Just a quick message- I am leaving in a few hours to head back to the states. I will be flying from Zanzibar,to Dar, to Nairobi, to London, and finally to Dulles Airport, Washington DC!!! I will be arriving sometime on Wednesday. Its going to be a very long trip back with long layovers and flights, but at least I will have friends with me to keep me entertained :) I am honestly not really looking forward to going back to the US at this point and the transition and culture shock. Zanzibar has really become my home. I am starting to get good at swahili, have made lots of friends with the locals here and have really gotten used to life here. None the less, I am VERY excited to see all of my friends and family, and my dog. I am also excited to eat cheese and bacon (which can not be found on this island), and to take a hot shower (i think i have taken 3 hot showers here-haha). I will post once more when i get back to fill you in on how i spent my last few days in Zanzibar :)
Hope to see some of you soon!
love,
Emily
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Pictures from paradise!
On top of the world....or maybe just the light house :)
Babs and I on the swinging bed
Coconut Crab!
The Jetty
"Study" and Nap beach
Sunset Hut
The boat ride on the way to ChumbeLivin in paradise...... Chumbe Island
So it's been awhile since I have posted. Right now I am at the end of my Independent study project which has been going on for the past 28 days. I spent three weeks on Chumbe Island, and let me tell you, it was amazing. Chumbe is a tiny tiny island approximately 8 miles off the coast from Stone town. When I say tiny I mean that its only 1.1km long and 300 m wide (One day I even swam around the entire island!). There is a light house on the island and when you climb to the top you can easily see the entire island, as well as the coast of Dar Es Salaam in the distance and of course Zanzibar. The only thing that’s on the island is an eco-lodge that takes 15 guests at a time. The entire lodge is totally sustainable so everything is solar powered, they have gray water filtration, composting toilets, and they collect rainwater because there is no freshwater on the island Chumbe also has a really cool education program where they bring local students to the island for the day to learn about coral reefs and conservation. So during the day there would maybe be about 50 people on the island, but some of the days I was there, there were only 15 other people. It was great though! My house was right on the beach and I would leave the back doors open at night so I would fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the waves. One of the coolest things that you can do while on Chumbe is watch the sun rise over the ocean on the east side and then watch the sunset over the ocean on the west side in the evening. I was there with one other girl doing research on the reef, and let me tell you, our days there were extremely busy and we had to stick to a tight schedule. After waking up and having breakfast sitting on the jetty, we would have to decide whether we wanted to go snorkeling or whether we wanted to just sit on the beach and study. We had to make very difficult decisions, like where is the best place to take a nap? On the beach? On the lounge chairs on the beach? on the swinging bed by the beach (there was this bed that was under a little hut on the beach that was suspended by ropes so it could swing!)? Also should we take a nap before, or after lunch, or both? J After lunch we would usually go snorkeling again and then hang out on the beach until 5:30 where we would then go to our “sunset hut” to watch the sunset. After dinner we would play board games and card games with the rangers that live on the island, it was fun to teach them new games and a great way to practice our Swahili! The other student that I was with was doing a project on diurnal and nocturnal fish families. So after dinner we would go night snorkeling! At first I was a little scared to go snorkeling at night even though we had an underwater flashlight, but after a few times I got used to it and got to see some really awesome things! Although we didn’t see many fish at night, there were other animals that came out at night that I had never seen during the day. I saw huge colorful lobsters (probably 3 feet long), really big hermit crabs, eels, a crocodile fish and more. Also during the night you can see all of the bioluminescence in the water that the plankton make. When the moon wasn’t out, every time you moved there would be this huge burst of little neon-green specks all around you!
Oh and I did work on a project while on chumbe as well, well at least for part of the time J I took a survey of the sponges that are on the reef, collected some sponges , and am now in the process of compiling a booklet about sponges for chumbe as well as doing some taxonomic lab work. I also have a 30 page paper due on Friday which is what I am working on right now at the university of marine science here (and is what I should be working on now instead of updating my blog, haha).
