Pemba Island: Kisiwa kwa Karafuu - The Clove Island

CHAKE CHAKE, PEMBA ISLAND, ZANZIBAR

MONDAY, July 8 

After an early morning meetup and a quick 20-minute flight, we transferred to Pemba Island – the second but much smaller of the two main Zanzibari islands. Pemba is more hilly and lush than Unguja. The waters around the two islands differ as well - lying closer to the mainland, Unguja sits on the continental shelf and is surrounded by relatively calm, shallow waters. It lends itself to safe and easier fishing and marine tourism, but it makes it susceptible to pollution and environmental degradation. Pemba, on the other hand, is close to the shelf's edge and has deeper water and stronger currents. It gets only a small fraction of Zanzibar's tourists, so I feel lucky to get to spend time here!

Exploring Pujini Ruins

Since we arrived early in the morning, we went directly on an excursion to see the ancient Swahili settlement known as the Pujini Ruins. This 15th century site was the fortified palace of the (possibly) Iranian ruler Mkama Ndume (although Rashid believes he was most likely Swahili – the storytelling tradition likes to make connections with the Middle East, since it elevates the Swahili’s position as Muslims.) Regardless, he was a strong ruler and his fortress is now an important archaeological site. 

I wanted to put him in my pocket, but I refrained

She's so pretty! (and he's so puny!)

Nature has definitely taken back her dominance at Pujini; most of the fortress walls have eroded through time, and we could only just make out the basic foundation of the complex. In the overgrown ruins, we saw pied crow and sunbirds flitting around the trees. We also found a giant millipede and a large red-legged orb weaver (and her little teeny tiny mate!)

Debatable if we were of any help...

Playing with Snapchat filters

For lunch, we traveled to the home of Bibi Moza, where we “helped” her cook kachori – fried mashed potato balls (and they were SO GOOD!) It was fun having lunch at her home – we also met her grandson Farhoud, who played around with my Snapchat filters and then I showed a game on my phone. They were so warm and welcoming – like everyone else we’ve met in Zanzibar.

After lunch we checked into the Pemba Island Hotel in downtown Chake Chake - Pemba's biggest city (with just one stoplight), and had our last Swahili lesson with Schwena. We spent some time on group reflections regarding our time so far, then had dinner (again made by Bibi Moza) on the roof of the PIH.

A marriage license is required for 
couples who want to share a room

Pemba is much less visited than Unguja, and we were asked not to take photos while on the streets. The vast majority of people are conservative Muslims - the hotel doesn't allow alcohol or unmarried couples. We saw no other tourists here, and the people working at the hotel speak very little-to-no English. It feels much more authentic than the more touristed Stone Town - we'll get a much more local experience!

TUESDAY, July 9

On the drive north

Pembe Island is lush and green, its soil is nutrient-rich because of its volcanic origins. The land is hilly, allowing for drainage, so many people own farms - shambas - on Pemba. Much of the northern part of Pembe Island is covered in forest, so we headed up to visit for the day. Along the drive, we could see the agricultural land as well as the many hills and valleys of the island.

Our destination was the Ngezi-Vumawimbi Nature Forest Reserve where we learned about some of the challenges of forest conservation - not only is there illegal logging, but the local communities use the forest for traditional practices like using lumber to make charcoal. 

The bleeding red mahogany tree

We took a 2 km forest walk to see several endemic tree species, including the Pemba palm and the red mahogany tree (that looks like it bleeds when you cut open the bark!) 

During the walk we also saw several open spaces where water collected to form freshwater ponds (although they are being threatened by rising sea levels and warming temperatures.) The forest is technically a step below a rainforest since it doesn’t have quite enough precipitation – although it looked a LOT like the rainforest we saw in Costa Rica.

Lunch was at Vumawimbi Beach, a beautiful strip of white sand that was all but deserted. Hundreds of ghost crab holes covered the beach, and along the low-tide line we found brittlestar, pincushion sea star, and jellyfish. I tried my hardest to catch a crab, but it was astounding how fast they darted around on the sand!

It's just a constellation of stars!

He looks just like a Haeckel's drawing!

When it got too hot, we wandered back under the treeline for shade, and discovered a troop of vervet monkeys had come to scavenge our leftovers. While they initially wanted to keep their distance, they were bold in their exploration of the area and let us come fairly close, allowing us to take photos.

It was nice that we now have our afternoons free to relax, wander, and do some work, as many of us are exhausted (both from the time change and the relentless heat). When we got back to the hotel, Ann was on a mission to find bungo – the tart fruit that we’ve had in juice form for many days and that we all love. We wandered down to the local market, but it was towards the end of the day and many of the stalls were closing up. We wandered around a bit, which was nice since it felt like a true local experience – tourists rarely come to Pemba and we haven’t seen any other foreigners during our time here.

We ran into Rashid at the market across the street from our hotel, where we discovered our new favorite soda – apple punch. We also bought the stale popcorn on Rashid’s recommendation (it wasn't really that stale), as well as some fresh local dates that were delicious. It was nice getting to interact with the locals (and to practice our Kiswahili).

WEDNESDAY, July 10

The rice fields of Pemba

We had a wonderful day today learning about the reforestation of Kokota and Pemba Islands through an NGO called Community Forests Pemba. The organization focuses on the restoration and protection of forests, but understands the economic challenges faced by the community and addresses those needs in order to help people support conservation efforts. For example, locals may cut down the forest for firewood and to sell the timber for money, because they need to support their families. Unless their economic needs are addressed, they can’t afford to be conservationists. CFP helps community members to change to spice farming, to support and promote vegetable and fruit production, and to improve their standard of living.

