Tanzania Day Five: Zanzibar: A Sunrise Walk To The Village of Nungwi
I finally got some sleep on my third night on Island of Zanzibar. I was up early and wanted to explore more of the island. I began my walk from the La Gemma dell’Est at sunrise. I left the resort and walked the access road to the main highway that led to Nungwi, a fishing village on the north shore of the island. . There were only a few local residents walking along the road at this early hour.
Along the way I saw a flock of egrets perched in a tree for the night. They quickly flew off as I approached. 
Near the road I came upon a large number of huge snails feeding on the ground. There were dozens of them. I watched them as they slowly went about their slow and methodical feeding process. Here is a link to a YouTube video I uploaded of the snails.https://youtu.be/SaCgLFDROLA
When I reached the main road, about a 1/2 mile from the resort I headed north toward the fishing village of Nungwi. It was early and there were not a lot of motor vehicles on the road yet. However there were local folks walking to the village, folks on bicycles and a few Zanzibar Toyota , the affectionate name given to the ox drawn carts by the residents of the island. 
It was mostly overcast as I walked along the mostly rural road. I soon came to the houses, small shops and produce stands I saw on my previous walks. 
In a tree near one of them I heard the chirping of birds and discovered that there were dozens of the nests in the tree. I soon learned they were the homes of the eastern golden weaver. 
The beautiful gold/yellow birds fluttered in the tree tops tending to the nest and, I am guessing the young chicks inside. I spent about 15 minutes watching and photographing these beautiful birds. 
After watching the activity of the golden weavers I continued my walk toward the village. I now encountered more people and more shops. Most were still closed because of the early hour.
I walked into the village and found it buzzing with activity, just like the tree of golden weavers. 
There was now a lot more people in the streets including many students walking to school and other folks going to work. The residents were preparing their shops and markets to open later in the morning., 
There were also many more motorcycles, bicycles and motor vehicles, mostly buses and vans, on the road leading to the small village of Nungwi. 
I walked through the main square and began my walk back to my resort. There was much more traffic on the road now. This was my third day walking this road and I think the folks of the village now knew who I was. They were much less apprehensive as I walked by and many of them were outright friendly. It was a wonderful experience watching this village awaken. 
I soon returned to the road to the hotel where I saw a few more birds, including this sun bird. 
I returned to my resort in time for a quick breakfast and waited for my guide to take me on some more explorations of the island. Here is a link to some more photos from my morning walk. Tanzania Day Five. Zanzibar Morning walk October 2 2019.
It was very liberating, living in a foreign country, a place where everything was new and strange – the food, the customs, the climate, everything. Deborah Moggach.
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