On the Road to Zanzibar

Editor's note:  true to form, as soon as I started this we lost internet.  In addition to the usual litany of power outages and internet failures, and the unusual blow-up of the transformer/sub-stations, it seems not only was this area of town or even our complex - all of two buildings - adversely affected - it was THIS building.  After weeks of calls and many service trips and several teasers of internet that lasted more than five minutes, a technician at 9 pm on a Sunday night "replaced some things" and we are back!

My big birthday present for my BIG birthday was a trip to Zanzibar.  Zanzibar had always intrigued me as it was one of those places everyone heard of but did not know very much about.  It lived up to my expectations.  It has a fascinating history and is a real "melting pot" of diverse cultures, conquerors, interlopers and squatters.  So, on to a a pictorial "Road to Zanzibar".



Well, actually "in the Air to Zanzibar".  The Captain invited the kids up to the cockpit.-

Zanzibar is off the cost of mainland Tanzania.  For those of you old enough to remember the African country of Tanganyika, Tanzania is the merging of Tanganyika with Zanzibar.  And for those of you who remember the 60's and social activisim, this was done under Julius Nyerere.  It is an archipelago of 50 plus islands.  The main island is Unjuga.  Most of the islands are small and uninhabited.  The islands were a part of the trade routes for middle eastern and European traders.  The first immigrants to settle in Zanzibar were Shirazi Persians who arrived in the 10th century, fleeing turmoil in their native country (history does repeat).  They inter-married and disappeared as a distinct ehtnic group.  Portuguese occupied the island in the 16th century.  Their legacy remains in the remnants of a fort, a variation of bull-fighting on the second largest island, and a few vocabulary words, such as cassava.  The pivotal and most defining of the colonisations were the Omani Arabs who established a brutal regime built on slave trading, forced labor and exploitation.

The British negotiated a treaty with the Sultans of Oman in the late 1700's and then pushed an agenda to pressure the end of the slavery through a policy of "gradualism" and their own colonization (gradualism defined as 100 plus years before personal slaves were banned in addition to slave trading).The Brits continued to recognize Zanzibar as an Arab state and stayed in bed with the devil so to speak.  "Independence" was granted in 1963 but power handed to a pro-Sultan coalition.  The Zanzibar Revolution in 1964 came at the crossroads of the cuntry moving from a constitutional monarchy to a an authoritarian Arab state.  The new government confiscated Arab property, banned the Sultan and nationalized land and services.

Stone Town, also known as Zanzibar town, is a maze of narrow streets resembling medinas and shows evidence of its various ethnic and cultural roots.  It is a designated UNESCO site with much potential and at this no point almost no funding.  Many historical buildings are in various stages of decay, but the overall effect is fascinating.  It faces the Indian ocean and continues to be defined to a large extent by water and a fledging tourist industry.



Zanzibar is predominately Islamic, about 89% of the population.  However, they do not follow sharia law - and they get a fair number of Italian toursits - so the effect is a fairly liberal society. 
 The missionaries were not without some success; the remaining 11% of the population are practicing Christians.

Home of Tippu Tap, an infamous Arab slave trader.  When he died, he had 10,000 personal slaves.  The house is now a squatter's tenement, complete with hanging laundry, cooking fires, barefoot children and no electricity.  This man lives on the top floor, was extrememly knowledgeable (albeit a little eccentric) and gave us a tour and oral history of the building.



House of Wonders - built as a Sultan's palace, later
 the offices of the British Colonial Government,
now a museum.

 

House of Wonders - macro view



 

Inside a slave holding cell.  There were two rooms: one for men and one for women and children




   

Where else can you visit a historical site,
attend mass, eat, get your hair cut and buy art?



Memorial to slaves

Dining out - vendors in the park versus roof top at the hotel.  Actually the food was comparable (but not the ambiance).

We interrupt this posting for an important message

I'll Take Door Number One...

  

Stonetown is characterized - at least in those buildings still standing - by its doors, not unlike northern Africa and other parts of the Arab world.  They are notable for their size and brass fittings.

The Indian immigrants introduced the arched doorway.  Prior to that the doorframes were squared off.