One more thing: yesterday I was standing in the street on my way to the University talking to a friend that had passed by me and all of the sudden I heard this huge crash ahead of me. I looked past my friend to see the biggest cloud of dust ever and a three story building completely collapse! The building was nestled in between 2 other buildings and it brought part of another building down as well! It was crazy! All of the cars driving by where covered in a thick layer of dust and the building was crumbling into the road! I was standing there flabbergasted because a building just collapsed! But all of the locals where just standing there laughing! (Apparently the building was abandoned though so no one got hurt which was good). There’s certainly a new adventure here everyday!
Well I must get back to paper writing. After my ISP is due I have a Swahili final exam and then about a week to hang out in stone town and other parts of Zanzibar with the other students, which means I will be on the beach working on my tan during that time, haha. My plane leaves on the 12th and I will arrive in Washington DC on the 13th during the day. I will try to update once more before I leave Z-bar.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Emily
(I will post a few pictures from Chumbe later)
Oh and I did work on a project while on chumbe as well, well at least for part of the time J I took a survey of the sponges that are on the reef, collected some sponges , and am now in the process of compiling a booklet about sponges for chumbe as well as doing some taxonomic lab work. I also have a 30 page paper due on Friday which is what I am working on right now at the university of marine science here (and is what I should be working on now instead of updating my blog, haha).
One more thing: yesterday I was standing in the street on my way to the University talking to a friend that had passed by me and all of the sudden I heard this huge crash ahead of me. I looked past my friend to see the biggest cloud of dust ever and a three story building completely collapse! The building was nestled in between 2 other buildings and it brought part of another building down as well! It was crazy! All of the cars driving by where covered in a thick layer of dust and the building was crumbling into the road! I was standing there flabbergasted because a building just collapsed! But all of the locals where just standing there laughing! (Apparently the building was abandoned though so no one got hurt which was good). There’s certainly a new adventure here everyday!
Well I must get back to paper writing. After my ISP is due I have a Swahili final exam and then about a week to hang out in stone town and other parts of Zanzibar with the other students, which means I will be on the beach working on my tan during that time, haha. My plane leaves on the 12th and I will arrive in Washington DC on the 13th during the day. I will try to update once more before I leave Z-bar.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Emily
(I will post a few pictures from Chumbe later)
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
City of peace and SAFARI
I went to Dar es Salaam (translated for House of Peace) for 10 days. Dar is a city of close to 5 million people, which is a ton of people, considering that Zanzibar only has 1 million people. It is the largest city in Tanzania, and 2nd largest city in Eastern Africa (following Nairobi, Kenya). Although it is a big city, full of horrendous traffic, the worst air pollution I have ever seen (it was actually difficult to breath some of the time), and even a few skyscrapers (I had forgotten what a building with more then 3 stories looked like!) the people there still live with a village mentality, and the infrastructure surrounding the city is clear evidence of this. Downtown Dar is extremely small for the population of the city, and surrounding downtown are mass amount of small concrete/mud/coral one story homes with tin roofs. Being in Dar reminded me that I am living in a place that is struggling with development. While traveling on the bus to one of our snorkeling field trips one day it really hit me hard that I am living in a third world country. I was literally holding back the tears as we passed through countless number of streets that were full of these tiny little houses, and watching little kids play in the streets wearing tattered clothes that were too big for them. A large percentage of the people in Tanzania make $1 a day, and in many cases that dollar has to support an entire family. It really made me think about my life style, and I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of guilt as I was thinking about how back in the America I would easily spend $5 at starbucks, while people here have to feed a family on maybe a $1 a day. It made me realize that after seeing how people live like this then there is absolutely no way that I can sit back and not do anything about it. There is no way I can be apathetic to this situation, that is not only happening in Tanzania but I am sure in many places in the world. There is no way that I can go back to America in May and continue to live the way that I was living before. The question that I now face is how do you actually do something about this? Is it wrong for me to go back to America and spend the five dollars on starbucks? How do you even begin to approach helping out a struggling city of 5 million people, let alone an entire nation? These are questions that I have been wrestling with and haven't really come to any conclusions yet except that I know the only way to begin helping these people and changing my life style is through a little at a time.
