There is a wonderful new invention that I discovered while in Tanzania: the mosquito racket. It looks like a tennis racket, but it has an electrified net that allows you to swat at mosquitoes and fry them with a very satisfying popping noise. Sometimes you even get a little flash of light confirming its death. This may sound morbid, but in the mosquito-infested areas of the world, let me tell you, it's us or them. They sell these rackets on the street here in India and in Tanzania, but you can also get them in the US on Amazon! (http://www.amazon.com/iTouchless-Rechargebale-Portable-Handheld-Electric/dp/B000N5VLW8/ref=pd_sim_ol_5/102-5837167-6408929)

Here's a picture, so you can get the idea:

After a lovely time in Tanzania, I bid my mom goodbye at the airport, and headed to India. However, I had a random world encounter in the immigration line leaving Dar Es Salaam, where I ran into Dave Lisson (Yale '02) and his girlfriend Emily, who happens to be going to the GSB this fall as well. Talk about a small world. I also saw the same family of 25 that I had shared a van with while on a spice tour in Zanzibar. If it's true that the world only gets smaller as you get older, it's scary to think who I'll run into next.

Now I'm in Hyderabad, hanging out with my old crew from when I was here a year and a half ago. This is the winding down portion of my vacation, and I'm looking forward to relaxing, catching up with friends, and sleeping a lot. It's nice not to feel any pressure to sight-see or run around, especially since there's been so much of that this summer.

The Selous Game Reserve is one of the last places in Tanzania that seems truly wild. At least that's what Lonely Planet says. It did seem pretty wild, although there was a distinct lack of big predators like lions, leopards and cheetahs. However, there was a family of giraffes that seemed to like the landing strip near our camp, and hung out there for a good half hour as we started our walking safari on the second day. If you ever go on safari, I highly recommend the walking type. It's all well and good to be able to zoom around in a car, but you really don't get the full experience unless you can be on the ground and level with the animals. And it's really true, they are more afraid of you than you are of them. Lots of wildlife pictures below:


A baboon, just chilling in his tree-chair.



Same baboon, stretching and posing for the camera



Hippos, which are apparently the most deadly animals in the park. They kill more people each year than the lions, leopards or cheetahs do. Very territorial, but kind of comical. They do this long snorting call that sounds vaguely like a sick donkey's bray.



Momma and baby elephant, so cute!



Impalas, the food of choice on all National Geographic specials...



Giraffes, we saw tons of them!



My mom and our guide Ole, on our walking safari



If you look really closely, you can see retreating zebras. They were really hard to get close to, very skittish.



As we were walking, we started to see vultures all congregating around a particular place. Our guide and armed guard immediately went on alert, and we cautiously approached to find a freshly killed and eaten rabbit. Although we never saw the hunter, our guard thought that it looked like a leopard kill. Scary!



Our riverfront cabana, complete with a resident family of hippos that woke us up each morning with their version of a rooster's call at dawn.



Many of the people in the area still gather water from the river each day, and do their laundry and personal washing in the river water. One of the reasons why hippos are so feared is that they consider the water their territory, so when people are using the river bank, they have to constantly be on guard.



another reason why using river water is dangerous



Our last few moments before heading back to camp from our boat safari. Boat safaris contain lots of hippos and birds, but we were most awed by the sunset.

My mom and I both arrived back in Dar Es Salaam two days ago, and today we headed to the Selous Game Reserve on safari. We were both not quite sold on the whole idea of safari, but since we've only ever tried it for a half day before, we thought it would be a shame to waste our proximity to such amazing parks while we're in Tanzania. So off we flew. In a 6 person plane. Through clouds. And of course, I neglected to take Dramamine. Not a good choice. I had to ask the driver who shuttled us to our camp to drive at 15 miles per hour the whole way, so that I wouldn't destroy the interior of his car.

However, we got some nice plane pictures where I don't look sick at all, so that's good.

Dinner with Ismail's family was lovely, and I really liked his wife. It's interesting talking to men here, as Zanzibar is 95% Muslim, and I think it's not that common for women to travel alone. I've been a bit of a curiosity to everyone from tour guides to waiters to receptionists. Talking to Kawthar (Ismail's wife) was like a breath of fresh air. She is smart, funny and articulate, and liberal. We chatted all night at dinner, and I loved every minute of it.