                                             

Swimming with the Dolphins 

We got up early one morning and headed south to an area known

 for its dolphin colonies and migrations. "Swimming with the dolphins"

translates into getting a small boat which cruises the water for dolphin sightings.  Once spotted, said boat revs as fast as it can to get the site, and the guide yells "Jump NOW Madam", whereupon the dolphins dive for the bottom.  The trick is to get there before they dive.  We actually did have some good swims as well as some good top down views.

Monkey see, monkey do...

Dolphins in the morning and monkeys in the afternoon.  We came back    through Jozani Forest, a protected area for the Red Colobus monkey unique to Zanzibar.

East to the beach...via a Spice Plantation

Zanzibar is reknown for its spices; hence the nickname the "Spice Islands".  The original plantations were each subdivided among thirty families after the revolution and some continue to operate (more or less).  The original thirty now incorporates several generations and the number of dependents has increased exponentially.  A number of plantations now exist on a combination of crops and a very nascent tourist trade.

Then to the beach - aka the Italian Rivera of Zanzibar.  For some reason the Italians Amore the beaches (although pay no attention to Stonetown).  Fortunately for us, it was off-season.  We enjoyed swiming, hikes on the beach, great snorkeling and high-end shopping.

Masai are ubiquitous as guards - tall and skinny.
And they carry spears. Interesting career adaptation.

A calming three days (okay, enough of that) and back to Stonetown for a night with a brief stopover at a traditional fishing village.

The weather continues to cool in Maputo, a very positive thing in so many ways, the least of which is the fact that most Mozambicans do not use deodorant.  I have begun walking and successfully negotiated my old route but in about half again as much time.  I did, however, manage to outpace a three-legged dog and a barefoot homeless man. 

And now, in the immortal words of a Zanzibar taxi driver, I sign off with this message



Home again!...home again? The serial, Part two

Home again?  Not sure I will ever get to the point where I can link Maputo and home in the same sentence.  Guilt and the fact that I was scheduled to start working on January 17th propelled me to the airport.  Carl called several times to check my flight info; didn't tell me until the plane landed that nothing had really changed here.  Not quite true.  The potholes had multiplied in both number and size; the heat cranked up;  cyclone season was in full swing, and the trash was piled even higher.  Then we both had some GI thing and cancelled a dinner for quality time in the bathroom.

The gravel pits

The potholes are a dominating factor in roads that are already less than ideal.  Many roads are two lane by our standards, effectively four here,with no markings.  Add in pedistrians, bicycles,and people pushing carts and it is the African version of NASCAR.  Occasionally you see one guy with a shovel running out between cars to throw some dirt or sand in a hole.  Once there was even a bobcat in front of our building filling an exceptionally large hole with sand.  Sand has the staying power of...well it has no staying power.  Some progress has been made.  Pushcarts are no longer allowed on one of the pracas (circles).

How hot is it?
It was really, really, really hot - and humid.  Made DC in August seem temperate.

Up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane...

No, it is a table?  Although we did not get a full fledged cyclone, we got the remnants including exceptionally strong winds and torrential rains.  We had pulled all the chairs and small tables inside from our verandah but left a large, 4' by 8' foot metal and heavy tempered glass table wedged in a corner.  After one particularly strong storm we got a call from the guards.  The table had actually blown over the three foot high wall, broken apart and the one set of legs hit another car.  Fortunately for us it was a company car and insured.

The rains were almost as violent, enough to push water through the window frames.  Our apartment looked like the beach with all the towels soaking up water.  Drainage is a huge problem here.  Actually there is no drainage.  So many of the streets became rivers, complicating the ability of drivers to miss potholes.

An added wrinkle was the sudden onset of construction to widen the road in front of our apartment.  This was supposed to begin last August and then one day in February we were awakened at 6 am by the sounds of trucks.  Two frantic weeks of daily removal of trees and excavating for several miles - enough to remove parking and access to buildings.  The crew seemed to consist of one backhoe, one dump truck and one guy with a shovel.  In addition to dirt and trees, they also managed to excavate water, sewer, power and cable lines.  As quickly as the construction began, it stopped.  Rumor has it that the government closed it down because the South African contractor did not hire enough Mozambicans.  So now the side of the road is crumbling off at the edges and the sewer breaks have created numerous ponds.  A new OTB industry has been created placing odds on whether the work will be completed before the road totally disappears to undercuts and potholes.


