JAHAZI issue 07 - Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries, AZAM Marine

MJEURI

how

ABUBAKAR

My time in Tanga on port

Author

The best cafes for local brews

Also inside

7Issue FerriesFastKilimanjaro Your Free Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries Magazine Stone Town secret Excavation at Old Fort reveals historic city centuries older than first thought Coffee

Artist showcasing wildlife conservation in his paintings culture

city became her writing retreat

8 Picture special

Email: Email:Tel:Godfreycatherineocallaghan@landmarine.comS.Urassa+255(0)686118816(WhatsApp)godfreyurassa@landmarine.com

Jahazi regulars

5 Azam News

15 Artist with a passion for nature

6 The Square, Ipswich Suffolk, IP5 3SL UK

31

Adventurers planning to ski each continent’s highest point take on Mount Kilimanjaro

Tel: +44 (0)1206 752902

32 The Last Ride

37 Coral by numbers

38 Stone Town is older than you think Archaeological dig reveals beginnings of historic city hundreds of years earlier than first thought

President Samia Saluhu travels with us Competition

Editor: Mark markedwards@landmarine.comEdwards

Advertising sales: Catherine O’Callaghan

Jahazi is the official magazine of Azam Marine and Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries

Bookings: +255azammarine.com222123324

Style advice to wake up the walls of your home

Award-winning US author Melanie Finn reveals how Tanzanian city became her writing haven

The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor, or any other organisation associated with this publication. No liability can be accepted for any inaccuracies or omissions. ©2021 Land & Marine Publications Ltd.

issue 38328 Read Jahazi qrs.ly/vge1nrdonline:

Email: publishing@landmarine.com

Feature pages

Dar es Salaam artist Abubakar Mjeuri on how his paintings support wildlife conservation

Email: info@azammarine.com Web: azammarine.com

Head office: Land & Marine Publications Ltd.

21 How to create your own gallery wall

3 Welcome Safari njema

Explore Tanzania’s volcanoes

Tel: +44 (0)7944 212063 (WhatsApp)

Winning shots of Nature TTL Photographer of the Year competition taken in Tanzania

36 Calm Corner Take a moment to relax 41 Our fleet 43 Travel information Our services, travel tips and ferry schedules 44 Our destinations 48 Route maps 1Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com In

Follow us: officialazammarinekilimanjaro@azammarinefastferries 15

10 My time in Tanga

Tel: +255 22 212 3324

28 An active adventure

Win a VIP trip for two with Azam Marine Food and drink

The best coffee houses in Tanzania this

25 Chumbe Island’s welcome return

18

Jahazi is printed by: Jamana Printers Ltd, Dar es Salaam

Nature reserve re-opens with a host of new features for visitors

Opposite St Joseph Cathedral Sokoine Drive, PO Box 2517 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Jahazi is published by: Land & Marine Publications (Tanzania) Ltd. 4th floor, Josam House Block A, along Coca Cola Road Mikocheni Area, Dar es Salaam Tel: +255 686 118 www.landmarine.com816

We started out with just one vessel, the Mv Muungano, but now have a fleet of air-conditioned catamarans that provide the best possible services for Tanzanians (including our President – go to Page 5 for the full story) and tourists. Our passengers are very dear to us and we have made great efforts to ensure your experience with us is a positive one all the way from booking your tickets to the moment you arrive at your destination.

WelcomeKaribu

It is my pleasure to welcome you onboard your ferry crossing with Azam Marine and Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries, the number one ferry company in East Africa.

Issue 7 Follow us: kilimanjaro@azammarinefastferriesofficialazammarine

page‘Your@azam_marineSafetyisourPriority’. Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries www.azammarine.com 3Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

You can now keep up with the latest Azam Marine and KFF news as well as some amazing images of our fleet in action on our new Instagram

Safari njema

Another bonus to travelling with us is getting to sit back and enjoy the latest edition of our onboard magazine, Jahazi! Once again, we have brought together the people and places that make the Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar so special.

Our online ticket purchasing system is a quick and easy way to plan and pay for your journey in advance. Boarding is similarly hassle free thanks to the design of our vessels and our carefully organised boarding protocols. Once we are under way, passengers can sit back and enjoy the journey with in-cabin features such as personal entertainment systems and a range of available refreshments competing for your attention with the spectacular Indian Ocean views from the cabin windows. Our ferry crossings are safe and speedy and deliver you right into the heart of Stone Town or Dar es Salaam for your business or leisure engagements.

Excited passengers

President Samia Suluhu was given a tour of the craft before departure and

Thank you for travelling with us, Mama Samia. It was a privilege to receive you and we hope to welcome you back onboard soon.

PRESIDENTIAL TRIP

Instead of taking her usual private aircraft, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan chose to travel with us when she needed to get to Zanzibar from Dar es Salaam.

President Samia Suluhu takes our Kilimanjaro IV to Zanzibar

took time to greet the very excited passengers and crew. She then settled into her seat in Kilimanjaro IV’s VIP Lounge and enjoyed her crossing.

5Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

Latest News

Travel in style with Azam Marine and KFF

• Blankets

• Panoramic views

• Soft drinks and snacks

From the Azam group of companies

• Wider seats with more legroom and which can be reclined to lie flat if you fancy a power nap.

VIP CLASS BENEFITS

For our most exclusive level of travel, available only on our Kilimanjaro VII ferry, passengers get all of the VIP benefits as well as these extras:

Magogoni to Kigamboni is a busy route for working Dar es Salaam residents and our two landing craft vessels have been providing service during rush hours to facilitate the transport need around that

Eng Ahmed Ally, a service engineer for Azam Marine since 2018 and the lead project coordinator for Sea Taxis, said: “Azam Sea Taxis are two landing craft vessels with a length of 21 metres having twin outboard engines delivering total of 500hp and an average speed of 10 knots.”

WithBookingsfourtripsaday

• Free WiFi

• andascreensEntertainmentshowingrangeoffilmsTVshows.

Priority boarding so passengers have plenty of time to settle into their seats and avoid the crowds. Passengers’ luggage is safely and conveniently stored in VIP trolleys. Also included:

Exclusive access to the air-conditioned VIP lounge – where our VIP and Royal passengers get to relax and enjoy compli mentary soft drinks and snacks.

ROYAL CLASS

Our fast, efficient and safe service connects our passengers between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar City in just 1 hour and 40 minutes on average. However, it’s unlikely our VIP Class and Royal Class passengers are looking at the clock. There’s too much to enjoy and all in sumptuous comfort. Is it time you upped your travel game?

• A coffee machine

Azam Sea Taxis cover Dar commuter crossing

TTLNature/StogsdillDennis©credit:Photo

CAPTURED

The wildlife riches of Tanzania shine in the winning entries of a recent global photographic competition. An image of an unfortunate flamingo caught in the jaws of a fierce caracal taken by Lake Ndutu was the overall winner while a dramatic shot of an elephant spraying a storm of dust from its trunk in the Ngorongoro Crater was one of the runners-up. More than 8,000 images from were entered into the prestigious Nature TTL Photographer of the Year competition this year with the winner securing GBP 1,500 (US$ 1,800) in cash.

Here are the photographers.capturedthewithTanzania-takentwoimagesawordonhowmagicmomentwasbythewinning

Dennis Stogsdill USA (overall winner)

Dennis says: “We had received word about a serval hunting birds along the shore of Lake Ndutu (lower Serengeti) so we raced over to see. Upon arrival, we quickly realised that it was in fact a caracal and not a serval, and it was hunting flamingos that were feeding in the shallows. Within a minute of arrival, the caracal started stalking and eventually was successful (in dramatic fashion) at hunting one of the beautiful but unlucky birds.”

