From East End to Land's End - Susan Soyinka (2010)

This is an extraordinarily well-presented tale drawn from a mixture of oral, documentary and photographic sources about the evacuation of the Jews' Free School in London to Mousehole in Cornwall during the Second World War. The picture of both the East End and the fishing villages is vivid, tender and uplifting; and almost entirely without sensation -- except that it seems to have been  true. Possibly the best 'history book' I have read (and I have read a lot of them).

Hail the jumping 'brother from Mozambique'

I lunched on grilled red snapper which was very nice for TZS 20k with beer at 5k at Gerry's bar, which is on Nyungwi beach next to the Doubletree Hilton, Zanzibar. In the evening there is live music, loud on Tuesday and quiet on Sunday. On my Tuesday it started with a general Caribou with excellent lead guitar but covers (such as 'Sweet Caroline'), and though I like 'Hotel Cal-ee-fornia' as much as anyone it was not quite what we were expecting - the promised reggae set finally appeared following the belated arrival of the jumping "brother from Mozambique", with much dancing into the small hours -- as the mainland Rastas slowly emerged from the shadows, bringing remedies herbal and female, for a small consideration. While they were distracted in their ascension, I made my escape along the beach back to the hut, though was accosted by a further brother demanding 10k for no obvious reason, who finally gave up. Though if he had mugged me, using his African skills, he wouldn't have got much more than the 10k as Gerry's is rather expensive. And thus I left the glampackers swaying by the shining ocean -- while the inland locals cowered in foul hovels, and drew their plans against us.

Jambo Brothers Bungalows, Nungwi Beach, Zanzibar

I stayed 4 nights at the Jambo Brothers Bungalows, Nungwi Beach, Zanzibar in November 2016. They are half a dozen concrete huts directly by the sand next to East Africa Divers, being charged USD 30 per night without aircon on walking up, having been kindly guided there by a gentleman who met the dalla dalla (bus) from Stone Town (which is TZS 2000). It has wifi from its Waves restaurant, a shower with hot water, and a little patio. The room was large and could do with at least some plastic chairs as furniture to add to the bed, which had a net, and its bedside table. The manager is Mr Ali, an older man in a Swahili hat who likes his payment in advance. It has no sunbeds, though some are available at nearby bars for the price of a drink. The location is on the Nungwi strip -- the area roughly between Spanish Divers and the Doubletree Hilton having a dozen or two bars and restaurants, most of which serve meals at around TZS 15,000 and beer at 4000. Breakfast was included with omelette, instant coffee, juice, and fruit. The beach is beautiful but there are lots of Massai and people from the mainland selling things which can be annoying, though they seemed harmless. The village itself is a kilometre inland; gloomy locals reside in a miserable collection of half-demolished concrete slab huts. Possibly there are some slightly better bungalows for a slightly lower price elsewhere; I was not sufficiently bothered to search them out.

The Bedroom Hotel, Dar es Salaam

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I, Melachi ibn Amillar, being of unsound mind and body, did visit the Bedroom Hotel in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I confess I was a little intimidated on entering this place due to the demolished ambience of the street and the suspicious attitude of the receptionist. However, the room was fine with aircon and ceiling fan and was nicely cleaned. The construction was not too noisy, possibly because the aircon was very loud. It is in a maze of small streets close to the market of Kariakoo and the Fire metro station, a medium walk to the centre of Dar, though this is not a centre one would feel obliged to visit more than once. There are a couple of barbeque stands a block to the east and even two bars, though generally rather dark and muslim at night. The breakfast left a great deal to the imagination. They quoted me TZS 25,000 for a taxi to Coco Beach and I said I had last paid 15,000 (not precisely true as I have never visited the country in my life); which is what they then charged. Though the taxi driver seemed quite pleased with himself so you could probably get it lower. This is a safe hotel at the price but if I stay there again it would mainly be due to familiarity.