Flights home and Zurich

We left our hotel about 40 hours ago. We made the short hop from Zanzibar island to Dar es Salaam. With about 50 people we boarded a airbus 330-300 & hopped to Nairobi Kenya, where we picked up another 300 or so. Overnight flight to Zurich Switzerland with SwissAir was uneventful which was good arriving 6:30 local time. I would recommend SwissAir as the planes, food, and service have been great. The first class ( not us) looks great. You can stretch out into a full bed position, but at what $$?
We had a few hours in Zurich so grabbed a 10 minute train to downtown by the lake. At +5C we walked the historic area bordering Zurich's lake in the very early morning. We were recommended a restaurant called Sprungli's on Paradeplatz. We REALLY enjoyed a great quality breakfast of muesli, fantastic fresh breads, jams, cured meats, Swiss cheeses, real orange juice and coffee. (pic) It was 50 francs ($45.) for 2 but totally worth it. (The breakfasts in Zanzibar were included but always the same with fried eggs, toast, fruit, & poor coffee and needless to say we were wearying of it after 3 weeks of little variety.) Zurich is a beautiful city and we would love to return in the summer.
As we write, we have just braved a 10 hour flight into Chicago, complete with US customs (they could learn some things from European customs). Our flight to Winnipeg is delayed 2 hours due to rain/snow in Chicago area. All the flights in this area seem to be as the whole system bogs down. Hope to get to Holland by midnight. Over 48 hours since we left our hotel in Zans., but surprisingly, we feel pretty relaxed.
On this trip we have hit 7 countries, used 5 different currencies, have met people from a huge variety of countries, and taken off on 15 different flights for over 31,000 kms. including flying over the southern tip of Greenland on the flight from Zurich today. It has been a blast but we are now looking forward to home and the people we have been missing.
P.S. Leah got us home to the farm by midnight Thursday.

Spice tour and departure

Today we checked out of our hotel and traveled back to Stonetown. On the way we stopped for a spice tour. This location is no longer an active spice farm, but is a great location for tourists to see the various spices within a small area.

We saw spices such as allspice, lemon grass, tamarind, ginger, cardamon, black/red/white pepper, etc. We also saw some fruit, such as star fruit, jak fruit (originally from Jakarta, hence the name jak), avocado, mangosteen, palmello (like a grapefruit), orange, lemon and lime.

The most interesting spice was the nutmeg. It grows on a tree and looks like a light colored peach/apple. But peel off the fruit (hard and not edible) and you will find a pit with a bright red net around it! The red part is dried and made into mace spice (not to be confused with pepper spray mace). Then the pit is cracked open to reveal the nutmeg which is dried and ground up for spice. (See photo.)

Of course the tour ended at a gift shop where we bought some small pkgs of spice. Think chai tea!! Pumpkin pie!! Etc.

After the tour our driver took Don and I to the airport south of Stonetown. There we said goodbye to Fred and Deb, our traveling companions (and still good friends) for the last 6 weeks. It will seem strange to have breakfast and supper without them. (Although all of us are looking forward to eating at home. I know, it's been very rough eating out for 6 weeks!)

So now here we sit at the airport on Dar es Salaam, waiting to check into our international flight through Nairobi to Zurich, Switzerland, where we hope to do a city tour during our layover. Then on to Chicago and home to Winnipeg where Leah will pick us up and drive us Home Sweet Home!!

Last day in Kendwa

Gorgeous day spent on the beach in front of our hotel, Sunset Bungalows. We have walked the beach from Kendwa to Ngungwi on Zanzibar's NE coast, and agree that we have the most beautiful stretch of beach right in front of our hotel. I could (and probably have) spent hours in the surf just floating and cooling off.

Today the tide was extremely low. This happens about three days per month. We realize that the islands just off the beach are walkable during this time. The area was full of women harvesting sea weed, mussels and small fish.

