5th October

I got bitten three times. Not impressed!

Also got woken up at 5 with a ridiculously loud call to prayer and then general chattering so ended up getting up ridiculously early. The hotel wasn’t serving breakfast (ramadan – grr!) so they sent me to another hotel which was actually a bonus because they had a roof top restaurant so got some nice photos. Then decided to walk in an anti-clockwise direction as ooposed to yesterday’s clockwise one and soon discovered I’d almost walked in a complete circle yesterday! Went to the Anglican cathedral which was built on the site of the old slave market. Luckily I got there early so missed the tourists who were just coming in as I was leaving. There’s not much evidence of its history apart from a couple of tiny cells which used to be packed with slaves, not only were they tiny but also really low – you just can’t imagine the horrow of being in them. And then you start thinking how slavery happened, not just the slave trade but the whole concept of believing you could own a human being, that people could be sold. It baffles me.

Anyway, left Stone Town about 11.30 so by lunchtime I was in paradise – no not another victim of Tanzanian driving – rather Paje which does a pretty good impression of paradise: white sand, turquoise sea, palm trees, sunshine, a cooling breeze…it is beautiful.

I’m staying at the Cristal resort which is French owned and there seems to be a good mix of ages and nationalities – hopefully I’ll get to meet some people this evening. There was a beach tennis tournament this afternoon which I could have used as a social introduction type of activity had I not been far too busy lying in a hammock, reading a book!

Oh I’ve been adopted by the hotel dog – five minutes after sitting down he’s sat beside me looking expectant.

Forgot to say I was glad to leave Stone Town, being a tourist was uncomfortable I don’t know why.

4th October

So off to Zanzibar. I’m spending today in Stone Town before heading off to the coast tomorrow. Top tip: avoid Stone Town during Ramadan. I’m hoping it is just Stone Town and that the resorts are a bit more relaxed but I struggled to find a place to get a drink of Sprite which was a bit exhausting and tiresome. Stone Town is much older than Moshi and some of the buildings are really beautiful. In the Fernandes’ style I just walked around and ended up a bit lost but unlike the more daring Fernandes, I knew how to get back. Ended up in the main market which was very noisy and hectic – obviously you can still buy food even if you can’t eat it.

It’s very weird being a tourist and there’s certainly more of them here than in Moshi. My shuttle bus and the plan were packed with Germans – I hae no idea where they came from, it’s strange how I get so protective of my town and object to it being invaded by mzungus! Luckily their towels were packed in their enormous suitcases so I managed to squeezed a seat otherwise I could have been on the roof with the luggage.

Of course more tourists means more shops and I went ever so slightly credit card crazy. I had really wanted to get another swimming costume because I am going to get so bored with just one. But there was only a very skimpy/expensive number or some which looked really grubby. However, I did find some nice and not too expensive presents.

So now I have a very nice full tummy – I’ve been waiting for fish for so long and so I had fishcakes for starter then melt-in-your-mouth octopus cooked in coconut milk and served with lots of yummy veggie bits (well if you ignored the okra which is just slimy nothingness as far as I’m concerned). It was all very delish apart from the rather icky smell of sewers which was either bad drains or a proximity to the sea.

There’s a lot to be said for waiting and things will come. My bikini problem has been solved because I walked past a pharmacy and thought “I wonder if they have tweezers” (don’t want to lose my favourites if I have an over-officious person at security). Not only did they have tweezers but also a bikini and hair remover so I will be beach ready tomorrow! The bikini’s a little skimpy but there’s noone here to take photos or who will know me in the future so who cares?!

Rather amusingly it would appear that black people can’t tell white people apart as I have been mistaken for so many people today – weird.

So there is no mosquito net in my room. Admittedly there is AC (yuk) and the room seems fairly sealed but I am still a bit nervous…

3rd October

Okay at the risk of sounding like Ab Fab: who made 18 year olds so boring? While the rest of us are at the pub they’re…oh actually I don’t know what they’re doing but it’s bloody boring.

Found out today that my visa runs out on 6th – joy! I’ve actually doctored the official (but handwritten) document myself which is a bit dodgy but if I get stopped I shall call Heriel and scream! Ah the incompetence. i to i keep contacting me about the “problems” which they are sure can be sorted out “in country” today. I politely pointed out problems can be best avoided if I avoid the in country team – grrr!

30th September

A far more successful day’s sunbathing as:

a- I haven’t accumulated any new burns (or at least none that I’ve noticed)

b- the swimming pool was a child-free zone – hurrah!

