At Sanawari there was a young lad, Bazili, who was a good friend of Olotu, so he spent some time with us. We were impressed with this young fellow, obviously intelligent and always polite. His mother had a small vege stall at the bottom of the Sanawari road and so we bought most of our vege supplied from her.
We visited their home not long before we left Sanawari and Bazili presented me with a plant. It was obvious that there was no wealth in the family, but Bazili has done well in life and he is a refreshing character.
On our first trip to Dar es Salaam circa 1995 the road 'had its moments' and was in a bad state. This picture is of part of the road heading out of Dar towards Chilinzi. During our time in Tanzania the roads were upgraded and to a high standard. I think of the road into Monduli was worse, you had to negotiate potholes so could not drive any faster than 20kph but after a recent upgrade it became a standard modern road.
On another trip to Dar es Salaam we saw big red crosses on houses alongside the main road. We were told that these houses were to demolished to make way for the road upgrade.
I read in the newspaper and people told me that the owners had no right to be there - they were squatters. I have no idea if this is true, but at the time I felt empathy with those displaced people.
The wrecked houses seemed to be a mess and I am not sure if people were able to salvage materials or belongings.
It is easy to be glib and shrug one's shoulders - 'you can't make an omelet without breaking an egg'. But this is people we are talking about!
I wonder how those people fare today?
With friends we were able to take a trip to Pangani. The turn-off is about opposite where we turned off to Amani. The trip through to the coast is quite long and through farmland - an interesting trip and I'm not really sure if it is the only way to get there. I think not.
There is a very good ferry to get there and we felt we were in good hands.
We slept in this 'motel' which was a very pleasant place to stay. Right on the waterfront and of course there were none of the cooler easterly winds we have in New Zealand.
Well built and comfortable with woven mats on the floor.
We were a privileged to be able to stay here - which was through contacts we had - so I won't divulge who the owners are.
The tide goes out a long way at the beach at Pangani, but there is not much sea life there. Mainly a sandy sandy beach, so there are no rock pools but I like to see what life there is and there was not much probably due to over fishing.
Crabs in the toilet? Well this was no health issue, but it was an interesting thing to occur!
This happened in our house at Makumira, and the crab appeared in the toilet bowl.
I did not know there are fresh water crabs - crayfish yes - but not crabs. There was a creek below the house fed by a spring, so there was no opportunity for the water to become polluted. There is an artificial pond built some years ago are reservoir to pump water up the hill into a tank reservoir. I have found crabs in that pond. The only was the crab got into the toilet bowl was (probably during wet weather) to crawl into the inspection pit of the toilet outlet and swim on up!
Drying prepared sisal at Dolly Sisal Estate.There was a creek crossing at the track passed through just beyond this point and the water seemed clean. I have written about Dolly Estate previously but as I write this, I remember that around Usa River (somewhere) there was a plantation and perhaps a factory that made safety matches. Long since gone.
Everything has its day and although it is sad when enterprises do not continue, that's the way of progress.
Rashidi was one of our night guards. He was Maasai from Monduli Juu. Sometimes you have success with people you employ and other times they do not turn out to be so useful.
Rashidi's problem was that he would turn up to work drunk, especially after payday or when I gave him time off to go home. There was a local woman we called, 'I Am Free' [because she espoused the fact to us more than once] and Rashidi paid many a visit in her direction - during working hours.
He was unable to read or write, but he regularly asked for paper and pencil and showed me his 'writings' which were just scribbles and he could not say what it all meant. When he signed his payslip, each time the squiggle was different.
I gave him his marching orders when I found him unconscious with booze when someone knocked on the gate for medical assistance.
I have previously written about Paulina and her family but came across this picture. The story is a sad one, but not uncommon in much of Africa. The girl in the blue skirt is Martguerita, who is Paulina's sisters child but is part of the family. Sylvester is the father and he was a farm worker who also turned up for work with the effects of alcohol.
The two boys were 'urchins' and in England would have made Artful Dodgers! Still they were good boys.
I am against the use of charcoal yet I am aware there is no alternative. What I do believe is that there should be commercial, man made forests grown sustainably for charcoal production.
Wood in Tanzania is being used seven times faster than it is growing, which is why I have been keep to see more plantings there.
This is an are that has been cleared to produce charcoal for the Arusha market.
There are several ways of making charcoal, but basically the process is to cook the wood so the moisture is expelled and it turns black.
This method covers the burning wood with soil and the fire is extinguished when it is guessed the wood has been cooked.
It takes two bags of wood to make one bag of charcoal - that is the conversion rate of wood to charcoal is 50%.
It would help if there were government initiatives to compel charcoal manufacturers to replant areas they have harvested - mind though some areas are converted into housing and farming.
Bags of charcoal ready to be collected for transport to Arusha [or to other large centers] the youths pack the bags fairly and certainly fill the bags. You usually find the bigger pieces on the top which looks better from a selling point of view.
The creation of charcoal is a significant employer and that extends to all the downstream activities. I would never ban the production of charcoal but I would set it on a more formal basis.
I read in the newspaper and people told me that the owners had no right to be there - they were squatters. I have no idea if this is true, but at the time I felt empathy with those displaced people.
It is easy to be glib and shrug one's shoulders - 'you can't make an omelet without breaking an egg'. But this is people we are talking about!
I wonder how those people fare today?
There is a very good ferry to get there and we felt we were in good hands.
Well built and comfortable with woven mats on the floor.
We were a privileged to be able to stay here - which was through contacts we had - so I won't divulge who the owners are.
This happened in our house at Makumira, and the crab appeared in the toilet bowl.
I did not know there are fresh water crabs - crayfish yes - but not crabs. There was a creek below the house fed by a spring, so there was no opportunity for the water to become polluted. There is an artificial pond built some years ago are reservoir to pump water up the hill into a tank reservoir. I have found crabs in that pond. The only was the crab got into the toilet bowl was (probably during wet weather) to crawl into the inspection pit of the toilet outlet and swim on up!
Everything has its day and although it is sad when enterprises do not continue, that's the way of progress.
Rashidi's problem was that he would turn up to work drunk, especially after payday or when I gave him time off to go home. There was a local woman we called, 'I Am Free' [because she espoused the fact to us more than once] and Rashidi paid many a visit in her direction - during working hours.
He was unable to read or write, but he regularly asked for paper and pencil and showed me his 'writings' which were just scribbles and he could not say what it all meant. When he signed his payslip, each time the squiggle was different.
I gave him his marching orders when I found him unconscious with booze when someone knocked on the gate for medical assistance.
The two boys were 'urchins' and in England would have made Artful Dodgers! Still they were good boys.
Wood in Tanzania is being used seven times faster than it is growing, which is why I have been keep to see more plantings there.
This is an are that has been cleared to produce charcoal for the Arusha market.
This method covers the burning wood with soil and the fire is extinguished when it is guessed the wood has been cooked.
It takes two bags of wood to make one bag of charcoal - that is the conversion rate of wood to charcoal is 50%.
It would help if there were government initiatives to compel charcoal manufacturers to replant areas they have harvested - mind though some areas are converted into housing and farming.
The creation of charcoal is a significant employer and that extends to all the downstream activities. I would never ban the production of charcoal but I would set it on a more formal basis.
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