KHAMSIN

Khamsin means 50 days in Arabic. Beginning the last ten days of June, all of July and the first 10 days of August the winds blow harsh, hot and from the land in Djibouti. The air is filled with red dust, sometimes so thick you cannot see the hood of your car driving down the road. Everything in our homes is covered with a thick layer of red dust. It blows in through the windows and under the doors. You can dust and scrub the floors every day and still never get rid of the grit. It is nasty and much like the Santa Anna winds in California, lasting longer and blowing harder.

Morning sunrises become cloudy, turning the rising sun a red-orange seen through a haze of red dust. There are many respiratory problems here. Lots of families suffer from asthma and many eye problems. Living and working outdoors during khamsin is difficult. When walking out in the open during khamsin, women use their headscarves to shield their faces from the pelting sand. White buildings turn a dirty red color and life goes on as usual,ʼN Shāʼal-Lh (God willing).

ILLEGAL ETHIOPIAN IMMIGRATION

Illegal Ethiopian Immigration is a very complex and serious problem in Djibouti. John and I have seen many Ethiopians walking together in groups along the backroads near our compound and on our way into Djibouti City. Most of the walkers are young men. Sometimes, you will see a young woman or two. They always carry water bottles wrapped in burlap or jerry cans (yellow plastic containers originally used to house cooking oil) filled with water. It takes 9 days to walk from near the northern border of Ethiopia across the hot, barren Djiboutian countryside to Obock, a small village on the northeast coast of Djibouti. North of Obock, where the mangrove swamps are, they hope to find a smuggler's boat that will take them across the narrow passage of the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. Then from there, they make their way to Saudi Arabia.

The promise of a better life, jobs and money in Saudi continue to lead many of these Ethiopians to risk their lives. And, many perish in their attempt to make this passage. Many more are rounded up, put into cattle trucks and taken to the Djibouti and Ethiopian border and released with no water, food or transport back to their original homeland.

They are vulnerable and mistaken in their beliefs of a better life on the other side of the water. Guest workers, in Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, are not treated well. As many billboards picture around this country attest, illegal immigrants can become household slaves, prostitutes, unwilling kidney donors and worse. But, still, they come even in the hottest part of the year.

Since June, the Gendarmes in our area have rounded up hundreds of illegal immigrants daily and taken them back across the border. These immigrants steal the precious water of the local nomads and villagers. They bring infectious diseases like TB. These roundups in the countryside appear to be very humane. The Gendarmes are gentle with them and feel genuinely sorry for them. The roundups that are done in Djibouti City tend to be quite inhumane. There documented and undocumented Ethiopians are extorted from by the local police, mugged and treated like animals. This happened to one of our legal documented Ethiopian mechanics, Samuel. Once he was thrown over the border, it took him 5 days to get back to his home in Addis. A truck driver, with the promise of money when he got to Addis, gave him a ride. This we learned is how many of the myriads of truck drivers who carry freight from the port of Djibouti to Addis make money on the side.

During the first two weeks of June, Salt Investment used our backhoe to bury eight Ethiopians who died near us. Most of the bodies were found by nomads walking with their camels or local goat herders. We always use our heavy equipment to help the villages dig graves in this impossibly rocky environment. But, to bury so many poor souls who died anonymously in this harsh environment in such a short period of time, was very sad.

I am told that most of these Ethiopians come from small villages on the barren, northern border of Ethiopia. They continue to receive money and encouragement from Saudi businessmen to make the trip. Djibouti is just a country caught in the middle of their immigration. But, because of this, Ethiopians have a difficult time in Djibouti. If you are an Ethiopian child, you are not allowed to go to public school. Most of the street children here, and there are many, are Ethiopian or Eritrean. A friend of mine who runs a Catholic charity here that gives help to the street kids, tells me how exploited they are. The police take advantage of their vulnerability. Many of the girls are raped and many of the boys sent to clean the prison. All Ethiopians, legal or not, must be careful about what they do, where they go and always be on the lookout. It is a difficult situation.

Pictures: The Gendarme truck filled with illegal Ethiopian immigrants picking up more illegal immigrants in front of the Salt Investment compound at Lac Assal, Djibouti (June 2010).

ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA Part III

Stone Town, Zanzibar is a very special place. It is a World Heritage Sight and deservably so. The city itself is the oldest continuously inhabited ancient city in Africa. The people of Zanzibar are mostly of Bantu African origin with a smaller minority of Indians and Arabs. They speak Swahili, which I think is a wonderful sweet sounding African language made up of a mix of many languages, mostly Bantu. Many also speak English. Most of the inhabitants of Zanzibar settled in the west coast around and in Stone Town. Those who live in the countryside farm and fish.

