Sal Island, Cape Verde

In Africa!

Diverse animation.

I spent a little over a week at the Riu Touareg hotel on Sal island, Cape Verde. The hotel is surrounded by desert -- a half day tour round the island was pleasant, but enough. It stands on an endless, permanently red flagged beach (though someone who gets up earlier than me claimed to have seen a green flag between 8.30 and 9.30 one morning). The waves are powerful but not too cold, and fun for the brave to splash around in. The staff were wonderful and friendly, but too busy to chat much. The service at the (free) bars was the fastest I have ever experienced. The Asian-style restaurant could do with a little work, but the others were decent, and the fish was always excellent, as one might expect.  The resort stage is large and well-appointed, but the 'shows' were, though enthusiastic, generally a disappointment. But I quite liked the one about Africa.  Nightlife was splendid (for those who liked karaoke).  Considering the size of the resort I think they should up their game in the entertainment department and spend a lot more on musicians and singers. One person was seen being rude to a cat, but the rest were fine.

Table football

Grand Magus at the Underworld, 1 April 2017

The first band played a heavy rock and roll the next a heavy hard rock, i could not see much about them. Grand Magus put in some fine guitar licks and rousing choruses, marred by air conditioning unit that kept dripping. . The crowd continued the cries if hhammerof the North long after the band left the stage.  I do wonder though if theusic is not perhaps a little, well, simple. But as they said, a good turnout for a Sunday night.

Ghost vs Zombi at the Forum

Papa (Emeritus III).

I did see Zombi and Ghost at the Forum, London on 26 March 2017. Zombi are a two-piece without vocals who play what sounds like the introduction to a rock song, and then stop and play the introduction to another one. I did not see the point of this at all. I suspect they were chosen because of their name. Ghost were magnificent, even the weedier songs coming across with far more energy than on the record.

Annex of Abdallah, Stone Town, Zanzibar

I stayed 2 nights at the Annex of Abdallah, in Stone Town, Zanzibar, at USD 20 per night for a large grubby room with unfeasibly high double bed and ensuite. Reception was pleasant enough but they did not try to sell me the tours I would have agreed to go on.  Wifi and breakfast both present, but probably close to the definition of a cheap guesthouse.

Stone Town is the sort of place best visited in an afternoon from a cruise ship. By popular request, I add some pictures of Stone Town and its cats.

Guru Guru restaurant, Nungwi Beach, Zanzibar

I ate here a few times for lunch - food was quite good, the waiter very pleasant, though the curry was a little on the small side. Most notable is that they have nice, free sunbeds where you can lie after lunch, and doze with some beer!

National Museum, Dar es Salaam

For ivory.

I visited this museum for TZS 6500. There is a nice origin of man exhibition, and a modern historical section dealing from about 1500. I quite liked this, but it would be better with a clearer exposition of the tribes, their circles of influence and what the Germans were doing there and how the colonisation and deconolisation took place. Indeed I am now seriously considering reading the historical section of my guidebook. The natural history exhibits were all closed except for a stuffed lion. I was tempted to ask for a partial refund, but did not do so as the man giving back my bag said he had never seen a German camera before. There's also a small, expensive cafe. Melachi reflects that this is the only sight worth seeing in Dar, and it is half shut.

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.