Forever in an Instant

Some adventures defy time. How was it our last day? But at the same time we had done and seen so many amazing things how had it only been two weeks? 
This morning I got up early and ran on the beach in hopes to release some energy and decrease my fidgeting in the 35 hour trek home.

As expected it was beautiful in the early morning. The tide was going out and the kite boarders were starting up. The seaweed farmers had also started their days.

Zanzibar is home to 3% of the world's commercial seaweed harvest and Paje is where the seaweed center is located. It is estimated that there are 15000 women on Zanzibar that are seaweed farmers. In the Seaweed Center they provide these women opportunities to improve their standards of living via the production of soaps and creams. 

My run was shorter than I would have liked due to my enraged knee backs (back of my knees, not sure of a better way to say that), so I returned back to a cold shower and bonding with the live aloe plant.

I also ordered lunch knowing that it would take a couple of hours to actually materialize. Two and half hours later food arrived and it was time for one last look at the Indian Ocean before the car came. 

The ride to the airport was uneventful. Airport check in was chaos. The xray machines were broken so 4 plain clothes locals were randomly going through bags and being as minimally or maximally invasive as they chose. After making it through "security" I spent the time until we boarded shopping with my last shillings (Hooray for neon orange tank tops!) and eating my take away food from our hotel. 

Our flight was full and I ended sitting by an OBGYN resident who had randomly decided to come to Zanzibar for her weeks vacation even though it involved 4 days of travel (so only 4 actual days of vacation when all was said and done).

The first flight was 7 hours to Doha, Qatar which might have the nicest airport of all times.

We paid for the lounge and ate some delicious food and drank fresh juice and then slept on chairs until space in the sleep room opened up.

Next up 18 hours to LAX. Qatar airlines has nothing on Emirates (just sayin') and don't for any reason request the gluten free meal. It was requested for me unbeknownst to me and holy moly it was horrible. I spent the first meal begging the flight attendant to let me have real food. She finally felt sorry for me on the second meal and no more gluten free for me.

As soon as I got to LAX I ran to Delta to see if I could get on an earlier flight and alas it was possible. At some point in this transition I put down my hiking boots (either in the airport or on the plane) and they seem to be forever lost. 

All in all one of the best adventures I have taken! What an amazing planet we live on. Every place I go and group of people I meet it inspires me more and more for the next. This trip like all of the others was special for its own reasons. It was the culmination of dreams, friendship, and achievement continuously augmented by beautiful lands, people and culture. To Tanzania and my travel companions thank you! You are amazing!