Very enjoyable weekend in Mtwara!
We arrived in Mtwara Friday evening and had dinner with a Dutch couple who are good friends of my neighbor and in Tanzania visiting. Both are doctors and just finished spending 6 months in southern Sudan working for "Doctors of the world". It was very interesting to hear their perspective on work/life in southern Sudan and to compare notes on different NGO's.
Saturday evening was a treat! We drove into Mikindani, a short drive just north of Mtwara along the tarmac road. Mikindani is an old trading port that used to be the main port in the southeast before the development of Mtwara. We ate dinner at the "Old Boma" an old hotel built in 1859 that has magnificent views of the Mikindani bay and Indian Ocean. We met up with a few other volunteers who are placed in Mtwara. Before dinner walked through the town of Mikindani, and then relaxed in the hotel while the buffet was being prepared. Excellent food, wine and company....
Lazy relaxing day today. We skipped snorkeling because it was overcast and very windy, tough conditions for seeing the aquatic life and coral well....I layed out on the porch with a book and my ipod.
I'm reading "Africa - A biography of the continent" right now. Very interesting - Mostly an account of the history of the continent from an evolutionary point of view covering a huge time period, essentially from the beginning of life up to recent events.
I don't go to Mtwara that often (perhaps once a month) so I find taking in the landscape and peope living in the nearby villages very interesting. There are many small villages scattered about along the tarmac road. And in between villages are thousands of acres of thick bush, with dense forests of palm trees. It is easy to imagine dinosaurs or the earliest mammals roaming throughout the terrain. It is a very surreal feeling, kind of like traveling back in time hundreds of thousands of years ago. Of course this is where life began and the evolution of humanity took place! It is interesting too to observe how people live; I imagine not much has changed (in terms of individual lifestyles) since humans evolved and became hunters and gatherers, because most people in southern Tanzania are substinence farmers living off the land.....
Its back to work tomorrow and on call on Tuesday. Hope you had a nice weekend!
We arrived in Mtwara Friday evening and had dinner with a Dutch couple who are good friends of my neighbor and in Tanzania visiting. Both are doctors and just finished spending 6 months in southern Sudan working for "Doctors of the world". It was very interesting to hear their perspective on work/life in southern Sudan and to compare notes on different NGO's.
Saturday evening was a treat! We drove into Mikindani, a short drive just north of Mtwara along the tarmac road. Mikindani is an old trading port that used to be the main port in the southeast before the development of Mtwara. We ate dinner at the "Old Boma" an old hotel built in 1859 that has magnificent views of the Mikindani bay and Indian Ocean. We met up with a few other volunteers who are placed in Mtwara. Before dinner walked through the town of Mikindani, and then relaxed in the hotel while the buffet was being prepared. Excellent food, wine and company....
Lazy relaxing day today. We skipped snorkeling because it was overcast and very windy, tough conditions for seeing the aquatic life and coral well....I layed out on the porch with a book and my ipod.
I'm reading "Africa - A biography of the continent" right now. Very interesting - Mostly an account of the history of the continent from an evolutionary point of view covering a huge time period, essentially from the beginning of life up to recent events.
I don't go to Mtwara that often (perhaps once a month) so I find taking in the landscape and peope living in the nearby villages very interesting. There are many small villages scattered about along the tarmac road. And in between villages are thousands of acres of thick bush, with dense forests of palm trees. It is easy to imagine dinosaurs or the earliest mammals roaming throughout the terrain. It is a very surreal feeling, kind of like traveling back in time hundreds of thousands of years ago. Of course this is where life began and the evolution of humanity took place! It is interesting too to observe how people live; I imagine not much has changed (in terms of individual lifestyles) since humans evolved and became hunters and gatherers, because most people in southern Tanzania are substinence farmers living off the land.....
Its back to work tomorrow and on call on Tuesday. Hope you had a nice weekend!
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