Tanzania Thus Far

Hello again! I apologize for my delay in posting. Free time and internet cafes have been hard to find these past few weeks. I can’t even begin to describe everything that I’ve seen and learned about, but here are a few snapshots: feeding giant tortoises on Changu Island, chatting with a faculty member and admiring the stars while walking on the beach in Jambiani, visiting a small coffee farm in Moshi, laughing with my homestay family while watching the Miss Tanzania pageant on TV, snorkeling at a coral reef, learning to use a squat toilet (without toilet paper), viewing the mangrove forests of Jozani National Park, sipping tea with friends while watching the sunset in Zanzibar...

Needless to say, we’ve done a lot of moving around, whether it’s been on foot, in buses, in dalla dallas, or piled in the back of a truck. Tomorrow we’re on the move again when we depart for a 3 day safari to study conservation and camp out and take classes under the trees.

The food has been consistently delicious (and generally inexpensive – I had a full lunch today for about 2 dollars!). Since arriving in Tanzania, I’ve enjoyed chapatti (a pan-fried flatbread available at most meals), lots of fruit (bananas, oranges, and watermelon), plenty of rice, and the most delicious chai tea. A couple weeks ago, I even tried white shark (blatantly non-vegan, but incredibly tasty).

As for the weather, it’s been paralyzingly hot up until this past week. Sometimes it takes effort just to exist (let alone concentrate in class or trek around 50+ pounds of luggage!). We're all pretty grungy at this point. Even when we wash our laundry, due to the moisture, heat, and lack of washers and dryers, our clothes usually end up smelling weirder than before we cleaned them. (Ah, the joys of traveling.)

The landscape here is truly breathtaking, from the turquoise waters of the beaches, to the lush green vegetation and red clay soil of the mountains. But as one of our guest lecturers said last week, “everything is not as rosy as it sounds.” There’s also plenty of trash littering the streets, water shortages, green sludge leaving processing plants, power outages, and wastewater being pumped into the ocean.

My experiences here have produced lots of internal wrestling… questioning my values, my beliefs, my knowledge. Sometimes I feel paralyzed by the weight and scope of the problems we experience, and I fully recognize that I am to blame (at least in part) for many of them. For example, I wear mascara containing seaweed that was harvested by Tanzanian farmers for only 6 cents per kilogram, then resold by a larger company for at least 4-5 dollars per kilogram. I drink coffee that had to be processed in a dusty and dangerous factory by Tanzanian workers who work long hours for very little money. The news on TV at my homestay described increased drought causing deaths in Africa that’s thought to be attributed to global climate change, and here I am flying all around the world, pumping out greenhouse gases in abundance. I can’t stop thinking about the origins and implications of everything I touch and see and consume. I don’t want to be part of a system that exploits and degrades both people and resources, but while on this trip, it seems inevitable.

I hope everyone is well and in good spirits. I’d love to hear from you!
-Maranda

PHOTOS:

An incredible sunset in Zanzibar (When I saw it in person, I said, "It looks like the sun is wrapped in a nebula of happiness!"

Taking notes at a sisal farm

A bathroom in one of my homestays (there's a big hole under the wooden plank - luxurious!)

Getting my hair braided by one of my host families

A seaweed farm in Jambiani

Visiting the seaweed farmers

Anoter incredible sunset in Zanzibar

Feeding giant tortoises (some of them were over 100 years old!)

Receiving henna at my homestay family's shop

A freshwater tourist pool on Changu Island

Some of the architecture in Zanzibar