8

A Cat and its Prize

Nature TTL is the world’s leading online nature photography resource. Find out more at naturettl.com. The website also has all the winning and runner-up entries from this year’s competition to view.

9Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com NATURE TTL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Michael Snedic Australia (runner-up)

African elephant puffing dust

Michael says: “After wallowing in the mud, this majestic elephant was walking towards our safari vehicle in the Ngorongoro Crater. It sucked up some dust in its trunk and before long, it turned its trunk upwards and released a huge puff of dust. My camera was set to continuous shutter, and I was clicking away like crazy – an exhilarating moment.”

ON CAMERA

The competition is open to photographers of all ages and abilities and will open for entries again in January 2023.

TTLNature/SnedicMichael©credit:Photo

“It was a great excuse to travel and see countries I’d only seen as a privileged white child,” she tells me over the phone from London, where the writer, now settled into family life in Vermont in the north eastern US, is on a whistle-stop trip to visit her in-laws and attend the wedding of her god-daughter. “I wrote about everything from elephant poaching to child soldiers in Uganda,” she says.

cclaimed author Melanie Finn was born and raised in Nairobi. However, as the daughter of an accountant, whose own father was among the first wave of British assigned to Dar es Salaam to strip remaining German landowners of their farms as part of the colonial takeover after the First World War, she had a cloistered upbringing among the white upper middle class of Kenya’s capital. It wasn’t until she graduated from New York University and embarked on an early career as a freelance

Tanzania, especially Azam Marine and KFF destination Tanga, has played a formative role in author and filmmaker Melanie Finn’s award-winning work. Here she reveals how the town became her writing haven.

journalist that she got to explore the real Africa. Assignments took her across Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania and she relished “getting off the beaten track” and following her instinct for a story.

10 Melanie Finn

“It was all an excuse to get on a bus and go anywhere.”

She was often travelling alone and in politically sensitive environments, but for Finn heading out into the unknown had an allure that fed her innate journalistic curiosity.

SEARCHING FOR STORIES IN TANZANIA

A

Melanie Finn now lives in Vermont in the US, but her years in East Africa have inspired much of her writing

Kay Ward, the protagonist of Finn’s third novel The Underneath is also an ex-journalist and is described by her husband, rather disparagingly – their relationship is already going south as the book begins – as someone who can’t pass a black bin bag on the street without checking what’s inside. “I’m like that too,” says Finn. “I see a bag by the side of the

The Hare is set in the US but lead character Rosie – left to fend for herself in her new home in the Vermont woods by an increasingly abusive partner – draws on a resilience and independence Finn saw develop in herself during her African travels. “I’m almost pathologically self-sufficient,” she tells me later by email. Her three earlier novels have more overt African connections. Much of her 2004 debut, Away From You, is set in Kenya and fictionalises Finn’s troubled relationship with her father and reaches its climax around Lake Natron. In The Underneath mother-of-two Kay is haunted by atrocities she witnessed as a journalist in Uganda.

winter and that also has a barometric power over you.”

road and I start thinking, is it trash? Is there a poor, trapped animal inside? I’m curious about people that don’t see“Journalismthat.” is an excuse for being nosy,” she adds. “Travelling in Africa you are bombarded by wildly intense experiences. Either you wind up the window or you put on your sneakers and walk out into it. Most of my writing has come from being a foot soldier. I walk everywhere.”

“My wild phase was in my twenties – it was thrilling to be on the edge. But it wasn’t sustainable, and it wasn’t productive – although, yes, I got a lot of material from that time.”

That forgotten quality to Tanga also

Melanie LakecommunitywithhealthcaresharesadvicetheMaasaiinNatron

These African walks on the wild side ended up providing plenty of inspiration for the literary thrillers Finn would go on to write in a career second act that has met with widespread critical praise. She has now had four novels published, including 2021’s The Hare, an unsettling #Metoo thriller which is among the works in contention for this year’s Vermont Book Award and was also recently short-listed for the New England Book Award.

11Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

I biked everywhere and wrote in the sweltering, oppressive heat. I love the physicality of weather

But it is her second novel, The Gloaming – a New York Times Notable Book of 2016 and a finalist for The Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize – that is most steeped

Finn admits to a “wild phase” –her website mentions affairs with film and rock stars – so you’d think sleepy Tanga with its crumbling colonial ruins the only clues to its pivotal past as the administration centre of German East Africa and the heart of the once thriving sisal industry may have underwhelmed. However, Finn found it a fruitful place to stay in many ways, completing work on Away From You and another unpublished novel during regular“Tangastays.isthe town that time forgot,” she says. “The heat, the drooping mango trees, the hard light and shadow of high noon, the glittering blue harbour and crumbling old colonial buildings, everyone riding bicycles: it remains one of my favourite places. As a writer I was drawn to slow pace and the quiet – these are both conducive to the practice of writing.

Independent spirit

in Africa and, in particular, Tanzania. The north of the country – with its cheap accommodation and rich natural beauty – became Finn’s adopted home for a time. “In 2000 I began spending long periods in Arusha where I could live very cheaply. I had a tiny room in an overland truckers’ camp. I walked and took public transport and ate rice and beans.”While exploring the Usambara Mountains, a friend told her about the northern coastal city of Tanga. “I thought the name sounded amazing. I got on a bus and checked in to a guest house. It became my writing retreat. I would go there for two weeks at a time. I biked everywhere and wrote in the sweltering, oppressive heat. I love the physicality of weather. Vermont gets bitterly cold in the

“You can feel the mystery there embedded in the rock,” Finn says. “You go in with a guide and a candle, but you are constantly aware then it is pitch black in there. I often work with metaphor and with caves there’s that idea of burrowing into the earth – sort of a Jungian journey into the

“In the film, we wanted to get away from the dry didacticism of so many nature films that present animals as objects that we need to ‘learn’ about Finn

Just as Amboni Caves manages to embody both beauty and menace, Pilgrim experiences great kindness during her time in Tanzania, but also plenty of examples of callousness. She leaves Switzerland in the aftermath of one of the random, tragic turns life can take in a moment, but in Tanzania she finds human life can be far more fragile and cruel.

Here she finds the forgotten town has attracted others who are keen to put troubled pasts behind them, including a barfly former pilot and an American woman who dreams of setting up an orphanage in the town, but also has a darker, far less charitable side to her.

Finn has Pilgrim visit the Amboni Caves, the Tanga region’s prime tourist attraction and a place of huge spiritual significance, in the book. The author visited the caves during her stay and shared her protagonist’s unease at its dark, uncharted depths, which, legend has it, wind their way as far as the Kenyan border.

She says: “The Maasai around the lake don’t really think too much about the flamingos – although they notice their coming and going and appreciate their beauty. They told us the birds were made on the island in the middle of the lake. As no one can get to this island – we had to import a hovercraft – it seemed an entirely plausible creation story. Because the birds’ breeding colonies are so inaccessible and they are so mysteriously nomadic there’s a real dearth of research.

Thriller set in Tanga

began12

Four years later the couple – who are now married and parents to twin daughters – began work on Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos, an award-winning Disney Nature film about the three million-plus lesser flamingos that have adapted to life on the toxic lake. Aeberhard was the cinematographer while Finn wrote the film’s script – for which she received a nomination at the Wildscreen Film Festival – which poetically examines the myths associated with the birds.

Wildlife adventures

Melanie Finn’s latest novel, TheFinnHaretreats a burn suffered by a Maasai child at Natron Healthcare

to filter through Finn’s reliably macabre imagination – “I’m drawn to the dark. It’s the Scorpio in me,” she tells me – and an idea for a new story took shape.