On a lighter note, after our trip to Dar we traveled four hours south-west to Mikumi National Park for SAFARI! Upon driving into the park to our accommodation we passed by all sorts of big game like baboons, elephants, buffalo, impala, zebra, and giraffe!!! Yeah and we weren't even on the safari yet. Over the course of three days, we went on four safaris, driving in these awesome land rovers for a couple hours each time. My favorite part was that the land rovers basically had an entire sun-roof on the entire ceiling, so you could stand on the seat with your head sticking out of the car the entire time. Mikumi is an absolutely amazing and gorgeous place. The lodges that we stayed in overlooked the African Savanna with a mountain range in the background. Every morning I would wake up, look in the "front yard" and see herds of zebra and impala, with elephants and giraffe in the far off distance. I can't even tell you how amazing the sunsets were there as well. It was literally like a 360 degree sunset, everywhere you looked the clouds were a beautiful pink and orange and just looked so beautiful against the mountains. I also can't even tell you how amazing it was to see all of these wild animals that I have dreamed about seeing since I was little (thanks to the Lion King, haha). If a picture is worth a thousand words, I guess I'll leave you with tens of thousands of words then :)
On a lighter note, after our trip to Dar we traveled four hours south-west to Mikumi National Park for SAFARI! Upon driving into the park to our accommodation we passed by all sorts of big game like baboons, elephants, buffalo, impala, zebra, and giraffe!!! Yeah and we weren't even on the safari yet. Over the course of three days, we went on four safaris, driving in these awesome land rovers for a couple hours each time. My favorite part was that the land rovers basically had an entire sun-roof on the entire ceiling, so you could stand on the seat with your head sticking out of the car the entire time. Mikumi is an absolutely amazing and gorgeous place. The lodges that we stayed in overlooked the African Savanna with a mountain range in the background. Every morning I would wake up, look in the "front yard" and see herds of zebra and impala, with elephants and giraffe in the far off distance. I can't even tell you how amazing the sunsets were there as well. It was literally like a 360 degree sunset, everywhere you looked the clouds were a beautiful pink and orange and just looked so beautiful against the mountains. I also can't even tell you how amazing it was to see all of these wild animals that I have dreamed about seeing since I was little (thanks to the Lion King, haha). If a picture is worth a thousand words, I guess I'll leave you with tens of thousands of words then :)
Tomorrow I leave for Chumbe Island (a tiny island 8 miles off the Coast of Stonetown) where I will be for about 3 weeks working on my Independent Study Project. I am going to be taking a survey of the sponges on the reef there, so basically I am just going to be snorkeling everyday and hanging out on the beach the rest of the time. It's going to be a hard life :) I won't have internet while I am there, so I won't be able to post again until I get back. However I may be able to come back to Stonetown once a week to check my e-mail, so feel free to send me a message! All the best!
Emily
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Pictures!
Plane ride from Zanzibar to Pemba Island, Homestay brothers and sister from Pemba Island (i had a hard time getting them all to look at the camera at once, so this is the best picture i got :)), and boat from Prison Island. Picture of a red colobus monkey from Jozani Forest, the sun setting from one of my favorite places to hang out called Africa House, and me holding one of the sea stars from Prison Island!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Pemba Island and Queen of the Jungle!