While mainland Tanzania is a mix of Muslim and Christian, Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim. The architecture of Stone Town is striking with it's beautiful carved and studded doors, narrow curving alleyways and mix of mostly Indian and Arab architecture. John and I really enjoyed our wandering inside the city. Our guide explained to us that the East Indians built porches in order to catch the afternoon breezes off the ocean; while the Arabs built enclosed courtyards to keep their women from outside view. He also explained that even the shape and style of the beautiful carved doorways is different depending upon the builder's ethnicity and when it was created.

We visited the House of Wonders, now the Zanzibar National Museum of History and Culture. It was the first building in Zanzibar to have electric lighting and the first building in East Africa to have an elevator - hence the name -"House of Wonders". Inside Stone Town there is the outside shell of the old Arab Fort. The Anglican Cathedral - Church of Christ - stands where the Slave Market used to be,built in 1873, a combination of elements of Gothic and Islamic design.

We walked for hours within the narrow-streeted marketplace (much like the sooks of Dubai) where vendors in small shops sold everything from leather sandals to household goods, foodstuffs and clothing. We had to contantly step aside for scooters, bicycles and the occasional cart. Some streets were so narrow, two people could not pass at the same time without stepping into a doorway. We also went to the night market, held near the harbor in a new park area. There seafood vendors,cooked their fresh shrimp, lobster, king fish and squid to order by the light of kerosene lanterns. They also sold the fresh squeezed cane juice we saw everywhere in Zanzibar.You could also get dessert crepes, made fresh. Quite a sight!

ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA PART II

We had many adventures on Zanzibar. The first adventure began on the second day of our visit to the island, it was pouring down rain, but we decided to venture out on a private tour of a spice plantation. Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island. The Sultan of Oman brought both the spice trade and the infamous slave trade to Zanzibar in 1873. All of the spice plantations are located in the interior of the island.

We really enjoyed our trip to the Kizimbani Spice Farm, a 200 acre research farm run by the Tanzanian government to study aromatics. Our guide was Babuu, a native of Zanzibar, who knew every different spice and fruit tree grown on the farm and all of their medicinal and gourmet food uses. An awesome man and an amazing place. He even gives cooking lessons using the locally grown product. Did you know that "spinach" can be made out of a number of different spice and herb leaves? We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at the farm of vegetable curry and Zanzibar rice filled with many of those spices and aromatics. So yummy!

The land is so fertile, that you can stick in a cutting of anything or throw in a few seeds and within 3-6 months a full grown plant ready to harvest is there. We have never seen such lush farmland. Growing everywhere were spices - nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, licorice, tamarind, mace, tumeric, pepper and others interpersed with fruits of all varieites - papaya, many types of bananas, dorian, 24 varities of mango, breadfruit, oranges, giant grapefruit, lemone, limes, and staples like taro root and rice. We purchased many spices at the farm to bring back to Ali, our Salt Investment compound chef. That is our gift to all of our employees.

The amazing thing about Zanzibar, is that no one there should ever starve. Just walking down any street or road, the fruit and greens are everywhere and the sea is ripe with fabulous seafood. And the Zanzibarians love to fish.

Eddie, the Imani Beach Villa's boat guy, took us snorkeling and to Prison Island to walk among and feed the giant land tortoises at the sanctuary there. Another day, one of the drivers arranged by the Imani took us on a trip to the east side of the island, where the broad, white sand beaches are with many kite surfers and sun worshippers. On our way there, we took a walking tour of the Jozani Natural Forest Reserve and viewed the rare Red Colobus Monkeys, endemic to Zanzibar. We also visited the mangrove swamps and the small sea turtle preserve where we fed the turtles seaweed and watched them swim. Another day we drove to the north end of the island where we saw the larger, expensive resorts and visited a small, local reptile farm. There we especially enjoyed our up-close encounters with their resident python.

The countryside is lined with lush fruit, lumber and spice trees of every variety. Bicycles, scooters and uniformed school children are everywhere. There are fruit and vegetable stands along the roadside. The country homes are built of mud sandwiched in between strips of wood with thatched roofs. The people are friendly and welcoming. Zanzibar loves its tourist trade and is a very safe place to be.

Pictures: Banana blossom; Ann and the python; John, Babuu and helper at the spice farm, Red Colobus Monkey; Our guide in the mangrove swamps; Zanzibar school girls; typical Zanzibar roadside.

