Character of the Week: Mama Ruth

When I began organising my research trip to Tanzania several months ago, I discovered that a Norwegian friend from the University of Cape Town had family living in a place I was covering for the guide – Tanga, a quiet seaside town near the country’s northern border with Kenya. My friend immediately put me in touch with her mother who ran a meeting centre just out of town, and, after contacting her, Dan and I were invited to stop by and stay the night. I didn't know what to expect from the introduction – but I certainly didn't expect Mama Ruth!

Arriving by car from Dar es Salaam around midday, we were greeted at the gate by an elderly Maasai man who in perfect English inquired about the purpose of our visit. "I'm here to see Ruth," I responded. He looked at me blankly and shrugged unknowingly at the name. "You know Ruth...the owner?" I tried again. By this time another man from the gate post joined him by the car and together they chatted in Swahili and scratched their heads over my seemingly odd request. Our driver then interjected and asked after Ruth, this time in Swahili. But, again, the two men drew a blank.

Turning to Dan I asked, "How do I say her last name?" Having not known my friend at all his reply was a short, "How would I know?" Looking back at the two men I fumbled hopelessly over the pronunciation of the Ruth's Norwegian name, "I think it's Ruth Nes..je or Nes..ja?" Suddenly the Massai's eyes widened and he beamed, "Oh, you mean Mama Ruth!" Of course, Mama Ruth, why hadn't I thought of that I smiled.

It certainly wasn’t difficult to miss Mama Ruth; dressed in a colourful tie-dyed kaftan with a crop of white-blonde hair framing a deeply tanned face, she was bright and bubbly with a loud, infectious laugh. First coming to Tanzania in 1984 Ruth had spent the better part of the last 20 years working on various HIV/AIDS programs throughout the region. Keen to promote a more positive image of Africa and to encourage sustainable development through tourism, in January 2008, along with two other investors, she opened the Meetingpoint Tanga - a community meeting point, an international conference centre and accommodation facility all rolled into one.

While there are numerous tourism projects throughout Africa that claim to be environmentally friendly and community conscious, for many it is simply rhetoric and as the pockets of the wealthy investors are lined, local communities are often left wanting. Meetingpoint Tanga, however, is different. Apart from self-satisfaction, investors in the centre earn no financial dividends. Instead, all money raised is reinvested in various community projects from hosting local music festivals to HIV/AIDS education. Tourists, too, are invited to "make a difference" by sharing their knowledge, skills and experiences during their stay at the centre. In one particular instance, a visitor from Norway helped fund and set-up a recording studio, which now produces and sells CDs for a local hip-hop group.

Dan and I were subsequently invited to join Mama Ruth and three other Norwegian visitors to watch a local football match in a nearby village. In this latest venture, Mama Ruth was hoping to secure international sponsorship of the team and lure skilled players over to help train the local team. In true Mama Ruth fashion, we barrelled onto the field in the middle of the village (after taking several wrong turns) unannounced in a large white Land Cruiser, much to the amusement of the crowd of onlookers who had gathered for the match.

After some initial confusion as to whether we were indeed in the right village and at the right football match, with her Norwegian flag held proudly in hand Mama Ruth was ceremoniously introduced to her team, TICC, who were dressed in the unmistakable red and white uniforms of Manchester United. With the official proceedings over, her team took to the field to take on another team from a nearby village, who were rather fittingly kitted out in Real Madrid royal blue, in a local friendly.

I'm not a huge fan of football, or soccer as we call it at home, so I found all the back and forth play with no point scoring a little bit tedious. That was, until a herd of cattle suddenly decided to storm the field. While both teams carried on seemingly oblivious to antics of the stray cows, the interruption obviously affected our team’s concentration as not long after Real Madrid landed the first goal of the match (perhaps the cows were all a ploy?). Despite the fact that it was the opposition that scored the goal, the children from the village swarmed the field cheering and clapping in jubilation – some even entertaining us with a few clever back flips. Sadly, in spite of Man United’s best efforts to regain control of the ball, in the dying minutes of the game Real Madrid managed to sneak the ball past our goalie to win the match 2:0.

