21/10: Mkoma Bay

We started the day early as we had to take a boat to Pangani on the mainland at 7 am. There were some problems before we wanted to board that we solved. A lot of people were sitting close to our boat on the beach and at first I didn’t understand why, but as we were about to board someone came and said that the people wanted to go with us to Pangani for a funeral. But the boat really wasn’t that big, so we didn’t think everyone could fit without our bags getting wet or sinking, so we ended up having four people and a baby with us for the funeral. We felt kind of bad not taking more, but we didn’t want to jeopardize our safety. After 3-3.5 hours we arrived at Mkoma Bay. The beach and water was a disappointment after Zanzibar. Then we went up to the reception and the way was covered in leaves and dirt and it didn’t look very nice. We had arranged with the owner to have one double and one triple room with all separate beds. We did not get any of that. We got two double and one single and one of the double doesn’t even have separate beds. I had expected so much more from a place like this. If you can’t give us the rooms we book or separate the beds then tell us, it wouldn’t have been a problem if they had only told us in advance. But otherwise the place is very nice. We relaxed the rest of the day, me with a good book just as I like it. As it is half-board dinner is included, in the form of a three course meal! It was really good. There is only one other person here except the owner, so it is very quiet and peaceful. But that is what we need before we are back in Arusha in a few days.