The Last Word

This is our final post as we board an airplane in three hours to eventually land in Bozeman in two days.

Our last nine days were spent on Zanzibar, split between the beach and historic Stonetown. There are many beaches on Zanzibar and everyone seems to have their own favorite. We opted for Bweju on the east coast. We found a small bungalow operation, only six rooms and the first night we were the only guests. Some other travelers we passed on the beach said it was one of the worst looking places in Bweju but when we mentioned our budget they backpedaled to say it was the best in that price range. As it turned out, we had more personalized attention than if we had stayed at one of the fancy resorts. The man who ran the place, Abdul, was always within shouting distance and we arranged meals with him that were served on our porch looking at the ocean. One afternoon I checked with him to see what was available for dinner. He pulled a live octopus out of a bucket. At least we knew it was fresh. Abdul also made great, gingery, spiced tea. We drank multiple cups every morning with our chapati and eggs.

The whole east coast has a coral reef just offshore. This makes for nice snorkeling and super-fine sand, practically the consistency of flour. On the flipside, there are huge tidal swings. At low tide it's impossible to swim; all the locals walk along the flats harvesting seaweed and digging for clams. It's a good beach for relaxing. No hustle and bustle, very few vendors trying to sell cheap sunglasses, Masaai jewelry, or Tingatinga paintings.

Between the east coast and Stonetown the road passes through Jozani forest, home to the red colobus monkey. We walked through the forest hoping to catch sight of this rare species. It turns out there are a few thousand of them here and we were soon in the middle of a troop. We watched them leap between tree branches and then run along the path almost between our legs. They feed on leaves and in the middle of the day go up in the trees to sleep and escape the heat. Some monkeys found forked branches to lay in, with their arms and legs just dangling.

And our final days were here in Stonetown. It's an old, windy city full of Swahili, Arab, and Indian culture. It's impossible not to get lost but then you always find yourself back someplace recognizable. The challenge is then placing that recognizable building into the larger context of the city. So we spent days wandering the streets which have completely different characters from morning to midday to afternoon to evening. Some are filled with "tourist junk", endless shops selling identical carvings, paintings, etc. Once you get away from that area there are groceries, jewelers, spice merchants, hole in the wall eateries (I wouldn't go so far as to call them cafes). We were also lucky enough to be here during the annual Swahili music festival, Sauti Za Busara (busaramusic.org). It was a big event for four days with musicians from all over East Africa and even from as far away as Mali and Belgium. At a more personal level, we spent three hours yesterday sitting down with some woodcarvers and learning the finer points of bao (we learned the beginner's version in Malawi). Bao is a relative of mancala, seeds are moved around bowls in a wooden board. If you're curious, stop by the house and we'll teach you.

Now we're trying to prepare for skiing and snow, which is difficult to imagine while sitting in tropical heat. Once we get unpacked and settled we'll post more photos online from our trip and maybe even bring a slideshow to a town near you. Until then...

Down from the Mountain

1-31-08

We had a great four days up on Mt. Meru. Summited at 15,000 ft. (actually something like 14,996 ft, but that means our heads were over 15,000ft) yesterday morning at 6:15am just as the light was beginning to peak over the horizon and about 20 minutes before sunrise. (We started hiking in the dark at 3am). We saw a beautiful sunrise just to the right of Kilimanjaro -unobscured and marvelous.

The frost was glittering on the ground as we hiked up with head lamps on. There was some rock scrambling and we had to use our hands. We were the first to the summit, having passed a group of Danish/German/Austrians who had started an hour before us and having maintained a pace brisk enough to stave off the pro-mountaineer who started 15 minutes after us. (http://www.navarra8000.com). We left our ranger (see previous posting) sleeping at the camp and ascended with a porter as our guide. No elephants or buffalo to worry about up this high, above the vegetation and along the narrow ridge line created when the volcano blew its top. We had great views down toward the cone and out to Kilimanjaro. We'll post pictures when we get home.

The Urgent Call of Africa...

(This blog is not for the squeamish. Read at your own risk).

1-28-08
Hiked up to the first hut on Mt. Meru today with our armed ranger, Dixon. Beautiful. Saw a blue monkey, buffalo (the reason for our ranger), warthogs, bush buck, and notably, Kirk's Dik-Dik. After arriving at the hut, our "team" served popcorn, cookies and tea to us. Dinner was also catered to us and was far more extravagant that if we had been carrying and cooking our own food.

1-29-08
Woke up in the middle of the night to stomach cramps and sulphur burps. I lay awake as the gurgling and cramping moved through my system, eventually forcing the gas out my other end. During this time, I had the opportunity to consider what I had eaten that might have been carrying the offending parasite/amoeba/bacteria that was now creeping through my small and large intestines. I also had time to prepare the conversation I would have in the morning with Doud, the cook. I also decided that I would begin Cipro in the morning instead of waiting painful, explosive days to see if I got better (like I did in Mzuzu, Malawi the last time I had these symptoms).

In the end, I don't know that my conversation with Doud was as enlightening as I had hoped:
Me: Good morning, Doud. How are you today?
Doud: Very good. And how are you? [this is how all conversations here begin]
Me: Not so good. I am sick in the stomach. We are both sick in the stomach. We need your help.
Doud: (concerned) Oh, no. I'm so sorry.
Me: Yes. We need your help. We need you to wash everything in treated water and boil the tea water, yes?
Doud: Yes, yes. No problem. Don't worry.

Skip to breakfast. A bag of corn flakes and a mushy, soggy box of hot milk -- clearly boiled in the carton. The container says "Ultra Heat Treated Homogenised Milk." Times two.

Update: We are both doing fine and our bowels are functioning as well as can be expected for Americans who have been traveling in Africa this long.