Thursday 12th of June: The Dar Es Salaam fish market

After meeting with the French Embassy, we had a few hours to kill so Kapembe and Mama Bakhita took me to the fish market, which is a main attraction in Dar Es Salaam.
It was fascinating. We walked through the market encountering a bidding war to buy sharks that were laying on the ground, freshly killed. I walked by women cleaning the fish out, a man cutting through a manta ray, another stall selling a small flat type of shark I have never seen before. In the middle of the market, there is a canteen for the fishermen with smoke bellowing out of big pots and women cooking. A few workers sitting down to eat asked me to take their picture and were very friendly. A few stalls a man was selling tiny smoked fish and cooking them too. Mama Bakhita bought some and snaked her way through them. We kept walking to the other side of the market where they sell shells from the coral reef (amazing looking but illegal), and also spices. Of course, I bought some more cinnamon and cardamom… And off we went back into the Dar heat, dust and traffic to our next appointment.

Monday July 1st: Zanzibar and the spice tour

Early in the morning I set out to do the spice tour without the rest of the group as they are going to go snorkeling for the day. Zanzibar used to have many plantations for cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, pepper etc… I have hear of how interesting the tour is, and given that I love food, I have a feeling I am going to enjoy it. The thing is also, when you think of Zanzibar, one of the first thing that comes to mind is the spice trade. It is an island where Asia and Africa met, not only economically, but also racially and culturally. There is something fascinating, romantic and sensual about Zanzibar.
I will let the pictures describe the spice tour. It was definitely worth it. I learnt a lot about how the different spices are used locally for food and medicine. It was also great to actually see whet a pepper or cinnamon tree looks like, why Tandoori is red and that you can use the sap of a quinine tree as a natural band-aid.
In the tour are some other volunteers from different countries. A few of them are trustees of an organization that fights Aids, two others are a Czech couple visiting from Zambia where they do social work. O it’s really nice to meet other fellow volunteers and hear what their experience has been like.
When the tour is over and I am back in Stone town, I head out for Jaws corner to have coffee with old men who won’t talk to me. And I continue to walk around during the calm afternoon hours when many shops are closed.
Later in the afternoon, the rest of the group arrives and we set out for Nungwi, a beach 1 hour up north where we will be spending a few days for some intense relaxation…