As it was our last night at the beach, Don and I decided to take another sunset cruise on a dhow. On board with us were a group of tourists from Denmark and Sweden. They had climbed Kilimanjaro, done a three day safari and were enjoying Zanzibar before going home. One man was celebrating his birth day so we received some cake!

Today we also said farewell to Lucy, our tour organizer. She is expecting a baby in about a month and will have to have a C section which will cost her 300,000 shillings. ($200.) She takes care of her brother and young sister, as well as a three year old daughter on her wages. She is a Christian woman in a mainly Muslim country and is often looked down upon for doing what is normally a man's job. We left many items for her that we never used or no longer need. Fred gave up three shirts a hat and a pair of sandals. Don and I gave her our unused mosquito net and lotions, Canada calendar, and a cosmetic bag full of antibiotic creams and ointments. She was very thankful. We are so blessed to be born in Canada where there are social services and sexual equality!

Deep sea fishing

Yesterday morning we woke early and went to the beach to catch a dhow to go fishing. Don, Fred, Erez (from Israel) and I watched the sun rise while we waited. Eventually the boat arrived.

We motored a long way off the north west coast of Zanzibar trolling for dorado, barracuda, blue marlin or the like. Like everything we have experienced in Africa so far, fishing is done very basically.

After no luck with rod and reel (attached to the boat with twine thru cracks in the wood) we tried bottom fishing using a weighted hook with bait on the end of fishing line wrapped around a chunk of wood.

As our illustrious captain neglected to bring bait along, the crew raided a few fish traps. The first two they pulled to the surface were empty, but they scored with the third! Not only two fish, but a tangle of fishing line and hooks.

One of the two small fish from the trap was skinned alive (extremely gross) and the small amount of meat on his tail section used as bait. The second small fish, perhaps a red snapper (see photo) was kept by the crew. I suspect someone had fish for supper - but not the actual fisherman whose trap was robbed!

As we were setting up to bottom fish a couple of dolphin swam by. They are very majestic! A small squirt of air/water thru the blow hole, followed by curving muscle and the back fin. Beautiful!

Finally we were ready to bottom fish.
We could see thru the gorgeous turquoise water to the sandy bottom below. It was very relaxing to bob up and down on the ocean drifting as we bottom fished. (At least I thought it was relaxing, others felt a bit sea-sick.). Needless to say that was the end of our fishless fishing trip!

On our return to shore Deb, Jann (from London) and Lucy (our local tour organizer) all converged on our boat wondering about our catch. (Lucy even carried a pot in which to put her portion of the catch.)

Too bad - no fish for supper! Instead we walked down the beach to have a candle-light dinner for four beside an unusually quiet ocean. (See photo) From there we were able to see fishing boats in the distance using bright lights to lure the fish to their boats. Night-lighting! Somehow that doesn't seem very sportsman like. (oh yah, guess it's not a sport for the locals.)

Sunset cruise

Our days have fallen into a relaxed routine. Get up and meet Deb and Fred, who have already walked the beach, for breakfast. Breakfast always begins with fruit, whatever is available, usually pineapple, banana, mango, sometimes oranges, once lychee nuts. Followed by eggs and toast or crepes. Ending with a leisurely coffee.

After breakfast we head out to the beach to find beach loungers. These are made out of rough hewn logs for a frame and sissal twine woven across for sitting / laying on. The twine makes a comfy mattress except it is a bit scratchy, so we cover it with a cushion if we are lucky enough to find them (hot commodity) or towels. There we relax with our books until the gorgeous turquoise water lures us in.

Yesterday afternoon we went on a sunset cruise. We boarded a dhow with two crew and a young man from Malta, on vacation from UN work in Serbia. A beautiful two hour sail with nothing but the sound of wind and surf in our ears!

Kenwa Beach

Yesterday we left our home of ten days, Kitete at Paje, for an area on the north of Zanzibar, Sunset Beach Resort at Kenwa Beach. The ocean is beautiful here! Long stretch of pure white sand, finer than Victoria Beach in Manitoba! (Sorry John and Shirley!)

