Stonetown and More

Hi...been a few weeks since we updated here....I have been locked out of my blog and after many hours of frustration with google, I finally got back in and I am not sure how....but here we go

Stonetown is the primary city on the island of Unjuga or Zanzibar island....up until the 1960's this was a hub of trade for this part of the world...the city of Dar Es Salaam, really did not exist other than having a natural port, it was not doing much...but then Union came...and Tanzania was born out of Tanganyika and Zanzibar and along with it a long service socialist (communist) government and as a result, lots of business's were nationalised and ruined and the economy took a nosedive....and I hazard to say, it will never recover here...because also in that time....Dar was made the primary city....

Some good things came out of this period of turmoil.....the nation developed an international identity that it did not have before and tribal differences and tribalism was largely done away with and a new national language KiSwahili was born.....in English its called Swahili in Swahili, its called KiSwahili..its a manufactured language, relatively simple to understand when you practise it a bit....



One of the many minarets in this Muslim city

typical historic building in downtown Stonetown



Container and Ferry Docks

Stonetown is a UNESCO world heritage site and is a rabbit warren of small alleys, lanes and hideaways. It takes at least two or three weeks to get to  know how you go from one side of the city to the other and not get hopelessly lost.....trying to keep track of the sun is not much help, as its usually hidden by overhanging balconies and tall buildings.....Most buildings have elaborately carved wooden doors that are studded with large metal spikes....story has it that these were installed originally to prevent invaders from using elephants to knock down the doors.....might be....

the market here is typical of markets around the world, hugely busy, very dirty and really interesting and if you look long enough, you can generally find what you are looking for. The market  is divided into areas that concentrate on the items for sale...so if you need paint...you go to the hardware part of the market....and so on...the meat and fish parts are the hardest to walk through due to the smell and intensity of the flies...but if you want octopus or squid....its there in buckets....meat is a little strange, as the carcass hangs and you tell them what cut you want and they mangle it out of the carcass.....

Last weekend, we were treated to a night at a local resort....NgaLawa resort is on the indian ocean side of the island and located on a large bay or inlet from the sea. It was heaven.....peaceful, no loudspeakers hounding people to pray, excellent food and on Saturday night, we had great entertainment from "Mama Africa" and her band....we danced our feet off until midnight...really late for us....the rest of the time we spent there, we sat around the pool and just enjoyed the tranquility. Our hosts, a Canadian couple used to live and work in Qualicum Beach on the island and so we had a lot to talk about including many people we all knew.

Lois in the Pool

The Beach at Ngalawa
 





Our Bure on the Beach


 

A few days before we went to the resort, we decided to beach it for the day and took a spice tour...which included a spice tour and a visit to some caves on the coast, carved out of the coral by eons of ocean....and quite possible old underground rivers.....we descended into a dark pit and was cool and refreshing on a very hot 35 degree day...we could not go far into the cave, but just inside the entrance, I found this little guy.....little did I say....typical of the many varieties of millipedes that live here...this particular guy is totally harmless and rolls up into a ball when you pick it up....you can see the size compared to my celphone......

so thats if for this blog....see you on the next one...when I show you our luxury apt that we are about to move into....we hope...maybe.....sometime, perhaps....after all, this is Africa......

 

Moving to Zanzibar

Leaving Dar on the fast ferry to Zan

Leaving Dar Es Salaam, was a happy day for us. It meant that we were finally moving on to our placements. 4 of us opted to skip our Piki Piki or motorcycle training and move quickly to our new homes...This was not to be. upon arrival, we were met by Peter and Jane, two VSO people who have been here for a while. They chaufferd us around and took us to the proposed apts. NONE of which was inhabitable and ONE of which we turned down flat. So here we are a week and a bit later and we are still waiting to move into our own place. For sure, we are OK in that we are temporarily living in a modest hotel, but eating out every meal is getting to all of us.

