Zanzibar

Arghhh... this job application business is driving me crazy! I keep changing my mind on which foundation school to apply as my first choice.. the only thing I am sure about is that it's gonna be a London one.

Essentials: Guide book and food!

So to get my mind off that for awhile, I'm going to post some pics from my trip to Zanzibar. I'm sure many people have not heard of this place before (I didn't!.. or maybe I'm just ignorant?), but these legendary spice islands are well known for one of the world's favourite honeymoon destinations. Maybe that's why I haven't heard of it yet lol.

Old Dispensary

I only had time to visit the main island, Unguja (or just Zanzibar). I flew from Arusha to Stone Town after doing the safari. Stone Town is the heart of Zanzibar, where the vast majority of the population is Muslim. This old town is so unique as it has influences from the Arabs, Persians, Indians, Portuguese and British. The central part of the town consists of building built close together with narrow alleys that join to become something like a maze! On the coast, you get the grand buildings with such unique architecture like the ones above and below:

I can't remember what this one's called! Paiseh..

Skyline of Stone Town, from the House of Wonders
Arab Fort in the foreground.

What I found interesting is that the buildings in Stone Town all have huge, intricately carved doors like the one below. Apparently the door was often bought first and the house built around it! Most of the buildings are usually plain on the outside, with zinc roofs, not dissimilar to the ones found in Brunei.. but packed much closer together.

Beautifully carved door surrounded by worn walls.

Dhow-building is an ancient yet flourishing craft on the islands.

Local artist at work

What's so great about Zanzibar is the range of attractions it offers.. from the historic Stone Town, with its spices and unique culture, to the most beautiful beaches in the world! All in the space of a tiny island =)

Sailing on a traditional dhow

I was spoilt for choice when it comes to beach time. I ended up going to Nungwi beach, where I was told it was more crowded and lively than the rest. And to my pleasant surprise, it's nothing compared to Bali and Redang in terms of being congested! There were long stretches of powdery white sand and clear blue waters. Why can't a medical school be in a place like this!?

Door to Paradise?

Nungwi beach

Picture perfect!

And to top it all off, the food is great and cheap too! The Forodhani Gardens in Stone Town come alive at night with food stalls and souvenir sellers. Here you can try local favourites like spiced tea, Zanzibar pizza and even shark kebabs! Yumm =)

Forodhani Gardens

Safari

Safari in Swahili means 'journey'. Since being incorporated into the English language, it is now generally used to mean an expedition or adventurous journey. And what an adventure it was. I'll use the pictures below to tell the story...

The jeep and our luggage was all set and we're ready to go!

Our first campsite, with dinner being set.

Just outside, Maasai traders selling their goods.

A sign at the Manyara Lake National Park entrance. ;)

The colourful agama lizard.


The plentiful, but beautiful impalas.

The mighty giraffe.

Car trouble #1.. Before the journey started, the car we were supposed to use had already broken down. The replacement wasn't in great condition but our rookie driver decided that the Defender can handle a 1-foot tall rock in the middle of the road by driving straight over it (!?). The cylinder which connects the back wheels to the steering wheel fell off about 100m ahead. Thus, we continued our journey as a 2-wheel drive..

Acacia tree, a common feature of the African landscape. This was taken in the Serengeti National Park.


The very distinctive topi.

Campsite #2 - This was actually in the park itself without any barriers. We were told to make sure that food was safely kept as the animals come looking for food at night.


Hot-air balloon safari? Maybe when I'm a bit richer next time =)


Big, tall Ostrich.


Storks resting on an acacia tree.


Final campsite near Ngorongoro Crater -
I actually saw wild pigs in the middle of the night wandering around!


A Masaai 'village', just at the edge of the crater.


Descending into the crater.. considered by many as the 8th wonder of the world. Pictures don't do it justice.

Oh did I mention it was cold?!

We saw a huge line of jeeps in the distance..
what could they be looking at?

Nothing but the King and Queen of the jungle.
(They were quite far away!)

The majestic elephants.
They came really close to our jeep & doesn't seem to be bothered at all!

Alas, our trip had to be cut a few hours short as our car broke down for one last time =(

And we thought it was all over.. Surprise, surprise! The car that picked us up had a puncture along the way. What else can we can do but laugh..

Tanzania - Part 2

Entrance

So here's the second part of the post on my Tanzania trip. This time I will show you the hospital that I worked in, Mkomaindo Hospital. It serves as a district hospital for more than 400,000 people in the Masasi District. Now that's comparable to the whole of Cambridgeshire.. However, the hospital has just over 200 beds and only an average of 150 beds are filled at any one time due to lack of staff.

