Tuesday, November 4, 2008
November 4, 2008 - Costal Biology
Yesterday we arrived in Arusha from our week in Pembe Abwe where we studied coastal biology with Dorobo Safaris. After free week in Pemba, I didn't really expect anything to be more relaxing. Obviously, I didn't remember how wonderful coastal biology week always is! In Pembe Abwe we stay at a camp with bandas right on the ocean and we spend our time either in the ocean or at the beach. Every day this last week we would go to different reef ecosystems where we would examine the ways different animals and organisms interact and the impact of marine protected areas. We did this primarily by engaging in a Reef Watch survey and by having underwater classes with our instructors. The afternoons were taken over by afternoon discussions on the impacts of humans on marine ecosystems, and then lounging around swimming and reading in the shade. Essentially it was perfection and allowed us all another week to completely relax. I really wish we didn't have to go!!! Still, in the next few days we are starting our safari unit where we will travel across Tanzania to learn about different ecosystems and humans interactions with them. I absolutely can't wait because it should / will be amazing. However, I will not have internet access for about a month. So have a good month and I will let you know how I am doing when I return to internet ready society. Kwa Heri!!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
A Wonderful Return to Pemba
This last week was our free travel week and wanting to get away from the tourism and hustle of Zanzibar, Adam and I returned to Pemba. It was such a wonderfully relaxing trip and now that I'm back in Stone Town I desperately want to go back. Still, it was such a wonderful vacation and break from the study abroad program!!!
We flew from Zanzibar to Pemba and the views from the tiny plane were amazing - we got to see so much of the countrysid eof both islands and as the ocean was so clear we could see the outline of coral reefs and different shades of blue changing with the depth of the water. When we arrived we headed straight to Chake Chake and had a wonderful afternoon wandering around the city. For being the largest city in Pemba its so small, and with our small walk we were able to venture into the farms and forests that surround the city. We also took a few hours to go to a restaurant on the top of a hotel that had an amazing view of the surrounding countryside and even the harbor a mile or so away. Afterwards we visited the market which was bustling with vendors selling fish and fruit, and got a wonderfully tastey dinner of break, grilled octopus and sugar cane. It was a perfectly calm reintroduction to Pemba.
The next day we headed up to Wete, in the north part of the island, where we based the rest of our trip. We took a dalla dalla and the ride there was far to exciting. Dalla Dallas are Pemba's version of matatues and are essentially trucks whose backs have been converted into seats with a canopy covering. They are wonderfully breezy and thus are far superior to matuatus, but the conductors cram a rediculous number of people into the seats and feet space so you are all essentially sitting on each other. Plus, in the tradition of East African public transport, the conductors are wild - hanging out the the vehicle dealing with luggage and change as the dalla dalla speeds up and down curvy hills. Finally we arrived in Wete and it was such a relief to find our guest house. After the exciting travel morning, we spent the afternoon walking around and exploring Wete which is such a cute little town with a thriving harbor and fishing industry. The people in Wete (and really all of Pemba) are so nice and in that afternoon we had many conversations with curious locals and people who wanted to practice their english.
The next day we visited Misali Island for a day of hiking and exploring. Misali Island is known for its deserted beaches, beautiful forests and caves sacred to the population. So after arriving on a motorboat, we spent the afternoon wandering around the island and laying on a perfect beach with crystal clear water. We also go the chance to visit the sacred caves which we submerged under the ground, filled with lakes and full of stalagtites. It makes perfect sense that they were considered sacred as they are wonderfully creepy in comparisn to the rest of the island. After a wonderful afternoon we had a rather choppy boatride home and spent the afternoon relaxing.
The next morning we were in the mood for some exercise we we biked up to the Ngezi forest to go for a short hike. The bike ride was absolutely amazing - we saw so many little villages and farms and forests and greeted so many people along the way. I think the local population was rather surprised to see two wazungus biking up and down their hills but a few took the opportunity to bike alongside us and chat a little bit. The ride was surprisingly long and when we finally reached the Ngezi forest it was such a relief to rest and stretch our legs. We ended up going on this little hike which was amazingly beautiful - the forest is full of surprisingly large trees, creeping vines and secluded lakes. Finally it was time to return, and despite being pretty exhausted at this point the ride back was beautiful particularly when we were finishing our trip and reached a view of the ocean right at sunset. It was a perfect but very tiring day!!!
The next day we returned to Tumbe where we visited our families, saw the local fish market, were given a tour of the hospital and were (of course) fed two lunches. All in all, it was pretty perfect and such a relaxing day compared to the physical exersion of yesterday!!!
