SPICE ISLANDS

We continued our exploration of Zannzibar, which is actually a group of islands, which used to be called "The Spice Islands". A great deal of our spices come from this area, so we ventured to a government owned farm and walked around all morning looking at spice plants and trees and seeing the what the finished   product was. Our guide was sort of a plant medicine man, and almost everthing grown on this farm also had medicinal uses, beside flavoring. Then some small "start up" businesses had made soaps, creams, and perfumes out of many of the plants. So , of course, we had to help the local economy. They thanked us by making us head wreathes and woven baskets and even a tie and a frog necklace out of leaves...maybe hokey...but still was fun!

It was hot! Of course. We are almost on the equator...sunny all the time. We went back to the hotel and had the whole afternoon to do what we wanted, but all we wanted was to cool off, so we went to the pool, sat in the shade! Drank beer, and swam a bit.  Steve wanted to actually swim  in the Indian ocean, so he did that and swam in the pool. In the late afternoon, many many young men come to the  beach and start playing soccer in the sand.  They really have fun, and are loud. They Usually end up diving in the clear warm water after soccer.  Two other couples we have gotten to know, wanted to go have a happy hour  before dinner, so we all went to the local beach bar and tried a whole array of Zanzibar and Tanzanian beer! We finished off the evening by listening to Tarrub music before dinner.

We enjoyed our A/C for the last time. Tomorrow we were venturing to Saadani on the Wami River...Equator hot, humid and no A/C! Can't even imagine surviving!

SLAVES AND SPICE

We are staying in Stone Town. Very old part of Zanzibar. It is so hot, we are melting,,yet I see people all over covered from head to toe in black scarves and robes. ,many men in white. Our guide is one of the few Christians on this island, but says it is no big deal. Zanzibarias, all desended from different tribes all over Africa, are proud of their intermingling, and have even turned down requests to test DNA to see where people have originated. They are pround to be Zanzibarians, and peaceful and happy people. Jambo jambo, they call at  us..Hakuna Matata..and all that.

We arrived in a torrential downpour and actually waited about 45 min in the airport garage area until it stopped enough to bolt to the car. By the time we arrived at our hotel on the beach....sunny and hot!

So we had a late lunch then went to see the old slave quarters.....very disturbing as you can imagine. In the heat and humidity we went under the ground to view the areas where they held black people for up to 3-4 days before they were sold. There were 8 of us and I could hardly breath in the dark, hot hole. But the slave traders would pack 75 people including little babies and kids in the same hole. It was really depressing. 

The chains on the statues are the original chains found at these slave chambers. 

The rest of the time we walked around the hot food market. While Zanzibarians have plenty of good and freash water available.....they don't have much refrigeration. Most shop daily, so the markets stay busy with everything needed to cook the day's food.  By the time we walked back to our airconditioned rooms....my feet were ballons and I was toast! A glass of wine and Benedryl...and I got thru the evening!

ZANZIBAR

Zanzibar is hot...humid, flat and beautiful. I am suffering terribly with tsetse fly bites I got in Serengeti.The Africans pronounce them as "say-say flies". Whatever. They are annoying as hell, and pesky. Sometimes when going thru an infested area, we would roll all the windows in the jeep and completely cover our bodies with 98%'Deet. We still got bit. But, I am the only one who has had such a bad reaction, and got the most bites. both my feet are so swollen that I cannot wear shoes. Suffering in hot humid weather with fat swollen itchy feet, and one hand.

Moving right along....Zanzibar has such an interesting history. It was populated by Arab traders who captured Africans all over Africa and brought them to Zanzibar to sell them to other countries who needed slaves. So ethnically, the people are Africans who all speak Swahili, but are Muslims. 99 %. Arabic is not spoken here very much. Zanzibar is a peacefull island, poor. But pretty safe. They are tolerant of the tourists code of dress, especially in the hotels, but once out on the city, it is better to be covered...only for women though!

Our hotel,is right on the beach and fun to watch muslim women in the full hijab with head cover having "beachboot camp". Also they are swimming completely clothed and with a cap and some with scarves. I saw some men meet their wives on the beach with robes and head covers immediately after they got out of the water. Lots of great fishing skiffs go by, and beach soccer in the afternoon gets very loud and energetic. 

