Blogs from Pemba, Tanzania, Africa

Back on the road, after the North of Pemba, time to head to the Fundu Lagoon located in the South of the Island for some Robinson Crusoe experience! The Fundu Lagoon is a very special place, awarded best beach safari in Africa, a place to dream of pirates and treasure, and castaways while enjoying the surrounding nature & pristine silky beach. But just like a hidden jewel, the journey to this piece of Paradise isn’t quite an easy one and this even more in our case as we were coming from the exact opposite! From North to South, we were on for a three hours drive across the island (from airport, it takes about one hour) & as the resort is only accessible by boat although still located on the Pemba peninsula, an additional 25 mn ... read more

I had to wait for the rain to stop before fighting the gauntlet of safari touts. I hadn’t even reached Arusha yet but it began “Hello! Free Information! Free Help!” They’d say. “Don’t need your help mate” I’d reply. “Why Not?” “Because eventually you’ll say you know this Safari Company. You’ll bring out a business card…” This banter would continue until they’d give up following me as I walked on. This one guy followed me however (showed in his opinion) all the way to the bus I already knew of. He says he ‘doesn’t want any money’ but this is tourism in the Tanzanian mountains. I knew this would be the case so with this I decided to not double it up with Zanzibar Island instead going for the alternative and do Pemba Island. I heard ... read more

OK! here is the email that apparently no one got last week. I have a new one coming as well either tonight or tomorrow... Hello everyone! So I guess this is a long tidbit...but only part of the story! I am alive and doing ok (I have had an infected finger, but it is getting better!) and loving life on Misali! We have been here for over two weeks now, and have 5 more days to bask in the sun. My research is going well, but I have had to put it on hold for the past week due to the fact that my finger was in serious pain, but I hope to be able to do at least 5 more transects in the next few days to even out the data. The water has been ... read more

Wow...how can I even attempt to write about the past week in an email? Prepare yourself for a super long one that will not even begin to skim the surface of the events of the past week. I spent the last 8 days on the island of Pemba, the sister island to Unguja that makes up Zanzibar. We flew over and immediately moved into our host family homes. After the decent but not wonderful experience of the last homestay, I was not sure what to expect. I had the surprise of the trip when I was immediately taken into this family with all the love, laughter and fun of my friends and family back home. I had a mother and father and 5 sisters (5 of 8 were at home) as well as a boy cousin. ... read more

J' étais craintif de venir plongée ici à Pemba. Les guides décrivaient les sites comme suit:"....it's like a video game and if you visit a cave be sure shure to see everything before come out, after that it's like a washing machine in spin cycle...". Maintenant je peux vous dire que j' ai eu de la chance car les dix jours de plongées une journée seulememt a été avec faible courrant. Exceptionnelles ont été les autres sortie! J' ai suivi le cour de "Advance Open Water" ainsi obtenant une meilleur expérience de plongeur! J' ai donc effectué; Naturalist, deep dive, navigation, boat dive, photographer. Merveilleux pour seulement essayer de décrire les sensations ainsi que les sites de plongées! J' ai donc photographier moi-même la faune marine. Une chose que j' aimais bien était; les îles parfois ... read more