Slogging through the sole-sucking mud.
Get it? SOLE sucking?...

After hearing their presentation, we went out to the marsh near the village of Gando to help plant mangrove propagates. Rashid and Said bought us wet shoes (knockoff crocs that we’d wear once then donate to the local community). We walked down to the marsh area, where in the low tide we carefully made our way through the muck to the planting area. 

We had to carefully step since some areas were soft and dangerously sticky – I stepped out of line and sank down to almost my knee, almost losing my shoe in the process - thanks Said, for rescuing it!

🦀 Craaaaaabs! 🦀

The exposed sand was absolutely crawling with fiddler crabs – it was fun to see them scurrying around, ducking into their holes. There were so many that it sometimes seemed as though the ground was alive! Did you know? Only the male fiddler crab has one giant claw - it can be up to half the crab's body weight! 

Mangroves have uniquely adapted to the dramatically shifting water levels caused by the tides. Their seed pods are torpedo-shaped, with the bottom being heavier than the top. The pods begin to germinate on the tree, then drop when they are ready. If the tide is out, the spear-like pod will stick into the mud, quickly taking root within 4 hours. This way, they won’t get washed away by the incoming tides. Pods that don’t stick into the mud are washed away by the current, and some end up rooting in other places (thus dispersing the mangrove plants).

We each took a handful of seed pods and lined up to plant. We spaced ourselves a meter apart, and stabbed each propagule 3 inches into the mud, then took a large step and planted our next propagule. Although we didn’t spend much time planting, it was easy to see how a group effort could easily plant thousands of seeds in a planting session!

THURSDAY, July 11

Yesterday we learned about forests, and today we learned about agriculture and sustainable techniques for maximizing land use. 

We visited master farmer Amour, who also holds the position of Head of Agricultural in the Zanzibar Archipelago. His farm is intelligently managed – he uses techniques that help combat fluctuating water availability, creates and manages his own fertilization, and even plants certain crops as a pest management technique (his ‘best’ and sweetest mangoes are not meant to be harvested – instead, he sacrifices them to draw insects away from his other mangoes, which are then left alone by the bugs!!) 

The sustainable "fertilizer factory"

Amour has experimented for years, trying out different methods to see what works. He once drove a truck out to the demolition of a building that hosted a colony of bats, just to collect the guano since he knew it was rich in nutrients. His current fertilizer is made by keeping a small herd of cows, mixing their dung with urine and chicken poop and using it in his fields. It works so well that others want to buy his fertilizer (but it's too valuable to sell!) With years of experimentation, his farm is thriving and he hosts workshops so that other farmers can learn his techniques.

Interestingly, on the walk to the farm we passed a family making charcoal - the traditional fuel used by most homes in Zanzibar to cook their food. It's not environmentally sustainable but it is inexpensive, as most homes don't have the infrastructure for natural gas or electricity. 

After lunch at a guest house in Wete (the second largest city on Pembe, and location of the only other stoplight on the island), we stopped to see a roost of the endemic Pemba flying fox. The roost we saw had HUNDREDS of individuals, and although the flying fox is normally a nocturnal animal, we were able to see a few flying around. Seriously, guys. IT WAS SO COOL!

Did you know? The Pemba flying fox is endemic to Pemba Island - that means it can't be found anywhere else in the world. It's called a flying fox because of the big eyes, pointy nose, and furry little ears that make it look like a fox, but it is really a type of bat - one of the largest bats in the world. It has a wingspan of up to 5.5 feet across - (bigger than me!!) - but they usually weight only about 1.3 pounds. Pemba flying foxes are nocturnal, and mainly eats fruit like mangoes and figs. Because of this, they disperse seeds and help keep the forest healthy. 

FRIDAY, July 12

With an entire morning free, I tried to sleep in (unsuccessfully – woke up at 3AM! 😭) but had a nice, leisurely breakfast. It was raining hard all morning, which kept the temperature (and bugs) down, and we decided despite the rain to venture out to see a spice farm. After all, we are on the Spice Islands! Ann, Allie, Rubin and I went to 1001 Organic Spice Farm and took a small walking tour through the small forest. We saw pretty much all the spices grown on the island: clove, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla, pepper, ylang ylang, curry, cardamom, and other plants and fruit. Afterwards, we bought several packets of spice – I got cloves, cinnamon powder and sticks, and black peppercorns – all for 20,000 tsh.

That afternoon, we received comfortable flowy dresses from Bibi Moza (known as Bimoza). We changed into them for our celebration with the local Pemba host moms, who normally house the SIT students during the semester. We danced to traditional Dufu music (full of drums and chanting) and had a lovely time dancing with the moms. 

That evening, we had a quick transition to the Pemba airport, a 20 minute flight to Unguja to pick up more passengers, then a 15 minute flight to Dar Es Salaam – the largest city in Tanzania. It was raining when we arrived, and a jarring transition from the quiet island life of Pemba to the huge metropolis that is Dar. Traffic – particularly in the rain – was horrendous, and it was past 9PM when we finally arrived at the mega-mall near our hotel where we would grab dinner. (btw, walking through the mall was such a culture shock after the peaceful, rural existence on Pemba. Our eyes were huge and mouths agape, as though we hadn’t seen civilization in months rather than just a few days. Such dichotomy is truly jarring!)