Continued the painful task of setting up email accounts complete with functioning address books and then went to the pool. Went back to the volunteer house and had the best meal I’ve ever had there – unfortunately Emmy then disappeared so I couldn’t tell her . My last Sunday in Moshi which is hard to believe. Mind you I’m hugely excited about going to Zanzibar. Sue and Emma came back this evening and they’d only been for two nights and said it was just perfect.

29th September

Today I have confirmed that I am not grown up enough to sunbathe. I am not one of those people who can just put in their ipod and bake for several hours – partly because using ipod earphones makes me dizzy! I need books (but that means you get arm ache or neck ache) or many people watching opportunities. Anyway the other reason I am bad at sunbathing is because no matter how hard I try I always miss a bit of sunscreen. Today I didn’t really bother much with my arms because they’re out all day every day and are really quite brown already – I now have bright red arms. I also missed the bits right at the tops of my legs – classic area to cock up on. Additionally I managed to rub off the sunscreen on my knees so I have a bright red patch on each – plain ridiculous!

Did a lot of walkig today. Walked into town hoping to check my predictions – another power cut so the internet cafe was closed. So walked up to Soweto, as I got to the gate everyone was coming out so walked back to town! I walked for 1 3/4 hours without even a sit down.

We then went to the Impala for a sunbathe and a swim. Sunbathing was not hugely successful and swimming was impossible thanks to an infestation of rich bratty children (the first time I’ve seen a fat African child) and then a further infestation of American children.

Weekend of departures – Lucy, Tara and Mike – but no arrivals which is odd, apparently something to do with there being five weekends this month.

I had to be back in town for 3 to give Felster her internet lesson after yesterday’s futile attempts. She’s picked some things up but I’m not sure she’ll keep it up. Tried to ask her if there would be internet places in the town where she’s moving but an understanding breakdown occurred which was disappointing because it does make me wonder if I’ve achieved anythinng over the past six weeks.

After that fiddled around on the internet a bit – still doing battle over the safari debacle. Why is it everyone says they’re going to complain and then noone else does? Went to Indotaliano for late lunch/early dinner which is my favourite restaurant despite the unisex squat toiley. As the name suggests it does Indian and Italian food which is an odd combination but manages to do both really well. Actually most restaurants here do all sorts of food – there’s always pizza, Indian, Chinese and “continental” (ie chicken and steak) but noone does enough vegetables. I so want roast chicken with about four different veg when I get home.

Thought I would walk back given my tummy full of curry (and the fact I hardly walked anywhere yesterday) and then I turned my ankle. Given the precarious nature of my ankle and the appalling nature of Tanzanian roads, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened earlier but it’s looking a bit fat and feeling a bit sore now. Anyway, I was still determined to walk home but obviously my guardian angel was looking out for me because I popped into the supermarket to buy a bottle of water and bumped into the Norwegians who were getting a taxi back. I impressed them with my haggling, actually they probably thought I was really tight haggling over 500 TSh (a massive 20p) but it’s the principle! Plus I have to keep practising haggling as it’s a new found skill I have previously been crap at!

So came back for a nice chilled out evening – I’m having a lot of those recently (I miss my Moshi friends) and caught an African version of a cookery programme whilst waiting for my water to warm up. OMG, they have a lot to learn. The presenter was a young girl who chewed gum constantly until you visibly saw her swallow it before she tasted the food – yuk! The camera was at waist height virtually the entire time and couldn’t even manage to zoom in on the finished dish! Minor detail that the Indian chef hardly spoke a word of English which meant the recipe was a tad tricky to follow and whoever was working in the translation department did a cracking job of calling turmeric “yellow powder” – inspired! But perhaps the most amusing segment of “Nirvana” on East African TV (it must be available on satellite) was that the chicken had been marinating in “curry paste” for which no ingredients were given and the presenter said if you don’t know how to make curry paste then “pole sana” – basically tough shit – how very helpful!

28th September

Felt vile for most of today – a combination of too much to drink last night and hormones – yuk! Then found out that noone went to their projects today which made me feel like I wished I had bunked off. However, if I had then I wouldn’t have been able to go to Mama Mmassy’s daighter’s graduation this afternoon and I really would have missed out on a proper Tanzanian celebration.

I got picked up at three and we went to a house – quite whose house it was I don’t know, they were calling the ladies who seemed to be in charge “aunt” but knowing Tanzanians they probably weren’t related at all. One of the aunts was a real party cheerleader and burst into song at every availble opportunity. It would seems Tanzanians have songs for every occasion including the “cakey cakey” song – it doesn’t take a genius to work out what that was for. In fact there was a whole ritual for the cake which involved cutting it into small pieces and putting each piece on a cocktail stick then the two girls who were graduating fed it to guests who danced up to the table to a song about their family position. I wish I’d managed to take more videos and pictures but I was in a guest of honour seat on the top table so it would have seemed a bit odd. The family position song was also sung when everyone went up to give gifts and say congratulations. Thank goodness I had thought to get a present for Jackline and put it in an envelope.

