We left the volunteer house at 5am to catch our '10 hour' bus to Dar es Salaam, so naturally, 20 hours later, we arrived. Only a short overnight stop, before our early morning very bumpy ferry ride to Zanzibar- that foreign place with the paradise beaches. Although it is very touristy, with the familiar race of doing this, seeing that, going there and taking photos of it, it certainly provides everything it's glossy brochures promise. And it charges for it.

We spent most of our time in Stonetown, little streets easy to get lost in, overpriced tacky markets in every doorway, dry extortionate food by the harbour, the leftovers of which "went to the orphans". Course it did... But it was certainly a beautiful place to eat dinner at sunset!

We went on a spice tour, which involved getting little bits of every fresh spice imaginable in our banana leaf cone and being bedecked in every kind of paraphanalia you can make with a banana leaf. Interesting to smell cinnamon straight off the tree and it's always nice to have a bit of fresh coconut (harvested by a young man who made palm climbing into his own personal musical).

A bumpy packed dalla-dalla took us to the East coast and to a place of dreams. Right, picture the most typically beautiful tropical beach, with white sands, turquoise waters, coral reefs breaking the waves, thatched huts, palm trees and hammocks. Add reggae music in the background and rasta ramblings round the night time beach campfire, and that's where we were. It was paradise.

Just to put the rather large sumptious unforgettable cherry on top, we set out on a cold wet early morning boat with flippers and snorkles and joined the dolphins in their natural play area. What perfect creatures! Spinning, twirling, dancing in the depths, diving on the surface. Mum's exclamations of joy accompanied my excitement, as I gulped down salt, got stung by jellyfish and fought the unfamiliar aids on my feet. But I swam with Dolphins! I hadn't known it was a dream of mine until I was there. It doesn't get much better than that. Our presence didn't seem to phase them, a previous worry of ours, so, completely content, Zanzibar formed the perfect end to our journey together. The following day, mum returned home and I returned to Uganda.

Thank you my dear mum for an incredible month, we are lucky ladies!