A Week in Tanzania

Henry and I had some friends come visit Africa, so we flew to Tanzania to meet up with them. Our first stop was the island of Zanzibar. It had some of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.

We got to stay in a beautiful bungalow that was open to the ocean, including a private beach area. Never has a mosquito net looked so fashionable. I could fall asleep listening to the ocean every night.

Although it was even hotter in Zanzibar than in Zambia, the ocean, the pool, and the ocean breeze all provided exceptional relief from the heat. I cannot get enough relief from the heat...

 While on the island we also took in some snorkeling.

Henry is thrilled to have gone snorkeling without throwing up in the ocean.

We also did a lot of relaxing, napping, reading, and just plain nothing. It was glorious.

 

After a few days at the beach, we headed to Stone Town, still on Zanzibar. The highlight of Stone Town was definitely the tortoises on Prison Island, a 40 minute boat ride away. They were huge. We got to feed them some greens while trying not to get our fingers bit. They slowly meandered around, and seemed very used to people.

A noble beast!

The boats we took too and from the island off the island did not inspire confidence, but delivered us safely. 

We also wandered around Stone Town, did some shopping, and visited some historical buildings/locations.

The city is a web is small, winding streets. It is very easy to get lost and I am sure we walked some of those streets over 10 times in the course of 2 days.

After Stone Town we headed to the Selous game reserve for a Safari, which was an adventure all on its own.

Quiet Riot

I am still very much trying to figure out what my routine is going to be while here. Of course, there are many things about life in Zambia that can often throw a wrench into your carefully laid plans. The most obvious of these is the unpredictable load shedding and not knowing when you will and won't have power. Today I encountered a second unpredictable factor: student riots.

It is my hope that I will be able to regularly work on the campus of the university where Henry is teaching. I was executing that plan today, working on my laptop in an unused lecture room, also populated by a handful of students. This was going swimmingly until someone came into the room and announced that it was getting hostile outside. I immediately left in the hopes of finding Henry to discover that, indeed, it was becoming hostile. Students were gathering in large groups, and there was a lot of yelling. Students were beginning to create a barricade across the road out of the university. I narrowly avoided being locked in the engineering building as the faculty and staff locked up and left (fire codes are a different beast here and locked in takes on a whole new meaning). I got in contact with Henry and we quickly left campus as well.

Of course, the road to our house goes by the other entrance to the university, and the police prevented us from taking this road. We can only assume this was due to the student riots.

When the university is evacuated and you can't go home, the only thing to do is go to the nearest British pub and work from there!

More grapetizer, please!

Welcome Party

As Americans, we can expect to be the first ones to everything here.

On Sunday afternoon I was thrown a delightful welcome party by Father Bob. Father Bob is a Jesuit Priest who has been in Zambia for over 15 years. Coming from a Jesuit University, Henry has gotten to know Father Bob during his time here. Other attendees included ex-pats from Ireland, Zimbabwe, and India. Some of them had been living in Zambia for over 40 years. It was fascinating to hear them talk about their time in this country and the changes they have seen. The party was planned for 12:30, specifically to account for the load shedding that would occur in the evening (for an explanation of load shedding, see end of post). A lack of electricity can really make it difficult to prepare food and even socialize. I felt really honored to be welcomed by this group and enjoyed the best home cooked meal I expect to have during my time here. I hope I get to see many of them again and hear more stories!

Ready to party.

Load shedding: there is more of a demand for electricity in the country than is currently generated. As a result, the entire country is experiencing load shedding, or planned power outages. There is a rotating schedule, and you will either be without power from 10:00 pm - 6:00 am, 6:00 am - 2:00 pm, or 2:00 pm - 10:00 pm. Of course, the schedule is not always followed, and it is not always discernible.