Melanie

Beauty and cruelty

the Rift and the weird reflective lake: it’s unfinished geology. Both of us knew we had to make a film there.”

“Tanga is a place you kind of place you might ‘end up’ when all other options have run out. It’s a kind of hideout,” says Finn.

It grew into The Gloaming, which she began writing later while living in New Mexico – Finn compares her books to ex-lovers that can only be fully processed with some distance from the source material. The plot centres on young wife Pilgrim Jones who aims to get as far away as she can from her broken marriage and a tragic accident in Switzerland by travelling to Tanzania. When her safari tour isn’t giving her the untrammelled escape she craves, she simply exits the 4x4 and starts walking alone to a small local village and then to the bus stop for Tanga.

sub-conscious. Pilgrim enters a tunnel few of us get to go down.”

“In Africa, on any day you can experience the most incredible beauty and kindness and also see cruelty,” saysThatFinn.contrast of hostility and beauty exists in stark relief in Lake Natron: another Tanzanian location Finn became familiar with. She first set eyes on it with wildlife photographer Matt Aeberhard. The pair had hit it off after meeting in Arusha and their first date was to scale Tanzania’s most active volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai, which offered incredible views of the broiling expanse of water from its 3,188-metre summit.Finn’s earlier description of the lake in Away From You had been a feat of imagination, but she found the real thing was even more powerful. “The confluence of the furious volcano,

While Finn hopes to be back in Tanzania soon to move Natron Healthcare forward, she does not see the country or its continent providing the setting for any of her future novels. Though her work has received praise for avoiding all potential clichés surrounding first versus developing world problems and she has been scrupulous in “threading the needle” of the complexity of life in Tanzania, she admits: “To be a white person writing about Africa is different and more difficult than it was 20 years ago.”

Finn’s early novels are heavily influenced by her time in East Africa

13Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

Together with Matt’s mother, Penny, a GP who has worked in public health education in India and Nepal, Finn was moved to set up Natron Healthcare to strengthen local access to medical help.

– instead of trying to see them as individual creatures of great complexity who see humans as purely incidental in theThelandscape.”flamingos thrive in this harsh environment, but life is tougher for the Maasai who have settled in Magadini on the remote eastern shore of Lake Natron. This is where Finn and Aeberhard lived during the two-yearplus shoot for the film.

She is excited that a new wave of young black African writers has been

Melanie Finn’s novels are published by Two Dollar Radio and available to buy at twodollarradio.com and on Amazon in paperback or Kindle Toformats.learn more about Natron Health care, visit natronhealthcare.org

The pandemic has prevented recent visits to the region for Finn, but Natron Healthcare is still active. She and Penny have pooled their limited financial resources for its work so far but plans to educate communities about cervical cancer and increase access to the HPV vaccine are dependent on further funding. “We are at a pivotal point now,” Finn says.

“It’s beyond midnight for the literary world to recognize and support African writers. Their lack of profile is indicative of a system that has favoured white African writers like me, writing about the incredibly narrow white experience of “Africa” for a white audience still in thrall to the whole White Mischief/ Out of Africa mythology. Honestly, it’s why I’ve given up writing about eastern Africa – enough has been said by whiteStill,people.”shesays, those years in Africa had an unforgettable effect on her and will continue to leave their traces on the “Everythingpage. I learned about myself and my perspective on life garnered during my years there, and my continued work through with Natron Healthcare, still informs my writing whatever the setting might be.”

Finn made herself useful among the lakeside Maasai. “As I had decent first aid kit and 80 hours of wilderness medicine training, I became the de facto medic for the local community,” she says. Though she is keen to point out that the Tanzanian government “has come an extraordinarily long way” in making recent improvements, including a new clinic in the village, at the time she was shocked at the paucity of healthcare in the region.

During that time, Finn also had the privilege to have an “all access pass” accompanying Aeberhard while he filmed in the region. She says: “I’ve sat in a Land Rover hearing this strange, loud, dimensional roar – like an airplane engine – and then witnessed the source: hundreds of thousands of wildebeest teaming over the horizon, the collective sound of their hooves drumming the earth, the crazy symphony of their grunting.

“People had to walk for days for a good doctor,” she says. “If they were too sick to walk they either got better or died. We suspect that maternal mortality in eastern Natron is about 1 in 40 – nearly ten times Tanzania’s 1 in 400 – which is already one of the world’s highest.”

“We embarked on an education initiative in two communities, Magadini and Wosiwosi, so that people could better understand their health issues. We also support a school lunch programme in Magadini, where chronic hunger is the root of most childhood morbidity and mortality. And we’re now in our second year of supporting girl students from Magadini in their secondary school education.”

Natron Healthcare

We also had time to explore lesserknown places. We walked from up the Rift above Natron, from Malambo to Lemuta, in eastern Serengeti, and then back along the incredible Sanjan Gorge. We’ve explored the Engaresero River canyon – we filmed this in the Crimson Wing. It doesn’t take much but a trusted guide and a sense of adventure to get off the over-used game circuits and visit smaller parks, reserves, wildlife management areas. You may not check the Big Five off your list, but your experience will be more immediate, more authentic. And hey, I think a dung beetle is just as exciting as an elephant.”

Time for a change

As I had decent first aid kit and 80 hours of wilderness medicine training, I became the de facto medic for the local community

coming through in the past decade –name checking David Diop, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Nadifa Mohamed and Stanley Gazemba – and includes herself among the anachronistic authors of the white African gaze who should be making way for them.

anzania is a country with a rich heritage of art and cultural expression. There are plenty of painters here, but those that can support themselves financially through their art are few. Abubakar Mjeuri, who goes by the name mjeuri_artis on Instagram, is one who seems to have defied those odds.

While a school pupil he would always be sketching, enjoying the meditative and calm state the practice brought him.

Abubakar Mjeuri, better known by his Instagram handle mjeuri_artis, is an artist, carpenter and activist based in Dar es Salaam. Here he talks to Ingrid Kim (@dhowconsulting on Instagram) about defying the odds by making a living as a painter in Tanzania and his why his latest exhibition highlights the country’s wildlife conservation challenges.

15Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com Abubakar Mjeuri Images: Abubakar Mjeuri

MigrationsuchtaclesTanzania’spaintingsAbubakar’scapturespecofnatureasTheGreat

A typical academic route through university was financially not available to Abubakar so he started to make a living selling his sketches and paintings. All the money he earned went towards supporting his mother and others in his community in Dar es Salaam.

Artist capturing the ‘warrior’

The artist, carpenter and activist was passionate about drawing from a young age.

T

Living life as an artist: MjeuriAbubakar

work of Tanzania’s wildlife conservationists

Abubakar Mjeuri Images: Abubakar Mjeuri

Q

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With my lifelong love of nature and art I wanted to devote my exhibition to wildlife security because art is something within me and I wanted to shape my reality and solve problems by advocating for the voiceless and connect the human and wild nature. In recent years wildlife crime has come to be regarded as not only a conservation challenge but also an organised crime involving criminal networks. It has led to a decline in most species, in my country and it is

As sales of his work has grown, Abubakar has been able to support more vulnerable children and youths, including orphans reduced to living on the street. He shares his skills as well as his income with the children, teaching them how to express themselves with their own drawing.Whilethis side of his work continues to this day, Abubakar’s own art also shows the influence of time he has spent in Arusha. Here he finessed his artistic skills while getting involved in the wildlife tourism industry prevalent in this gateway to Tanzania’s most celebrated national parks. It gave him a great insight into wildlife practices and the environment.