This area is definitely more touristy, but we don't mind the break from isolation. (Fred had read every book and magazine he could get his hands on at Kitete. Don and I have been glad for our unlimited reading on our Kobos.)

Check out our beautiful location thru the photos here.

Birthday Celebrations

Today we rose early to go on a swimming with the dolphins tour. It was Fred's treat to Debbie to celebrate her birthday. Unfortunately we did not see any dolphin. (I guess no dolphin booked in to swim with the humans!)

We seem to be having difficulties with this part of our trip. First, Don got sick and was unable to eat or go anywhere far from the room, then we booked to go to a music festival in Stonetown, but our guide sent us a day early. Now today no dolphin. Oh well. Life is still blissful - sun, sea and surf!

While in Stonetown we did go to Monsoon, an Arabian restaurant. While there we saw a trio of Taarab musicians combining African, Arab, and Indian influences. Excellent.

We have met two couples from Turkey, they are a lot of fun. One couple has a brother who lives in Toronto and hope to visit Canada soon. The other couple have a vacation home in Ismir, turkey. We have exchanged addresses. Perhaps we can visit there sometime ?

Eight of us went out for a great dinner to celebrate Deb's (19th???) birthday. She says that is how young she feels. Makes sense.

Seaweed, Sand, & Surf -Feb.7

Every time we look out to the beach it looks different. The tides are extreme right now. At low tide the bare sand is about a 1/2 mile wide, at high tide only about 100 feet. ...see pic at low tide.
As low tide approaches, a large group of women heads into the water with large grain bags to harvest a specific type of seaweed that they "farm" here. It can be dried, & used in food as a thickener. They drag the wet, 60-70 lb filled bags in to shore and then hoist them up on to their heads to cross the sand to where it is spread to dry. Fred has been out helping the girls hoist them up. (we have seen men & women carrying up to about 200lbs on their heads...wow!) labour intensive.
Amongst all this the local guys are coming and going in their sailing dhows on their daily fishing trips. They mostly leave at dusk and are back by day break. Everything from squid, marlin, kingfish, & octopus are brought back and put on the menu for anyone to consume.
Also the ever present kite surfers are out everyday, all day.

To the East coast of Zanzibar

We hired the Hotel taxi driver to take us to the east side of the island to find a place to rent for some R&R. By the time we stomped around numerous places we were soaked with sweat. It is incredibly hot here!!!

We found a place called the Tikeke Hotel. It is rather run down and doesn't have AC, but it is in our price range. We are very surprised at how expensive accommodation is here! The ocean is a beautiful colour and the breeze blows constantly. See the photo of the gorgeous view from our hotel room doorway.

Stonetown

First thing on the agenda on a second day in Stonetown was to find a pharmacy. Both Deb and I have been plagued with skin sores. One Side effect to our anti malarial drugs is skin sensitivity, so we decided we needed a pharmacists opinion on our condition.

The young pharmacist confirmed our suspicion. He was surprised that Canada was even suggesting doxycycline as a profilactic for malaria. Africa hasn't used this since the 80s! So we purchased Mephaquin which you only have to take once a week. He also suggested we take antihistamines to reduce the swelling of the skin sores.

Getting around in Stonetown is very interesting. The streets are very narrow and are limited to pedestrian traffic, bicycles and motorcycles. The buildings are coral stone with Arabic style architecture. They look rather dilapidated but once inside they can be exquisite. They seem to be built to allow for breezes to flow through which is necessary as the temp even at night is in the high 20s. Hard to sleep without AC or a good fan!

Travel to Zanzibar

A driver from the World Vision office (see photo - not much expense used on local office rental) drove us to the airport in Shinyanga to catch a flight to Dar and then to Zanzibar. They have been very good to us. I feel our WV money is being well used. People often wonder who to donate thru and this experience had confirmed our thoughts. Not only did we witness great projects in the area where Silasia lives, but other people (local people in Tanzania) have spoken highly of WV as well.