FLYING TO ZANZIBAR

We packed up and headed to the local airport. It is truely a bush flying type of place with only prop planes. The pilot and only person besides us came and introduced himself as "Ali", and said the flight would take about 2 1/2 hours to to the Island of Zanzibar. The plane had 12 seats and one propellor. We flew at 11,500 ft and he managed to miss all the big thunder heads billowing up around Mt. Killamanjaro and the Serengeti. It was actaully very smooth, and he passed candy around out of a small plastic container. Ali looked about 25 years old, but he did a great job.

This above ishe waiting area of the "Airport".....kinda casual.....

 

GOODBYE MORNING

Today we are leavng the Serengeti and all it's tsetse flies, and animals, and flying to Zanzibar. Our guide told us NOT to go to breakfast but to meet him for a nature walk at 7:00am. We walked a bit and came to a beautiful clearing at the edge of a cliff.....and lo! The African music started playing amd the champagne started flowing.  What a fun surprise. They had set up a beautiful buffet table for us, but first we started dancing to the marimba's (helped by the champagne). Our drivers sat with us and we all said our goodbyes, for they will not be going Zanzibar. It was early am, the temp was perfect and we had a great time...yes! I danced. Duh!

The picture below is our cute hut nestled on a hillside right in the middle of the Serengeti. They made the best gin and tonics. The huts were wonderful inside, but no A/C, and we had to be so careful of mosquitoes and tsetse flyies

CATCHING UP

We have been traveling thru the Norgorongo Crater and the vast Serengeti for 4-5 day. We have had miserable heat, near 100 degrees. The Tsetse flies are horrible. Despite using deet of 98%, they are relentless biters. Both my ankles are swollen up 3x 's as large from bites, and I can no longer get my boots laced. mosquitoes come out at night, but we have nets and take Malaria Prophylaxis.  For me the heat and tsetse flies are the worse. We drink tons and tons of water...and it helps that our guide keeps a cooler in the jeep filled with bottled water. 

The roads are primative dirt trails and the dust is mighty! Sometimes we cannot even see ahead...like a fog. This is the very end of the dry season, and the rains shall come and they need those, but right now.....we eat dust all day, wear scaves and masks and our clothes are constantly sweat soaked and dirty. I feel like a real miserable adventurer....almost.

We are a eight people with two jeeps, two native drivers and a guide. We spend long days driving game tracks and even just cross country on the grassy tundra. We have box lunches as it takes so long to get back to the lodges. We have seen so much exciting "circle of life" experiences...many, many animals, and abundant bird life. We always come back to hot showers, washout clothes, have a cool one ...or two....and enjoy dinner made by somewone else. Out of eight people, 4 of them are doctors, one is an emergency nurse, so we feel well protected! Hahaha. The drivers are great, but the roads are really really rough, bumpy, and very dusty.

We leave today to fly in a prop plane to Zanzibar.  The Serengeti is incredible, and I will write more of the adventures and what we saw in 4 exceptional days of exploring. 

OLDUVAI GORGE

Every since I knew about Mary Leaky discovering the Australopithecus boisei I was interested in archaeology and digging around to find our ancestors. Well, after our Masai Village visit, we travel down some bad bumpy dirt dusty roads and found a very inconspicuous hut where proclaimed we were almost at the "spot" Dr. Mary found "a. b". We were met by a very knowledgeable gentleman who  explained a great deal about that time in 1959 and what transpired to make them choose tha spot to dig. Then we piled intomthe jeep and went down to the dig hole. There were two young Masai boys with their  cows there, and I was thinking how  weird because this skull was the ancestor of all of us!

We dinked around the area, which really was just a big dusty area like a gravel pit. But, it was still a thrill to actually see the spot. They also had a small museum at the top, and  we got to see more photos and artifacts of that time. For 3 months out of each year, after the rains, there are three countries who still send students and staff for month long digs, because there is still more to discover. Spain, the US, and Tanzania.p