Blogs from Zanzibar City, Zanzibar, Tanzania, Africa - page 9

I'm going MIA for a few weeks tomorrow. I'll be returning to Mungoni and Zala Park to continue my study on traditional medical practices and medicinal plants for my month long research project. Two (maybe as long as three weeks) in the field, a week or two writing my 30ish page paper. This time, however, I'm planning to go much more in-depth. Hopefully, I'll be able to do case studies of sick or injured villagers: interview them, observe their treatment and follow their recovery. Unless I take an off day and return to Stone Town 45 minutes away, you might not get any posts. But it's alright, know that I'm doing what I love. For my last day in Stone Town, I'm going to the beach. Take care everybody and I'll see you in a little ... read more

So four days at Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Forest full of Colobus monkeys, mangroves, bird watching, camping, and no showers. Jozani is a large, conservation area (hence its national park status) with high biodiversity of plants and animals due to its many ecosystems (bodies of fresh water, salty water, intertidal areas, swamps, forests, ect). We've slowly been exploring more of it, each day a new adventure. One day we went on an early morning bird watch, another we did field work counting and measuring mangroves for Jozani's research, and a couple days we went on walks to watch/study/laugh at the hundreds of monkeys that live here. The monkeys are by far my fav part of Jozani. They're hilarious. One day, as we waited for our lecturer, we sat outside for about 15 minutes watching a family of ... read more

So four posts in two days, thats a bit too much. This is a quick post on coral reef and fishies here!!! Yay fishies!!! Unfortunately, these pictures aren't my own. I wish. Earlier today I went on my second snorkeling trip in three days and thus far, I've been snorkeling about 6 times at 4 different places, each time a little better than the last. Always with me underwater is a laminated card with pictures of fish on it. Nobody else in the group brings one but that's their loss; already I've gotten good at identifying some common fish here. Last night, a couple of us meet three Indian businessmen from Bombay who were in Zanzibar for one more day. They invited us to go with them on their boat snorkeling on Prison Island (the same ... read more

I'm back in Stone Town after 10 days in Pemba. I was sad to leave Pembd, I really loved my homestay family and it’s a really beautiful place, but it doesn't excite me the same way Zanzibar City does. Pemba hasn't developed equally to Unguja. Which is both good and bad. On one hand, Ungujga still lacks basic infrastructure, loses electricity frequently, and does not have the basic capital required for development. I've heard they also get screwed over by the Tanzanian government. Someone there put it: Zanzibar's taxes go to the mainland Tzn and Pemba's taxes go to Zanzibar but nobody's taxes go to Pemba. Briefly, Pemba will not be prosperous anytime soon. Yet, on the other hand, there are bright spots. Zanzibar's recent development, mostly due to a boom in the tourism industry, is ... read more

Sorry for not posting in a while, a quick recap: the last couple of days have been wonderful. Sauti za Busara is a four day music festival that features a diverse lineup of African artists that is held in Zanzibar City's old fort. The best part is its only a five minute walk from my homestay house and only 3,000 schillings (less than 3 dollars) for an entire night of music. Some great music, some good beats, some incredible dancing. Before Sauti za Busara (Swahili for "sounds of wisdom) started, I didn't think that I would go all four nights (mostly because we had four assignments due Monday) but I just did them all quickly in the morning than went to the old fort. Yesterday, I took my first daladala. A few of us went north ... read more