The Lazy Sway

I woke up this morning and could watch the sun rise over the Indian Ocean from my bed. I sit now, with an after breakfast cup of chai, at a table maybe twenty yards away from gently cresting waves in the center of a small coral-laden cove in Pongwe, Zanzibar. The only sounds are the peaceful lapping of the ocean and the lazy sway of windblown palm fronds. Occasionally, a gull chirps. I watch a distant storm meander northward. I am doing exactly what I had hoped to do, which is absolutely nothing. The sores and blisters on my feet remain from Kili, but are healing. I had my first truly restful night of sleep since I've been in Tanzania last night.

I haven't worn anything but my swimsuit and a tank-top since I've been here, and I don't plan to until I leave. This was intended to be the rejuvenating part of my trip, and it has been exactly that. I drink juice and chai and beer, and I eat each of the three wonderfully prepared meals each day, and I sit and read and think and nap and nothing else. I will continue to follow the example set by the fronds that surround me: at peace, at rest, and lazily swaying for the remainder of our time in the beautiful bay.