We arrived in Zanzibar to sweltering heat. Grabbed a taxi and drove into Stonetown. We had to check out numerous hotels until we found one with a vacancy.

The Sayyida Hotel is gorgeous and is right downtown so we could enjoy the old town atmosphere We walked along the waterfront and through the Forodhani Gardens. In the evening this area comes alive with street vendors. (See photo) Deb and Fred say not to bother with the Ginger Tea, but I had a wonderful cup of Spice Tea (aka Chai Tea to us). Yummy!

Family visit with Silasia - 2-Jan 31

After visiting the school we drove to Silasia's home. Waiting for us there were about 40 community/family members. We were overwhelmed! Everyone wanted to shake our hands and personally welcome us! Luckily we had two WV personnel to translate for us.

We were welcomed to sit in the yard that was set up with a tarp to provide shade. After formal greetings and introductions this large group fell silent. It was hard to know what to say. Once again, Fred pulled out his half dozen pictures of his farm area summer and winter. Then we had a rousing conversation comparing weather and farming. I'm not sure if they believed half of what we said about farming in Canada (size of fields and yields), as our numbers are unheard of by these subsistence farmers!

Just as we thought our visit must surely be over, the women brought out food! Silasia sat very quietly in between Deb and Fred at the 'head table'. He is an 11 year old boy who looks about 8 and can eat like he weighs 250 lbs. We ate white rice, beans, sweet potatoes, chicken, corn and cucumbers. We could not believe how much rice each person ate! Probably 8-10 serving according to the Canada Food Guide! The head table and men were served first, then the women and any left overs to the kids! The dogs and chickens got the droppings. Nothing was wasted.

This entire day, but especially the meeting with Silasia's family produced huge culture shock for us all. We were glad to be 4 foreigners; security in numbers! The day was special and we will remember this visit for a long time. As Fred said "it was a heck of a day!"

World Vision tour day 1-Jan.31

We were picked up early by Mary and driver Richard from World Vision's district office. They drove us 1.5 hours west to Isagehe development program area where we picked up some local staff members who gave us an overview.
Our first stop was to see a fledgling project that WV has helped initiate. A few local milk producers created the Dairy Cattle Keepers Assoc. of Kahama and they supply daily milk to a small facility where 6 women are employed making fresh yogurt. See picture with 2 of the ladies.
Next we drove to the village of Mpera's school where Silasia goes to school. Silasia is the 11 year old boy sponsored by Debbie & Fred through WV, and the reason for our visit here.
After formal greetings with the headmaster, Debbie handed out some gifts to the school - soccer ball and pump, pens and pencils, stickers, post-it notes, etc. She gave a special denim book bag to Selasia's English teacher, who proudly accepted it and we saw her walking home with it over her shoulder. Also, other teachers were looking through the supplies hungrily; there are virtually no supplies in the schools!

Relocation to Shinyanga Jan.30

Today our hired driver, Anniset drove us along a fairly nice highway to the southerly city of Shinyanga where the World Vision district office is located. We will start our W.Vision tour here tomorrow.
We checked in to the Hotel Karena. All the hotels here have bathrooms where the entire room is the shower, so you can do many jobs while showering. Just watch out for the wet floor for the rest of the day. All of the common areas and bar/ restaurants are outdoors, sometimes with a roof for shade.
The food has been good and usually includes some kind of chicken or fish with rice or potatoes. Always thoroughly cooked. Most places there is no ice but drinks are sometimes cold if the power is on. All locals will not drink cold drinks as they are used to everything warm.
See photo of hotel cooking area using charcoal which is officially illegal to produce or sell in Tanzania but, 90% of the people use every day.
The cook is BBQing our chicken and heating oil for potato fries.