Wanafunzi walienda Pemba!

Hamjambo! Back from Pemba Island, where we stayed for nine nights. For the first two nights, we stayed in a little guest house in Wete. In Wete, we got to see small-scale charcoal production, a common part-time job for many Zanzibari farmers. The charcoal is made by burning wood, often mango or mangrove wood, after covering it with heaps of green leaves and dirt to slow the burning. We also got to see the Ngezi Forest and lots of gigantic millipedes.



After two nights, we headed to Chake Chake to meet up with our new homestay families. We decided to go the 25 kilometers by bike to see the countryside and get some exercise (finally!). It was such a beautiful ride, and every village we biked through we were greeted with "hamjambo!" and "habari zenu!" by the children and villagers who thought seeing a bunch of sweaty, panting wazungo was the highlight of their day. I'm sure we were quite a sight.

In Chake Chake, the biggest "city" on the island of Pemba, we had a short reception and were introduced to our new homestay families. Our families in Stone Town had spoken some English, but we knew that our families on Pemba wouldn't speak as much so we were a little nervous. Luckily, our Pemba families were incredibly friendly and despite limited vocabulary, we were quickly welcomed and got a LOT of practice with sign language. And, my mama taught me how to make some yummy pilau, chai, and bungo juice!





Every day on Pemba we went on different field trips to learn more about the local environment and economy, including a site of an oil spill from 40 years ago, a clove oil distillery, a rubber factory, a salt farm, etc. In the middle of our stay, we took a trip out to Misali Island, an island used as a fishing camp and a park that tourists can visit during the day. As students, we lucked out and got to stay the night on the island, camping out four at a time underneath a big baobab tree and monitoring the coconut crab population at night. It was unbelievably beautiful and just...surreal.



The moonrise was amazing on Misali and we had some fun with our headlamps.



We also got to go to Kidike, which is home to a huge population of Pemba Flying Foxes, an endangered bat species only found on Pemba. It was hard to believe they are endangered, because we saw SO many.



On the last night of our homestays, we all got together with our families and watched a traditional Maulid dance. It was a nice way to say goodbye to our families, and the dance and music were really cool.



We flew back to Unguja on a stormy, rainy day on a tiny plane...needless to say, it was a little scary, but we survived. Back to Stone Town, we indulged in running water and our favorite Forodhani foods. The next morning, half of us went to Chumbe Island Coral Park (the other half went today) to see some of the most well-preserved coral we have seen so far. The snorkeling was incredible - we saw giant sea cucumbers, parrotfish, every color you can imagine and even some that you can't imagine, and every so often you would find yourself swimming with a school of a hundred shimmering fish. Again, completely surreal. We learned all about the ecotourism project they have there, which includes bringing out local school kids to learn to snorkel and see the treasures their country has. It was a wonderful day and it was hard to believe that it was school!





(Hi from the Pacific Northwest girls)



Now, we are off to Jozani Forest for four nights, and then I'll be headed back to Pemba to begin my research project on pesticide use on rural farms.

Hope all's well! Kwaherini,

- B & B