Mumbo, Jambo, Shikamoo -- a crash course in Swahili courses
“Everywhere in the world is your home. It’s just that people complicate things”. This pearl of wisdom was delivered by a gently smiling woman stirring a stockpot of okra and tomato.
Songs and spices: the tastes of Zanzibar
It can’t be halfway through the trip, surely, yet the calendar tells me it is. The days are flying by, another 5am start to make our early flight to Zanzibar, a 20 minutes hop from the mainland to this exotic sounding resort island with a rich history of spices and slavery.

The Village Museum and market, established in 1966, isn%u2019t hectic like the bigger markets and provides a great opportunity to really engage with locals and learn a bit about them. Pictured is Mwanaidi, a textiles designer whose skill and enthusiasm isn%u2019t the least bit hindered by her crutches. (SBS)
Too early for breakfast - again. Luckily I brought a stash of espresso
bags with me from Australia…I can cope with many deprivations, but
have real strife if I'm deprived of coffee.

Kigoma airport - one that didn't make it. I was told this was a successful crash because no lives were lost. An airport worker told me the wreck remains not as a testament to safety, but because it was too costly to remove. The terminal is at the right. (SBS)
Another early start. After getting into Arusha at about 10pm, grabbing a bite to eat and taking a much needed shower - mercifully now with hot water - I'm up at 4.30am to process yesterday's vision, prep the kit and pack my bags.
The sands of time and the Watatoga boogie
A glittering black crescent of sand shines starkly against the golden
grasses of the Serengeti plains.
We're due to set off at 7.30 from Oldupai Gorge, but things don't always
run according to plan. The lodge at Ngorongoro crater has recently sold
from government to private ownership and standards have slipped.
There's an elephant 20 metres away and the car won't start…

African elephants have large ears (the Indian variety have smaller ones), but we can't really see this fellow's set as they're folded back safely out of the way of the acacia thorns, which can be up to 5 cm long (SBS)
Fish soup and liver for breakfast - Jambo (hello) Tanzania!
SBS multimedia correspondent Karen Ashford reports from Tanzania where she is on assignment, and finds that the country is not so different from her home state of South Australia.

Hot fish soup for breakfast. I was disconcerted when the restaurant staff dropped to their knees in greeting as I entered. Unused to such subservience I dropped to me knees too!


About this Blog
On assignment with SBS multimedia correspondent Karen Ashford.

Karen Ashford Adelaide-based SBS multimedia correspondent Karen Ashford files for Radio, TV and Online.
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