Friday, May 10th
Everything is going smoothly! We are still at White Sands in Dar es Salaam. On Friday Alex and I woke up late and had to rush to breakfast which was amazing. This resort is picturesque and peaceful. I continue to forget I am in Africa.
I had a personalized omelet for breakfast. The chef prepared it in front of Me. They also offered pork sausage, beef sausage, homemade waffles, baked beans, toast, fresh fruit, yogurt, bacon and fried eggs. With my omelet I had mango juice, a fresh mango and toast with strawberry jelly.
After breakfast we were allowed time to explore the beach and surrounding area. The tides here are drastically different. At low tide the sands are covered in seaweed. We also walked on the pier and in the garden.
John Michael has been trying to teach us some Swahili so I have been working on that. My favorite term is "lala salama" which means sleep well. After this short lesson we waded through the water to a small boat that appeared to be for fishing. It was a wooden boat covered by a blue tarp.
We went to a nearby island, Mubdya, at midday. The island's namesake is a tree found close to the water. The island was born when tech tonic movement exposed a coral reef only 120, 000 years ago. This makes Mubdya a very young island relative to other islands on the African coast.
Our first academic discussion was focused on the physical and chemical differences between the mainland sands, Dar es Salaam, and the island sands, Mubdya. The island sand is biologically engineered meaning it is composed of bits and pieces of coral and shell i.e. calcium carbonate. The sand on Dar es Salaam is made of quartz. It is land made and more dense. Another lecture on the history of colonial Tanzania followed.
For lunch we had fresh fish and chips. As local island men placed the food on our table, I realized there was another pair of eyes staring back at me. in Tanzania it is common to serve fish with the head still attached. It is also common to suck on the head and eat the eyes. Unfortunately I passed on this wonderful opportunity. The fish was difficult to eat without utensils and I often found that I was gnawing, not on a tough part of the fish but on fish bones. The fish were called pano or parrot fish.
We headed back to the island mid afternoon and showered. I ordered chicken curry for dinner and it was delicious. Soon after dinner I was off to bed.
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