Shops/Teahouses opposite the hospital.

Hospital compound

The hospital is totally different from what I have gotten so accustomed to here in the UK. It lacks the most basic of equipments and medicines.. things that we so easily take for granted. For such a 'large' hospital, the only imaging they have are a really old and outdated X-ray machine and an even older ultrasound reader. The wards are crowded and dirty, and most beds don't have proper bedsheets. Houseflies are found everywhere in the wards, the delivery room and even in the operating theatre! I was totally shocked when I first entered the theatre. The condition was just apalling, and sometimes the doctors had to work without any electricity. It was definitely an eye-opening experience.

Women's ward

Theatre

Apart from working in the hospital, I also visited a leprosy settlement just next to a remote village. Leprosy is a disease that is caused by an organism similar to those that cause TB, and it can lead to permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Infected people used to be isolated by their societies as it is spread via close contact and there was no cure until the 1940s. Even nowadays, many people are badly affected because of the stigma still attached to this disease. This little village of about 16 buildings are home to 60 people. They have all come here because of not being able to work to support themselves, or are discriminated by their own family.

Some of the residents.

Effects of leprosy

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On a lighter note, here are some other pictures I took around Masasi:

The Hospital seen from Mkomaindo Hill

On top of Mkomaindo Hill, overlooking the village

A mud hut

Witch doctor

Bomani Football Ground

It really does seem like football is the most popular sport in the world. Every boy in the village wants to be the next Ronaldo! The football field shown above is about 15mins walk from where I stayed and there's a football match held there every Saturday. It's great to watch football in such a beautiful place ;)

Sunset

Tanzania

So I'm finally back in Cambridge! Now I remember why I couldn't wait to get away from the UK before. The weather has been horrible since I got back.. I haven't seen the sun yet! It's basically been all grey skies and wet as hell. There is a weird feeling of being at 'home' here though.

Have also just started my final year. It's been all lectures this week.. One good thing about being back is that I finally have some time to sit down and upload my pictures. Looking at them now makes the whole trip feel kinda surreal. It sure passed by like a flash.

My bed in Masasi

I had an amazing time in Tanzania. The main city, Dar Es Salaam, is rapidly expanding and it kinda reminds me of parts of South East Asia.. in the sense of plain looking buildings everywhere that is typical of a 'developing' area. Culture seems to be lacking here.. certainly not my favourite place.

Local woman balancing basket on her head

Masasi, on the other hand, couldn't be more different. It's one of the bigger towns in the southern region of Mtwara. Think the population is even more than Brunei! haha However, the place is still very rural.. with orange dirt roads and mud huts everywhere although brick houses are getting more common. There is no clean wiped water and electricity is a luxury there. Most people travel around by foot.. there was this man who walked for 2 days to bring his daughter to the hospital! And here I am complaining from a 15 mins walk lol.

My hosts: Mr. and Mrs. Freddy

Mr. Freddy, pictured above, was the person who I got in touch with for my elective. He works as a nurse officer in Mkomaindo Hospital and he arranged most of my schedule while I was there. I stayed in his house, which was relatively big over there. Think he's really well off.. he has electricity in the house and even a personal mini-generator! That came in handy as the power was out most of the time.

Mama Maula the chef

I have heard stories about how anyone will surely get diarrhoea in Africa but luckily I wasn't affected. Guess it must be all the training from eating Brunei food lol. I had most of my meals at home where Mama Maula would cook some delicious local food everyday. One thing I found out was that a lot of the dishes are cooked with tomatoes used as flavouring. Some of the more unique local dishes are ugali (kinda like mashed potato, made from maize flour) and chips mayai (or chips omelette).

My attempt at grinding maize

My typical day at work starts from 7.30am to about 3pm, after which I would walk about 30 minutes to get back home for lunch. After a short rest my friend, Majidi, would then show me around the large village. Many locals chill out at 'groceries' which are basically like cafes, where you can have drinks with friends. That seems to be the most popular entertainment at night. Since most houses don't have electricity and hence no television, each night tons of kids would drop by to watch the TV at Mr. Freddy's house. And their channel of choice? Hip-hop music videos! haha They all love to dance to the groovy music.

Chilling at a 'grocery' after work


Children watching TV


Dancing to the music

Although Masasi is mainly flat, there were hills all around the village and I climbed two of them. One was directly behind the hospital, called Mkomaindo Hill, and one part of the climb was about 70 degrees steep!! I still don't how I manage to get past that lol.

Resti Hill

On top of Mkomaindo Hill