Other incidents ripe for public humiliation were self-introduction (kitambulisha) and the dreaded banana beer test. I passed the second one but I was a bit annoyed at myself that I hadn’t prepared so I could properly introduce myself in Swahili.

There was tons of food – I don’t actually know exactly what I ate but I successfully avoided the baked banana and the highly suspect banana stew in which the bananas had turned pink and looked rather a lot like male appendages – not appetising.

Had a great time, I just hope my behavious was okay. Being on guard about the whole “left hand is evil” was a bit tricky and I’m fairly sure I have Jackline her present with my left hand but given at that point they were singing the family position song about me and couldn’t decide whether to go for mam or mzungu, I really just wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible. Oh I do hate being the centre of attention.

There have been loads of power cuts today which has been very annoying. There were four between 11 and 2.30 which meant my internet lesson with one of the girls had to be cut short and I have to meet up with her tomorrow – my day off, poo! Also it meant I couldn’t do anything on my emails which drove me crazy. It’s actually the worst the electricity has been and is probably how I imagined it would be before I got here. Just so annoying.

26th September

So today I had to have an armed escort to school because I was taking nearly two million TSh to Brenda’s school to pay for all sorts of things. On the way in the car the police tried to pull us over. Now individually the police are probably very nice people but collectively the Tanzanian police are not known for being the most “above board” type of folk and – allegedly – are rather keen on insisting on bribery especially from the mzungu population (apparently very common if you are driving or a passenger in a private car). Given the amount of cash I had on me, I was none too keen on getting too close to them today. Fortunately though they thought better of it (perhaps because the volunteer house is next to police town and they recognised the car/driver). Anyway caused much hilarity with Gift and Corneille especially when I said it was probably my fault.

24th September

So off I went on safari which would have been fantastic if it wasn’t for Art in Tanzania’s organisational skills. Actually it was fantastic anyway.

After a frught start we eventually got on our way to Arusha which is a much bigger town than Moshi. It’s much more hectic and the slightest whiff of a mzungu and the street sellers are out in force which is exhausting. I had planned to go on a day trip but I think I’ll leave it now because I just think I’d get pissed off.

So had a nice lunch and then got taken to the most hige souvenir shop which was of course horrible and vastly over-priced. I suspect the drivers are on commission for taking people there but none of our group was really very interested.

Then we were driving to the Maasai village and lo and behold what was at the side of the road casually nibbling some leaves? A giraffe! This was quickly followed by an elephant and some zebra – certainly beats spotting the odd hedgehog at home!

We arrived at the Maasai village a bit late thanks to our delayed start and it was staring to get dark so we didn’t get much chance to look around – not that there was an awful lot to see apart from a lot of cows and some mud huts. The Maasai are very beautiful though, the women wear lots of jewellery and have these tinkly bells in their ears. The children were cute although some were a bit grubby.

We then went to look at our sleeping accommodation at which point two of the girls turned straight round and said they were sleeping in the car! It was a bit daunting but that was all part of the adventure.

I shared with Lucy – who slept virtually all night (mind you she’s dating a Maasai so this is probably a good sign) and Jodie who probably slept as well as I did ie on and off for about 20 minutes at a time and managed to get about two hours through the whole night. I was the only girl in our boma who was affected by the rampant bed bugs but only got a few bites unlike one of the boys who manfully attracted almost all of them and ended up covered in bites. At least we all managed to get a tiny bit of sleep unlike the occupants of the other boma who tried, failed and gave up so ended up playing games all night!

As for the bathroom facilities – well let’s just say they were airy! Basically the Maasai go wherever they’re standing (literally including on their own doorstep)! Us being British (and Norwegian and Swedish and Irish) went off in search for a suitable spot as far away from the Maasai (and the oh-so-inquisitive children) complete with toilet roll (yes, I brought toilet roll) and found a rather comfy branch/tree arrangement which even meant you could have a little sit down. Then whilst someone was using the facilities the rest of us stood in a protective wall and sang! It was highly amusing and we almost got away with it until some curious Maasai walked past, fortunately they didn’t see anything and soon wandered off although by that point full bathroom activities were taking place including teeth cleaning which involved a torch so we were all shouting “turn off the torch” but the girl who had it had it wedged and had her hands full which resulted in a completely hilarious dance.

We all decided that was going to be our only bathroom excursion (thank goodness noone had a bad stomach) so despire the best efforts of the cows relieving themselves all night, we kept our legs crossed!