Our final proper day in Wete we visited a penninsula / island that is only a kilometer away and is secluded from the mainland only at high tide. We went over there by canoe which was really much more like a gondola - it was amazingly long and skinny (made out of mango tree wood) and the driver stood on the edge of the back end and pushed the canoe through the water with a long pole. It was so cool!!! The island was really beautiful also and we had a wonderful walk through a mangrove forest with its amazingly twisted tree limbs and roots sticking up from the ground. Finally we had a wonderful coconut lunch before heading back to Wete by canoe and anothing relaxing afternoon wandering around / watching the sunset over the harbor / watching the hundreds if not thousands of Pemba Flying Foxes emerge from the trees at the harbor right after dark!!!
Yesterday was our final day in Pemba and we simply rode a dalla dalla back to Chake Chake and walked to the airport. It was really calm and nice to see all the different settlments and greet all the children on our way home and it was really the perfect end of our trip. So it was very bitter sweet to leave pemba as this is really my favorite place in East Africa and I'm sure that in the upcoming years it will be effected more by tourism, but I'm ready to join the group and stop making logistical decisions on my own. Back to Zanzibar...
We flew from Zanzibar to Pemba and the views from the tiny plane were amazing - we got to see so much of the countrysid eof both islands and as the ocean was so clear we could see the outline of coral reefs and different shades of blue changing with the depth of the water. When we arrived we headed straight to Chake Chake and had a wonderful afternoon wandering around the city. For being the largest city in Pemba its so small, and with our small walk we were able to venture into the farms and forests that surround the city. We also took a few hours to go to a restaurant on the top of a hotel that had an amazing view of the surrounding countryside and even the harbor a mile or so away. Afterwards we visited the market which was bustling with vendors selling fish and fruit, and got a wonderfully tastey dinner of break, grilled octopus and sugar cane. It was a perfectly calm reintroduction to Pemba.
The next day we headed up to Wete, in the north part of the island, where we based the rest of our trip. We took a dalla dalla and the ride there was far to exciting. Dalla Dallas are Pemba's version of matatues and are essentially trucks whose backs have been converted into seats with a canopy covering. They are wonderfully breezy and thus are far superior to matuatus, but the conductors cram a rediculous number of people into the seats and feet space so you are all essentially sitting on each other. Plus, in the tradition of East African public transport, the conductors are wild - hanging out the the vehicle dealing with luggage and change as the dalla dalla speeds up and down curvy hills. Finally we arrived in Wete and it was such a relief to find our guest house. After the exciting travel morning, we spent the afternoon walking around and exploring Wete which is such a cute little town with a thriving harbor and fishing industry. The people in Wete (and really all of Pemba) are so nice and in that afternoon we had many conversations with curious locals and people who wanted to practice their english.
The next day we visited Misali Island for a day of hiking and exploring. Misali Island is known for its deserted beaches, beautiful forests and caves sacred to the population. So after arriving on a motorboat, we spent the afternoon wandering around the island and laying on a perfect beach with crystal clear water. We also go the chance to visit the sacred caves which we submerged under the ground, filled with lakes and full of stalagtites. It makes perfect sense that they were considered sacred as they are wonderfully creepy in comparisn to the rest of the island. After a wonderful afternoon we had a rather choppy boatride home and spent the afternoon relaxing.
The next morning we were in the mood for some exercise we we biked up to the Ngezi forest to go for a short hike. The bike ride was absolutely amazing - we saw so many little villages and farms and forests and greeted so many people along the way. I think the local population was rather surprised to see two wazungus biking up and down their hills but a few took the opportunity to bike alongside us and chat a little bit. The ride was surprisingly long and when we finally reached the Ngezi forest it was such a relief to rest and stretch our legs. We ended up going on this little hike which was amazingly beautiful - the forest is full of surprisingly large trees, creeping vines and secluded lakes. Finally it was time to return, and despite being pretty exhausted at this point the ride back was beautiful particularly when we were finishing our trip and reached a view of the ocean right at sunset. It was a perfect but very tiring day!!!
The next day we returned to Tumbe where we visited our families, saw the local fish market, were given a tour of the hospital and were (of course) fed two lunches. All in all, it was pretty perfect and such a relaxing day compared to the physical exersion of yesterday!!!
Our final proper day in Wete we visited a penninsula / island that is only a kilometer away and is secluded from the mainland only at high tide. We went over there by canoe which was really much more like a gondola - it was amazingly long and skinny (made out of mango tree wood) and the driver stood on the edge of the back end and pushed the canoe through the water with a long pole. It was so cool!!! The island was really beautiful also and we had a wonderful walk through a mangrove forest with its amazingly twisted tree limbs and roots sticking up from the ground. Finally we had a wonderful coconut lunch before heading back to Wete by canoe and anothing relaxing afternoon wandering around / watching the sunset over the harbor / watching the hundreds if not thousands of Pemba Flying Foxes emerge from the trees at the harbor right after dark!!!
