Rumor has it that if a pregnant woman is in the water, the dolphins detect the second heartbeat and shepherd her back to the boat.

Kizimkazi

Kizimkazi is not so much a park as it is a village. Two villages in fact, each consisting of a cluster of huts and a couple of simple dukas, all backing on to their own small sandy bay.

Since the villages are at the end of the road, they get no through traffic and village life takes place on the street. Children run laughing in front of the vehicle and sleepy heads roll around to check out the new arrivals. A man sits with a battered violin held half mast to his biceps and an entrancing Arabic tune wafts through the village, as does the overpowering aroma (?) of drying fish, hanging from mats in front of the huts. Down at the shore, through a row of shady trees, ngalawa (fishing boats) rest hauled up on the burning sand or bob gently up and down in the turquoise sea.

In the Southern part of the village (Kizimkazi Mkunguni) a sandy cove provides moorings for fishing vessels and fishermen wander amongst the palms in wide-brimmed straw hats, making cane-work fishing traps and pushing kapok into gaps to seal their hulls. Two great baobab trees dominate the front, one towering over the bar, the other over the schoolhouse. The latter is estimated to be over six centuries old.

Kizimkazi is best known for it's dolphins. From this South beach, villagers run excursions to swim with the water mamals. The trips can be great fun and the prospects of seeing dolphins from the boat are very good. However, those with visions of clapping flippers and riding of dorsal fins will usually be disappointed. These creatures are intelligent enough to disappear when half a dozen flippered humans jump simultaneously into the water. But there is a good chance of seeing these beautiful animals from a sensible distance and you may well be rewarded with sightings of turtles, stingrays and sharks. Make sure that your guides don’t try too hard to get near the dolphins. It’s a more relaxed and enjoyable experience (both for you and the dolphin) if you just take it as it comes and watch from a distance if they aren’t in the mood.

Travelers lucky enough to catch a school of dolphins when they are feeling social are amazed by these incredibly intelligent, gentle and caring mammals. However close you manage to get, the outing is a great way to spend the day enjoying island life.

Remember to take plenty of water, it’s easy to get de-hydrated.