Today we headed to a small island off of Dar es Salaam called Mbudya; it is a very small and idyllic island. There were quite a few of us today; Rich, Arnold, Suzi, Teddy, Jazilla and I. It took 20 minutes by boat to get there. The boat was a small and wooden, it held as many people as they could squeeze on to it. In order to get to the boat, we had to walk around 100m in to the sea, luckily it was shallow, but there was a lot of sludge on the sea bed and I was scared that I would step on a sea urchin. Rich and Arnold said that they could see the fear in my face.

Arriving in Mbudya was lovely, although it was slightly cloudy when we arrived. We walked to the restaurant where we ordered food straight away as Arnold said it takes a while. We ordered fish and chips. Arnold said that they catch the fish as the orders are made, and so that is why it takes a while as there is no guarantee of how quickly the fish can be caught.

Arnold and Rich played a few games of checkers before heading on to the beach with the football. The girls went into the sea. I just chilled in the restaurant, I was in one of those deep thought modes, taking in the surroundings and enjoying the relaxation time.

Our food took almost two hours to arrive, but it was worth it, it was delicious! They gave us no cutlery, so we ate the fish using our fingers. This is a traditional way to eat here. You could tell that Rich and I were not used to it as it took us a while to eat our fish.... We had to peel back the skin and then pick the chunks off. Arnold's cousins demolished the fish within minutes! They were more than used to eating with their fingers, you could tell by the way they had grasped a concept and method of eating. The fish came out whole with the head and tail in tact. Africans often eat fish heads, but there was no way I was eating the head.

After lunch we chilled out for a few more hours. The sun broke between the clouds for a short while, it was quite a nice temperature, not to hot or cold. When I walked to the toilet, which wasn't far, maybe 200m, I came across the other side of the island where there were more people. The island is very small and you can't stay there, unless you put up a tent I suppose. Mbudya was quite busy today. One group of people brought a BBQ across with them, it was funny to watch them try get back on to the boat with it. You can bring your own alcohol with you too as the alcohol there is mainly beer or cider.

We left Mbudya around 5pm, and got back to the house an hour or so after. After some food Rich, Arnold and I headed to and English pub called The George and Dragon. It felt very much like being in a pub at home. There were a lot of pictures and slogans on the wall. There was also money pinned on the wooden beams.

The evening was nice and chilled, just what people need on a Sunday. They started closing the pub shortly after 11pm, and so we decided to call it a night and head home.

Today was a nice relaxing day, just what I needed after Friday night. Everyone loves a relaxing Sunday Funday.

H