Yesterday was our final day in Pemba and we simply rode a dalla dalla back to Chake Chake and walked to the airport. It was really calm and nice to see all the different settlments and greet all the children on our way home and it was really the perfect end of our trip. So it was very bitter sweet to leave pemba as this is really my favorite place in East Africa and I'm sure that in the upcoming years it will be effected more by tourism, but I'm ready to join the group and stop making logistical decisions on my own. Back to Zanzibar...
A Very Merry Birthday - October 16th
I had such a good 23rd birthday yesterday, complete with a mini party and Zanzibarian breezes. I didn't really think anything would happen, but the group ended up having a little surprise get together at Amore Mio for cake and ice cream . It was so cute because I had no idea that anything was going to happen and after having pizza with Adam and Campion I thought we would just have ice cream with only the three of us. But when I got onto the restaurant's deck and saw all the lc kidsI had a few moments of confusion wondering why we ran into everyone before they started saying happy birthday - anyways it was really cute. This is such an adorable group!!!
October 15, 2008
Last night I got home (ie Zanzibar) from Pemba and am still amazed by what anamazing experience it was despite only being a few days long. Pemba is anamazing island with beautiful hilly/ tree covered landscapes and barely anytourism (I only saw one wazungu untill we got to the airport). The initialexpereince getting there was absolutely insane though. We took an overnightferry from Stone Town to Pemba on which we stayed in first class- which wasquite uncomfortable considering it had non reclining chairs and I can'tproperlty sleep while sitting up but I somehow managed by curling up in mychair. So honestly I was pretty cranky when we first arrived, but that quicklygot better as I saw how beautiful the island was. As we were meeting our host families in the afternoon and arrived in theisland before dawn, we had plenty of time to explore the island. We startedout in a small city where we got breakfast and wandered around - which wasamazing because everyone was super excited to see us which became even moresowhen we spoke swahili to them. Then we went to a local spice tour, duringwhich we saw and sampled all these different spices as they grew together in avery informal farm (ie cloves and cinnamon and vanilla and many others). I wasamazed by how important spices are to pemba, particularly cloves which canreally only be grown in pemba and zanizibar and which were drying in piles bythe road and all over the place. Then we made our way to Tumbe to meet ourfamilies. Tumbe is a cute little (though by Tumbe standards middle sized) island thatis based off of growing sweet potatoes and casava and fishing in the adjacentbay. When we first arrived in Tumbe, we came to a school where we were matchedwith our "natives". Mine was a 20 high school senior guy named Zahor who wasabsolutely adorable and so excited to have me there - he kept on saying howhappy was to have me stay with him and asked if I was happy which I was. He belonged to a rather rich family who had 3 stores in Tumbe, and had 16 or 18brothers and sisters of which I met about 8 as the others were living inZanzibar or Mombasa. While Zahor (my "native") spoke English surprisinglywell, his family didn't speak much English so I took advantage of my limitedSwahili and performed lots of miming when I was spending time with my hostsisters. Immediately after arriving to my home and placing my things in my ownprivate room, Zahor whisked me away from the home and took me on a Moped rideall around the Island... it was so muich fun!!!! It was great to seeeverything around, particularly the farms and forests. It was also, however,an interesting experience because I was wearing both kangas as skirts andheadcoverings - so I found myself sitting side saddle on the back of the mopedwith one arm clinging to Zahor and the other clamped on my kanga to keep itstuck to my head. Still, it was such a wonderful and amazing experience!!Afterwards wereturned for a meal of samaki (fish) and viazi (locally grownsweet potatoes. When they told me this I was super excited untill they placedit on the plate and I saw that the samaki was octapus tentacles - but despitemy initial gag reflex it was sooo good. After all this excitement I finallywent to bed for a wonderful nights sleep interupted only by the morning call toprayer and overly excited roosters.
The next day Zahor had his form 4 tests, so I spent the day wanderingaround with his sisters. In the morning we cooked, cleaned up the house a bitand then went for a walk on the beach. Before hand, however, the sistersdressed me up in a traditional light weight zanizibarian dress that reached theground and matching headscarf - which was bright pink but astonishingly cool. The beach was unbelievable and it was great to be able to see all the fishermenin dhaos and to meet all the people. Later in the day I helped cook a bit more,walked around the village some more, untill the evening when the sisters took meto a house where a lady was putting henna on all the girls in my trip. Apparently in pemba, henna is used for marriage so apparantly we were allgetting marriage henna patterns but it was quite an experience. We got therelate in the evening and the generator had gone out, so we were getting it doneby candle light. I found the experience rather uncomfortable because we had tohold our legs and hands off the ground, but it was definitely worth it becausenow I'm covered with black flower designs with the tip of my fingers, toes andbotttom of my feet being bright red. Now in Zanzibar we're getting lots oflooks but its definitely worth it. So that was that day. The next and final day, I walked around the town with Zahor where we visitedsome old historical monuments of mosques. Then it was time to leave thehomestay. It was so cute because my family kept giving me tons of gifts,including dates, mangoes, soda and a blue kanga with the picture of a ferriswheel. IT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!!
