Thursday 21st

We sat by the pool for a while this morning but i get bored very quickly so I had to get up and do something. Our cheapest option seemed to be the sea safari, in which you walk out into the reef at low tide and look for small sea creatures. (Mike and I decided that in order to save money we didn't need a guide,) and we waded out into the ocean.

But the guides came running after us and explained that if we went alone we would get injured because we'd tread on things that ought not to be trodden on. And it was a good job too because all around our feet were black sea urchins that looked rather prickly. With the guides help we avoided injury and saw fish, urchins, anenomies, corals and sea cucumbers. It wasn't massively exhilarating but it was a pleasant way to spend the morning and we had fun.

I tried to do some shopping with Karyn to get some souvenirs, but the beach vendors made the experience horrible.

I feel in Rwanda that people shouldn't rip us off because we live there. We are giving our time and resources to invest in the people and the country. Furthermore we know how much things should cost and therefore we know when we're being ripped off. Most people quickly realize that you you can't be taken advantage of, especially when you speak to them in Kinyarwanda. But some people still insist on trying to trick us out of our hard earned cash, and it gets really annoying. But I have always conceded that they should go for it with the tourists. After all, tourists are there to spend foreign money and boost the economy.

Boy was it hard making the transition from seasoned resident to 'don't have a clue how much this currency is worth' tourist. And it being the beach front, the vendors were used to dealing only with fresh off the plane tourists. So every time we went to buy something they'd start with a ridiculously high price, for example $60 for a $5 necklace. It was exhausting! By the time you'd figured out how little they were willing to accept, you were so tired that you didn't want the damn thing any more. After an hour of shopping I walked away with nothing more than a headache, severe sunburn and a deeply furrowed brow.

In the afternoon a couple of local guys took us to feed some more monkeys.

It will be little things like this that I miss when I go back to the UK. Listening to the crickets at night. The geckos running up the walls. Having no hot running water. Oh wait, I won't miss that.