So it has been awhile since I have last posted and there are so many trips that I have gone on to tell you about! I went to Pemba island for ten days and it was quite an adventure(Zanzibar is made up of two main islands, pemba and unguja).We took a tiny little 15-passenger plane from Stonetown to Pemba and it was only a 30 minute flight, but all of the views were absolutely amazing! I quickly learned that Pemba is very very different from Unguja even though they are very close together.Pemba has rolling hills and many forests, while Unguja is very very flat.Pemba is also dramatically less developed then Unguja. It only has 3 hotels and tourists don't really visit. In Unguja tourism is the largets industry and its where all the money comes from.Pemba's electricity is also preety bad, as the whole island gets its power from just one generator, so needless to say the power goes off everyday there for hours at a time. In most places there is also a lack of running water (the family that I was staying with didn't have running water). Despite some of the conditions, Pemba is beautiful and I actually liked it better than Unguja because of the rolling hills.The people were extremely nice and completely chill.I stayed with a rather larger family there.My host mom has 8 kids ranging from the ages of 5 to 20, and 4 of the kids lived in the house I was at.I never meet my host dad because he has 2 other wives so he was at their house at that time (it is legal to have 3 wives in Zanzibar!!!!!!).I spent most of my time playing with the kids and we had fun coloring together.Before I left my host mom was joking around with me and told me that the 5 year old, Abubakar, was a gift to me and that I could take him back with me to America (and I totally would take him with me because he is so cute!).While in Pemba we took lots of field trips and visited a rubber plantation, an essential oil distillery, and a salt production farm.We traveled around in a bus that had asian writing all over it which was rather funny and we took that bus on roads that I didn't know cars could drive on! At some points the entire bus was at a 45 degree angle.Most of time we also would have at least 10 kids chasing our bus at screaming Mzungo! (which means white person).The day before we left we took a boat ride out to Misali island which was amazing.It is a protected area, so only rangers live on the island and there is no development.I could just walk out like 10 feet from the beach and there was amazing snorkeling and coral reefs.I saw awesome parrot fish and on the boat ride we even saw dolphins that were right next to the boat!!!!After returning to stonetown we had a day off, so we took a boat ride out to Prison island to do some snorkeling.It was so much fun! We went snorkeling for a few hours and the coral reefs just never cease to amaze me and I always see some awesome fish that I have never seen before.We took a picnic lunch with us and ate on the boat and then went to the shore and just explored the beach because it was low tide.That was my favorite part because I saw so many little sea creatures that I had never seen before.I saw lots of crabs, snails, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, and the most amazing star fish EVER!There was one part in the water where there were at least 50 star fish in one spot.They were about the size of my hand and were all different colors like bright orange, blue, red, and green.After exploring the beach we went back to the boat and spent like an hour just jumping and diving off of the boat.It was a very fun day off and I got a nice tan I just got back from JozaniForestand was there for 4 days, cam back to stonetown, and then went back to Jozani for a night to camp because I liked it so much.It is a national park and it is special because it has red colobus monkeys.Every time I walked out of our house I would always see at least 3 monkeys and usually at breakfast we sat outside and watched monkeys playing with each other on top of the trees. The monkeys there are very used to humans even though they are wild because so many tourists visit.The other day I was hiking through the forest and they were 5 monkeys literally 2 feet away from me sitting by the path!They also have a nice nature trail that goes through a mangrove forest. One of the reasons that I went back to the forest was to work on a research project about a sea turtle conservation project that they have there.Right now it is "Portfolio" time so we have had 5 days to work on a mini research project.We have been on our own for everything so we had to find our own housing and meals.We were given 16,000 shillings a day (basically like 13 dollars) to pay for everything so its been quite an adventure trying to find cheap housing and pay for meals with that, however so far I have been successful. I am staying in an apartment in stonetown right now with 7 other people (it’s a 2 bedroom apartment) so it’s a little tight but very cheap.We are having a lot of fun though cooking our own meals and we have camping mats so sleeping on the ground isn't that bad.Tonight we are making grilled cheese which I am very excited about!The locals basically never eat cheese and cheese is very hard to find, but we found this tiny American supermarket that sells cheese! Quite exciting, haha.Tomorrow I will be working on writing up my research paper on the sea turtle sanctuary, will be presenting on Thursday, and then have a mid-term on Friday.This is definitely the most work I have done while be here, but its not too bad at all compared to the work I would be doing in Richmond>On Sunday we leave for mainland Tanzania will be traveling to the capital of TanzaniaDar Es Salaam.I will be there for 10 days and then am traveling south to Mikumi National Park for 2 days for a safari!!!! I am very excited to see some giraffes and lions and elephants!!!!!!Once we get back from safari I will be on stonetown for a little bit and then the first week of April is the start of my month long Independent Study Project. Yesterday I went to chumbe island (chumbeisland.com, check it out) and went snorkeling there ( I saw some huge fish and a squid!), climbed the lighthouse, and went on a nature walk.The island is only 1.1 km long but is the epitome of a tropical island and is sooooo gorgeous! I liked it so much that I talked to the rangers there, and decided that I will be staying there for the month of April working on my Independent study project.I am going to be snorkeling just about every day and taking a survey of the species of sponge that exist on their coral reef.The rangers are excited because they have never had anyone research the sponges there and I am excited because I get to live on a beautiful island for almost all of April!!!They are also giving me a fantastic price, the tourists that stay on the island pay $250 a night, and they are only going to charge me 8,000 shillings (of course my lodging won't be as nice, but who cares!).Well I have now written a book and grilled cheese is calling my name, so I must go Hopefully I will be able to post again sooner with some pictures (my memory card reader is not working at the moment).I really can't believe that it is already March and time is just flying by here!!!Love and miss you all!!Emily
Friday, February 13, 2009
Fast Facts about life in Zanzibar
- the currency here is Tanzanian shilling and $1 is equal to 1300 shillings. It's pretty nice because I always feel like I have a lot of money because a 10,000 dollar bill looks like so much (when in reality its less than $10).
