The final leg of the trip...

Wednesday, May 20th...this is it, final leg of the trip. Wrapping things up in Nungwi ensuring we had all our flight details, enjoying the beach for the last time and gearing up for the long flight home. The reality of it all sinking in and knowing that we were finally going to see our families which is what we want but the realization and sadness that it was all soon to be over.

So we took a bunch of photos on the trip back, secured the luggage from the hotel...had one final lunch at Mercury's and then set out on the 4pm ferry. Little did we know this would be quite the adventure.

After such a smooth ride out we figured this would be the uneventful part of the trip. Yes well, this was not to be so....this ferry ride ended up being what I would refer to as "riding the hulk at universal for about 1.5 hours straight!" We started out up top in the fresh air enjoying the view but soon realizing that this came with a splash or 2 of sea water. After realizing that we were going to be soaked in a matter of minutes, we decided to sit in the covered section. Much to my surprise there were a few sea sick patrons. In fact, the job of the main porter was to walk around with vomit bags and ensure everyone had one just in case. I have never been in one place where so many people were getting sick at the exact same time in my entire life! Many of the young American and Norwegian girls were gunning it for the back of the ferry just to get fresh air (or have some privacy to do the inevitable!) . This went on for a rather long time all the while with me focusing on not losing my lunch. I quit reading, turned on the ipod and sat very focused on breathing. And thankfully, the luggage was covered but I did notice a few damp items in the suitcase when I got home!

The last negotiation of the trip was the fare to the airport. Thankfully we found a decent guy who took me to the airport for 20,000Tsh without incidence...other than the typical Dar es Salaam traffic jam. This was a lonely trip...reminiscing about all my new friends and how I might not ever see them again....but then also happy to be finally going home, back to the comfortable routine....

The bucket list...

So if you want to see the beaches in Zanzibar then you need to head North or North-East....we headed up to Nungwi after securing a good lead from Masoud from the Chavda....he hooked us up with Issa who was willing to drive us the distance to the Mnarani Beach Cottages up in Nungwi for a mere $50,000 Tsh. This was a good rate particularly in the low season.

This is also where, unbeknownst to me, I would check off a couple of items from the bucket list. I had never gone snorkelling or scuba diving before and sure enough that is what we did over the next couple of days.

Snorkelling - for $30 each we got hooked up with Captain Juma...our local guide who got us on the dhow that headed out to Mnembe atoll... I think this was the result of stellar negotiation yet again since it was worth double! You can negotiate alot in the low season. In any case we ended up on a boat with about 20 others and got hooked up with all the snorkelling gear required. This is where I learned the ropes on how not to panick in the water, how to breath and ultimaltey do a duck dive without drowning myself. It was soooo cool. We stayed in the water for a couple of hours and then when done headed to the island bar-b-q for beautifully grilled king fish and rice and fruit. Best fish we had on the trip!

Scuba diving - so the next day we decided we would try the scuba diving....something I wasn't sure I would ever do but thankfully they had beginners class (scuba for dummies...) that would allow me to get comfortable with the whole breathing underwater thing...it took a bit for me to be convinced that this was something that I really wanted to do but once I got the hang of it I actually really enjoyed the experience of it all. It was so cool to know that we were 12metres underwater (I was side by side the divemaster the entire time) and seeing all the beautiful coral reefs and tropical fish....in the end I got talked into 2 dives and loved every minute of it. I highly recommend Chris from East Africa Divers...really nice south african guy who knows what he is doing.

I can now cross off a couple things from the bucket list! Beats having to go to mexico at this point in time!

Up at 5:00am....r u kidding me???

So here we were on Saturday May 16th, still not really believing that the project was over...and up at 5:00am! A few of us bleary eyed (and puffy eyed due to various bug bites..ie me!) started the day out figuring out how to get out of Dar...we were headed to Zanzibar! Now until this point we had only ever read about such a place or joked about its exotic existence and here we were on a ferry to Stonetown! The birth of the spice trade way back when...this was truly an unexpected part of the adventure. The ferry ride was smooth and pleasant...enjoying the view and the good company.

Once we arrived we headed to the hotel, baggage and all....and had an interesting experiencing dealing with the over-eager locals (hmm...beach boys??? I think they are referred to as) who offered to help in any way possible (carry luggage, provide a taxi, offer a tour etc etc...). This of course is the way of life there but at some point you have to be stern enough to let folks know you appreciate their concern but don't require any assistance....mind you, having the chief australian negotiator handling all the extra attention is extremely helpful in dodging the locals!

In any case we spent the next 2 days walking around and getting a feel for the local history, heritage, the market and how to negotiate the "dodge" of the beach boys....Many a gift were purchased by all.

