be interested.

Hope you are all good,
lots of love
kx

This one was written because I'd had butterflies in my stomach for days. I'm still not sure why, and they almost seem to be becoming part of me...

Butterfly
Oh butterfly with your wings so bright
A moment too brief inside the light
To live, to love, from you we can learn
There is no time in this world to yearn
But follow your dreams and know the truth
Do not be afraid or stand aloof

Oh butterfly with your wings so bright
I wish you’d leave me alone this night
You sit inside this heart of mine
To make me restless, aware of time
Be still in the quiet and the dark
So I may know the needs of my heart

Oh butterfly your strength starts to fade
As the sun rises on a new day
You have been the most that you can be
As colour reigns with joy to be free
From your passion for life, I take heed,
And spread my wings so they carry me.

(no guesses what inspired this one!)

All at Sea
All around me is peace as the orange
sun gently arches towards its' bed on
the horizon. Boats safely moored bob to and
fro in the ceasless motion of the sea.
Becalmed now the breeze stirs only the leaves
in the trees up above, but the might of
the ocean knows no restraint as the surf
break crashes against the sea wll, spraying
the evening light with hundreds of glistening
diamonds. A candle flickers and casts a
warm glow echoing the one inside me
now, as I gaze out at the strange place I
call home. One that accepts me wherever
I go, whose moods and moments so often
mirror my own. Stormy and dark, steady
and true, it is a dangerous game to
invite when complacent in your embrace.
Yet I take solace in your waters so
deep, knowing that as you give me the life
I breathe, so may you be the death of me.