I realize that when Tanzanians see my face with the bandages and black eye, they are probably thinking about two possibilities: I was beaten by my husband (in their minds, most likely) or I was beaten and robbed on the street (less likely, especially as a foreigner – since foreigners are less likely to be …
[above: VIP lounge at Tabora Airport] Tabora is a lovely city – one of my favorites – and starting to edge out Moshi as my favorite city in Tanzania. It’s got a decent-sized population of 250,000 people, but has a much mellower pace of life than Dar or Moshi. Because it’s off the beaten tourist …
[i considered posting a picture of my Frankensophy stitches, but refrained – there’s a photo buried in my online album of my face the day after if you really want to see it!] Being in a vehicle in East Africa is one of the biggest risks you can take. Animal mauling by lions and rhinos …
car accident in Dar es Salaam (yikes) and The Ultimate Nerd Injury Read More »
[above: sophy, Charlotte O’Neal with necklaces for Mama Yuri Kochiyama, and YW] Young Whan and I had the incredibly good fortune of visiting the United African Alliance Community Centre at Imbaseni Village. Pete and Charlotte O’Neal are Panthers in Africa. Pete is a political exile from his days of activism with the Black Panther Party …
[above: aerial view of Kilimanjaro at dawn] Ahhh, back in Moshi, my home away from home. It’s funny how familiar everything feels, even though we stay in hotels. I stay at the familiar Bristol Cottages, where Mama Sakina and Mr. Aggarwal and the staff take good care of me. I also have my friends Mei …
Chumbe Island is amazing. It is an island previously used as a military post and later bought by a German environmental NGO. It is now an eco-resort and official environmentally protected area. The result is a group of self-sustaining solar-powered and rain-water huts, an ecology teaching center, and the best diversity of coral reef in …
This was my second trip to Unguja Island, Zanzibar. Stone Town was as beautiful and captivating and haunting as usual. You may recall my stories from March 08 about the East African slave trade as it relates to the rise and fall of Zanzibar. This time Young Whan and I visited the old slave market …