The work exhibited addresses many of the endangered animals in our region as well as the importance of reserving land and culture at the same time. Abubakar says his goal is to connect art and education to expand the audience’s understanding of our precious wildlife and land.

theworkAbubakar’scapturesheartache of animal ofthroughpoachingtheeyesparkrangers

Why have you devoted your latest exhibition to wildlife security?

Now, Abubakar is set on raising awareness against poaching and it is the focus of his latest exhibition

Of all the wild animals he had the privilege to see it was elephants that most captured his imagination. Soon elephants became recurring subjects in his work, which also expanded to reflect his growing concerns with wildlife security and the many endangered animals in East Africa.

Q clothinginyoungpaintingAbubakar’sofaMaasaiceremonial

Why do you like to paint animals so much? of explain‘Warrior’.paintingsyouriscalledCanyouthetitle?do you think poaching still exists in Tanzania?

17Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

Poaching exists due to meet the demand of the ivory market in Hong Kong and other countries such as the US and the Philippines. Taiwan also uses ivory as raw material for industrial products. Unbelievably and at the same time, there are laws still in existence –such as one in the US that allow one person to kill up to four animals a year for trophy hunting – that are in direct opposition to conservation efforts and the economy of the tourism sector of Tanzania.

The animals I tend to portray are the Big Five – lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard – as they play a big role in the ecosystem and tourism sector. By painting them I feel I raise awareness among the younger generation who view my work. Hopefully they understand the importance of wildlife species and which animal species are distinctive and needs to be protected.

The warrior artwork portrays the brutal challenge that rangers are facing while protecting wildlife species and this artwork made me realise that it is not only animals dying, there are also humans who are losing their lives in their efforts to protect these wildlife species.

Q One

a big challenge to protect them. The Minister of Natural Resources & Tourism has ordered poachers to be shot on sight just to reduce the mass killings of wildlife species. I hope my work shows a path towards sustainable nature and combating wildlife crime.

QWhy

The farmers collectively sell their coffee through the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union and if you enjoy your cuppa you can

Where: 64 Mkunazini, Stone Town, Zanzibar.

When: Daily 8.30 am to 6.00 pm. For more information, visit utengule.com/zanzibar-coffee-house

Zanzibar Coffee House – Zanzibar

buy a bag of its 100 per cent Arabica beans to make some more at home.

Cafe culture is here with a host of welcoming venues across the country that offer locally sourced coffee served with expertise

When: Daily 7.00 am to 8.30 pm. For more information, visit the café’s Facebook site.

Where: Mbeya – 5 Lupa Way, Mbeya, Tanzania

The Utengule Coffee Estate at the foot of the Mbeya range in southern Tanzania has been producing world-leading coffee for more than a century. The brand’s franchise has expanded into hospitality with the acquisition of the Zanzibar Coffee House Hotel, an authentic Arabic house in the Spice Island’s historic Stone Town. The hotel’s eight rooms sit atop a bustling café, which, of course, serves a range of delicious coffee, harvested from sister farm Utengule, roasted on site, and expertly brewed.

Where: Corner of Old Arusha Road and Selous Avenue, Moshi

If there was ever a group of people in need of a caffeine hit it has to be hikers about to take on Mount Kilimanjaro. Luckily, Moshi, the gateway to such altitudinal adventures has the Union Café. This stylish and vibrant place in the heart of town is a great place to swap stories while sipping on coffee grown on the slopes of Africa’s highest mountain by smallholder farmers and roasted on-site.

18 Union Café – Moshi

W

The Ridge Café –Mbeya

hen you are on the move and in need of a quick pick-me-up there is plenty to be said for grabbing some kahawa and kashata from a cycling street vendor. However, such traditional treats now have to compete with a modern coffee culture brewing in Tanzania. Cosy cafés are cropping up offering a choice of cappuccinos, machiatos, lattes and mochas and have become places to work, hang out with friends or just enjoy some ‘me’ time. Here’s Jahazi’s best of the bunch.

THE BEST COFFEE HOUSES IN

Mbeya is surrounded by high plateaus peppered with coffee bean farms and the Ridge Café is ideally placed to oversee the whole process from crop to cup. It has its pick of single-source 100 per cent Arabica beans grown by smallholders in the southern highlands then has them roasted to its own chosen profile in Mbeya. Its baristas are trained to world class standards – two Ridge Café representatives took first and second place for latte art at last year’s African Fine Coffees Association, in Zanzibar, and there are plans to enter them into the upcoming East Africa Barista Championships. This all results in an amazing cup of coffee, however you like it, and such has been the Ridge Café’s success in Mbeya it has recently extended operations, opening a branch in Dar. Both

Dar – 34 Bibi Titi Mohammed St. Raha Towers, Dar es Salaam

When: Mbeya – Monday to Friday 7.30am

Maua Café – Mbeya

Dar – Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 9am to 2pm.

to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 9pm, Sunday 9am to 2pm.

To call Maua Café a coffee house is rather underselling it. This brick homesteadturned café 1.5 km outside Mbeya town centre offers daily hearty breakfasts and lunches and bookings-only three-course dinners on Fridays and Saturdays, a recently revamped gift shop selling handicrafts from five women’s groups and a local orphanage, paintings from Mbeya artists, shelves full of books to browse and a menagerie of animals, including horses that can be saddled up for rides on the surrounding trails. Still, the coffee is good enough to warrant a special mention. The beans are sourced from the nearby family-run Lunji Coffee Farm at the foot of the Mbeya mountains where they have been growing coffee since the late 19th century. You’ll find a range of speciality coffees, including “yellow honey”, where the beans undergo a drying process designed to give notes of caramel, cream, lemon and raisin.

Atom Coffee –Dar es Salaam

This place, on the ground floor of Mikocheni’s Mayfair Plaza, takes coffee drinking to another level with a vibe that is part café, part science lab. When you choose your coffee you can also seven different brewing methods – all carried out by hand by its expert baristas – to ensure you get each subtle note from the top class beans from Kilimanjaro and around the world on offer here. It seems food is considered a distraction from appreciating the greatness of your drink so none is available, but you can opt for an organic tea. There is also the chance to try out the café’s range of modern brewing gadgets and create your own brew from house beans or finesse your palate at weekend coffee cupping sessions.

FOOD & DRINK

When: Monday to Thursday 9am to 5-30pm, Friday 8am to 9pm, Saturday 8am to 5.30pm.

TANZANIA

19Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

Where: Mwambenja Rd, Plot 5, Mbeya, Tanzania

Where: Mayfair Plaza, Mwai Kibaki, Dar es Salaam

When: Monday 7am to 8pm, Tuesday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 9pm. For more information, visit atomcoffee.co.tz

D

Alternatively, your gallery wall theme could instead focus on a specific interest of yours. For example, music lovers might theme their gallery wall around their favourite bands, choosing an array of music posters, vinyl records and memorabilia to make their gallery wall showcase their passion.

WAKE UP YOUR WALLS

Choose different sizes, shapes and textures

To make your gallery wall interesting and individual, choose products with

Interiors

different sizes, shapes and textures. Why? Though some gallery walls can look great when only featuring framed prints, playing with sizes, shapes and textures creates a more interesting visual display for the eye.

oes your home already have a general theme, whether rustic or vintage or modern? If so, your gallery wall may well work best continuing the theme. If you have been building a rustic look, choose items that have wooden frames and feature floral prints or woodland scenes. You could even create your own box framed with dried grasses or corn pieces for a unique feel.

Decide on your theme

However, some of the best gallery walls are eclectic, with a wide variety of pieces with seemingly no theme at all! If you choose each piece because it means something special to you then you become the theme!

21Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

A gallery wall cam make eye-catchinganfeature

A gallery wall of pictures, prints, plaques or photo frames can transform blank walls into your own miniature art gallery. Here’s a few tips to on creating one that truly reflects your personal style along with some image ideas from the range of handmade Tanzanian art on sale at Dar es Salaam boutique Make It Matter.

MatterItMakebyprovidedcredit:Photo

Stand back and admire your work

Choose a mixture of prints, wall hangings, mirrors and shelves to make your gallery wall more unique.

Don’t forget the great thing about gallery walls is that they can be updated easily, so if you aren’t totally happy, you can always change it at any time!

Do you like the composition?

Remember to measure the distance between any hooks so you don’t have to make unnecessary holes in your walls. A spirit level will be useful in avoiding a wonky gallery!

Interiorswall.

Measure your space

Leave the room then walk back in as if you were viewing your gallery wall for the first time. How does it make you feel?

You’ll need a measuring tape, hammer, nails and some picture hooks. If you have chosen heavier items like mirrors, we advise using brackets and screws to ensure they are wall mounted securely.Tomake sure your items end up exactly where you want them, use spot on the

22

To shop the range, visit the store at 50 Msasani Road in Dar es Salaam or shop online at makeitmatter.org

Now all of your artwork and wall decor has been wall-mounted, take one last look before you put those tools away.

Before you start hammering nails into your walls, you need to measure your space to make sure everything fits! Once that’s done, gather your wall art pieces and lay them on the floor in the order you would like to hang them, making sure they fit within the space you have measured.

Does anything look like it doesn’t fit correctly? Play around with your layout until you’ve designed a gallery wall that best displays your favourite artwork.

Hang your wall decor

Do you think the overall gallery would look better with something adding or taking away?

Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book

23

A selection of wall art ideas from Make It Matter

online at azammarine.com

25Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

CHUMBE ISLAND launches new season of attractions

Chumbe Island Coral Park – an award-winning nature reserve in the Zanzibar archipelago –is open again to the public after its annual twomonths of maintenance work. The relaunch comes with exciting new attractions that showcase and support the island’s protected population of rare wildlife on land and sea. Here, Chumbe’s sustainable tourism consultant, Diana Körner, reveals the treats in store for guests.

Chumbe Island

Island Marine Island reopened at the beginning of June after two months of annual maintenance work, which this year involved the upgrading and servicing of the island’s eco architecture such as composting toilets, solar panels and the makuti roofing of the locally made eco bungalows. We have also introduced new educational information boards and citizen science projects, actively engaging visitors in ongoing species research.

With the involvement of several marine biologists in our team and our committed rangers and volunteers, we are rolling out an observation project to gather data on our local reef shark species – the black tip reef shark and the nurse shark – which can be seen from a specific viewpoint on the island almost every day. Guests can engage in the project and their sightings will be included in a systematic study on our shark population.

In co-operation with British coconut crab scientist Tim Caro, the island’s head ranger Omari and our team of volunteers are collecting data on the size of our coconut crab population. Overnight guests will be updated on these findings during the nightly crab walks we organize in the forest.

CoconutCountingCrabs

Chumbe26

Thanks to the support of the German government funding programme develoPPP, we have a new eight-metre fibreglass boat to transport guests between Unguja and Chumbe Island. The boat offers a faster and more comfortable ride, so guests have even more quality time to spend on the island.

Shark study

Smooth ride from Unguja to Chumbe

Chumbe Island

Citizen science projects

The island is also rolling out a new online survey to collect observational data on our resident and visiting marine megafauna such as turtles, reef sharks, stingrays, large groupers and dolphins. In this way, visitors can actively participate in our marine conservation efforts by contributing sighting information, including date, time, species and location. So, when you are here, grab your snorkel and get spotting!

To help our visitors learn more about the rare flora and fauna we support on Chumbe Island, we have been working with a team from the United States Forest Service. This has resulted in the creation of a large, carved forest information board outlining key features to look out for on the trail and additional plant labels along the trail itself.

Chumbe’s Big Five

As of September, guests will also be able to witness the environmental education trips to the island that we organise each week. The trips are provided free of charge to the local fishing community, school children, teachers, community members and government officials and are an excellent way of raising awareness of our marine conversation and sustainable management practices.

Endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Chumbe Island Coral Park operates an extensive environmental education programme. Initiatives take place on land and sea with the island having its own education centre with a classroom where Chumbe staff provide hands-on learning in marine and forest ecology, sustainable coastal management and ecotourism. A highlight is the opportunity for a monitored snorkel along the Chumbe reef. For many of the schoolchildren it is their first time in the water and constitutes a life-changing experience. The programme also supports a teacher training scheme and awareness raising as well as training events for local communities, fishers, local tourism businesses and NGOs, with over 13,000 participants to date.

27Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

Find out forest facts on island walks

Witness EE trips

For more details on the conservation and education programmes run on the island and how to book your overnight stay, visit chumbeisland.com

Do you have a bigger brother or sister who always seems to grab the spotlight away from you? Well, imagine how Mount Meru feels, having had a couple of millennia spent in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro 70 km to its west. The smaller stratovolcano, which had its most recent minor eruption in 1910, gives away around 1,500 metres in height to its headline-grabbing neighbour, but this was not always the case. Mount Meru’s distinctive horseshoe-shaped summit was caused by a major eruption millions of years ago which blew the roof of the volcano and more of the structure’s bulk was lost 7,800 years

Tanzania’s volcanoes

KilimanjaroMount

GET ACTIVE AND EXPLORE TANZANIA’S VOLCANOES

Of course, we have to include the ‘roof of Africa’. Not only is Mount Kilimanjaro the highest point on the continent, it is also the highest free-standing mountain in the world. The latter superlative is down to the fact that rather than being part of a range of mountains, Kilimanjaro is a volcano – or more accurately a stratovolcano, with its massive, conical-shape built up with many layers of hardened lava and ash. In fact, Kilimanjaro is made up of three volcanic formations – the peaks of Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira. The snow-capped Kibo is the most active of the three with

28

Mount Meru

a series of eruptions building it to a height of 5,985 metres. While the two other cones are extinct, Kibo is considered ‘dormant’ so another eruption could occur. However, given the last major one happened 360,000 years ago I wouldn’t cancel your Kilimanjaro ascent on account of those fears. It is estimated that 35,000 people climb the mountain each year with around two thirds of those making it to the top of Kibo. All those eruptions have built it to a height where oxygen levels are around half that at sea level, so the risk of altitude sickness is real. Still, getting to the top is one of the world’s most memorable adventures. Who could resist?

Volcanoes are the geological architects behind much of Tanzania’s diverse and dramatic landscape. Millions of years ago the fault lines of the East African Rift Valley that runs through the country allowed eruptions to form now iconic landforms such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Natron. Here, we get under the crust of some of the country’s biggest and liveliest examples.

Left: NationalMeruKilimanjaroMountAbove:MountinArushaPark

OK, it’s not a volcano, but this super-salty, puddle-deep lake is a product of the same tectonic activity that produced the 2,941metres high extinct volcano

This active volcano near the southern end of the East African Rift, south of Lake Natron, is revered by the Maasai as the home to their god, Ngai, and its name translates as ‘Mountain of God’ from the Maasai language. Geologists are just as taken with the mountain as it is the rarest volcano in the world, unique in erupting natro-carbonatite lava, which is black and, by lava standards, relatively cool at about 510 degrees. While black lava

Lake Natron

ago when the summit collapsed. Still, the crater that has been left at the top now affords hikers incredible views and the route to the top is considered one of the best in Africa with Mount Meru’s lower slopes full of wildlife – such as elephant, zebra, giraffe and antelope – and incredible volcanic scenery as you ascend. Take the time to soak in the sights on a four-day trek. It’s a challenging climb, but the altitude is just low enough that the only moment to take your breath away will be the stunning view from the top.

