More Salaam

Trip Start Jan 10, 2006

Trip End Jun 02, 2006

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Flag of Tanzania Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Friday, April 7, 2006

Prosper reminds me of someone my mom might work with at Deaconess Hospital. He took me out to his back yard - a giant garden on a hill above an gully. He said that it's been in disrepair since his mom died, but it looked beautiful to me. All the perennials were doing their thing as usual. Everything else was mostly for the cows who fertilize it. It was a reunion with many of the plants I've come to love during this trip - bidens, amaranth, giant okra, the biggest commelina I've seen (the Maasai use the flowers for eyedrops like the San showed us), moringa trees (well copiced), all the fruits, ground berries. There were new ones as well (like this fruit that grows from the stem of a tree that you can eat or squeeze vinegar out of!).

I should mention that in Dar es Salaam people eat habanero-scotch bonnet like peppers when their green. They're a bit milder but still have that smokey-hot flavor

Avocados Are Scared to Fruit Earlier

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While Zimbabwe and most of Malawi were just finishing they're rainy season, we're in the heart of it here. April is the rainiest month in Dar es Salaam. It's hard to dry clothes. Global warming has come up twice in Prosper's house - once when Prosper said that the beaches used to be much wider at low tide than they are now, and Mr. Machary mentioned that the ice cap on top of Kilimanjaro is being much reduced.

Tomorrow I'll head to Moshi with Prosper and his dad. That's their home town, and the place I spent my first night in Afrika five years ago.

Slideshow

Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures

Deadly Coconuts	Entering Prosper's Garden	Giant Commelina - Edible and Eyedrops	Green Habaneros
Papaya Framed in Banana	Prosper's Garden	Tree Nurseries Line the Streets of Dar es Salaam	Tree Nursery
Well-Copiced Moringa

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Comments

farleyjpedler on

inspirational messages
hi there chris, annie turned me onto your travel blog and i am finding it all very interesting. your march 17 posting of the house or nordin was amazing. a lot of the human and agricultural clashes you ran into remind me a lot of what i encountered when i was in peru. people have lost their traditional way of farming as well as traditional crops. many do not even know how to use the maize that they are growing. instead they opt to sell it at the market which rarely provides enough for the family. your work/travels have been a good reminder for me. a reminder that i prefer to be out there, helping people and learning new things rather than here, living my day to day.

hey, is there any surf there in tanzania? it looks like it might be blocked by madagascar. but i thought i would as. how about some pic's of your new place? oh yeah, and how is it you seem to post your messages at the same time every day? very crafty. anyway, i just wanted to share my excitement with you and i look forward to meeting up once you are back state side.
safe travels!!!

cheers,
farley