While I’m no expert on football, it does appear that the Man United team would benefit from some proper training – perhaps David Beckham would like to help his old English team’s namesake out? So if you know anyone who’d be interested in sponsoring the team, or if you’d like to find out more about the centre and its projects, give Mama Ruth a shout.

Guest Blog: Surviving Stone Town

While I slaved away researching hotels in hot and humid Dar, Dan set off to Zanzibar for a few days of diving and exploring Stone Town. Here's what he had to say about his adventure:

Stone Town, the main urban settlement on the island of Zanzibar remains a top Tanzanian tourist attraction as travelers seek to revisit the history of slaves and spices of the island and wander the maze of narrow streets that comprise the old town. The history of African, Persian and Asian influences on the islands are evident throughout the town in the range of food available. Twists and turns in the maze of backstreets reveal hundreds of stalls and shops, craft vendors and craftspeople, the sound of the ocean rapidly replaced by a school-room of children reciting Arabic verses, and pedestrians, bikes and motorbikes jostling for space on the narrow alleyways.

My visit to Stone Town left Kim in the sweltering heat of Dar es Salaam as I took an early morning ferry across the water to Zanzibar for a few days of scuba diving. Whilst the neighbouring island of Pemba is touted as the better destination for diving, time constraints kept me to Stone Town.

For three days a small hotel in the heart of the Shangani district of Stone Town was my home as I set out each morning on Bahari Divers' dhow and explored reefs and wrecks in the Indian Ocean. Amongst the nudibranchs, clown fish, puffer fish, lion fish, ramoras, trigger fish and parrot fish, the highlight was at the end of the third dive: a close encounter of the turtle-kind.

Where guidebooks and tourists talk of the sound of Zanzibar being taarab music, for me the audio accompaniment for the trip was the noise of hundreds of petrol generators. An ongoing powercut (9 days and counting by the time I left the island) meant businesses were reliant on petrol generators for power, and the constant chatter of these engines was the soundtrack of the visit. A side-effect of this was for hotel, restaurant and shop prices to increase dramatically as operating costs rose due to the cost of generating electricity.

Sadly, all diving trips must come to an end, and after my third day on Zanzibar the afternoon ferry brought me back to Dar es Salaam.

Tips to surviving Stone Town:
Touts: As soon as you set foot off the ferry you will be beset by porters, taxi drivers and ‘guides’, some offering their services outright and others making conversation before guiding you to a hotel or guesthouse. Stone Town is a maze of streets so unless you know exactly where you are going, a guide may be of use to show you the way – but be aware they will expect payment for this and will likely loiter outside your hotel until you reappear and then attempt to guide the rest of your visit. Trying to shake these guides loose can be tiresome and some tourists opt to retain a guide as once you are ‘spoken for’ the hassle from other touts disappears. If, as I did, you walk alone then be prepared for a near constant bombardment of people offering goods and services. If you do ‘retain’ a guide, treat their claims and advice with a large amount of caution – one tourist I met on the boat back to Dar was left furious and distraught by the lies and claims made by the tout she had used for two days.

Losing your cool: In hot weather and with constant attention from touts, it is easy for tempers to become frayed. Rows with touts and pan-handlers will not get you far; try to keep your cool. On the two occasions when touts became overbearing and forced me into confrontations, a simple but firm re-assertion of your refusal of their services/products sufficed to put them off and to gain the attention of and support of locals who were visibly annoyed that these touts were acting in an aggressive manner.