"House of Wonders"

Stonetown is a unique place....its a rabbitwarren of alleys and very small streets inhabited by all manner of people....A UNESCO world heritage site, it has a long history of slavery, arab trading, invasions, wars, the first steam railway in Africa and electricity before London England....today is a vibrant place with all manner of business's being operated. Everyone has a purpose and a job to do and you are going to know about it.....



our first view of Stonetown

Our first week here, we have been exploring the places to eat, some of the sites and finding out where things are generally. The Med clinic, we need our third and last rabies shots, cheap but good food, how to get around using the Dalla Dalla system and following up on the apts we are supposed to be moving into.....I have no pix, but the buildings were built in the 1950's by Indian concerns and they were at that time very luxurious. However, over 60 years of no maintenance or repairs has reduced them to run down status. Water is a constant issue on the island of Unguja and so our biggest concern is running water and will we have it......Its looking good, but as I have said, this is a long and frustratingly slow process....so we concentrate on keeping each others spirits high....
Last night we ventured out to the Forodahni Market, a waterfront area that is know for its nightly food stalls and activity....the power was out when we went there, so no pix this time...but let me tell you that the food is excellent and there was little garbage about...Lois and I had Barracuda on skewers, alternated with peppers, tomatoes, carrots and then a couple of samosas that were fantastic along with chipsi and ketchup and salad. We finished off the evening, with a stroll over to the local cappucino bar...we have nicknamed Afribucks and had a latte....the whole evening cost us less than 7 dollars....the one thing I did not try...but might when I am feeling adventurous is something called a Zanzibar pizza with the following for toppings......Chocolate, Cane Sugar and Nutella.....?????? am I that brave.....yikes

just another crappy beach

Yesterday being sunday, we went over to Prison island to see the giant land tortoises and to do some snorkelling.....unfortunately, it was very expensive and the snorkelling was dampened by a torrential rain shower.....but still saw some incredible coral...we have a new underwater camera and this was our first try with it....we have some learning and improvement to do....but it works.....so here are a few pix of the tortoises...one of which was over 160 years old and will catch up you in our next blog

who is older ha ha

smile.....pat me on the head

Safari at Mikumi National Park

taking shade from the noonday equatorial sun

We had been at our language training session for all of four days and realized that our brains were going into serious overload. Not only is Swahili a foreign language, but it does not resemble anything that we have been used to.....Our schedule called for a day off toward the end of the week. As a group, we decided to move that day off up one day and proceeded to make the arrangements for a one day safari to Mikumi National Park...one of many parks in Tanzania. In fact 25% of the area of Tanzania is dedicated to Parks of some kind.

We had to leave the retreat centre at 0430 in the morning to get to the reserve before sunup....which is when the majority of animals are feeding and watering.....and so a tired bunch of eager Livinstone wannabes were up and boarded our miniscule buses for the 2 hour trip to MNP.

Along the way, we started to see the reality of the way people live in the countryside. Many of the homes we passed, were made of wattle and daub and in a lot of cases, locally made adobe bricks. But all were being serviced by way of charcoal fires and open latrines and of course there was no electricity.

Entrance to Mikumi NP

As we came closer to the park, we started to see more and more Baboons running along the highway, many in the pursuit of death. The highway we were on was the only highway that links Dar Es Salaam with the Congo and Zambia and a lot of heavy transport trucks use this road and drive recklessly. Then we saw our first Giraffe and soon made the park entrance and the official visitor centre.

Our first wild animal, a very gentle Giraffe

Our entry into the park took a few minutes as our drivers negotiated the price. Foreigners pay more than locals and we had yet to get our landed immigrant status. But we were quickly on our way. The park is what one might imagine, flat, arid, lots of tall grasses and singular handsome trees dotting the plains. Within minutes of entering the park, we came across our first herd of Wildebeest and Zebra. The Wildebeest is known locally as the "zero brain" animal and uses the relationship of the Zebra to depend on their ability to see far and their sense of smell.....