Ol LengaiDoinyo

Ol LakeFlamingosLengaiDoinyovolcanoColonyofontheNatron

flowing down the mountainside may look bizarre enough, once it gets in contact with moisture, the lava turns white, giving the impression that Ol Doinyo Lengai – at just shy of 3,000 metres in height – is covered in snow. Eruptions here are not so rare, in fact the mountain is Tanzania’s most active volcano with regular lava flows recorded from 1880 to this day. It is a steep ascent for trekkers with the challenge increasing near the top with decomposed lava rock crumbling underfoot. Still, many choose to make the climb at night with

the reward of a daybreak summit and incredible views over Lake Natron and the surrounding Rift Valley floor. Some guided tours even include a night camping around the caldera at the top with humming lava under the rock providing the lullaby.

flamingo factory involves about 75 per cent of the world’s 3.2 million lesser flamingos.

The area has seen significant eruptions over the past 300 years with one on Kieyo in 1800 rated as a ‘two’ on the VEI scale

Mount Rungwe

Aerial view of the salt pan and mineral crust with red algae of Lake Natron

a protected expanse of dense mountain woodland that contains the dormant volcano. Climbing Mount Rungwe takes around 10 hours so can be squeezed into a day if you make an early start. You can sort out a guide and the fee for the climb in the neighbouring hillside town of Tukuyu. The hike will weave through pristine forest with plenty of plant species that can only be found here before arriving at the four km-wide caldera at the summit.

Mount30

The mountains of southern Tanzania mark the point where the eastern and western arms of the Rift Valley meet and includes the Rungwe Volcanic Province, where the 2,000-plus-metre Kiejo and Mount Ngozi as well as the near 3 km-high Mount Rungwe loom over the landscape. The area has seen significant eruptions over the past 300 years with one on Kieyo in 1800 rated as a ‘two’ on the VEI scale, which measures the explosivity of volcanic eruptions. A trip to Mount Rungwe can be combined with a trip to the ‘Serengeti of Flowers’ Kitulo National Park, which adjoins the Rungwe Forest Preserve,

Gelai that rises from its eastern shore as well as Ol Doinyo Lengai to its south. The ash and lava deposits from the latter’s frequent eruptions mean Lake Natron’s water temperature frequently rises above 40°C and is caustically alkaline. Amazingly, there are animals that not only survive, but thrive in this treacherous environment, making Lake Natron a wildly different safari destination. Here you’ll find the world’s largest population of lesser flamingos, whose tough skin protects them from the scorching waters, which they can even drink without ill effect, removing the salt through their nasal cavities. In the dry season –late May to early November – the birds breed on sand islands that appear as water levels drop with the lake forming a toxic moat to protect them from predators. This

Explore Tanzania’s volcanoes

Whichendeavour?ofMelanie

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How many species of coral have been identified in the world?

airplane-style leather seats and enjoy the great views and plenty of natural light from the surrounding floor-to ceiling windows. The winner will also enjoy free wi-fi, their own personal entertainment console with a library of films and TV programmes, complimentary drinks and snacks and – surely best of all – the latest issue of Jahazi to read at their leisure.

Competition terms and conditions: Prizes dependent on availability. One entry per person. Entrants must be 18 years or over. The decision of the organisers will be final. The competition is not open to employees and their relatives of Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries, Azam Marine or Land & Marine Publications Ltd. The prize does not include travel to and from destinations.

How to enter

How

do you like the idea of traveling between Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar in VIP style and all for free? Well, that’s exactly what’s on offer in Jahazi’s prize competition this issue. Thanks to Azam Marine and KFF, one lucky winner will win a VIP return ticket from Dar ferry terminal to Stone Town port on Zanzibar Island. The journey across the Zanzibar Channel will be experienced in comfort and luxury in the catamaran’s VIP Lounge. They can relax in the

Last issue’s winner

Finn’s novels is set in Tanga?

Which of the seven summits will hopefully complete The Last Ride

A chance to win A VIP return trip from Dar to Zanzibar

To be in with a chance of winning this prize, answer the three questions below (they are all based on features in the magazine where you’ll find the answers). Email the answers, along with a photograph of you holding Issue 6 of Jahazi on your KFF journey to competition@landmarine.org by the closing date: 10 November 2022.

Answer these three questions

Competition

Congratulations to Ignatious Mgana who wins a VIP return trip from Dar to Zanzibar.

The pair have a background in competitive skiing and share a passion for finding remote runs far from the groomed terrain of the piste. To them, taking

It was amid these warnings of our future that two British eco-adventurers, Ed Salisbury and Will Tucker, set upon a plan to ski the seven summits – the highest peaks across all of the world’s continents, including, of course, ‘the roof of Africa’.

32THE LAST RIDE ON KILIMANJAROMOUNT The Last Ride

Not only is skiing impermissible on Kilimanjaro, but scientists also forecast that it will soon be impossible. A report published in October last year warned that the iconic snow covering on the mountain could vanish in the next two decades due to climate change.

round 30,000 people summit Mount Kilimanjaro each year with the push to the top including a challenging hike across snow and ice, but the number of skiers who take on the frozen terrain was, until recently, officially zero. ‘Pleasure devices’ – a curious term that here includes skis and snowboards – are prohibited on the mountain by order of Tanapa, the governing body of Tanzania’s national parks. The ban is motivated by safety concerns with the extremely steep descents, ice sheets and crevasses around the cluster of caldera that form the mountain’s highest peaks and the thin oxygen levels adding up to treacherous conditions for snow sports.

In April this year a team of British adventurers achieved a rare feat, skiing at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. They are not stopping there with their sights set on skiing the rest of the world’s seven summits – the highest peaks in each continent – by 2024 as part of a project called The Last Ride.

A

Right: Skiers Ed KilimanjarosummitandandSalisburyWillTucker(above)theofMount

on the seven-summit challenge would be a stern test of their abilities as well as an opportunity to raise awareness about how the world’s highest points have become harbingers of climate change. They called the project The Last Ride – aware that the worldwide dwindling of snow cover may prevent it ever being repeated – and scheduled an attempt on each summit, finishing with the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, in Europe’smid-2024.highest point, Mt Elbrus in Russia, was safely in the bag in October last year. Kilimanjaro was next up, and Ed and Will were given special permission by Tanapa to take their ‘pleasure devices’ with them

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As to the risks involved of being the first to ski on Mount Kilimanjaro, Jon says the team are well prepared. “It would be foolish to step into these environments without being aware of the risks involved,” he says. “We know there could be avalanches, crevasses, falling ice, temperature injures and all the rest that comes along with it. That said safety always must be our top priority. Reaching the summit should never blind you from the realities on the ground and teamwork that borders on family is essential.”

Jon is a former competitive skier himself with a decade of experience as a ski camera operator. On most of the summits he will be filming Ed and Will while skiing alongside them, but the scarcity of snow on Kilimanjaro made him opt for a different approach.

Below: Tom post left: Local guide Thomas was invaluable

summitBelow

the ascent and ski the snow once they reached the summit. Tanapa’s approval considered the expertise of the skiing duo and the fact that the trip would include time acclimatising in the Kilimanjaro foothills when the team would meet some of the Tanzanian individuals and organisations involved in tackling the effects of climate change in the region.

on34

So, in the first week of April a 21-strong team, which included local guides and porters, set off on a 10-day trek to reach Uhuru Peak, at 5,985 metres, Mt Kilimanjaro’s highest point and then scout for skiing opportunities.

