Through the Lens: Zanzibar Part I

Impossibly clear water in the harbor in Zanzibar.
A dhow in front of prison island, where we fed the tortoises.
You can see the star fish? There were hundreds, and all of them neon!

I have arrived safely back in Bungoma, and realized how much I missed the family and all of the other volunteers. I'm glad to be here again. Also, almost all of the painting is done in the clinic and Elizabeth (the VCT manager) will be bringing the curtains in the next day or so. Also, they opened up a segment of the fence and have redone the floor. I'm so excited--we're quite close to a final District Health inspection and then opening for testing!

I have some incredible photos from the trip that I went through last night but haven't put on my jump drive for upload to the blog yet. I took about 400 photos during my week in Zanzibar, and some from the plane from Zanzibar to Nairobi! I have some breathtaking shots of Mt. Kilimanjaro from the plane, emerging rather like a giant floating mountain on top of a sea of clouds. It's was a stirring early morning flight with the sunrise to starboard and Kilimanjaro to port; and the flight wasn't very full so you could move around a bit to get an incredible view. I can't wait to upload the photos!

ZIFF/Kenyan Homecoming

I spent the weekend in Stone Town going to the events of the Festival of the Dhow Countries, listening to Taarab music, eating ever more seafood, and watching loads of films at the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

Other highlights included making friends with a tour operator, going to his house and meeting all of his family, and moderating a debate for a class he teaches! The students are learning English, and many of them hadn't ever met a native English speaker. The students were all ages--mostly secondary school aged though--and from a moderate Muslim community. The debate was essentially "Is it a good idea to be dating someone while in secondary school?"--

I'm now back in Kisumu and greatly anticipate seeing what progress has come on the VCT center tomorrow when I get back to ICODEI/Kabula. Also, it'll be nice to see the family again, and the other volunteers.

I have loads of rather nice photos that I'll be posting soon!

SCUBA

This is in the evening, about an hour after sunset, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

This turtle is 108 years old, and has paid down to eat a leav I dropped. They moved so slowly, but you could tell when they were 'chasing' you. They squeaked when their shells moved and made weird breathy noises when they were grasping for food.

So, I've been in Nungwe on the northernmost tip of Zanzibar for the last few days. I finished my Advanced Open Water PADI SCUBA certification dives just a few hours ago--I did a dive to 100ft., drift dive, night dive, fish identification dive, and navigation dive to complete it. The reefs are quite stunning and make me feel like I'm in an eltra-panorama National Geographic photo.

Mostly I just wanted to post a bunch of pictures, but as usual the internet is slow and fickle. At least there are two!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

"If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it", sung in the mellow Gene Wilder-as-Willy Wonka voice has been running through my head all morning.

Yesterday I went to the "House of Wonders" with Jessie and Nicole and learned all about the dhow, the sultans of Zanzibar, modern Zanzibar culture, etc. On our way back to the hotels, we saw the Spice Tour van that Lonely Planet recommended--so I asked if they had room, and they did. So, I went on a spice tour--Nicole and Jessie had to take the ferry back to Dar Es Salaam, so we said our goodbyes and off I went! The spices were incredible, I could write a list a mile long of all the leaves and flower, fruits and roots that we smelled and tasted.

Upon return after a spice-filled lunch, I checked into a charming hotel, with all of the amenities of Maszons where I had been staying, at less than a third of the price! Also, the furniture and decor was all very Arabic/Swahili and had so much character.

I then walked to the main local market, where I was looking for some traditional Zanzibar leather sandals, and I found a guy that was able to help me find the 'factory' that made the sandals they sold in Stone Town, but at a fraction of the price. I got two pair, and headed back to the Warere Guest House.

For dinner, I had marlin, and barracuda at the street vendors which cater to the flurry of tourists. The night before, we sampled every kind of seafood that you can imagine--so I really only went back for the favorites. Also, passion fruit Fanta--I haven't seen it in Kenya, but I've been drinking so much of it here in Zanzibar.

Today, I'm in Nungwe, where I'll be staying for a few days--it's the northernmost point of Zanzibar. I'll return to the Stone Town area Friday for the start of the film festival, and take day trips from there.

Pictures still on hold--the internet places here aren't as cooperative as those in Bungoma.

Zanzibar

So I've been in Zanzibar since yesterday afternoon, but it seems like a lot longer.

This isn't exactly a place that I can put into words. Things like "brilliant", "breathtaking", and any of a number of words that might be used to describe approximations of paradise come to mind.

I'm staying in a lovely hotel with unbelieveable wood work right in the heart of Stone Town. The narrow streets and combined East African/Arab cultures stir together blindingly--it's an assault on all senses, dripping with tropical marvelous heat, astouding views at every instant, all terrifically varied.

Today I fed hundred-year-old giant tortoises (250 kg giant), gazed into the crystal waters a color of cerulean/blue that I had never fathomed, and plucked huge neon starfish from the water off an island coast. Photos forthcoming.