Eating and drinking: The fish market, now based in a street between the Old Fort and the Zanzibar National Museum, is a great place for good quality street food (especially sea food and sugar cane juice) from about 6pm until 9pm. Watch out for overcharging and take a bit of time to look at the different stalls before being pressured into eating from a particular one. Expect a degree of hassle from pan-handlers and guides if experiencing the market alone. There are numerous cafes, restaurants and shops selling food and drink during the day, but a quick way of cooling down is from the street vendors who ply the streets with handcarts laden with oranges or coconuts. For a few hundred shillings a handful of oranges or a coconut-milk will provide a quick and mobile pick-me-up (and amusement to small children as you, the crazy mzungu, inevitably spill half the coconut milk down your shirt).

Streets of Stone Town: Stone Town’s charm is the maze of alleys and streets, but it is easy to get lost amongst them. Try to keep an idea of your general orientation, but if all else fails and you find yourself lost, just head in one direction until you reach the edge of the old town, work out where you are and carry on from there.

Learn some Swahili: A few basic words and phrases in Swahili will serve you well. Being able to work through greetings and declining offers of help (Hapana, asante) will help with shaking off touts and with getting assistance from staff and locals.

Dress appropriately: As with many other parts of Tanzania, dressing conservatively with long trousers and long sleeves is advisable – not only is this culturally sensitive, but it does seem to reduce slightly the hassle from street touts, and helps prevent sunburn!

Find a reputable dive company: There are numerous companies offering scuba diving and snorkeling in Stone Town and across Zanzibar. Seek recommendations as to reputable companies before booking and diving with a company, and check they are appropriately certificated by the government and the diving industry. Bahari Divers and One Ocean in Stone Town have very good reputations.
The passport stamp/port tax scam: Con artists working at the Dar ferry terminal will say you need to pay them or a colleague money for your passport to be stamped back into Dar (it doesn’t) or for the port tax (you don’t, buy your ticket from a ticket office and the tax is included in the total price). Ignore such people and don’t pay them anything. There is little point reporting such activities to the local police as they are unlikely to do anything about it.

Remember the good things: Despite the hassles and heat, try to remember the good times and positive experiences. Would you rather be being hassled to buy a bracelet by a beach on Zanzibar or to take part in a piece of market research on a rainy afternoon back home?

Ten alternative uses for your travel guidebook

Dan and I are now in Dar es Salaam. As we wilt under the weight of Dar's oppressive heat, I find myself longing for the cooler plains of Tanzania’s open veld. The few days we spent game driving around the national parks certainly made for a refreshing break from the hectic pace of researching Tanzania's cities and towns. The only downside however was the Tsetse fly. After suffering from their relentless bites while we drove through parts of Mikumi National Park, Dan and I discovered that our best defence against the nasty little blighters was my Bradt travel guidebook to Tanzania. Having found a new use for the guide, Dan and I decided to come with our top ten list for alternative uses for travel guidebooks:

1. A [Tsete] fly swat: Thick and sturdy guidebooks make perfect swats for flies and all sorts of nasty bugs.

2. A self-defence weapon: If you find yourself in a sticky situation throw your guidebook at your assailant. It should hopefully stun them enough for you to make a fast getaway.

3. Emergency personal insulation: Stuck sleeping outside in the cold for the night without a sleeping bag? Don't worry! Simply tear out the pages of your guidebook (preferably pages you no longer need), scrunch them up and stuff them down your top.

4. A pillow (of sorts!): I've used my guidebook as a pillow plenty of times while on long-haul bus and train journeys – it might not make for the most comfortable pillow, but at least your head will have some support.

5. Fuel for starting a fire: The used pages of your guidebook can come in very handy if you are having problems getting your camp fire started. Just be sure not to burn any important pages you might want to refer back to in the future.

6. A conversation starter: (Or as Dan calls this one, a great pick-up tool!) Dying for a little conversation or an introduction to that cute local in the corner of the coffee shop? Then play the lost tourist and use your guidebook to ask for directions. Even if you don't know the local language, hopefully they'll find your bumbling use of the language guide at the back endearing.

7. A conversation blocker: We’ve all been in this situation before with the annoying stranger on the train, plane or bus determined to natter on to you incessantly about the minute details of their last holiday, their family back home or in some cases (and my pet peeve) their latest medical procedure. Simply burry your nose in your book and hopefully they'll eventually get the hint. If not, see suggestion 2.