Unsurprisingly by sunrise we were all up and dressed and ready (ie desperate) to go. We did get to see sunrise though which was lovely.

Forgot to mention that we paid for the Maasai men to give us a song and dance which was fantastic amd I would have loved to have videoed it but moonlight is not the best lighting mechanism. Have got some great pictures though.

Before we left the elder came out to meet us and it fell to me (allegedly as the most responsible) to give him the tip. Ideally my tip would have been “get rid of the bed bigs, invest in some mattresses and plumbing” but it was actually just boring old money (probably to by some phone credit – yes the Maasai have mobiles and a mobile phone mast right next to their village).

So we were dirty and smoky (from the fires in the bomas) so what better thing to do than head off on a dusty safari with an open roof and open windows (for better picture opportunities!)? Throughout the day we got increasingly disgusting.

So safari: basically sitting in a car looking out of the window, although there’s a lot of scrambling about (especially if you’re short like me) to see the next exciting thing. Luckily Jodie had had the foresight to download some tracks from the Lion King and bring her ipod and speakers so we had a jolly old singalong as well which was fun.

First we saw some zebra and wildebeest which – at the time – was highly exciting (by the end of the day you don’t care if you never see anoher wildebeest again) then we also saw: elephants, gazelles, hippos, a kudu, a baby leopard, antelopes, buffalo, hyenas plus eagles, vultures and flamingoes. And of course lions which became our mission after lunch (which you have to eat in the car in the picnic area because birds will swoop down and attack you otherwise!). We saw a male and female who then proceeded to mate! The whole thing only lasted a few seconds and the lionness looked mightily unimpressed at the whole thing – cue lots of “amusing” jokes mainly at the boys’ expense. (Talking of “amusing” jokes, I was the first to say the “zebra crossing” line – I don’t whether to be embarrassed or proud).

Of course once you’ve seen a lion you then want to see one enjoying some lunch at the expense of one of the many (and quite boring) wildebesst or even – at a push – a zebra. All the lions seemed rather disinclined to oblige which was disappointing for us and for some hyenas who had obviously got so desperate were stalking a zebra. Despite some really clever planning and separating they failed. We tried pointing them in the direction of some teeny impalas but they obviously fancied something a bit more substantial. We watched them stalking for ages – that’s the great thing about safaris, you can spend an age just watching an animal doing nothing in particular.

So my thoughts on animals:

zebras – a bit fat and really shouldn’t be wearing horizontal stripes! Quite jolly though.

hyenas – first time I’ve ever seen them and they are evil looking buggers. Well cast as the baddies in the Lion King.

hippos – if I am ever reincarnated, I want to be a hippo – a lot of lying around in water including occasionally flipping over to give your tummy an airing (I have a very funny picture).

elephants – females and babies look lovely, quite cuddly; male elephants are scary, it must just be the tusks.

lions – amazing and strangely didn’t look like lions I’ve seen before in zoos. Presumably this is because lions in zoos are well fed and don’t have much opportunity to get a bit mangled.

We tried to find a black rhino but there are only 27 in the crater (and they’re the only ones in Tanzania) and they were obviously feeling shy which is a shame. Our driver tried to persuade us that a tiny black speck in the distance was a rhino and it might have been but I really can’t claim to have seen one.

So we went back to the hotel which had been rather hurriedly booked for us and it showed. I was lucky because my room was clean although the ceiling looked very dodgy and the outside was being held up by scaffolding including a very conveniently placed prop right outside my door. I had luckily said I wanted a single but those who said they would share ended up sharing a bed which was a bit much especially for the boys. Also some of the rooms were dirty, sheets hadn’t been changed, used condoms – delightful. Still it was a relief to have a shower and a quick beer before going to the restaurant for dinner where the food was cold and there wasn’t enough – you can imagine there has been rather a stiff email gone off today.

Everyone was feeling a bit down on Sunday and unfortunately we didn’t see anythign spectacular at Lake Manyara to lft the general mood. That’s not to say it wasn’t great, it was and it’s more wooded so you get to see the animals more closely but we were eager to see another lion or one of the other cats but they just weren’t coming out to play. In fact after lunch all the animals decided to go off for a snooze because we didn’t see anything for an hour including wildebeest. Unfortunately this just made the mood worse so there were some really grumpy people by the time we got back. However, we did see today: giraffes, monkeys, baboons, antelopes of various types, wildebeest, hippos, lots of elephants, zebras and pelicans.

I would love to go on safari again and actually stay in the park and go on a sunrise safari and do trekking.

