Beach Time

I am writing this on the final full day of our time here. I admit that I thought four days here was too much; I was wrong. We all needed a serious break in the hectic pattern of events we had been involved with.

So our first day was a recovery day. A lazy breakfast, followed by some quiet time, in which I re-organized my packing, caught up on emails (there is better wifi here than we have had for a while), had a lengthy shower, and generally relaxed. Oh yes, and swam in the ocean: the Indian Ocean is warm here, and the beach slopes gently out for about 750 metres at high tide before being above your head.


It was wonderful not having to go or do anything!

Our second full day—yesterday—we spent the morning going to the northern part of the island to a women's cooperative to see how they harvest the seaweed, and what they do with it. This was at low tide (there is a difference of about four feet between high and low tide), and much of the beach in this area was exposed, so we could walk out to where to harvest was going on. The weed itself is like tree coral in shape, although a lot more delicate.











It has the consistency of hard jello, and tastes a bit salty. It is used for its carrageenan, and this is used for soaps, perfumes, and so on, as well as for ice cream, milkshakes, and the like. Apparently, the industry was begun in the 1980's and now accounts for about 12,000 tonnes a year of exports, bringing in the second-highest foreign cash amounts, behind tourism. The shop is a small hut, again run by the co-op.

The afternoon, again, was quiet. And last night the resort decided to put on a special seafood supper for us. And it was great: tasty, varied, and of course too much food. There was tuna, Kingfish, prawns, octopus, squid, and dorado. We were all stuffed when we retired.

So this morning was a bit restrained. Some of the women had decided to go b ack into Stonetown for some shopping. Roger and Don and I did a tour of their garden here, along with their solar hot-water system. Then we men walked along the beach to the Rock Tavern and Hotel, which is on a small island you can get to by foot when the tide is out, and by boat otherwise. Since the tide was low, we walked in for a beer, partly to escape the heat.


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Location:Season resort, Pongwe Beach, Tanzania