Blogs from Zanzibar City, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa - page 23

I had a bit of a mixed day. I went into Stone Town again in the morning, arriving quite early for me. However, I did not feel that great, so in the morning I just rested at the veranda outside the St Monica's restaurant. I had plently to drink, and read a paper, as well as talk with however was around. Later in the morning Nuhu came, he has had malaria, and is still weak but recovering. His wife is a nurse, so he should be in good hands. It was good to see him again, I have not seen him since before Christmas as the offices are mostly closed. I rested again for while, reading more of the paper. I had some rather poor faeces, the fish and chips I had eaten the night before ... read more

Today I was OK, in the morning, and rested for a while. In the late morning, I made another trip into Stone Town. Stone Town was hot - contrasting to Britain at the moment from what I have heard. I went in on the daladala, the minibus type things (I will try to get a photo) very hot and crowded at points, but cost just 200 shillings - 10 pence. On my way to the daladala stop I walked by some kids coming out of a nearby school who were very excited to see me, surrounding me and wanting to say hello, as well as shake my hand. Although it was short of nice at first to get that much attention, after a little while I got fed up, and I went on my way. I ... read more

Merry Christmas to all! Just a quick note of explanation, the reason there are two travelblogs marked 25th December is that I have decided to match up the day described with the date, so far I have always described the day before the date, so for one day, there will be two blogs as I change. The culture is different here, and so Christmas is different. Unfortunately my day didn't start brilliantly, as I was sick before breakfast, possibly due to some grass smoke. As a result I stayed at home to rest whilst most of the family went to church, dressed up in their best clothes. I had no long lasting problems from being sick, and by lunchtime a couple of other families had arrived, including some of Mama Sarah's eight sisters! I have some ... read more

Yesterday was by my recent standards a very busy day. In the morning I had a short trip to the hospital to drop off a stool sample, not sure when the results will be ready, but I have not heard yet. Fortunately I did not have any real problems in that department yesterday, with healthy stool. Unfortunately my appetite is still small, which is worrying me slightly. I ate a very small breakfast and lunch, although by tea (which was very late) my appetite was better. In the rest of the morning after taking the stool sample I rested. The Christmas Tree was put up and decorated during this time (in practise several branches rather than a whole tree). After lunch however I had my second Kiswahili lesson. Jecha cleared up some mistakes I have been ... read more

Again yesterday morning I was greeted with diarrhoea. I took a sample so it could be tested. I phoned Nuhu to arrange a visit to Mnazi Moja to see what tests they could do on it there. He came and visited, and then phoned the hospital before heading into the office, he said he would phone again when the car would come to pick me up. A total of four movements during the day. Yesterday morning I was able to have a shower for the first time in a while, as the water pump has been fixed. It felt very good! I spent much of the late morning and early afternoon doing my Kiswahili homework for my lesson later in the day. Including a whole 150 words on Cambridge. Sadly when the time for my Kiswahili ... read more