ZANZIBAR, TANZANIA PART I

The last part of June, John and I enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing and adventure-filled 8 days in Zanzibar, Tanzania. There were so many wonderful pictures and activites to share, that this blog is only the first of three about our time on this very interesting island. At the recommendation of our dear friends, Wanda Wood and Bill Damour, we stayed at the Imani Beach Villa - a charming 9 room guest house about 20 minutes north of Stone Town. Young British owners, Simon and Kristen Bennett, really know how to run a beautiful, service-oriented and relaxing place. Their staff members were accomodating, helpful and all had great personalities. They have a flexible meal plan with a menu of delicious items, ranging from hand-made somasas to chicken in coconut curry sauce and squid salad. One can order anything on the menu from 7:30 am - 9 pm at night and eat anywhere you would like. Half and full-board is available, depending upon your day's activities. Their new Tree House Bar is breezy and has a great view of the water.

The Imani is located along the water front on the west side of the island. It's beach is rocky and not really a swimming or snorkeling beach. It is covered with fisherman, their boats and nets. A very lively place.

We spent many hours reading, watching the World Cup Soccer games, responding to emails and otherwise getting to talk with their other very interesting guests. One such guest was a young East Indian engineer, currently working in Nigeria, on holiday with his parents. It turns out that in 2007, he had lived and worked in Poulsbo, WA. Each Saturday, during market season, he would meet his friends at the Poulsbo Farmers Market. He just raved about how much he loved the market. I think he probably bought tomatoes from our Smoke Tree Farms booth. What a small world!

We took advantage of many of the excursions offered by the Imani and also went reef and wreck diving with a great Dive shop (OneOcean). Although we are both certified PADI Open Water Divers, we had not been scuba diving since the late 1980s. So, the OneOcean Dive Master gave us a great little refresher course and we were on our way. It was like riding a bicycle.

Pictures above: Imani Beach Villa entrance; Imani Beach Villa Tree House Bar; fishermen's boats near the Imani;view of the sea in front of the Imani with one of the two house dogs; Simon and Kristen Bennett, owners of the Imani Beach Villa.

AFAR WEDDING

Several weeks ago we were invited to visit the bride and groom the day after their traditional Islamic Afar wedding ceremony. The groom was Ali, our local Gendarme, and his young bride was Kadiga, our kitchen helper. They were married in Dabala-Gahar, the small village across from our compound at Lac Assal, Djibouti.

The wedding ceremony and after-party took place on a Thursday afternoon and evening under two tents that were put up in the village. One tent was for the actual wedding ceremony. Only men are allowed to attend the wedding ceremony itself. It is a religious ceremony with much reading out of the Koran. The wife is represented by her father.

The women celebrate in another tent away from the men and their celebration has no religious content. We saw videos of the bride, Kadiga, dressed in a very European style hoop-skirted light yellow wedding dress posing and dancing with her girlfriends. After their separate ceremonies, they meet with their family and friends and party all night long. There is lots of Palm wine for some of the guests(although Afar Muslims do not drink alcohol) and lots of Khat. The celebration ended around 5 am in the morning. Most Djiboutian weddings, as do most other parties,take place in the evening and last until the wee hours of the morning.

The groom had asked us to come to the village at 10 am in the morning on Friday. We arrived at the compound and were told that someone would come and get us a 1:30. Djiboutians are never on time. I think they were still recovering from their all night celebrations.

Around that time, John and I were escorted down to the Ghoubet by the groom's friends who are also our Salt Investment employees, where we were served a traditional meal of three-colored rice and goat. It was served at a shaded table with cool breezes coming off the Ghoubet and with silverware and individual plates just for us. The bride/groom and their family ate the same meal in their new home on the floor, communal style with their hands while we ate at the beach.

While we were at the Ghoubet, John received a lesson in futa tieing. It was hilarious. A futa is a traditional man's sarong - a tube of cloth that can be tied in several ways around the waist. Although called by a variety of other names, the futa is traditional all over Africa and Southeast Asia. It is warn daily by the nomads in the countryside who usually wrap it short and in a way that lets them run easily to keep up with their goats and camels. Other Djiboutians, Afar and Issa, wear the futa on weekends, or in the evening when they are relaxing and wrap it to be longer and less binding. Some Djiboutians wear them everyday. John has worn his futa several times, but is always unsure of how to keep it from falling off. So, about a month ago, we purchased a traditional money belt, made in Indonesia, to hold it up.

After our lunch, we were escorted back up to Ali and Kadiga's new house in the village. In the Afar culture, the man pays for the entire wedding. He also must furnish a new home for his new bride. In the Islamic Afar culture, a man may have as many as 4 wives, if he chooses. However, each wife must be provided her own private house. Ali has another wife, whom he married 25 years ago and older children. His first wife lives in Djibouti. Kadiga is his second wife and about 20 years his junior.

