Hello!
It might be a good idea to scroll down and start at the beginning to get an idea of who's who etc..
xx :)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Road Safety, Tanzania
What people wear on their heads whist riding piki-pikis (Motorbikes):
1. Helmet worn in the style of a hat; perched on the top of the head, so as to avoid undue sweatiness from full face coverage.
2. A tooth pick
3. A polystyrene helmet, with a large hole in the side, giving the impression of a large, half eaten, boiled egg.
4. Hair
Monday, January 14, 2008
Late December Photos
December Pics
Here are the notes for my late December pics:
The Annual Volunteer Conference (The AVC)
There are various happy shots of us having fun at this nice resort outside Dar: volley ball; silly Tanzanian theme night; one lonely pic of us at work!
There are a few pics of Katie’s last night in
So a happy band of fellows ensconced our selves at Maruhubi Beach Villas, just outside
There are some nice views of the coast there. It’s not typical East coast stunning, but I love it more! Especially the mangrove and the light on the sand and water and the ship wreck..
There are some assorted pics of us having a nice time arriving and for Corrie’s birthday at Mtoni on the beach; myself, Will, Angus, The Cowies, John and Sue.
Later pics are of the trip Will and I took out to the East coast, to Uroa, to meet some fellow VSO’s there. It’s a lovely tranquil place.
There are some more pool-side pics; the sunset ones are nice! And some more views of Maruhubi; I was trying to capture the guys washing their donkeys; haven’t really managed it yet. We finish with a lovely full moon.
Post Christmas & Spice Island Botany
I was worried that after Christmas the mass exodus of loved ones from the island would leave me somewhat bereft. And it did indeed, but thanks to some other lovely folks I wasn’t lonely for long:
The pics start with Adam (wonderful Canadian vol based in Dar) playing “The Bumblebee” with great energy and aplomb against a rather magnificent back-drop, which sadly isn’t captured here because of the light. This building is right on the ea front; a beautiful old place with endless, deep stairs and rooms devoted o
Then I went with the Malawi VSO’s to do a Spice Tour; a rather essential tourist activity. There are a whole host of pics of various spices, which I really just took for my pa, so feel free to skip through these!
An amazing plant whose red powdery is used as make up.
A rather fine example of a banana tree.
Jack fruit; very sticky fruit, described as a cross between a banana and a pineapple
Cardamom (grows on the ground!)
Nice shaped tree and the lovely Katie
Here's Ali, fetching a specimen from the tree for us.
The kids in the village spend their time making intricate ‘free gifts’ for you from banana and assorted leaves; frogs, rings, hats, even a watch! Of course. As you leave, they understandably ask for money. What’s strange is that they seem to have euros that they are keen to swap for dollars or shillings. Who would give them those useless coins? It seems cruel to me. Ali was especially devoted to his profession, but made himself useful to the guide, as well as making little trinkets. An enterprising fellow.
I think the flowering plant is actually a clove.. how ironic that I’ve forgotten the most important spice!
( Here's a Clove Tree Hmm. And this might be a bit of Clove Tree too -- Ed.)
The Persian bath the Sultan had built for his wife, who insisted on having separate bathing quarters to his 99 other women. It is said that she refused to allow him to marry any one else, but permitted these others on strict conditions! Sounds like quite a lady!
The next pics are of
First Is my house; I live in a small part of it!
Next, my outer door.
The main door to the building
There are pics that follow are of the inside of my place, including the stairs (fascinating), the downstairs to kitchen and dining room and the to upstairs, ( my main living area). hen there is the street, my windows and my fabulous balcony.
It’s a great place to live. There’s always something going on! I need to take a pic ( axe? - ed. ) to the bike repair men who set up work under my balcony 7 days a week!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
December 2007
Well it’s been quite a while since I’ve blogged.. probably because I feel like my feet haven’t really touched the ground for quite a while. It’s just been very busy socially with people leaving and Christmas and now new year upon us.. so what have a been up to? Mainly the month of December revolves mainly around my dear friend Katie:
Katie’s Last Month
Well, what an epic series of fabulous, manic and hilarious episodes:
1. Trip to Nungwi: A beautiful quiet spot up in the popular north. A lovely weekend, once we were there!
Getting there:
We were hampered by the piki breaking down far enough out of her village for it to matter; having to push start it in front of an amiable audience by the police station; breaking down again in nasty muddy puddle. Watching with wonder as Katie managed to commandeer a tiny bicycle from a rather large man and promptly peddle off to find a fundi (repair man) in the bush. Waiting with the bike and drawing an ever increasing number of men; watching with increasing anxiety as the advice and tools for repair became increasingly hefty. Anxiety levels getting rather too much with the production of large hammer and so I resorted to adopting the door mouse coping strategy and managed to fall asleep under a shady near by tree in the hope that when I awoke either Katy, a fundi or sanity returned to the scene. Magically it worked and all 3 materialized and we revved up off the road in no time!
There!
Once we arrived we were greeted by the indomitable Mike; the fabulous owner of Sanazi Beach Hotel, (a man who’s walked straight out of the pages of a Graeme Green novel) who regaled us with lewd, strange and hilarious tales at happy interludes. Happy hours snorkeling and munching fruit (not quite at the same time) lazing around and laughing ensued, followed by a crazy Full Moon party at Kendwa Rocks. Oh, and some very funny beach wrestling care of Katie and Erin.. but perhaps less said about that the better!
2. Katie’s byriani safari to Manga Pwani.
A lovely day spent on this little beach with Katie’s favourite families (about 20 people) from around Dunga; happily eating byrinai with our hands, swimming in kangas, dear Steve not quite grasping the concept of culturally sensitive beach wear. (Though actually I don’t think there is a culture where tiny speedos are acceptable.)