The hotel I'm staying in is quite a place, ideally located (and out of my budget for more than these first two nights). I'm going to try to get a reservation somewhere else for at least tomorrow night, and I'm thinking about doing a spice tour tomorrow [while I'm still based in Stone Town/Zanzibar Town].

Nicole-a classmate two years younger from the Miami Valley School--is here; she just finished her first year at Vanderbilt, and has been near Dar Es Salaam and elsewhere in Tanzania doing medical-related work through a program she's part of. A friend of hers is also here, who has been teaching in a primary school and started a library there--Jessie.

This week, I hope to explore the other towns on the island and go to the beaches. I'm going to try to set up a SCUBA trip tomorrow for sometime this week, and then the Zanzibar International Film Festival starts on Friday. Depending on how the week goes, I may try to go to Pemba--another island to the north of Zanzibar--there are some ZIFF events that will be going on there. Otherwise, I'll just get a cheap place north of Zanzibar Town and enjoy the sights and divine snorkeling/SCUBA day trips!

I haven't heard anything from anyone at ICODEI yet--they all went to Uganda this weekend to go rafting in Jinja, and a few were staying at the farm [that had gone when I did a few weeks back]. I'll probably talk to them on Monday and see how it all went, and I can't wait to watch the video of them!

A Week of Slow Progress

At this moment, I'm down the way from the Oginga-Odinga Rd. Nakumatt in an internet cafe/cake shop.

Progress on the clinic updates to get District approval has been rough. Tom has proven to be quite difficult to work with, keeping his own schedule--working irregular hours, disappearing for too-long periods of time when he should be getting materials, and then just going really slowly. We've now hired out segments of the work to other people, so it should be done sometime in the next two weeks. The partition wall, records room, ceiling paint, cabinet locks, and consultation chairs are complete.

Curtains: I had a bit of sticker shock when I saw the initial quoted price for the curtains. Who knew that 17 hand-made bi-layer curtains would cost so much? Elizabeth, the hired VCT 'manager', is making the curtains and she estimated that it would take her about a week. I gave her an installment towards the curtains to pay for materials.

So why am I in Kisumu again? Well, after a bit of uncertainty on the dates and times, I have a ticket to Zanzibar tomorrow. I'll meet Nicole, who I went to high school with, and I believe one of her friends. This is a bit of a detour from the ICODEI/Kabula VCT, but I think it's well timed since now it's a waiting game until the finishing touches are taken care of. When I return, Krishna will arrive--and we can get the District Health people out to approve us and get going with the first few weeks as a testing center before we leave at the beginning of August.

Cultural tidbit of the day is the matatu. I don't know if I've mentioned them before, they're such an unusual and highly-effective means of transportation. Essentially, these are private vehicles that serve as busses throughout all of Kenya, as well as what I saw of Uganda [I wonder what other places in Africa use matatus?]. You stand by the side of the road, almost hitch-hike style, and they pick you up. They make money by cramming as many people as possible into these things. There are fourteen seats. My personal record is sitting in the back of a matatu, with someone in my lap; a total of 23 fully grown people were on board. Some of the other ICODEI volunteers reported riding on a 29-person packed matatu, though that included children/babies. These vehicles go careening down the rough roads and the frame shudders with local music blaring. All matatus have a name, many of which are religious in nature. "Temple of God", "Praise to Above", "Blessings"--all matatu names. Also, though, there are some really racy names and many famous Kenyans/Africans are featured in the names as well. Some are just catchy slogans. Some are Western celebrities--like "Britt Spears", one that I've seen. Matatu culture is also great. People on them are so friendly and all help each other out, much more than people on the street--it's like an "all of us are in this together!" sort of mentality. One of the Canadian water filter team volunteers says that this is the only country where she's ridden as a lone female and not felt uncomfortable or been uncomfortably assaulted physically or verbally (and she's traveled quite extensively from what I gather). Certainly not to say that it never happens, but her sentiments don't surprise me from my personal experiences.

Joyce, the clinic business manager (I included a picture of her early on in the blog) is going to call and keep me updated on VCT progress, and Elizabeth is going to call and let me know how the progress goes with the curtains--which means I shouldn't have a dearth of information about ICODEI while I'm away. The other volunteers who have arrived in the last few weeks are using this weekend to go to Uganda and go rafting. I can't wait to see their photos.

In other news, I submitted my primary application to medical school a few days ago. I've already gotten two automatic secondary applications, which just means more paperwork. It's nice to move to the next steps though!

Until next time!, when I can include pictures of tomorrow's journey to the farthest south I've ever traveled, and the third country I'll have been in Africa.

Kisumu,Through the Lens

Me, on a boat, in Lake Victoria.
Boats at the shore of a fishing village on Lake Victoria.
On the shore of the Lake.
A fisherman in the middle of the Lake.
A hippo in the Lake.
The local carwash? Lake-side!
In a tuk-tuk coming back from the Yacht Club where we went to watch the sunset. Until we were asked to pay 2,200 shilling temporary membership or leave. It was amusing, because we just asked the tuk-tuk driver to take us somewhere that we could watch the sun...

Sorry for the uncreative captions! Just a few pictures to make up for the lack-thereof yesterday.