This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and the Kansas African Studies.

The Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa teems with exotic marine life but, up until now, if you wanted to see them, you had to tug on your wet suit, shrug on your tank, screw on your mask, plug in your oxygen hose, and slip into your fins. No more. Visitors to Pemba Island in the Zanzibar archipelago of Tanzania can now get up close and personal with all manner of aquatica from the comfort of their own bed at the Manta Resort, home to Africa’s first hotel room located beneath the waves. The room offers a 360 degree underwater view and, at night, using your personal spotlights, you can catch glimpses of the rarest of fish and they of you! If you start to feel oxygen deprived or worried about the bends, no problem: The room has two floors above water, too. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat. No gills necessary.

With thanks to Mackenzie Jones for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.