I look at Bongoyo Island every day. I sit on the balcony and gaze across the ocean at it. I can just about make out some sand on the shore but apart from that it looks like a forested island. The day came to visit it. I got a ferry ticket for 30,000/= and paid… Read More »
I love to see people playing cards and chess under trees on the streets and in China is was either cards or some games called Chinese chess and sometimes Ma Jong. Here is Tanzania, it’s mostly draughts (chequers) and it’s played with a handmade board and red and blue water bottle tops. This week I… Read More »
The boy came running up the stairs shouting for me. I wondered what on earth was going on. Was there a fire? had someone hurt themselves? “Come quickly. There’s a giant lizard in the pantry.” I put on the flips flops and headed downstairs and round he back of the house where a small group… Read More »
I had no money which is why I was taking the dala dala bus not flying. Not that there were any tickets to Dar anyway (I had a look in a weak moment). It was the season when students go back home from university for Christmas and the roads and public transport were even busier… Read More »
I don’t have a very big flat – it’s only one room and a kitchen/bathroom but I have a large balcony and the view from there is great. However it is plagued by mosquitoes and it’s not really possible to sit out there at night when it’s cooler, for this reason. During the day it’s… Read More »
There are three tall coconut palms in the garden and often, when I am sitting on the balcony or at my desk looking out to sea, I hear a great thud and then see a coconut on the ground beneath the tree. I did wonder to myself how many people must die each year from… Read More »
I don’t mind dogs. In fact I quite like the ones who don’t snarl at me. I went to see a dogs home in Dar where people can take their unwanted pets or those they’ve found abandoned on the city streets. Personally I think there are too many dogs around the place especially dogs kept… Read More »
I wanted to see the sort of craft that goes on in Tanzania and had seen online a place called Chuma and it looked interesting. It took a long time to find it and there had been a flood so the driver was teasing his bajaj through great pools, down into huge water-filled potholes to… Read More »
I had decided that I should make more use of my balcony which is normally only used by malarial mosquitoes. So I bought some cheap mosquito nets and then headed down to Kariakoo Market. I had seen it on the internet and it looked good. I wasn’t disappointed. It was not just the central distinctive… Read More »
I had a day off and I wanted to find a witch doctor so I decided to take a dala dala the 70km to Bagamoyo. The dala dala are bigger and less cramped than ‘taxis’ in Uganda and Matatu in Kenya. I had a seat and a window so I was happy. I took a… Read More »