Over the past 6 months, Ali had built a wooden, 3 bedroom house for Kadiga in Dabala-Gahar. It is the only wooden house there, among the stone houses (tulos) and duboitas (rounded huts). He recently put a fence around it. The house has a large main room, with a very large bedroom off to the right(furnished with a huge bed and huge armoir) and a medium sized room with no inside door to the rest of the house. This room will be used each afternoon and evening, for mabras, the khat chewing that happens with Ali and all of his male village friends. All of the seating is traditional, large pillows on the ground around the periphery of the room. Cooking and toilet facilities are outside.

When we arrived at the home, we were escorted into the main room where Kadiga sat to greet us. She was wearing a beautiful, sweet-smelling lei, made up of hundreds of tiny white flowers from a tree blooming at this time of year in Djibouti. She presented this to me as a gift. I was very touched. Ali told me to keep it it our bedroom and it would make the room smell wonderful. In fact, our house is so small it's fragrance permeated the entire house for a whole week. It was wonderful.

Ali came in to join us with his traditional wedding futa, white shirt with white/colored shawl and crooked cane. We sat together on the pillows while well wishers came to pay their respects, always first greeting the groom and then the rest of us. They brought small gifts of more Khat and we presented Kadiga with some perfume. Traditionally, there are no wedding presents given to the wedding couple. Although, a small gift just for the woman is appreciated.

For three days before the wedding, the Afar bride is doted over by her female family and friends. They oil her body, cover her with lovely henna artwork, cover her in perfume and prepare her for the wedding. After the wedding, the bride and groom do not live together in their new house for three days. This is the Afar tradition.

The pictures above: Ali and Kadiga's new home; John, Ali, Kadiga and Ann in this new home; henna artwork on one of Kadiga's arms; Kadiga holding court in her new home; our lunch table at the Ghoubet; Futa tieing lesson for John with Samuel as the model.

Lac Abbe' - Djibouti

Last weekend, John and I left our compound at Lac Assal and drove an hour east to the town of Dikhil. We stayed overnight at a little motel, La Palmerie. There we spent early evening outside under the trees watching one of the employees filling containers (plastic bags and rinsed out plastic water bottles)with fresh cows milk. He explained that the milk was from 30 cows kept nearby. Villagers streamed into the courtyard between 5 and 6 pm to purchase the milk. Old men came with their grandsons, young girls came with their mothers and friends. Three small boys came with their crate and took away about 8 bottles to sell elsewhere in town.

The next morning, we set off for Lac Abbe' after breakfast with a guide arranged by the brother of one of our employees. You definitely need a guide to get to the lake. There are no signs, multiple roads splay out and you have no idea which way to go. The drive took over two hours, some of which was pretty rough. You also need a guide because once you get anywhere near the edge of the lake, you need to know when to stop. The soft mud/sand can suck you and your vehicle up to the windows and digging out could take a lifetime. On our way out to the lake, we encountered a number of adobe houses. They are unusual sight in Djibouti. So, there must be some good clay for building in this area.

Our guide, Mohammed, took us to one of the encampements near the Lake. You can see a picture above of the stone huts with pointed tops. Several of our friends have stayed overnight here before sleeping on cots inside the huts. Looking out from the encampment over the stone walls you can see the many tufas arrizing from the surface around the lake. Many people love to be there at dawn, when the sun rises just behind the tufas. This is when Lac Abbe' takes on a magical quality. The entire setting reminded me of a mix between Mono Lake, CA with its tufas (although many less that Lac Abbe') and the other worldliness look of Monument Valley.

We made it to Lac Abbe' at midday and it was beginning to be very hot. We stopped some distance from the lake and were really not prepared to walk all the way to the lake in the midday heat. We walked a short distance and then turned back. By that time, we had taken on two extra passengers, an old man who lived at Lac Abbee and who took John to see his donkey stable and a younger man needing a ride out of the area. Because it was so hot, we never made it to the waters edge to see the large number of flamingos that use Lac Abbe' as a flyway this time of year. Darn. We will have to come back in the winter when the weather is cooler and stay overnight to watch the sunrise and hike to the water's edge.

Surrounding the lake are many hot springs that spurt up like geysers. The water is so hot that a military man not long ago tried to jump one of the springs, slipped and received severe burns to his legs. He had to be helicoptered out. We came across one large hole in the earth, where a vehicle was stuck not long ago. Some of the hot springs run a ways and cool off enough to provide water for animals to drink and to grow grass as one of the pictures shows. We saw many healthy, plump donkeys grazing out in this amazing land.