8. Door jam/stop: If the door to your room refuses to stay open or bathroom door just won't quite close, your guidebook makes the perfect doorstop – especially if it's one of those hefty multi-country guides.

9. Toilet paper: Why is it that there never seems to be enough toilet paper when you really need it? In Romania I once paid for the privilege of being given one tiny square piece of toilet paper when using a public bathroom. It wouldn't have been a problem apart from the fact that I was suffering from a nasty case of traveller's diarrhea at the time. Again, just be sure not to use any important pages otherwise referring to them in the future might be a little...um...sticky?!

10. A sun hat: If you're like me and forgot to pack your hat (in spite of your trusty packing list!), then open the guidebook in the centre and place it Teepee style on your head. Don’t worry about looking foolish. As a khaki-clad foreigner walking around with a rucksack on your back you already stand out!

Have you used your guidebook for a purpose that was not recommended by the publisher? If you have any suggestions to add to our list, we'd love to hear them.

Tanzania: Call of the wild

It's official; you can't get more Out of Africa than Tanzania. With one of the world's largest and wildest animal populations, it offers some of the best safari opportunities on the African continent. Zebra, lion, elephant, antelope, flamingos, wildebeest, giraffe, cheetah – you’ll find them all here.

When it comes to game parks in Tanzania (or Africa for that matter) nothing compares to the Serengeti. The star of the country's Northern Safari Circuit, the Serengeti covers a mammoth 14,763 square kilometres and supports over three million different types of mammals including the Big Five. From experience I can tell you that there is nothing more mesmerising than watching the mass migration of thousands of wildebeest and zebra as they trek across its vast open plains, but as Dan and I have discovered the untrammeled games parks of Tanzania's Southern Safari Circuit also offer an interesting and stimulating safari experience. Fortunately my hectic research schedule allowed for two brief game park visits.

Our first stop was Ruaha National Park. Covering 12,950 square kilometres, it is the second largest national park in Tanzania after the Serengeti. Yet it remains one of the country’s wildest and most undeveloped game reserves. When you consider that the park is home to more than 12,000 elephants as well as large populations of buffalo, zebra, giraffe, lions, kudu and antelope it is easy to see why those in the know consider it to be one of Tanzania's best kept secrets.

While we easily spotted numerous giraffe, zebra, kudu, impala and elephant we struggled to spy the any of the park’s lions in spite of the fact that the other guests at the lodge had seen a pride of 27 lions the previous two days before we arrived. When we finally happened across three lone lions, our driver managed to scare them off before we had photographed them properly. He also managed to irritate a very large bull elephant by barrelling through the middle its herd. I'd never actually seen a riled-up elephant charge at full speed before nor seen a driver that scared!

The next and final stop on our abbreviated tour of the southern game parks was the much smaller 3,230 kilometre square Mikumi National Park. Located near Dar es Salaam it make the perfect weekend getaway, so you'll generally find a few more tourists here. Though still nothing like the crowds in the northern game parks.

While only a small section of the park has been developed for tourism, a typical game drive will reveal elephant, hippo, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, warthog, wildebeest and impala all in impressive numbers. What’s more with the Tanzam Highway running straight through the centre of the park, you don't even need to enter it to start your game viewing. After spending two days driving around the park hoping to spy a lion, we actually found one casually crossing the main highway just as we'd given up and left the park!

So if you want a safari experience away from the crowds Tanzania's Southern Safari Circuit is the place to head to.