The next night we all met up for dinner again, but this time Kawthar went home early and Ismail and his brother Hassan took me to their other brother Saleh's bar for late night drinks. Definitely a more male-dominated evening, as the conversation turned to whether I felt I "needed" a husband, etc, etc. I had to remind myself and Ismail that we came from very different perspectives on the whole question of marriage and women's roles, since the topic could have gotten into volatile territory pretty quickly. In the end, we agreed to disagree, and had another drink.


From left to right, Hassan, Kawthar, Ismail and me

It's been interesting traveling alone on this leg of the trip. I'm usually a very independent solo traveller, but I've never traveled by myself in Africa, and it seems neither do many other people. I've only met couples and families on this trip so far, other than one big group of folks from the States who are all traveling together. Very different than when I was in Argentina or previously in Europe, where it almost seems like there are more people solo than in groups. Anyways, I've felt totally at ease in most situations, and have been adopted by people along the way, which has been really nice. Traveling by myself is the best way to meet new friends :)

Case in point, on the plane to Zanzibar from Dar Es Salaam a few days ago, I met a guy named Ismail, who owns a popular restaurant in Stonetown, Mercury's. (Named after Freddie Mercury of Queen, who was born on Zanzibar). He invited me to have dinner with him and his wife when I got back from my beach vacation, which is today. My phone didn't work on the eastern side of the island where I was diving, but when I got back to Stonetown, I called Walter (mom's friend, publishing house), who told me that the Ismail I had met was actually a good friend of his as well! Small world... Anyways, I'm heading out to dinner at Mercury's tonight, after settling into my lovely hotel room (pictures below).

In other news, I wasn't able to meet up with my friend Michaela, after much emailing back and forth. She is climbing Kilimanjaro, but wanted to try to make it to Zanzibar first. Unfortunately, the incredible incompetence of US airlines foiled her plans as they did mine. Her flight from SFO to JFK was cancelled, meaning she missed her flights to Dubai, Nairobi, and ultimately Zanzibar. Such a bummer. Michaela, we'll have to make it back there at some point together :)


Picture of traditional Zanzibar hotel room decor:

Still having fun in paradise. Yesterday I did my scuba refresher, and became acquainted with the resident prankster, Xavier. He's Spanish, but has been living in Tanzania for 10 years, and prior to that was working as an architect for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone. Fascinating guy. He's a dive instructor now, and re-taught me how to not kill myself or anyone else when diving 100 feet below sea level. He also likes to throw his students in the pool, as I found out at the end of the lesson.

Today I went out on the dive boat and after a rousing bout of seasickness (managed to hold it together, much to the amusement of my divemaster, Saidi), I finally got off the cursed boat and into the water, where I felt much better. The conditions were a bit rough, but our second dive was absolutely lovely. I still haven't gotten around to getting my underwater camera case, so again, no pictures, but this is basically what I saw: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=scuba+diving&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2

Tomorrow and the next day more diving, and then back to Stonetown, the "capital" of Zanzibar.

Zanzibar!

It is gorgeous here. Probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Literally. White sand beaches, clear blue water, swaying palm trees, and almost no one around to disturb the serenity of the place. And to top it off, they have scuba diving. What could be better?!

Some pictures to give you the idea:










I'll be diving here for the next couple days, but I could just sit and stare off into space and be pretty happy here.

Today I arrived in Dar Es Salaam, the non-capital of Tanzania. Apparently it used to be the capital, but since it's on the coast, the government thought it wasn't defensible enough, so they moved the official capital to Dodoma, a dusty town more inland. For all intents and purposes though, Dar Es Salaam is the capital, with all the diplomats, restaurants and crazy traffic that comes along with it.

I'm only here for a day before I head to Zanzibar, and some beach-scuba diving time. I'm staying with my mother's friend Walter and his wife Freda, a lovely couple who own a publishing house. So far I've: marveled at the view of the ocean from their flat, eaten tons of delicious Swahili food (kebabs, curries, chapati, rice), and met Walter's new business partner, Siven. We went apartment hunting for Siven this evening, as he's just moved here from South Africa to work with Walter. Apologies, but I slacked on the picture taking, so you'll have to use your imaginations to conjure up my new friends...