Week 3

Talk about a fast week. It seems like I was just writing the last post yesterday, but here I am again. This weekend marks a major turning point in the program as a whole. We had our last Kiswahili class this morning, the last Institute of Marine Sciences lecture was yesterday, and we move out of our homestays and back into our beloved Mauwani (albeit for one day) on Monday. From this point on, the program is a string of new projects, places, and faces. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Here’s the news from this week.

First and foremost, was the trip to Chumbe Island last Sunday. This small island to the southwest of Stonetown is a privately-owned marine preserve and tourist stop (outfitted with several gorgeous open-air eco-bungalows). As the first privately-owned marine preserve in the world, Chumbe is known for its pristine conditions and well-planned sustainability. It absolutely lives up to this reputation. Not only is the island itself picturesque, but the accommodations are totally worth the lodging price. Even if visitors only stop in for a day trip, the reefs absolutely make the visit. My group went snorkeling for about an hour in the mid-morning and I can say in all honesty that I checked off just about every local fish species of interest on my list. Plus the unexpected extras! I have to list a few so you’ll have an idea of the splendor. I spotted:

• ·         Powder Blue Tangs
• ·         Scopas Tangs
• ·         Oxymocanthus Filefish (!!!!)
• ·         Six-Line Wrasses
• ·         Unicorn Surgeonfish
• ·         Moorish Idols
• ·         Emperor Angelfish
• ·         Queen Angelfish
• ·         Blue-Green Chromis
• ·         Birdnose Wrasses
• ·         Manylined Surgeonfish
• ·         Clown Triggerfish
• ·         Bartail Flathead (this one was totally bizarre)
• ·         Etc. etc. etc.

And of course, the corals were also spectacular. I saw everything from fields of blue-tipped staghorn Acropora to huge boulders of Galaxia. I was the last one in the boat and would definitely not have gone willingly if my instant camera hadn’t run short on film. Whether or not the pictures actually turn out is a matter of debate, but I’m going to cross my fingers. The afternoon lecture back on the island revealed that very little research had been conducted on the terrestrial ecology of the island. In light of this information and the abundance of existing sea urchin studies, it looks as though I may actually be conducting a novel survey of arthropods on the island for my ISP. It’s an incredible opportunity if I can work out all of the details. The possibility of comparative study of arthropod diversity in Jozani Forest and Chumbe also exists; this project direction would set me up for a month of lodging in the “jungle” and on a small tropical island. Nirvana anyone?

Much of the rest of the week has consisted of the usual lecture-Kiswahili-homestay routine. My confidence in speaking is definitely growing, especially with the encouragement and quizzing provided by my homestay family and the guys employed to distribute the Chosticks. They’re cheap and I’ve now managed to get several fellow SIT students hooked. Great for the family business. I’ve also managed to get out and spend time with some of the other students’ homestay siblings; Daudi (David) is crazy about his little homestay sister Muna. Playing games out in the street with Muna and her crew has become daily entertainment some of the SIT crew down my street. I must say that my ability to dodge a wet rag-ball while wearing flip-flops on a cobblestone street is impressive. Meanwhile, I have also definitely settled in at home. I’ve been interviewing Mama about her family history and constructing a family tree, as well as talking politics and religion with my brother-in-law. It’s been entertaining responding to “Jamali,” since most of everybody doesn’t actually know my name from the States. There have been a few surprises; while drinking the last of my tea the other night for example, I discovered a large fly at the bottom of the cup with the spice dregs. The late night visit of a rat to my room also provided some excitement two days ago. However these little bumps in the road have failed to dampen my spirits on the whole venture. I’ll be sad to move out on Monday when I’ve just begun to get into the swing of this around here. I’m definitely still planning on dropping in once and a while as the program continues.

An event this work that is definitely worthy of description was the dala dala trip that I took with Daudi and Rashid (Rich) two days ago. We were split up into small groups and told to visit a number of different places using the popular local form of transportation, the dala dala. These are basically covered trucks which as many people as possible cram into for a ride. There are no seat belts, no capacity regulations (at least observed ones), and no personal space at the busiest times of the day. My crew caught a dala dala from Darajani Market to the Chumbe Office outside of town to get further ISP details from one of the leading staff members, Ulli. Afterwards, we were supposed to walk to the nearby Mbweni Ruins Hotel to swim and enjoy the afternoon. However while I was busy pontificating and Daudi & Rashid were attentively listening (?), we unknowingly passed the turn. So, I chose the next turn and we proceeded to walk for close to an hour in the midday sun before ending up right where we’d started. Eventually, we made it to Mbweni and enjoyed a couple of bottles of cold water in the company of an enormous hermit crab on the beach. It’s adventures like that one which really make you appreciate water, especially cold water. The return trip wasn’t nearly as exciting, although at one point I was basically squatting on the back edge of the dala dala and holding onto Rich’s backpack to stay in. Travel primetime.

I can’t end this post without also briefly mentioning the snorkel trip this morning. We went straight from our last Kiswahili class to Prison Island, located just across the lagoon from Stone Town. The island itself has a special attraction: a sanctuary for Aldabran Giant Tortoises. I can now say that I have come in contact with both island-endemic giant tortoise species found on opposite sides of the globe (hooray for convergent evolution!). Check one life goal off the list. The snorkeling itself was entertaining as usual, with a variety of find ranging from symbiotic burrowing shrimp & goby pairs, huge red and white starfish, and an absolutely gorgeous green giant clam. The reef was notably more torn up since it’s unprotected and regularly over-fished, but still well worth the new finds. I’m getting a feel for the state of reef systems around the island and how important conservation policies are to ongoing reef health.

As I mentioned at the beginning, from here on out the trip gets much more piecemeal. I will continue to update the blog as internet availability permits, but you’ll have to give me a bit of lenience on the exact weekly schedule I’ve managed to maintain up until now. More updates and photos to come! Cheers!