So back to Moshi today and my lovely ladies gave me my outfit today which is lovely (although might be a touch too African to wear all together at home). I also booked Zanzibar for next week which is very exciting. Decided not to go back to the volunteer house but the day has just disappeared with internet-ing and attempting to get some of my clothes clean!

20th September

Oh the joys of staying in a guest house with guests that insist on getting up (noisily) at 6.30 abd have the television (not 20 feet from my bed) put on full blast. But it’s the weekend because nitakwenda safari so no class tomorrow!

So ended up (thanks to my early alarm) in the internet cafe at 8am. My class was a timing disaster thanks to the over-bossy daughetrs of Mama Mmassy. We had a debate today and rather amusingly Blanca and Jackline (the aforementioned over-bossy daughters) were correcting my ladies’ pronunciation! Okay in most instances they had a point but these are people who say “firsty pointy” – grrr!

Anyway came back and foolishly dressed in white – mostly because they were “new” (ie kidnly donated) clothes but also because I wanted to look “chic” and lovely. Hmmm…not even the Virgin Mary could remain white in Tanzania (excuse any blasphemy).

So got to the house (took a taxi in an attempt to preseve my whiteness) and began the laborious retyping of lessons process. Basically the text books here are full of mistakes so I spend ages retyping and a small fortune photocopying most of the exercises.

Got roped into teaching what is allegedly the Maasai class but has actually become the victim of its own success. Word has got out that there are free English lessons going so all sorts of people are turning up including an increasingly large number of unruly and frankly quite unpleasant children so Duncan and I got roped in to keeping them quiet whilst the class was being taught. Perhaps it was the white trousers, perhaps it’s the whole reason I’m teaching adults not children, but I absolutely lost it after about 40 minutes. They were just rude and disruptive and wouldn’t respond to any “quite”, “sshh” or “shut up”.

So this evening we got our DVDs of the sky diving which is good because I’ve been having problems believing I did it, apart from my parachuting injury, which is a burst blood vessel in my left eye – oh so attractive. Strangely watching the video was even more scary than jumping out of a plane and – as usual – I was horrified at how horribly posh I sound. However, the evidence is there I jumpred and it’s still amazing when I think of it – video evidence proves I said: “I want to do it again” when I came down.

After that went for a swift drink at the pub and it’s so amusing because all the young people think I am a complete alcoholic whereas most of the older people are also rather keen on a drink as soon as it gets dark!

Dinner was nice (a bit pricey – I mean I think I paid over £5 for a starter, main course and wine!) and then a few of us went to Pub Alberto which seems to get more and more disappointing every week. In fact the only exciting point was a text from Felipe that Jose Mourinho has left Chelsea – boo!

Still, on safari tomorrow which is very exciting but again – like most things – I can’t actually believe it’s happening.

I forgot the rat – how could I forget the enormous rat that ran across the balcony tonight? It was funny, argh and “thank God U don’t live here” all at the same time.

19th September

I came, I saw, I jumped. I can see that sky diving could be seriously addictive. It was so exciting. I was nervous but not really afraid and it was so amazing. Four of us did the jump but it was one by one which I think is probably the best ay because then you have noone else around you to be nervous. I went second and I know I was really nerv ous because I was very quiet but actually mostly that was because I was trying to focus on being relaxed and taking in as much as I could. I didn’t even scream coming down unlike everyone else not that I suppose it really matters what you do as long as you enjoy it.

The whole getting out of the plane is the most scary bit but it all happens very quickly and you just have to have total trust in the person you’re strapped to which, for me, is never easy. Once you’re out, you are turning over and spinning around and you actually have no idea which way is up. Then you get clear of the plane and the feeling of falling is amazing but not really scary because there isn’t anything coming up to meet you (like the ground) so it’s just like whizzing through the air (and trying to remember to smile for the camera!). I free-falled for about 30 seconds and appreantly you reach speeds of abot 120 mph – which if you think about it too hard is really scary. Then the parachute goes up and it’s suddenly so quiet and peaceful. You get to pull the parachute and do swirly things and then all too soonthe ground is coming up to meet you and it’s all over. Apparently my landing was the most graceful which is jolly nice to know! My immediate reaction was that I wanted to do it again! I don’t know if I ever will and if I do it’ll probably never be the same as the first time but I am so pleased I did it, every time I think of it I can’t stop smiling.

The people who do it are so lovely. It was a Kiwi called Russ (are they all called Russ?) and his girlfriend took all the pictures. She was so tiny and had this enormous helmet with two cameras attached. Apparently they’ve been doing it nearly ayear and they leave next month to go to Cairns and do sky diving over there – what a life! Can’t wait to see the pictures and DVD tomorrow.