Spring Break 2012! Pangani Beach

We just got back from a very relaxing 5 days at the beach with our good friends Mirjam and Andrew and their 2 kids Simone (6) and Theo (3).  We stayed at another friend’s house there.  Well, it’s not really a house, it’s more like a compound.  There were 4 simple bandas for sleeping and one central area (open air) for eating, cooking, etc.  There’s no power, but there’s a cooktop and chest refrigerator that both run on propane tanks, so we just brought the tanks and all of our own food down.  They also have a hanging basket system for fruits and veggies. There are a couple of helpers/guards that are on staff to do the dishes/cleaning up and also fetch Anderson his fresh coconuts and help us clean fish what the local fisherman brought us.  It was great!  The kids had a blast playing together.  Next door we had more great friends (Ashy’s *friend* Ben), so it was very fun for all. 

It was really hot at the coast…African hot, so sleeping was a bit uncomfortable and we really didn’t let the kids out of the central area during the heat of the day except for the day that we went with the neighboring family to Maziwe Island for a snorkel trip.  And then, we just spent the entire day in the water.  (Thanks to Hagai for sharing his underwater photos). Tierney is now very adept with her snorkel and has no fear of touching things:  pic below in purple bathing suit you can see her holding a sea cucumber.  Also notice the guide in the picture with Matt; he’s snorkeling in his jeans.

Goats and local mamas on the beach

Ashy calls this her “sassy” look

Ash and Simone riding bikes on the beach

Red Snapper

Fetching and cutting coconuts

Beach time! Sand castles and beach tennis.  Ashlyn and Simone in particular were in the water constantly and it was difficult to call them in even as the sun set.

Time to go home.  Getting on the ferry to cross the Pangani River.

Roadside bus wisdom

We could have easily stayed at the beach another few days, but we have an opportunity to head to the Serengeti where a pack of wild dogs has started denning because the girl is pregnant.  It’s unusual for the packs to stay in a smaller area, so we’re going to give it a shot and see if we can find them.