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April 14, 2002 - Kwaheri Pemba! (Tanzania)
That means good bye to Pemba Island and on to our next adventures!
Since I last wrote, life continued under water and I have now earned my PADI Divemaster certification. I led several dives on my own and still managed not to lose anyone! Well, that's a little white lie but those currents and tides arond Pemba are so unpredictable!! Everyone survived and stayed happy though... so Hakuna Matata! Dolphin sightings became more frequent, and once we even tried to swim with them, but our clumsy entrance into the water scared these graceful creatures away pretty quickly. Add to my special sightings a gorgeous rainbow of clouds above Misali island on an otherwise blue sky day, majestic eagle rays, yellow-finned tuna, great barracuda and a tiny little nurse shark, and you couldn't ask for more! Above sea level, the last weeks on Pemba were filled with stunning sunsets, millions of stars on clear black sky nights, full moons and extreme tidal activity, frequent power outs, music-to-the-ears church services heard from next door, several bouts of malaria in various staff members at Swahili Divers (all well-recovered from), conversations in fledgling Kiswahili and several rousing games of 'bao'. Along with the various ex-pats and transient travellers, I ventured out some evenings for beans and bread (not much choice of restaurants in Chake Chake!.. no choice actually) as well as for coffee and ginger tea from the little stand next to the Chake Esso (move over Starbucks!). The weather remained hot and humid and sunny until exactly March 31st when the skies opened and the rain began to fall. And they say rainy season doesn't start until April...!!! At any rate, the air has certainly cooled off a bit, much to the benefit of the birds, bats, kittens, cats, millipedes, geckos, hermit crabs, mosquitos, goats, chickens, roosters and cows we so closely coexist with. Oliver arrived on the 3rd of April and was quickly initiated into the world of scuba. He is now a certified PADI Open Water Diver! With typical Oliver flair, he even managed to 'coin' a couple of new underwater signals! We left Pemba via boat to Unguja (Zanzibar Island - birthplace of Freddy Mercury) on April 11 and were quickly reacquainted with the developed world in touristy Stonetown. Ahhh.. back to the land of cheese, chocolate, touts, tour companies and internet! Definite highlight of our stay here has been the 'spice tour' where we were able to see (and in some cases taste) ginger, nutmeg, cardammon, cinammon, cloves, pepper, vanilla, cacao, lemongrass, mint, anise, breadfruit, starfruit, cassava, soursop, ylang-ylang flower, and more, growing in the wild. And funny enough in this small world of coincidences, a girl on the tour was one I had met and travelled with in Germany for a week in 1994! Also noteworthy in Stonetown is the beautiful Arab architecture, elaborately-carved wooden doors, whitewashed stone buildings and a winding maze of streets too narrow for cars. So it is with great anticipation that we say good bye to the islands and waters of the Indian Ocean and head for the mainland. Trekking in the hills and safariing with the elephants and giraffes await! Serengeti or bust! > See photos from the whole Africa trip. > See photos from Tanzania. > See other Africa journal entries. Back to top |
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