3. Katie’s pilau safari to Jambiani.
Just in case 20 people wasn’t quite enough.. this safari took around 65 people to the beach. Not quite sure how we all squeezed into 2 dalas along with mats for sitting, pilau, sodas.. Lovely day eating pilau in the school and playing on the beach, getting urchins in feet and burnt noses. But it all so nearly didn’t happen…see below
4. The Dunga Meat Crisis.
Well, all was set for the Jambiani safari; meat was bought (8Kilos), soda ordered, dalas booked.. and Katie and I arrived at her home in Dunga.. but then.. a simple phone call from Katie’s friend and how quickly the sense of calm anticipation vanished. It was Mwnacombo, Katie’s friend and chief pilau chef informing her that she needed to come over at once.
Once there Katie was informed that the wrong meat had been picked up from the butcher’s, meat that is no good for pilau ..So, where was the meat so it could be returned first thing? Oh, cooking in the pot of course! No, cooking byriani wasn’t an option as no one seemed to know that recipe here and it was the wrong kind of meat anyway…ARGGGGHHHHH!!!!!
The plan was to burn back to the butcher’s in town ( a good 30-40 mins on the piki) and get the right meat, hoon back in time for the pilau to be cooked for departure at 10.30am..seemed straight forward, if a little hectic, until we returned home to find... Katie’s purse was missing.. full of cash to pay for the buses in the morning and all her bank cards etc.
A mad hour or so spent searching and re-searching proved fruitless.. so the whole day out rested on me being able to remember my pin number, (so we could pay for the buses) after not using it for a good few months…no pressure then.. so up at dawn, riding into town, with the steadily rising feeling that I had no idea what my pin was ..but that suddenly I could remember my photocopying code from school, my credit card pin (resting happily and unhelpfully at home) and even my parents birthdays.. but miraculously when I tentatively entered those fatal 4 digits it worked! Phew! Almost tears of joy and relief!
So we were off to the market in time for opening of business at 7am. The big market here in town is quite something to behold first thing and a strong stomach is much required; amidst the flies and stench of fresh meat we spied the butcher’s stall and stepped over the head of a cow complete with horns and tongue that had just been delivered.
Sadly, Katie’s conversation with the butcher soon revealed that the meat had probably been switched and headed happily to the east coast, for an equally doomed meal. While Katie was overly absorbed bargaining for a discount, drawing an ever increasing crowd of happy spectators she was nearly flattened by the 2nd delivery of the morning, in the form of an enormous man on the tiniest piki, complete with the rear end of the aforementioned cow, complete with tail and hooves. Luckily I was able to hoik Katie out of the way just in time and was truly impressed to see that she didn’t miss a beat in her bargaining diatribe, ably securing a reasonable discount from the butcher.
Her parting word to me as we left were, “ Right Jane, what’s going to happen now is that you are going to carry these 8 kilos of dripping meat on you lap on the way back, because I’ve forgotten the bike straps”. So squirming not but a little I meekly suggested we found a slightly more substantial bag than the flimsy blue number we had and resigned myself to my miserable fate!
5. Zanzibari Clubbing Experience
That night, we headed into town for Erica Peace Core’s last night. A hideous night in Bawani, a local club ensued. What a venue: It had the deepest and emptiest swimming pool, strobe lighting and badbadbad music. I ran home to bed!
6. Trip to Matemwe
Onto quieter times Katie and I had a lovely, relaxing day up at Matemwe; swimming, munching a great lunch and dozing on the beautiful beach.
7. Local Salon henna Frenzy
Katie and I spent a hilarious evening in a local salon having henna and hair braided and learning some pretty racy dance moves for the ladies! A fantastic exit from the island for Katie!
8. The Annual Volunteer Conference
Heading into Dar with all Katie’s stuff, ready for the Volunteer Conference. At one point on day one I wanted to hide in my room and not come out.. too many people! Still I rallied myself and managed to make the most of seeing people and having fun, whilst trying to silence the voice of conscience in my head.
9. Katie’s last night
A lovely evening at Lyn’s in Dar with Will, Chris, Katie, Alan, Kelly and Sandra. We ate lots of treats, drank wine and played silly scrabble games. Very lovely for Katie’s last night, yet no drama!
10. Christmas
On the ferry at last, after saying Goodbye to Katie, with Will, Sue, The Cowies and Corrie. Arrived at Maruhubi for a few days of relaxation.
I spent many a happy hour wandering around the labyrinth of Stone Town; gradually finding my routes and making sense of it. It was lovely to have the time to enjoy this amazing place I live in.
Otherwise, Will and I spent a nice day out east near Uroa visiting some vols there and generally lazing about. Had comedy swim, trying to avoid our feet being cut to pieces on the sharp rocks by wallowing though the shallows on our hands.
I spent an especially nice morning in the office on Christmas Eve, giving the guys there their Pemban honey for Christmas. Nice to be doing something that felt real after a week or so of removed nonsense at the conference. Christmas day was magic; everyone went out and Will and I lazed around, stirring occasionally to nibble on a sweet, have a swim or chat. Just the Christmas I wanted and needed. Lovely.
Now, I’m back at work tonight is New Year’s Eve. Tonight should be the last social whirl for a while.. there are some VSO’s from Malawi here, which is nice and I’m meeting a new friend for dinner first. Then, I’m rather hoping things will quieten down, at least for a few weeks before the music festival hits us.
Phew! 3 pages.. sorry about that! I’ll try and lead a quieter life from now on. Xx
Happy New Year!
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