Mikindani Meander

Two boats became three when Moogli arrived.

For me the best part might be getting reunited with the flip-flop I left on their dingy last week. Ok ok, seeing friends is best... but the flip-flop is also much welcome!

We still await the weather so we opted to stroll through town a little in the late afternoon.

Again I am impressed by how friendly and happy everyone seems. It's wonderful.

Strolling through town with six adults and a child garnered us a fair deal of attention. Especially the children were excited to say hello or just follow along for a little while.

After enjoying some monkey hijinks, we had a beverage at the Old Boma hotel - a boutique hotel built in the old governor's mansion. They have a training program to help the local youth develop marketable tourism-industry skills and improve their English. Over 95% of the participants carry on with hotel jobs throughout Tanzania and some get the opportunity to work abroad in the UK for three months.

It's a good way to help people access some economic mobility in a town where jobs aren't plentiful. Being helped by trainees has its amusing moments in that they're very much learning about our expectations. They seem earnest and are working hard. The program seems like a win, to me.

In talking with Emmanuel, who runs the program (and also the Yacht Club) I was pleased to hear that the local focus is on making historic buildings into a part of the community instead of merely touristic monuments. It sounds more sustainable than some of the places I've seen.

We ate a delicious dinner at 10 Degrees South (local spot owned by the Eco2Diving folks) then strolled home by headlamp along the beach, stopping to play with some hermit crabs along the way. Life feels good.もっと詳しく