Ibo Island

So this is a very far away, almost impractical travel destination. It's not just a quick boat ride away. Actually, it's a flight to Paris, a flight to J'burg, a flight to Maputo, a flight to Berra, a flight to Pemba, a rental truck and a full days drive that may or may not include an overnight tent stay in a Bush village, a 4 hour boat ride in a dhow and you're there! I am sure there must be a better way. This is without a doubt one of my top 5 most amazing, incredible, most favorite places on Earth! I wanna be a Missionary to Ibo Island. They are all Muslim. It is described as: An island stopped in time; a throw back to a time of colonialism, slaves, exploitation and silversmiths.

So I went there...and despite the extreme embarrassment of this photo and about 100 others out there of me, with no make-up, hair uncombed, no bath in weeks (seriously) and pudgy from my high carb diet of rice and rice. Here it is, me on my way to Ibo Island in a tiny dhow with a boat full of other nut jobs just like me.

There is a really long story here about how we got there and how we got the "hook-up" by name dropping (it's universal) and all about the journey and getting stuck in the sand and Bush men digging us out and sleeping on a soccer field and so much more. But to make it a Favorite Things place, I must promote it as a destination. So, google this place and read about the history and look on http://www.flickr.com/ for photos and save up your money and Go! There is a beautiful little lodge on the island. I wanted to stay there, but couldn't ditch my dirty friends, so I slept on the ground instead of crisp, clean, white sheets in a canopy bed. http://www.iboisland.com/

If you did go, the Lodge would provide very comfortable accommodations, good food, a lovely pool, daily snorkel and SCUBA trips, fishing, tons of island exploration, and more. Go here to read about the history of the island...it will blow you away and just note, it is much more sad than they make it out to be: http://www.iboisland.com/content1.cfm?AgentsID=279&PageID=324