-Square blocks do not exist in Stonetown and all of the streets are very narrow and curvy. Most of the streets are not even big enough for a car to drive through and street signs do not exist. Even if you keep making left turns you would bot make a circle, but end up on the other side of town. Lets just say that with my directional skills I have already gotten lost many times because the town is like a maze! Right now I know how to get to the internet cafe, the SIT office, and my house which is pretty good for me! Oh and here pedestrians have no right at all. Motorbikes, bicycles, cars, trucks and vans all go REALLY REALLY fast and they never slow down even if they see someone crossing the street. They also drive on the left side of the road, so its taken me awhile to decide what side of the road I should stay on when a motorbikes is coming.
-Since the Zanzibar archipelago is also known as the spice islands, we have spice tea with every meal. Its really good and in my house we usually have ginger tea. A typical meal consists of rice, lots and lots of fried bread, fish, and fresh fruit (papaya, mango, bananas, and pineapple). We eat meals sitting on a mat on the floor and use our right hand to eat everything. And let me tell you, eating rice with your hand is an art that I have yet to master. My homestay mama even tried to teach me how to pick the rice up with my fingers, and ended up just laughing at me because it went everywhere :) There are also a lot of hot peppers in some of the foods. Let me just give you a word of advise. DO NOT mistake a hot pepper for a carrot. Some how I have managed to do that twice and both times I thought i was about to eat a Delicious carrot and as a result my mouth felt like it was on fire for 2 hours, haha.
-Zanzibar is not a very big island but there are lots of islands around it. It takes about 45 minutes to drive the width of Zanzibar and about 3 hours to drive the length from the longest points.
-Everyone here LOVES soccer and the kids play everyday. My host family really likes Manchester United and they are always watching it on tv, which I quite enjoy :)
-Sometimes I accidentally speak Spanish instead of Kiswahili and everyone looks at me really strange. I don't know how people can speak multiple languages and keep them separated!
-They tell the time differently here, which was really confusing in the beginning. The day starts at 6 am. So when its 7 am they actually say its 1. So 12:30 pm, would actually be 6:30. The funny thing is that they all set their clocks on english time but they only refer to Kiswahili time.
-There are chickens, and cats, and even a few cows roaming through most of the streets. It doesn't even seem weird to me any more when I see a chicken and her chicks walking by my front door.
-Right now there are a ton of tourists in Zanzibar for the Busara Music Festival. Its held in the old fort and groups from all over Africa come to play. I am planning on going to that tonight and tomorrow night with my friends.
-We took a boat ride to prison island and went snorkeling there. The corals are always so amazing to me and I even saw a blue starfish! We went on the island as well and I got to feed these really big tortoises that can live up to 150 years old!!!! I actually got sea sick because the water was so rough when we were snorkeling, but the tortoises made me feel better :)
-There are strong British, Arabic, and Indian influences in Zanzibar culture. 99 percent of Zanzibar is Muslim so I always hear thier call to prayer 5 times a day. Most of the people here speak Kiswahili, English, and Arabic.
