Category: Tanzania (page 1 of 2)

Nu har vi spenderat tva dagar pa Zanzibars norra kust. Vi har tittat pa jatteskoldpaddor och badat. Otroligt skont. Imorgon sticker vi till Dar Es Salaam dar vi ska tillbringa tva dagar innan vi aker hem till kalla Sverige.

Irma i gruppen blev biten av en skorpion i tan imorse. Nu blir det att se upp litegrann innan man tar av sig dojorna. Fast den har varianten var inte sarskilt farlig, for Irma ser ratt kry ut iallafall.

(Nej, det kandes inte sa naturligt att skriva pa engelska. Sadesa.)

(Nee hoor, in het engels schrijven was een beetje moeilijk. Ik probeer het later weer, maar nu zijn wij alweer op weg naar huis.)

Syns hemma pa fredag, ifall jag inte far ett infall att skriva mer i Dar es Salaam.

The alarm clock rang at 02.40. Time to get out to the beach! Tonight, we were going to sail over the straight to Zanzibar. Getting the bags out to the dhow seemed to a problem, and the crew had really not prepared anything for our trip. So when we finally set sail (because the engine wouldn’t start), we were almost two hours behind on our schedule.
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About two hours straight out from Bagamoyo is a sand bank that only emerges during low tide. We set out in a big dhow and sailed out to swim and snorkel around the sand bank. It was great to be out on the water again, and even better to plunge into the warm water of the Indian Ocean. The snorkelling was nice, and when we sailed back everybody was surprised to see how late it was.
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I could have called it “a shitty day”. We started off taking a guided tour in Bagamoyo. It was hot, the history only remotely interesting and the town was really abandoned a hundred years ago, and now they tried to restore the town. When our visit at the sculpture school changed to shopping-bonanza we bailed out and went back to the hostel.
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This day we travelled from Same to Dar Es Salaam and further on to the costal town of Bagamoyo. The bus trip was ok, and the hostel in Bagamoyo was great! We got our own little cottage, and to celebrate seeing the ocean again, Diana, Cecilia, Erik and I shared a “Fishermans plate” containing lobster, calamari, fish, prawns and more. Toghether with a bottle of cold chardonnay, it was heaven.

In the morning, we started our descent down to Chome again. Mr. Mndeme offered us some coffee and “ground nuts” (peanuts), and we sat down to have a chat. While we were sitting there, news came that one of the group, Eva, had hurt her ankle and that she needed help to get down to the village again. Guide Luther summoned a couple of boys and went up to get her.
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Well, I know it’s nothing like Dennis climb in Argentina, but this day we should trek up to Shengena peak. It was estimated to be some four hours up top the top, and off we went.
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On Saturday, sister Mariettes birthday, it was trekking time. We were going to climb up some 900 meters to a camp, and then later on trek up to Shengena peak. The peak is not very high (cirka 2 500 meters), so it would bo more like a rainforest walk.
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On the friday morning, we skipped visiting the clinic and school with the rest of the group and helped the family weeding their onions. After that, we did some more washing, spoke to some more neighbours and then slowly descended to visit guide Erics mother on the other side of the valley. Sure, we’ve had lunch, but since we were guests she had to offer us some food. We got two boiled eggs each, and the universal Coca Cola.

After visiting Eric’s mom, we got toghether and listened to a story teller who told us about the Pare history, and the history of the village. Next up in the programme was the greeting of the elders.

Again, I really longed for the babel fish when they danced and sang for us, and judging by the laughter from our guides, the songs were really funny. We had already met the most of the elders, and they were wonderful. Really friendly, curious and full with jokes and stories. Our guides did try to interpret, but it was a bit too hard. We smiled and said thanks anyway.

Then we climbed to “our” house again, getting ready for tomorrows trek up to Shengena forest.

In the morning, we ate breakfast and made ourselves ready to help the family in their daily work. They are farmers and have some different crops like onions and corn. It turned out there was nothing to do, said the family. So they proposed that we should take a walk so they could show us the neighborhood. But first we should drink coffee.
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