So we're back from Jozani and it was pretty much the sweetest part of the trip so far. The forest was made a national park not too long ago and is part red mahogany ground water forest and part coral rag/mangrove area. Walking into one part of the forest feels like being in Jurassic Park, and other parts of the protected area feel like Lion King bushland/savannah. When we got to the forest the first day around 9 AM, there were a huge group of monkeys hanging out right next to our "classroom" feeding. So crazy, and they don't seem to be bothered by human presence at all. Last night before dinner there were about 15 monkeys just hanging outside our house playing and eating. Awesome.

We had a few lectures while there which were pretty frustrating because they were slow, dense, and classrooms in Zanzibar get hot and sleepy real quick. The instructors were really knowledgeable and had tons of experience with monkeys, birds, and even testing whether hyenas will eat gravel mixed with blood, an experiment the chief park warden carried out himself. Apparently blue monkeys are easily confused with sex monkeys (actual name: Syke's monkeys, we discovered after thinking the lecturer was joking and giggling like schoolgirls for 20 minutes).

Yesterday, a few of us went out on a special ride during free time with Salim, one of the park rangers. We rode on the back of a pickup truck out to the forest, and we rode through a part of dense forest which probably hasnt been driven through in several years. While ducking under and getting whacked in the face by branches sitting next to a park ranger in the back of a wild pickup truck driving through the forest with guides clearing the bush with machetes, it really struck me what a crazy/awesome experience I'm having right now in Z-bar.

Also in Jozani, we faked a guy's birthday so we could get cake and ice cream... we honestly thought our academic director wasnt taking us seriously that it was his birthday, until she showed up from Stone Town with cake and a card. It was sweet. The only bad part of the forest was getting supa sick the first afternoon/night. Puking and the works. I had to go back to Stone Town to see a doctor, and then get back to the forest by myself on a dala dala. It was cool but also something I would have liked more when I wasn't sick. I was the only female on the bus, but a friendly guy chatted with me about religion and then asked me where my husband was and laughed hysterically when I replied by saying I was too young.

Also, hilarious factoid to remember: The Kiswahili word tembo has two meanings: one is elephant, and the other is vagina.

On that note...