Plug for the Chavda Hotel – very reputable and comfortable hotel at an extremely reasonable rate. Omar is the greatest and will make a fair deal. Masoud helped us find Issa who drove us to Nungwi for 50,000Tsh….very reasonable and a load off our minds....if you stay here you won't be unhappy. The only thing is they don't yet have internet! So we spent most of Sunday scouring the other hotels for internet access...again! We went to the Serena - extremely luxurious however much more pricey! Anyhow, the view is spectacular and the beer is baridi sana...what more could you wish for.

The last team road trip...

Well here we are travelling back to Dar...seems like we just left. Everyone feeling sad but not showing it. So to make it memorable we held lots of euchre games to kill the 6 hour bus ride and have a few more laughs. If Dan makes hearts trump one more time Sandip is going to have a kniption right here in the bus....of course, it was no surprise who was the euchre boss, lol, ....I am pretty sure I didnt lose a game this day (smile)...not that we are competitive or anything....


Sad to be back at the Mediterraneo since it meant that most were leaving the next day. It was the final farewell dinner. Lots of sharing of memories and toasts to the team. Liz left early to head out on her adventures....will really have to follow her blog now to keep up on the excitement of her trip.

Last day at UDOM!!

Today we cleaned up and packaged all the project deliverables. We saw many of our UDOM friends for the last time and gave out some IBM gifts for all their support over the last 30 days. Hafide (our driver every day) asked us if we could stay a week longer and Glory gave us lots of hugs telling us what a sad day it was that we were leaving. We walked the 61 steps up to our office for the last time…although a good little work out – most of us wont miss that part but we will cherish our memories of the project, our team and the everlasting friendships and, of course, all the people at UDOM who have become our friends.

Presentation day and birthday party!

May 13th - Final presentation today!!

– about 25 UDOMers attended the final presentation. It was a feeling of relief to deliver it and know that we had completed our deliverables and could feel good about the work each team had completed. Kudos needs to go out to the Cloud team, the LMS team and the MIS teams...a job we could be proud of...although sad as we also knew that we were nearing the end of our mission at UDOM.

However, never to miss an opportunity we also had Roku’s Birthday Celebration !! We were able to surprise Roku by ordering a cake from the hotel and singing happy birthday in the courtyard. Fatima and Maniz and the girls (Reena Inaara and Yashne) came by to enjoy cake with us. which was really really nice....hopefully I will see them in Toronto some time in July.

Makulu Village Experience...

I am sure I have grumbled enough about the lack of consistent internet access while in Tanzania so won't dwell on it again...(the only real iritant of the whole trip). That said, I do feel compelled to provide the rest of the updates from the last week of the trip even though it is now officially over (sniff sniff :-0)...it doesn't quite feel "real time" but I took notes each day so that I could provide a glimpse of what went on.

I took this photo to the left of a woman from the Makulu village and just loved it...she was more than happy to let me take the picture and afterwards I showed her and she smiled. I connected with her...she seemed like a gal who had endured alot in her life but was simply content with it all....someone I can admire...as they say: life is tough, get a helmet.

The kids of course went crazy when they saw the cameras...

Tuesday May 12th: Visit to Makulu village:
Tonight we went to Innocent’s village which is situated on the road to UDOM. It was an unbelievable experience! Upon our arrival we were greeted by some traditional village dancers. The village is made up of about 3000 residents from the Gogo tribe. Although Innocent is from the Chagga tribe (based near Kilimanjaro) he has chosen to live in this village since it is so close to the university. He has a close cousin (who he calls brother – but also clarified for us “…but not from the same womb” ....so, yes, we got it straight!) who he is living with right now while he gets his house built. He has only just put in the foundation and hopes to have it built by the end of August at which point his wife and children will join him from Dar es Salaam.

It was very evident that the villagers went to a lot of trouble and planning to have the 10 IBMers at their village. They put on at least 45 minutes of traditional dance for us to enjoy and at one point (much to my shock & surprise!!) I was invited up to dance with the women. In an effort to show my respect I set about displaying my dancing (in)ability for all to see. What a neat experience!! Of course my dear colleagues did not disappoint ensuring there are various video clips and snapshots of me attempting the tribal dance. As you can imagine, it was really tough to look inconspicuous with the blond hair and blue eyes. We also had a tree planting session for Innocent...each of us was required to plant 1 tree in celebration of his new homestead.

Innocent also shocked us and prepared a cornerstone to commemorate the fact that we were there and to bless his home. I was lucky enough to be asked by Innocent to unveil the conerstone and was pleasantly surprised to see all of our names and countries on the cornerstone! What a privilege and honour to be apart of Innocent's life. I will never forget this.