Chumbe Recovery and a Rural Village

Friday we went back to Chumbe Island to recover our current meter. The ROMS model our project is based on predicts that in some locations, instead of two full tidal cycles, there will be four. Previous measurements at this location show promising results, and we hope something similar with this retrieval. There is a similar location near Dar es Salaam, and one of the students is going tomorrow to deploy the instrument there.

A researcher from Florida maintains permanent coral health sites there, providing our first foray into the photographic aspect of our biology project.

Lionfish in the lower right

Coral photography is difficult. We were struggling with rising full moon tides, creating currents on the order of 20-30 cm/sec; this tidal change caused the coral to grow noticeably further from the surface as the day progressed. Despite these hardships, our photographs continued, with colorful parrotfish, delicate lionfish, and schools of anchovies swimming around us. Finally, at the cost of exhaustion, we finished for the day and had a sunset cruise back to Zanzibar.

On Saturday, I started reading Stephen Pressfield's Gates of Fire, a truly captivating book. It was difficult to put down on Sunday, when we visited a friend's village.

After a quick dala dala, we walked through fields and forests of fresh mangoes, breadfruit, guava, etc, sampling everything, and then some. Upon arrival, we sat and conversed as best we can; our friend stepped away for a little, so we were without a translator for awhile. I began teaching some of the kids to juggle; they showed me how to shuck a coconut. Our friend came back, and the kids escorted us out, sad to see us leave. The dala dala brought us back, along with our bag of fresh fruit.

Best. Mangoes. Ever.

For dinner, we went to a local bar for some delicious barbecue chicken and goat. Deliciously cheap beers and a sunset helped the day come to an end.

Somethings Interesting:

--We met the administrator of Chumbe Island, a German who has a strong interest in Marine Biology. She will be a very valuable contact to have in the future of Theiss Research.

--I always choose the wrong side to give way to someone in the narrow alleys. I go right, just as traffic in the States, but everyone here goes left, like in England. The result is me looking like an idiot.

--The friend who took us out to the country works in our favorite restaurant, Lukmans. He is incredibly intelligent, can speak 5 languages, has traveled all over Africa with plans for further, has an email and cell phone, and grew up without electricity.

--I am explaining a visit to a rural village in a blog post that will be read by friends and family on the other side of the world. The clash of cultures is insane! Neither is better than the other, but which one is "exotic"? It is weird to think about.