Blogs from Mafia Island, East, Tanzania, Africa

We arrived back to “Charming Chole” but not without complications, first off we were asked to pay around $3000 in Marine Park fees before even entering the Island, Chole is situated in a protected area and as such park fees have to be paid by every visitor, we were supposed to be exempt from these fees but Africa being Africa no-one had taken responsibility for writing our “exemption letter”. Bureaucracy, makes you want to scream. The short version of events, we had to wait for a week before doing anything and also had to visit the “District Commissioner” of Mafia Island, certainly a dictator in the making if ever we saw one!! So now here we are going about our daily lives as two of the Islanders, we have been accepted into a local family so ... read more

Viikon jouluseikkailun jalkeen olemme taas sivistyksen parissa! Tuntuupa hyvalta! Viikko sitten herasimme oikein aikaisin ja lahdimme taksilla Mbagalan kylaan, mista dalla dallan eli pikkubussin piti lahteman Nyamisatiin. Kuljettajamme oli hotellin luottokuski ja paasimme hieman halvemmalla (ehka), mutta siellapa sitten sompailimme etsimassa dalla dallan lahtopaikkaa. Kysyimme, ajoimme takaisin, kysyimme taas, ajoimme toiseen suuntaan, taas kysaisimme, taas huristimme toiseen suuntaan. Lopulta paikallinen hyppasi kyytiin ja paasimme bussille. Dalla dalla luonnollisesti sullottiin tayteen, Ilpo oven vieressa istuen ja valillla joku Ilpon sylissa istuen, mina kahden tukevan naisen valissa niin tukevasti juntattuna, etta onnettomuustilanteessa tuskin olisin liikahtanut mihinkaan. Jonkinlaisen kasityksen ahtaudesta saa laskemalla, etta bussissa oli 20 paikkaa ahtaasti ahdettuna, 14 jos ih... read more

Phew...leave for two weeks and your email inbox is a disaster! 240 messages (serves me right for being so popular...:P) anyway, I am back in Stone Town for the next 5 days to recoup, get things in order for ISP, catch up on communication, and prepare myself for three weeks of camping on an Indian Ocean island doing research. Phew! So, in case you started reading this and really do not have time to read it all (longest email yet, sorry!) I have a table of contents for you if you need the short version. So, here are my two weeks on Chole! -Fly in a chartered TINY plane to Mafia, take a boat to Chole Island -Stay at Chole Mjini (look it up...amazing eco resort!) -Interview local people with a translator -Get malaria -Have an ... read more

Long time since i last wrote anything! Well the dhow finally arrived and the project is progressing well. We paid a brief (3 week) visit to the UK - drove 1200 miles in 10 days - saw family and friends. Thats about it really, no excitement or dramas recently, thankfully!... read more