Picture of the Week: Going nowhere slowly

I've now been in Tanzania just on a week travelling with Dan in tow south along the Tanzam Highway covering the Southern Safari Circuit as well as all the pit stops en route to the Malawian border. Yesterday when we stopped briefly to refuel in Iringa I spied two young men sitting atop of the skeletal remains of what was once a small four wheel drive and was inspired to take the above picture. After our driver spent the last couple of days hurtling a hundred-miles-an-hour along deeply, rutted dirt roads and overtaking trucks and lorries at break-neck speed around hairpin turns on mountain passes, I won't be at all surprised if this is how our snazzy little Rav4 hire car will look when we return to Dar es Salaam at the end of the week. Safari Njema! (Safe Travels!)

Going a little offbeat around the world

If you hadn't already guessed from my previous post I have a bit of an odd affection for strange, unusual and offbeat attractions that don't always make it into the pages of guidebooks or local tourist brochures. So much so that the first thing I did once I arrived in Cape Town was to organise a Below the Surface sewer tour of the city with Figure of 8 for tomorrow.

A sewer tour in the bowels of Cape Town might not sound very appealing – especially for anyone who's claustrophobic – but it's actually a great, fun way to learn a little more about the history of the city and experience it from a whole new perspective. The tour takes participants through a network of secret underground passages to the city's castle; the Castle of Good Hope. What's more the group I am joining is doing this tour as part of an "amazing race" experience to raise funds for one of the townships on the outskirts of Cape Town. So I'm really looking forward to my latest offbeat adventure.

Offbeat tours and attractions are obviously not limited to Cape Town and South Africa. There are a world of weird, wonderful and quirky experiences and attractions out there just waiting to be discovered. So I thought I'd ask a few other writers and bloggers to share some of their city's best offbeat experiences.

Heather, from Heather on her Travels, suggests that visitor's to Bristol, UK should explore its dark secret - the Slave Trade:

As you wander around Bristol's pleasant Harbourside area or admire the fine 18th century houses, you may not realise that much of Bristol's wealth was founded on the Slave Trade. Why not visit the Georgian House, a free museum which was once the home of a wealthy sugar merchant whose fortune was made from his slave plantations in the Caribbean. Then download the free MP3 walking tour from the Visit Bristol website, which will guide you around the centre, stopping off at the old sugar refineries and other sites that have connections with the slave trade. You can stay the night or relax in the bar of one of these sugar houses, now a luxurious boutique hotel, the Hotel du Vin. You might like to take a drink in one of the bars and old pubs, such as the Llandoger Trow on Welsh Back, where the merchant ships would moor up when Bristol was a thriving port. Or walk across the modern Pero's bridge in the harbour, named after the slave servant of John Pinney who built the Georgian House.

My co-author for my conference paper and travelling companion for Jamaica and Cuba, Natasha Himmelman recommends visitors get tangled up with a little "Yarn Tasting" in Oakland, California:

Montclair Village in Oakland, California is, at times, a seemingly random splice of the Bay Area a place where wanna-be Piedmonters, Berkeley yippies, and Oaklanders converge. Although this fusion is sometimes odd, if not outright awkward, some businesses in the area have managed to get the recipe just right. The Knitting Basket is one such place. A yarn store by birth, the Knitting Basket has become so much more. It's a community spot where one can pick up beautiful yarns, of course, but also take knitting and crocheting classes, join the knitting charity group, become a member of the Afghan Square of the Month Club, enjoy an afternoon of baseball and knitting titch Pitch, or just drop in to say hello to Kelly. But do not let this cute yarn store fool you; it has an edge. Come on in for a Friday Night Stitching Party (BYOB) or stop by for a yarn tasting. Yes, I said, yarn. The last yarn tasting took place on 4-20, a perfect date to check out some hemp. Kelly laid out some hemp yarns, hemp fusion yarns (i.e. hemp and cotton), and some knitting needles and tasters purled, knit, and stitched (crocheters are also welcome) the new threads. So, if you're in the Bay Area, looking for some new threads or just want to try something different, check out the Knitting Basket.

For anyone visiting Lisbon, Portugal, travel writer and blogger Anja Mutić from Ever the Nomad suggests you make a splash in the city's waterways:

For a unique view of Lisbon's hills hugging the Tagus River, take a commuter ferry ride from either the Cais do Sodré or the Terreiro do Paço terminal. Get a roundtrip ticket to Barreiro, Montijo or Cacilhas. For schedules, see Transtejo’s website.