The next day Zahor had his form 4 tests, so I spent the day wanderingaround with his sisters. In the morning we cooked, cleaned up the house a bitand then went for a walk on the beach. Before hand, however, the sistersdressed me up in a traditional light weight zanizibarian dress that reached theground and matching headscarf - which was bright pink but astonishingly cool. The beach was unbelievable and it was great to be able to see all the fishermenin dhaos and to meet all the people. Later in the day I helped cook a bit more,walked around the village some more, untill the evening when the sisters took meto a house where a lady was putting henna on all the girls in my trip. Apparently in pemba, henna is used for marriage so apparantly we were allgetting marriage henna patterns but it was quite an experience. We got therelate in the evening and the generator had gone out, so we were getting it doneby candle light. I found the experience rather uncomfortable because we had tohold our legs and hands off the ground, but it was definitely worth it becausenow I'm covered with black flower designs with the tip of my fingers, toes andbotttom of my feet being bright red. Now in Zanzibar we're getting lots oflooks but its definitely worth it. So that was that day. The next and final day, I walked around the town with Zahor where we visitedsome old historical monuments of mosques. Then it was time to leave thehomestay. It was so cute because my family kept giving me tons of gifts,including dates, mangoes, soda and a blue kanga with the picture of a ferriswheel. IT WAS SUCH AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Field Trips
So the last two days we got our share of field trips around Nairobi and it was wonderful....
Thursday morning we went to the Railway Museaum which despite being poorly kept up is really interesting because of the importance the railway has had on Kenyan history. While the museaum itself was very small, it was really fun because the guide was absolutley determined we would have a good time. Much of the efforts he put into this consisted of him convincing us to climb onto different artifacts in the museaum and the courtyard: the seat president roosevelt sat in on the front of a train to shoot buffaloe, an old bicycle that attached to the tracks, trains of all shapes and sizes. So I found myself amazed that he was walking a group of 15 of us on the roof of a 100 foot train, musing that this would never happen in the United States! But I definitely preferred it like that.
This morning we had a more Western museaum experience when we visited the Karen Blixen House. Karen Blixen was a colonialist who tried to plant coffee in Kenya but who really is famous for being the author and lady in Out of Africa. So while the museaum consisted of the house of someone who in the scheme of things did not do anything too spectacular, it was a beautifully kept colonial house and garden. So we spent a wonderful morning walking throughout the house and arounds the grouds - which was definitely a much needed peaceful break in the crazy atmosphere of Nairobi.
This afternoon we had our final field trip of the week, when we went to the open air market behind Adam's Arcade to practice our numbers by bargaining. I actaully wasn't interested in buying anything so I just walked around with my juice looking at everything offered and enjoying the hectic yet familiar atmosphere of a favorite haunt two years ago.
So all in all the last part of the week was an amazing excusion to different parts of the city and it only causes me to look forward to this weekend when hopefully I can get out and explore Nairobi even more!!!
Thursday morning we went to the Railway Museaum which despite being poorly kept up is really interesting because of the importance the railway has had on Kenyan history. While the museaum itself was very small, it was really fun because the guide was absolutley determined we would have a good time. Much of the efforts he put into this consisted of him convincing us to climb onto different artifacts in the museaum and the courtyard: the seat president roosevelt sat in on the front of a train to shoot buffaloe, an old bicycle that attached to the tracks, trains of all shapes and sizes. So I found myself amazed that he was walking a group of 15 of us on the roof of a 100 foot train, musing that this would never happen in the United States! But I definitely preferred it like that.
This morning we had a more Western museaum experience when we visited the Karen Blixen House. Karen Blixen was a colonialist who tried to plant coffee in Kenya but who really is famous for being the author and lady in Out of Africa. So while the museaum consisted of the house of someone who in the scheme of things did not do anything too spectacular, it was a beautifully kept colonial house and garden. So we spent a wonderful morning walking throughout the house and arounds the grouds - which was definitely a much needed peaceful break in the crazy atmosphere of Nairobi.
This afternoon we had our final field trip of the week, when we went to the open air market behind Adam's Arcade to practice our numbers by bargaining. I actaully wasn't interested in buying anything so I just walked around with my juice looking at everything offered and enjoying the hectic yet familiar atmosphere of a favorite haunt two years ago.
So all in all the last part of the week was an amazing excusion to different parts of the city and it only causes me to look forward to this weekend when hopefully I can get out and explore Nairobi even more!!!
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