Maputo by dark
In addition to the normal power outages we had the substation fires (see previous blog).  After three days with no power, we started getting it back in fits and starts and this rerouted switches and rerouted them again.  It was very frustrating as you never knew when and for how long it would be off.  All our electrical appliances and equipment need to be reset each time the power comes back on.  There was one night I came home and was very excited because the power was on and the tv worked.  Then the power went out.  I reset everything.  Then the power went out again.  I reset everything again.  Then the power went out again.  At that point I got a candle and a bottle of wine.  We have now had five consecutive days with no outages, a virtual record.



Burned substation



Burned sub- substation

Dinner by candlelight

One small step for mankind

Trash continues to be an ever growing problem,  What is not dumped on the streets and sidewalks is burned so while stepping over garbage you can be enveloped by the smell of burning plastic.  However, there is a small recycling project and expats can now assuage their consumer guilt.  Ironically, the collection point sits about fifty feet from an overflowing dumpster.

Das boot

So let's recap - road destruction, flooding, flying patio furniture, heat, no power.  To keep a good thing going add in broken foot.  Two weeks after I returned I started running and felt a pain in my foot.  Felt like my shoe was too tight.  Stopped running and retied shoe.  Started running and felt even more pain in my foot.  Hobbled home, applied ice.  Two days later it still hurt and was very swollen.  Made numerous trips to the Health Clinic.  Was diagnosed with arthritis, tendinitis, possible stress fracture, arthritis again, and gout.  Went to the top orthopedist in the country when I could no longer even hobble.  He took an x-ray and told me if it hurts, don't do it.  Did give me a prescription for crutches since he noticed the hobbling.  (side note: crutches are called canadianas here, literally "little Canadians".  Not sure if that is supposed to be complimentary or derogatory).  Over nine weeks I tried massage, accupuncture and physical therapy - and continued to hobble to work, store and gym.  Never got back to running but did manage step and kickboxing and walking although the pain and the swelling never went away. Finally went to a doctor in South Africa.  He took three x-rays.  First thing he said was "How the hell did they miss that?"  So now I am in a cast for six weeks.  This is the longest I have gone without running in 39 years and it is taking a toll physically and mentally.  



The boot, AKA the FP Walker Foam Pneumatic, a hard plastic, velcro wrapped contraption with inflatable/deflatable air bladders.  Apparently the modern alternative to plaster. 



Oh, and that job I was supposed to begin on January 17th?  Guess I should have had them specify what year.  Missed forms, staff on vacation, more forms.  Did not actually start until March 12.  I am the Customer Service Manager for Facilities Management, the arm of government responsible for maintenance of all mission homes and buildings.  I am based at the Warehouse which has all the charm of an old warehouse and is located in the part of the City which apparently is the nexus of discontent and the jump-off neighborhood for riots and demonstrations.  I have to show an ID and the car is checked under the hood and under the carriage with mirrors in order to get in.  The bar was low for job performance.  Pretty much just showing up and answering the phone was a significant step forward.  Housing here can look nice but quality control is not a factor.  Demand is high, both in terms of work required and expectations. No Harry Homeowners here.  This is not to say it can't be interesting.  This past week there was a request to remove tree roots growing out of a toilet.  The odd thing is, it was the second one since I started working.  Good for training inside dogs.

My office  - which I share with five men.  Kind of like my home life for 18 years.

 
Life in the fast lane
Trials and tribulations have been punctuated by some positive moments as well - visits to the Central food market, crafts market, eating out in the park.  Our one cultural event was an exhibit of photographs of albinos sponsored by a group working to combat prejudice in the local communities.  We also happened on a parade in celebration of Maputo Day.

 

 On the plus side...

The heat is easing up and the humidity is down, which is good since all but two of our air conditioners blew out with the power outages.  Internet is up and I got the second season of Downton Abbey for my birthday.  We also just spent a week in Zanzibar.  Stay tuned for...

On the Road to Zanzibar



Whoa...How did this get in here?