Bagamoyo and Kawe

Our entire class took a trip out of Dar to Bagamoyo, a town that used to be the major port for slave exports from the African mainland to Zanzibar. There was a lot of Arabic influence, shown by the architecture of the mosque ruins, elaborate mausoleums, and existing buildings. The best part was getting to visit an archeological dig site at the end of the day. Success rate for finding artifacts is really low. I saw really cool bugs when we were walking around out in the field. There was a large praying mantis that looked just like a branch, and there were also a lot of ant lions. Those are really freaky, because when you stick a piece of grass in their “funnel” then they leap out and attack it! The long bus ride to and from Bagamoyo provided good bird watching opportunities.
Sunday I went to Kawe beach with some friends. It was sunny and hot - a perfect day to be at the beach. We crashed at this hotel that was frequented exclusively by sporty British couples and their kids. Every hotel has Masai guards, because they are all trained warriors. All the Masai carry a sword under their belt, even when they are walking around Mwenge or downtown Dar. The coolest thing we saw there was visiting fishermen who were hauling in their catch. We waded out to their boat and I got to hold the different types of sea creatures. Squid that were as long as my arm, lobsters, jellyfish, and many other types of fish unknown to me. I wasn’t slacking at the beach – I was practicing my Kiswahili and learning about culture!
Later we went to Mwenge and bought twelve mangoes to eat back at the dorm. The man selling them was taken aback by the quantity – “are you sure you want twelve?” I was able to barter them down to a good deal because we bought so many. They are sooo good if you crush them inside the skin until they are liquefied and then drink the juice from a hole in one end. Got Passionfruit too - it is so good, it tastes like perfume smells!