-At the Institute of Marine Science where i have class everyday they have an aquarium with a loggerhead turtle! I helped take care of a loggerhead turtle this past summer at the Virginia Living Museum so i was excited to be able to visit the turtles relative :)
- Right now it is the hottest part of the year. It is very humid and probably around 90 F every day. Today it is raining which is really nice because it is still really sunny and bright, but the perfect temperature outside!
Alright, that's all for now. Hopefully I have given you a glimpse of what life is like here. I hope everyone is doing well and surviving through winter time! Ta ta for now!
Emily
-Square blocks do not exist in Stonetown and all of the streets are very narrow and curvy. Most of the streets are not even big enough for a car to drive through and street signs do not exist. Even if you keep making left turns you would bot make a circle, but end up on the other side of town. Lets just say that with my directional skills I have already gotten lost many times because the town is like a maze! Right now I know how to get to the internet cafe, the SIT office, and my house which is pretty good for me! Oh and here pedestrians have no right at all. Motorbikes, bicycles, cars, trucks and vans all go REALLY REALLY fast and they never slow down even if they see someone crossing the street. They also drive on the left side of the road, so its taken me awhile to decide what side of the road I should stay on when a motorbikes is coming.
-Since the Zanzibar archipelago is also known as the spice islands, we have spice tea with every meal. Its really good and in my house we usually have ginger tea. A typical meal consists of rice, lots and lots of fried bread, fish, and fresh fruit (papaya, mango, bananas, and pineapple). We eat meals sitting on a mat on the floor and use our right hand to eat everything. And let me tell you, eating rice with your hand is an art that I have yet to master. My homestay mama even tried to teach me how to pick the rice up with my fingers, and ended up just laughing at me because it went everywhere :) There are also a lot of hot peppers in some of the foods. Let me just give you a word of advise. DO NOT mistake a hot pepper for a carrot. Some how I have managed to do that twice and both times I thought i was about to eat a Delicious carrot and as a result my mouth felt like it was on fire for 2 hours, haha.
-Zanzibar is not a very big island but there are lots of islands around it. It takes about 45 minutes to drive the width of Zanzibar and about 3 hours to drive the length from the longest points.
-Everyone here LOVES soccer and the kids play everyday. My host family really likes Manchester United and they are always watching it on tv, which I quite enjoy :)
-Sometimes I accidentally speak Spanish instead of Kiswahili and everyone looks at me really strange. I don't know how people can speak multiple languages and keep them separated!
-They tell the time differently here, which was really confusing in the beginning. The day starts at 6 am. So when its 7 am they actually say its 1. So 12:30 pm, would actually be 6:30. The funny thing is that they all set their clocks on english time but they only refer to Kiswahili time.
-There are chickens, and cats, and even a few cows roaming through most of the streets. It doesn't even seem weird to me any more when I see a chicken and her chicks walking by my front door.
-Right now there are a ton of tourists in Zanzibar for the Busara Music Festival. Its held in the old fort and groups from all over Africa come to play. I am planning on going to that tonight and tomorrow night with my friends.
-We took a boat ride to prison island and went snorkeling there. The corals are always so amazing to me and I even saw a blue starfish! We went on the island as well and I got to feed these really big tortoises that can live up to 150 years old!!!! I actually got sea sick because the water was so rough when we were snorkeling, but the tortoises made me feel better :)
-There are strong British, Arabic, and Indian influences in Zanzibar culture. 99 percent of Zanzibar is Muslim so I always hear thier call to prayer 5 times a day. Most of the people here speak Kiswahili, English, and Arabic.
-At the Institute of Marine Science where i have class everyday they have an aquarium with a loggerhead turtle! I helped take care of a loggerhead turtle this past summer at the Virginia Living Museum so i was excited to be able to visit the turtles relative :)
- Right now it is the hottest part of the year. It is very humid and probably around 90 F every day. Today it is raining which is really nice because it is still really sunny and bright, but the perfect temperature outside!
Alright, that's all for now. Hopefully I have given you a glimpse of what life is like here. I hope everyone is doing well and surviving through winter time! Ta ta for now!
Emily
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