Three up; Three Dhow(n)

The crew preparing a whole crab, tomato, lemon, onion, and potato stew to be served over rice

Intersecting animal tracks on island number one

Auditioning for my big screen cameo in Castaway 2

The three of us awoke at 7:15am to catch the Vilakulos boat ride. This was to be no ordinary boat ride though. An invite might have looked something like this:

You are invited!
What: A full day trip on a traditional African boat called a dhow
When: Tomorrow at 8:00am (we'll pick you up at the hostel)
How much: 1900 meticles per person (63 dollars)
What to bring: Swim Suit (for swimming off of two islands that are part of Archipelago National Park), Go Pro (for snorkeling the nearby reef), Sun screen
Additional Details: A lunch of freshly caught fish and crabs andbananas and pineapple will be provided. This is a full day event.

Safe it to say, it was a spectacular day. I could have spent the whole thing scuba diving, but eventually they dragged me back onto the boat so we could explore some of the islands. That too proved amazing as the islands loaded with massive dunes that conjured images of the Sahara desert, sea shells that put every other beach I've ever visited to shame, and hilarious herds of wild goats like a two star Chincoteague Island.

The only real problem was just how long the dhow took to traverse to and from the island. After 2.5 hours of transit each way, we only had 4 hours to snorkel, lunch, and island hop. I cannot emphasize enough, I could have spent the whole thing snorkeling.

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