Zebras and Gnus together...symbiosis for survival

Throughout the 5 hours we were in the park, we saw and counted over 18 different animals that up to now, we had only National Geographic or the Disney channel to rely on for our knowledge. But here we were up front and in the face of these animals. Most of us were truly awestruck. The Zebra is a beautiful animal, with an intelligent face and real personality. The Gnu or Wildebeest is truly a scatterbrained animal that panics and tries to run in all four directions at one time.Many of the parks deer relatives were seen, Impala, Springbok and water antelope...the best was seeing the many Springbok kindergartens as the parents kept the newly born infants together for safety and also for ease of management.


Springtime on the plains, means food for the lion king

The highlight of the day for me, was seeing a Hyena on the side of the road....so camoflauged that I did not realize it was there until we passed him. We visited several water holes and confronted elephants, Hippos, Crocs. Along the way, we passed more and more Zebras, Elandts and Cape Buffalo. However the big cats were elusive and we did not see any. Only the night before though, they had been busy at the water hole and had taken a meal with a view.

Remains of a Zebra, caught only 24 hours previous

We stopped for a picnic lunch at one of the many sites within the park to stop and rest. This was truly a day to remember as we shared pix with each other and sights of animals the other bus had seen and we had not. Finally around 2 pm, it was too hot and the animals had started to take shelter from the 35 degree directly overhead sun. It was time for us to head back to the retreat and have a shower and dinner and then a night to recover...tomorrow, we were back at Swahili training.

CUSO/VSO orientation

When we last left you, we had arrived in Tanzania and were safely ensconced in the rather dubious but relatively clean and safe downtown Econolodge. Hot running water, is always a good thing, All of the participants in this particular group were suffering from Jet Lag, culture shock, lack of sleep, lack of normal food and eating patterns and just generally out of tune with normalcy. Welcome to the new normal.
Our days at the VSO office consisted of taking an 8 am bus from the hotel through rushhour traffic and over to the peninsula, where we met in the main VSO office. During the week, we learned about the political and economic situation in Tan, the reason why CIDA and other governments provide funding to NGO's like VSO and more. We took cultural integration training and found out about what constitutes corruption in places like this. How things differ in this country from other east African nations and what we should look out for and be careful off. Much of the information was somewhat old hat for Lois and I as we have experienced this type of integration before and much was and is the same. But nothing should be taken for granted and we soon learned about petty theft, the ultra modern shopping complexes, the street people, how to move around on the Dalla Dalla and much much more.

Morning bus to VSO

Our group is very diverse, with talents ranging from full fledged doctors, to electrical engineers, teachers, IT specialists and much more. All of these people have decided to take a time away from family, friends and their normal way of life to contribute to the life of Tanzanians in their own particular field of expertise. Some for a few months, some for a year and some for two years.

Part of our multicultural class taking a break

Professional group meetings were held and also one on one meetings with the various country reps who will be our point of contact while in the country. Tanzania is a very large and sparsely populated countre and travel is a big concern. Many people will be living and working in isolated communities with few creature comforts, while others like Lois and I will be living in a very touristy part of the country. So we expect to be able to access many luxuries that other participants may not have available.

We were anxious to find out about our housing and when we met with the VSO staff person in charge of this, we were met with a few challenges. 1. It looked as though we had an apartment, but not with the other members of our team. 2. We did not know the condition of the apt. 3 We did not know whether or not it was completely furnished and did it have a fridge. 4. A particular concern was that it was about 25 km from where Lois would work and that meant a commute each day of about 90 minutes each way. We made known our concerns and the staff began to research the answers and options open to us.

Meanwhile, the week was coming to a close and our next challenge was to move to the town of Mgorogoro or GoroGoro to do a week of Swahili language training. This meant that we were to take a 4 hour bus ride from Dar to the town and then find our accomodation and prepare for an intense week of a completely different and strange language.

Pit stop on the way to the mountains, this bus later broke down and we had to wait on the side of the highway for a spar bus to arrive.