Take a tour of Lisbon's historic Águas Livres Aqueduct, built in 1834. This remarkable 36-mile construction with 35 arches (the tallest is 213ft/65m) crosses the Alcântara Valley. On this excursion offered by Lisbon's Water Museum every weekend morning from March through November, you travel along the springs of the Aqueduct and visit its cavernous interiors.

New York City-based photographer and journalist, Wendy from Escape New York says there are plenty of offbeat ways to take a bite out of the Big Apple:

Some of the best views of Manhattan are from the water. How about taking in the skyline while kayaking on the Hudson River? The Downtown Boathouse, a volunteer organisation, offers free kayaking tours.

Take the subway to Coney Island where old world Americana still exists. Sideshows by the Seashore features 'Freaks, wonders and human curiosities'. The current cast includes fire eaters, chainsaw jugglers and glass eaters to name a few. Admission is $7.50 for adults and $5 for children under 12.

You won't find this museum on the tony Upper East Side's Museum Mile. The Museum of Sex opened its doors in 2002. Current exhibitions include Sex in Design and Sex and the Moving Image. You must be 18 years and older to enter. Admission is $14.50 plus tax.

Finally, Dan Hammett (aka Diver Dan) who will be accompanying me in Tanzania offers his advice for visitor's to Edinburgh:

Try one (or more) of the pubs in Edinburgh (there are plenty to choose from!), preferably those selling a good range of single malt whisky and real ale. Some of my favourites would be the Dagda Bar (Buccleuch St), Cloisters (Toll Cross), Guildford Arms (just off Princess St), Bow Bar (Victoria St), and the Cumberland Bar (Cumberland St). Most of these are off the tourist path, but the detour is well worth it for the quality of the drinks, and the atmosphere of the venues.

Look up. When you’re walking around remember to look up as the town is built on some crazy hills and it’s easy to miss the amazing Georgian architecture surrounding you if you don’t make the effort to gaze upwards occasionally. Climb Arthur’s Seat or Carlton Hill to get a panoramic view across the city and out to the Firth of Forth and even the southern highlands on a clear day.

Do you also have a fetish for the strange, peculiar and bizarre attractions? If so, what offbeat things would you recommend for people visiting in your city do?

Some day I'll fly away

When I was young I loved going to the airport with my family. It either marked the beginning of a new adventure as our family welcomed yet another international exchange student into our fold (my family has hosted 11 exchange students over the years), or a sad, but heart-warming, farewell as they one-by-one returned home to their respective families and countries. So airports have always held a special place in my heart.

Today when I think of airports I am reminded of the touching beginning and ending sequence of my favourite movie Love Actually where friends and family are re-united at Heathrow Airport. The pure joy and happiness of the airport hello-goodbye greeting is beautifully encapsulated by this montage as dozens of real life people share embraces, caresses and kisses. That's the thing about airports though, there's this happy energy about them that makes you feel like anything is possible. People are either excited because they are heading away on a holiday or a trip, or they're happy to be arriving home after time spent away from their loved ones.

Once you make it beyond the airport's main hallway, though, and pass through immigration into the departure lounge you enter a liminal space – a place of transition that is neither here nor there where everyone is a stranger. In spite of the geographical solitude, this border between what was and what is yet to come is still the site of possibility and everyone who enters it has the potential to be changed. No matter where you are going and what you are doing, the experiences you have, the people you encounter and the sights you see while away will change you; even if only in a small way. So as we wait patiently on the threshold of travel there's an air of expectation and excitement as we ready ourselves to move across the limits of what we were into what we can be.

But that is what I love most about airports; the possibility of what can be. Luckily for me, that 'some day I'll fly' away is in fact tomorrow.

See you on the other side!

Image sourced from FreeFoto.com