Last day on the tour today :( Has not been a good day at all...infact everything i have said so far about how im not looking forward to it...nothing campared to how hard it actually was. But lets go back to where I left off,

On wednesday we left Mikadi Beach lodge and moved to another camp called Amaan bunglows, which was RIGHT on the coast - very nice indeed! but first we stopped off to do a spice tour - because apparently thats was Zanzibar does best - spice! The tour was excellent, really fun! and we got to try a lot of the spices right off the plant - some of which, namley the black pepper, i wisely chose not to try! And afterwards we got sooo much fruit it was unbelievable, they just kept cutting it and passing it round! and then on our way back to the bus there was this guy shimmying up and down a coconut tree and we got to drink pure coconut juice...i like! The local boys who were helping out started making hats and earings and necklaces and bags for us all our of reeds and leaves which was pretty impressive -at one point i had everything on that i could possibly have and apparently looked a bit like the queen of spice! a title i am more than happy to accept! So after that we started the hour drive to the coast when...shock of horrors...we got a flat tire! luckily for us we did b***** all to try and help and just sat in the shade whilst they sorted it out :)

So we got to the coast mid afternoon and it was georgous! i mean completly postcard worthy! it was unlike anything i had ever seen before! Me and Kav went to explore whilst everyone else started swimming, next thing we knew the tide had come in a little further than expected and the steps we used to get to that part of the camp were about to be washed away! Still, we spent the afternoon swimming in the Indian Ocean in water that was probably about 26 degrees, laughing at all the guys trying to do backflips off the top deck by the bar! So definitly nothing to complain about there.

That evening we had a group dinner which was ummm interesting to say the least...you see we all ordered together but the food arrived somewhat sporadically, in which i mean they were just cooking random meals whether we ordered them or not and bringing them out to us whenever they felt like it! still, i got mine pretty quick and OMG it was amazing! it was a bolognaise pizza! thats right, you heard me, a pizza with bolognaise on it! who'd have thought huh! but it was brilliant, really nice! in fact i think i gave quite a bit of it to everyone else because they all hadnt got their meals and were somewhat begging with their eyes for mine lol! So dinner (for me atleast) was great, and then, even better, we had a fire on the beach and basically got drunk on cocktails for a while - LAKKAR! Me, Steven and Kav spent some time writing messages in the sand which was quite fun - they ranged from a portrait of me as the devil to a giant WALES in 6 foot letters (steven is welsh incase you didnt get that!) - so a lot of fun!

The next morning most people in the group went scuba diving off one of the other beaches a way away, but me and tanja and a few others had a nice relaxing lunch and did some serious sun bathing...which led to me getting seriously burnt! But not to fear my friends, and i dont want to alarm you, but i am tanning! yes my skin is slowly but surly changing from pure white so a more subtle golden magnolia colour! im am very impressed with myself! yay to me for ruining my skin! So that evening we went for dinner with Phlip and Evelyn - a lovely couple who joined the tour in livingstone - at a bar right on the seafront (so when the tide was in you couldnt leave!). Really nice meal that night :) there is only one further detail of that day i feel i should mention, and i am only mentioning it because i want to get the story straight before other people start mentioning it. You see at this camp they had cats, numurous cats that would just walk around making friends with people etc etc. so, there was this one cat, who justin named isabelle, who came and sat by our room for a while - sounds fine right? well, i picked the cat up to try and move it away because...well i cant remember why now but it was a nessesity at the time...and THE BLOODY STUPID SPASTIC CAT SHAT ON ME!! yes thats right, one minute everything was hunky dory, next thing i know the smell of s*** is wafting in the air and i look down to find this dribbly yellow substance intruding on my otherwise fabulous attire! I was NOT IMPRESSED! Dont get me wrong Andrew, Steve, Phlip and Evelyn found it hilarious when the story was retold later that evening....suffice to say i hope that cat died. a horrible death. and i have never said that about a cat before but this one - i really hope.

So moving on (swiftly), Friday was our last day on the coast, we had the morning to basically do what we wanted, which involved swimming (although at that time of the morning the tide was out so far you had to walk 20mins just to reach water deep enough - the previous day me and tanya gave up half way and sat down in 3 inches of water!), having lunch and enjoying milkshakes at the cafe :) A very nice morning...then in the afternoon we went back to stone town for one last night - my last night completly - and i bought a lovely zanzibarian scarf as my tanzanian souveneir :) That evening instead of a sit down meal we decided to go round the market for dinner. By market i mean a massive food and seafood market with everythng from fruit, to crepe's, to kebabs to lobster! its crazy! And apart from some guy running off with about 6 dollars worth of Kav's change - it was a really nice evening. Again we ventured to the gelatto and then back to a bar called Livingstone's that was actually playing pretty cool music! A couple of drinks there and then back to the hotel. See, i can behave myself occasionally....

And so that leads me to today. An early morning, quick breakfast and a ferry ride later, they've gone. Im back at Mikadi beach lodge for another night until my flight tomorrow and already i miss them all so much. it was actually heartbreaking to say goodbye to all the girls and everyone. i mean, i have spent the last month of my life with them 24 hours a day and done so much with them, it just tore me up to think i wouldnt see them again for ages, if at all. I cant really describe it anymore to be honest because it makes me sad just to think about it, but i think its a testiment to how great the trip was that i found it so hard to leave them, and sitting here now on the beach, i just want them all to walk back into the bar as if they never left. So yeah, as i said, not a great day. But its been an amazing month and i've done things i never thought i would do, and i did them without a second thought! I think i may be leaving africa a very different person, and i think like it or not ill be leaving my heart here, for a while at least.

Im meeting Steven here later, he has a really early flight so he's sharing my room until he has to leave for the airport, so ill have dinner with him and probably talk a bit about people which will be nice. its just been a lot harder than i thought it would be and its my own fault because i threw myself heart and soul into this trip, but i have a lot more coming that i have to look forward to, and i know ill see a lot of these people again which is a great feeling. As i think i said before - friends for life, just a bit further away than i would like.

So for any of you reading this, i miss you all like hell. thats all there is too it. Love you all

xxx