Our bus ride was an event. The busses here are designed for maximum loading and consist of seating in a 3/2 pattern, with three seats on one side and two on the other of a small aisle. As the bus travels and stops more people get on and most stay up around the driver until there is a mob of about 6 or 7 people sitting everywhere around the door. At each stop, the local merchants jump on board to sell everything from steering wheel covers (????) to pop and chips...which by the way are delicious. Goro Goro is up in the mountains and we were told that it gets cold in the evenings...so we made sure that we took jackets....as it turns out...cold means 30 degrees and not 35 degrees......so the jacket was a pain to carry and lug around.....our week soon started and we were off on our learning adventure...our next post, will give details of the language and our one day safari to the Mikumi National park.....we should have that post done in the next day or so.....

the mountains of goro goro

Tanzania arrival and Karibu

Arriving at the airport in Dar Es Salaam

We landed in Dar Es Salaam in fine weather, after another all nighter British Airways flight from Heathrow. This flight took us down and over the boot of Italy, across the Med and down into Egyptian airspace and then followed the Nile until we hit the Sudan and finally made our way do Dar as we now know to call it. Landing early in the morning, we were hit by the 32 degree heat and the humidity from a quick rain shower. Without too much effort, we collected our bags and proceeded through a very friendly and quick immigration check (Lois was fingerprinted, but my iris scans are in the international database, so I did not get FP'd)and then we were out in the sunshine to be greeted by hundreds of taxi drivers, bus services and our CUSO/VSO rep. After assembling our group, we loaded onto a small bus and headed into Dar to our shortstay home at the Econolodge hotel.

Dar is a city of 4 million people and sprawls over a coastal plain about halfway up the coast. Our hotel is in a congested part of the city and would be considered a very low end hotel at home. But here, it is known locally and within backpacker circles as a dependable, clean and safe haven. We quickly checked in and went to sleep to catch up on our flight.

Over the next couple of days, we made the daily trek from the hotel to the VSO offices in a different part of town to participate in our "in country training" or ICT. This consisted in part of lecture sessions from various people including a staff  member from the Canadian Embassy who explained the role of CIDA in funding VSO/CUSO projects in Tanzania. We put in 5 very long days and met our advisors and began the process of getting settled in this country. We were introduced to the TSH or Tanzanian Schilling, which currently trades around 1660 TSH per $CA. So you can imagine the bundle one gets for a $50 change process.

Our first glimpse of the Indian Ocean

church in downtown Dar





 The rest of the week was a bit of a blur and Lois went through a period of reaction to the malaria meds we are taking Mefloquine, which basically left her without any sleep for over 60 hours. But as part of our orientation, we went to the med clinic that we are to use here and they fixed her up with some sleeping pills to overcome...Lois has now switched to doxycycline and I am staying with Mef.

We toured Dar on several occasions and went out for dinner with our group and found out quickly that the culinary offerings in Dar are limited to Indian and Chinese of varying degrees of nasty. To be fair, we did hit a couple of times with excellent tasting food, but we were starting to crave "regular" food and it had been a week since our last "full english". A favourite here is the "chip omelette", which if you can imagine is an omelette with french fries mixed in.......hmmmmmm.

After getting ourselves a bit settled and obtaining celphones and "dongles" or airsticks, most of us were back in touch with people at home and we were able to send emails and catch up on Skype. Our next week, was to be a bigger challenge, with language lessons to teach us Swahili. A quick look at the language made it look like a major learning bout coming up......for the language training, we took a bus from Dar to the town of Mgorogoro or Goro. About 4 hours by highway bus. that's all in the next post coming up later this week.

Our first Tanzanian meal????????

Dar traffic is endless and crazy

Rule Brittania

Arriving in England at 11am after a very smooth flight over Hudson Bay, Iqualuit, Greenland, Iceland and then onto Heathrow, we found ourselves very jetlagged. Although we popped our Melatonin...they did not work. Thankfully British Airways has a fantastic entertainment system and we watched a lot of tv.....a highlight was watching the "best exotic marigold hotel" a great movie and to make it even more real, we bumped into Bill Knightly today on Regent Street. Sorry no pix.