Ed and Will were joined by award-winning adventure filmmaker Jon Moy, who will be capturing each of the summit skis with footage going towards an eight-part documentary, which, Jon says, “a major streaming platform” has already bought the rights to.

Filmmaker Jon Moy will capture all of the summit skis

“I won’t be taking skis as there is so little ice left,” he told me ahead of the ascent. “It is more practical for me to work with an ice pick and crampons while filming in this terrain. I think the image of the boys carrying skis all the way up a rocky mountain to only be able to do a few turns before running out of ice will be a striking visual message for our story.”

The last Ride

There are images and video clips from the Kilimanjaro ascent @thelastrideproject on Instagram and Jon’s website at jonmoyfilm.com/the-last-ride

4 If the glaciers of Mount Elbrus in Russia continue to melt at their current rate, a study forecast the amount of ice on the mountain will shrink by 40 per cent by 2050.

Ski lines from Uhuru to Crater Camp

35Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

4 Puncak Jaya has lost about 80 per cent of its ice since 1936 – two thirds of that since 1972/73. It is now down to about two square kilometres.

to explore positive solutions to the climate crisis in Tanzania, including interviews with climate activists and permaculture farmers.

If you want to find out more about The Last Ride Project and the team’s progress, visit jonmoyfilm. com/the-last-ride or follow @thelastrideproject on Instagram

Happily, both Ed and Will were able to put decent ski runs together and while the team battled stomach problems, altitude sickness and extremes of heat and cold, they are all now home and safe. From the UK, Jon tells me about the trip’s successes. “We summited at sunrise and managed to film two first ski descents. One down the western breach itself, and another from Uhuru Peak back down to camp in the crater.”

4 Mountain glacier systems are decreasing in volume worldwide and its even affecting the highest peaks.

4 The ice fields of Kilimanjaro have shrunk by around 85 per cent since 1912 (when measurements began). They cover an area of just 1.85 sq m.

MELTING MOUNTAINS

Jon has also brought back plenty of footage he is very happy with that captures the voices helping

Warnings about the impending loss of the snow of Mt Kilimanjaro have been around for a while. One of former US presidential candidate Al Gore’s most headline-grabbing soundbites from the award-winning 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth was: “Within the decade, there will be no more snows of Kilimanjaro.” Sixteen years on, the snows, thankfully, remain. Projects such as The Last Ride and the publicity it gives the practical action taking place to protect Kilimanjaro and the people who call it home can only help the snow survive. It may never be a ski resort, but let’s hope Mt Kilimanjaro’s white peaks continue to delight from near and afar.

4 A study this year found the highest glacier on Mount Everest has lost 2,000 years of ice in just three decades.

Calm your breathing

We know you are excited about your Azam Marine ferry trip and what awaits you at your destination, but here we invite you to calm thoughts of the future and focus in on right now. So, sit comfortably and let’s cultivate a few moments of calm together.

inhale silently say “in” and on each exhale silently say “out”.

Calm Corner

‘Name one thing you can taste’ (Maybe it is the lingering taste of your last meal or the mintiness of your morning toothpaste).

‘Name two things you can smell’ (It could be a recently opened snack someone is eating or the hand sanitiser you recently applied).

Take 10 slow, deep breaths through your Onnose.each

Ground yourself

GET MINDFUL

Take an alert posture

Sit up tall in your airline seat with your posture erect and feet planted on the Restfloor.your hands in a comfortable position, either on your lap, on the armrest or palms-down on the tray table.

‘Name four things you can hear’ (It could be the noise of the aircraft engine, the talk of fellow passengers, the onboard crew giving instructions or the vibrating of your seat).

‘Name three things you can touch’ (Wiggle your feet to feel your shoes or feel the cushioning of your seat or the air-conditioning on your face).

Close your eyes.

Ask and answer these questions:

Keep these mindfulness tricks in mind and enjoy every moment of your holiday!

30%

Coastline

Tanzania is blessed with an abundance of coral reefs, but globally they are very rare, covering just 0.5% of the ocean floor.

1,100 km

Coral reefs make up around two thirds of the coastline in Tanzania and the diverse marine life they support make them both a valuable food resource and a popular tourist attraction here. Let’s crunch the numbers.

Half a trillion

The number of people in coastal locations across the globe that rely on coral reefs for their livelihoods.

0.5%

5,610

450 million

Despite their rarity, coral reefs are home to a vast proportion of the world’s marine life. Nearly a third of all marine fish species are supported by coral reefs.

The amount of coral reef that the island of Pemba is estimated to have alone. That represents 45 per cent of the coral reefs of Tanzania.

The number of different coral species across the world.

to 29c

Coral by numbers

200

That’s how many coral colonies scientists estimate there are in the world. Yes, that’s a lot! More than there are trees in the Amazon.

23223c

The number of species of coral in the reefs which fringe the islands of Zanzibar support. They support the archipelagos rich marine life such as turtles, dolphins, barracudas, lots of tropical fish and even reef sharks.

The optimal water temperature for coral to thrive. Tanzania’s waters are at the top of that scale and a rise in temperature is enough to push coral past its threshold and cause potentially life-threatening bleaching as the algae that lives within the coral is expelled.

37Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

The number of species of coral that are threatened with extinction across the world.

The UAE collaborated with New York University Abu Dhabi, the Royal Agricultural University in the UK and the Department of Antiquities in Zanzibar on the project. For the dig itself, archaeologists from Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture & Tourism and students from State University of Zanzibar

HouseanddownTownonplaceexcavationsthetookthisyearTopRight:DhowbeachinStoneRight:LookingonStoneTow(topright)theofWonders.

“We can now say that the town was built centuries before the Omanis arrived.”

Above: The Old Fort where

STONE TOWN MIGHT BE OLDER THAN YOU THINK

Recent excavations at the Old Fort prove that the first stone structures that gave the historic city its name were built by an 11th Century local Swahili community, long before the arrival of Omani traders and the port’s flourishing as a hub for maritime commerce.

Stone Town

Cooking pits

However, this year a series of excavations made in the grounds of the Old Fort – built by Arab traders and previously thought to be the city’s oldest structure – revealed evidence of a Swahili settlement that pre-dates the fort by around 600 years and was responsible for the city’s first stone buildings in the 14th Century.

H38

Other finds included traces of homes, cooking pits and significant amounts of pottery from this era. It was enough for archaeologists to be able to identify the settlement’s transition to stone buildings by the 14th century. This is hundreds of years before Stone Town became an

affluent hub of spices and slavery trading and many of the ornate stone buildings that remain today wereProfessorbuilt.

Tim Power of the UAE University said: “Our excavations found walls of houses, stone architecture and established it was urbanised in a much earlier period than historically thought.

istorians have long believed that the ornate houses built with local stone that gave Zanzibar Island’s Stone Town its name, date from the 17th and 18th centuries when the port city’s heyday as the hub of maritime trade in the Indian Ocean and the powerful capital of the Omani Arab Empire was taking shape.

The major dig – led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) University – involved a pair of two-metre-deep trenches made in the fort’s courtyard. The team uncovered rubbish pits, cooking fires, walls, floors, the remains of a Portuguese church, significant amounts of pottery and even evidence of a mosque – structures that reveal the growth of a sophisticated urban community.

Dating pottery

volunteered to help out.

Archaeologists found the wall footings and floor of the church, under which dozens of Christian graves were found dating to the 16th and 17th centuries, when an Augustinian mission stood on theZanzibar’ssite.

Minister for Tourism & Heritage Simai Said visited the site of the dig and said it was an “exciting new discovery [which] will help us in our mission to communicate the island’s rich heritage and culture to tourists and local people alike”.

39Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

Hopes were high for this year’s dig as a test pit dug in the same spot in the 1980s yielded pot shards and a more recent excavation in 2017 – again led by Prof Power – unearthed positive results.

Using the types of pottery unearthed in those earlier digs, the teams were able to date the pieces found this year, which included pieces imported from China as well as local Swahili cookware. The project also uncovered one of the walls of a Portuguese church that had been demolished and integrated into the fort.

Further excavations are planned for the site in January next year and there is also talk of setting up a museum at the site to present some of the finds from the digs to the public.

Shutterstock.com/bochenskiandrzejShutterstock.com/amnat30

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We have a fleet of eight vessels with a speed range of 25 knots up to 40 knots allowing passengers to be in Zanzibar from Dar es Salaam within 1 hour and 20 finest, modern and swift ferry services in Tanzania

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resident permits or exemption certificates are allowed to pay for their fares in Tanzanian Shillings and will be charged the normal fares applicable for citizens. Tanzanian citizens are encouraged to carry some identification to prove their citizenship. We recommend all passengers to buy their tickets from our offices in Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar or Pemba and from our approved travel agents throughout the country. Please do not buy tickets from people in the streets claiming to be our agents.

No refund policy on missed travel date or time. In case of cancellation, office should be informed at least two hours prior to Onlinedeparture.bookings are not considered confirmed until a payment has been made.

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43Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com

ZNZDar es Salaam

All foreign passengers (not Tanzanian citizens) are required to carry their passports when traveling between the islands of Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania. Foreign passengers are required to pay for their tickets in US$. We do however accept payments in UK Pound Sterling (GBP) and Euro (€). All other currencies are not Foreignersacceptable.with

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Tanga

When its sisal farming was in full flight, Tanga was earmarked as the capital of Tanzania, but it now offers more low-key charms. It still has a busy port – the second largest in the country – with our ferries crossing to Pemba – and plenty of attractions for the visitor. Its history as an Arab trading post before the Germans and British vied for colonial control in its sisal

Let us take you to Tanzania’s coastal cities and the islands of Zanzibar Our destinations

Unguja, the largest island of the Zanzibar archipelago, is a treasure trove for tourists. Those who snorkel, scuba or windsurf will love its reef-protected cerulean

Pemba

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Dar es waterfrontSalaam Gideon Ikigai Shutterstock.com/

Pemba Island

Dar es Salaam

This fast-expanding city – popula tion four million and counting – is Tanzania’s commercial and cultural hub. Traces of Dar’s beginnings as a Zaramo fishing village can be seen at the Kivukoni front where dhows dock at dawn laden with the night’s catch for the bustling fish market, but now gleaming skyscrapers dominate the skyline. This modern metropolis rocks around the clock with a vibrant music, food and art scene, but if you prefer to relax there are a string of serene beaches in easy reach as well as the nature escapes of Pugu Hills and Mikumi National Park.

As its Arabic name, which translates as “the green island”, suggests, Pemba has a lush landscape, combining the cultivated and the wild. There are plantations of banana, coconut and cloves as well as expanses of mangrove forest. With far fewer hotels than its Zanzibar big brother Unguja, 80 km south, it provides an exclusive escape for the adventurous traveller with remote attractions including the dense canopy of monkey-magnet Ngezi Forest and the private paradises of isolated sandbanks. Its white sand beaches are ringed on all sides by coral reefs which offer some of east Africa’s best snorkelling and diving – with marine life including humpback whales in July and August.

waters while its vibrant and unique Swahili heritage will fascinate culture vultures and its famous spices perfume the air and flavour the food. Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries delivers you to one of the island’s greatest attractions, Stone Town, the capital’s ancient port. Here you can explore its maze of bazaars, cafés, mosques and mansions that are vestiges of the island’s pivotal role in trading along the East African coast.

Zanzibar

Bookings: info@azammarine.com+255azammarine.com222123324 Follow us: officialazammarinekilimanjaro@azammarinefastferries

heyday has left a town with some fascinatingly eclectic architecture, especially the gothic Bombo Hospital. The ocean offers great dhow sailing, there is a rich coral reef for diving enthusiasts and Tanga’s proximity to the Saadani National Park makes it the only city with a wildlife sanctuary incorporating a marine park in the region. Other nearby attractions include the Amboni Caves and the Swahili trading outpost of Pangani. Marine and Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries

Opposite St. Joseph Cathedral Sokoine Drive, PO Box 2517 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Email: Tel:www.azammarine.cominfo@azammarine.com+255222123324

45Kilimanjaro Fast Ferries book online at azammarine.com Contacts Azam

Tanga

Q

Qregulations.

What are some of the qualities you need to be a good port captain?

No, none of my family are involved in this line of work. I was encouraged to pursue a career in the maritime industry by a Danish sea captain who was in Tanzania as part of the work of the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

Q

Can you tell us about the apprenticeship, nautical studies required before you are ready for a job like port captain?

Qpassengers.

In your job you must stay alert. How do you relax after a stressful day?

Q

List five words that describe your character?

Normally once every week. This involves general cleaning, service of machines and other minor repairs.

Q

Azam Marine has multiple ferry trips every day. How do you ensure quick and safe turnaround?

I meet challenges every day in the job, and I have to be sharp to deal with them correctly. After these challenges are over, I do feel a relief in my brain and body.

I have piloted passenger vessels, including HSVs (high speed vessels); tankers; tugs and supply vessels.

Azam Marine Q&A

In your role you need to make important decisions quickly. What advice can you share for performing well under pressure?

Firstly, it is important to know the challenge, then you can solve it by making an immediate decision.

Captain John Mkwiche is crucial to operations at Azam Marine. As port captain, he is responsible for the safety of the ferries and passengers that dock in our Dar es Salaam port. Here he talks about his 37 years of experience in the maritime industry and the qualities required to do the job well.

What kind of vessels have navigated during your 37 years in the maritime industry?

I began working for Azam Marine in 2010 and now as port captain I am in charge of navigation, cargo and passenger operations plus safety in general.

You come from a seafaring family?

I also ensure vessels are operating on the arranged routes and being piloted in the harbour in accordance with the

Q

I insist on responsible behaviour from all crew members when it comes to the safety of cargo, passengers and vessels.

When did you start working for Azam Marine and what does your current role involve?

What made you want to work in the maritime industry?

Q

How do you maintain safe and efficient operations at Dar harbour?

Q

Nautical knowledge and seamanship experience are the main Qones.

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Yes, one of our vessel was ordered to return to port as there were claims that it had been overloaded. It hadn’t, but I had to deal with the confusion and some very upset

Loyalty, hospitality, obedience, confidence and hard work.

Each vessel is given enough time to run through its phases such as loading, offloading, embarking and passenger disembarking before it starts sailing. There are also replacement vessels at the ports in case of emergency.

Can you recall your most challenging day in the job and how you dealt with it?

How often do you perform safety checks on the vessels?

Q

The best grounding is to get your initial training onboard a ship. Then you can study the practices of operating different types and size of vessels.

Dar es Salaam

47azammarine.com Menai Bay ConservationArea Kiwani Bay FoNationalKichwelerest Chumbe Island Coral P Pemba Island Routes For further information and to book visit www.azammarine.com officialazammarinekilimanjaro@azammarinefastferries ZanzibarIslanPembad Stone Town Tanga MkoaniBagamoyoKibahaKorogwe MkokotoniWete

Mkoani

Routes

ZanzibarIslanPembad

Pemba Island

Stone Town

For further information and to book visit www.azammarine.com

Tanga Mkoani

Dar es Salaam

BagamoyoKibahaKorogwe MkokotoniWete

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