East African sailing trip – log 33
SAILING LOG33
September 17, 2004
We are awake and spying our surrounding through the binoculars when we see a dugout canoe approach us, he wants us to give him fishing gear, fins, masks or sunglasses. We tell him we need to go into town and when we come back if he has coconuts we can trade. He smiles and paddles off.
We hired a taxi which collected us at the wharf at 8:30am local time. The first stop was NBC (bank of commerce) to change money. Tanzania shillings1000 = US$1.
With our purses bulging we head off the to the market. One can buy just about anything (for a price) We bag fresh fruit and vegetables and bread flour.
Next we visit the Mokondo Mini-market where we find ‘Tang’ (juice mix) and treat ourselves to an icecream.
Mtwara is renowned for the intricate and beautiful Makondo carvings. We are keen to buy a carved plaque with our yacht name. We know this will not be difficult to find as the name KARIBU is the Swahili word for welcome and this word can be found everywhere. In fact here’s a funny story…
When we entered the Mtwara harbour and the port captain called us on the radio – he asked for our boat name. “Karibu” we answered. He responded, yes “Karibu to you too… but what is the name of your sailing vessel?” Our response of course was, “Karibu”. He was really patient and again replied, “Yes Karibu to Mtwara but I need to know the boat’s name”… We laughed then realizing the confusion and proceeded to tell him our crusing catamaran’s name is “Karibu” “OOOOh, very nice name! – I like it, welcome yacht Karibu” he acknowledged.
We found a young gentleman and told him what you were looking for and he asked us if we could wait at his little road-side store, while he rushed off to get the plaque; grabbed a friends bicycle and peddled away as fast as his legs would go.
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I think this strategy served a double benefit for him, because as we waited for him to come back we started admiring all the carvings in his stall. By the time he returned we had a pile of wonderful carvings and began the bargaining process.
We parted a while later, all of us beaming from ear-to-ear so I conclude he made a good profit and we think we got a huge bargain. Their work is detailed and exquisite.
Makondo carving is probably the best known art work produced in Tanzania. This art is produced by the Makondo people of southern Tanzania, and their material of choice is African blackwood, or mpingo. Their work is both traditional and contemporary, reflecting a tribal past, as well as a modern response to urban life. They utilize their tribal myths and stories as inspiration for the masterful work.
By this time our group decision is to find a shady place to sit down and have “a cold pint” as Rhett put it. We are not the only ‘Mzungus’ at the little restaurant we choose. We strike up a conversation with an American lady who teaches biology at a local school. She tells us where to find an internet café and that is our next stop.
I had taken my disc with my newsletters to send to my daughter, Jo, in Canada. She kindly distributes them to all my family and friends. The internet time passes too quickly, but there will be other opportunities.
It is time to fill our jerry-cans with diesel, and make our way back to the wharf, but before we do we ask our driver if he will take us to a lodge we had spotted on our way into town. We are not disappointed. It is not complete yet but will be stunning once it is. We meet the owners who said construction should be complete in a few months. The massive carved doors are impressive, as well as other carved details around the premises.
It is a hectic day spent rushing around in the world of commercialism… albeit a third world, and we are happy when we finally make our way back to the tranquility of our sailboats.
We pay the patient taxi driver handsomely and add an extra bonus for his willingness to go “above and beyond” for us. We find our dingy at the jetty and begin the shlepp of transporting it onboard.
Our good moods are immediately dashed as we find that someone had been onboard in our absence and helped themselves to Wolf’s sunglasses, his shoes and our last rapala (fishing lure) We have a suspicion of who the culprit is – I suppose it was serious silly to announce that we were going ashore for the day, leaving it unattended was a tempatation obviously too strong to resist