Auntie Bedge

We have spent a great 7 days here in England, visiting with relatives including my 84 year old "Auntie Bedge", my dad's sister. It was great reliving old memories from that side of the family and confirming lies and other stories...ha ha.....

England is an enigma for me.....the people all seem to be very happy and are all active and moving around and yet the cost of living here is astronomical.....Breakfast at this rather shoddy hotel we are staying at is $16.00 each, gasoline is almost twice the cost than in Vancouver, simple chocolate bars etc are around $5 each and more........But to more upbeat items......Pubs are very much alive and kicking here and Lois and I just came back from one up the road where we had a pleasant pint and a great Vindaloo. Today, we mastered the underground and hotel bus systems and made the trek into London to see the sights....the weather co-operated and we did not get rained on......much. We took the tube to Picadilly and then walked all over that part of London, across the river to the south bank and then back over to see the H of P , Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace ( the queen was NOT at home....and I phoned ahead) and then onto the insanity of regent street and the "exclusive stores". We looked for a tablet, but they were all at least 100 pounds more than what they are in Canada....another disappointment. But here are a few pix of where we were today;

Lois at Picadilly

Keeping an EYE on Derrick

waiting for 12 noon to strike

Hmmmm No one home.....where is tea?

 

 

 

But earlier in the week, we were exploring the region around Southampton, Gosport and Portsmouth and thanks to our great cousins, Pat and Dave Carter, we saw a lot and had a great time. They gave us the run of the house and drove us all over the place for which we were most grateful...Even picking us up from the hotel on day two in England. On Tuesday evening, we went over to their daughter Debbie's house and had a fun evening with hubby Steve and daughter Samantha....who had joined us earlier at Grandma and Grandads house. On the last day we had with them we went into Portsmouth and had a walk around. I went to the hospital where my mum died a few years ago while she was on a trip to England. The hospital is now closed, but I gave a few thanks to the staff who looked after her in those final few difficult days.

From there, we took the train up to London.

 

So tonight, we are spending a quiet evening in front of the telly doing some goggleboxing and watching Coronation Street and other intellectual pursuits. Our plane for Dar Es Salaam leaves Heathrow tomorrow in the early evening, so we will repack our bags in the morning, go down for our last "Full English" and then grab a nap before we encounter our second 9 hour overnight flight in a week. So until we hit Tanzania, thanks for tuning in and here are a few more pix of our trip so far.

 

Debbie...listening to Steve .....or not

Lois and Pat taking in the sailboats

Lymington on a sunny day

 

 

Last sleep in Canada for a while

So it is an hour or so before we catch the ferry to vancouver that will lead us to our British Airways flight to Heathrow. This last week has been a flurry of last minute adjustments to our bags....trying to figure out what we need to wear for a week in England and then on to Tanzania. We have moved our furniture and stored the Jetta, cleaned the carpets and managed to have dinner and lunch and coffee with friends to say a 'ciao' and then get on with the last minute details.

We stayed with friends Joe and Anne for the last two nights in Comox and then moved down to the kids house in Nanaimo for another early morning visit by the grandkids and the endless ' lets play a game'. We are going to miss them, they are at that great age where they come up with all sorts of incredible child wisdom.

Yesterday, we went sailing for the day, with little wind and then the dinghy dock for lunch, it was a great way to spend a sunny saturday in the fall. Lunch was huge, so our dinner plans went awry and we ended up having a simple dinner at home....

And so....today, we are catching the morning ferry and then bussing it to the airport for our 6 pm departure and 9 hour flight over the pole to England. Pat and Dave our cousins will be meeing us on Tuesday morning to visit Auntie Beryl  and other cousins, as well we are promised a few pubs in the meantime.....sounds great to us.

We will blog again from London and hopefully post some pix
cheers for now

lois and derrick