Tip for the day...

Tip for the day...

Avoid roads, in a car or near cars, in the late afternoon. Everyone is suffering from hypoglycaemia and dehydration and the driving has become noticably worse since Ramadan started.



We are on the home straight. Only a week left til we come home. I'm finding that I am torn between the desire to get home to normality and the feeling that it is going to be weird to be in England and not sleeping under a mosquito net.



This weekend we went to Nungwi on the North of the island. Its one of the more sociable resorts although not as classically beautiful. We still really liked it...its only downfall was the seaweed, of which there was an incredible quantity! On Saturday we went on a dhow round to mnemba island to do some snorkelling on the reef around it (you are not allowed to land on the island or you get arrested because it is a privately owned island). I think it was the best snorkelling that I've done since being in Zanzibar and we saw so many different fish (and an eel which scared me a little). Then we had barbequed fish for lunch on a beach on zanzibar opposite mnemba. It was yummy. I was a bit of a loser because I forgot to put any suncream on my arms and now I have pink arms and have to keep out of the sun for the next couple of days :( We sailed back round to Nungwi late afternoon...Having never been seasick in my entire life, coming to Tanzania this summer I have to say that whenever I get on a boat now I feel awful. I have been experimenting with if I feel better if I sit at watch the Horizon, watch the boat, close my eyes etc. That day I felt so bad that I lay down and fell asleep. It actually worked because when I woke up I felt about a billion times better :) I'm afraid that I blame my mother for this newfound nausea. (Sorry Mum but you are the only person I know that gets seasick!)

On the Sunday it was cloudy in the morning so we went to the aquarium in nungwi. Its not an aquarium in the normal sense of the word but its is a conservation program for Hawksbill Turtles. There is a natural lagoon in the coral rock where there are several turtles and a number of tropical fish and you can feed them and swim with them. I was an absolute clutz on the way to the aquarium (which was about 25 minutes walk from where we were staying) and fell over. I cut my hand and foot and didn't much fancy getting into the water with the turtles and fish. Now I know the turtles are veggie but the fish weren't! We sat for a couple of hours just watching the turtles and feeding them. It was so calm and peaceful to watch them glide effortlessly around. They are so graceful and look weightless in the clear water. It was a very pleasant way to spend the cloudy hours.

In the afternoon we sat on the beach in the sun (but with me wearing long sleeves to protect my poor arms) and I got some Henna done on my feet (LOVE IT), then we got a late afternoon shuttle back to Stone Town. Some might say this was risky, especially after reading my first statement in this blog entry, but it was not too bad and we'll do anything for a couple more hours of sun!

So that was my weekend...and the last one we are going to spend in Zanzibar. Next Sunday I'll be home. Weird. After a considerable amount of thought, I think the thing i am most looking forward to is Apples...mmmm a nice crunchy Braeburn.

This week we've been on the Surgical ward and in theatre. On Monday we went on the wardround. Its mostly Hernias, diabetic feet, trauma and prostates. One man who had been in a road traffic accident had to have his spleen removed. It cost less than 20 pounds which I thought was a bit ridiculous considering it is major surgery (but good at the same time because the people can just about afford to have it). To have your appendix out is a mere 15 pounds... Its pretty good value. Almost enough to consider having an operation for the hell of it (until you think about the risks of actually having surgery here, or you see the operating theatres). I said to Jess that maybe I should just have my spleen out. She gently reminded me that I would probably need it in the future. On Tuesday we actually went into Theatre to have a look... its not as friendly as in Muheza and I defintely didn't fancy scrubbing up. For my sins it turned out to be a day of Urology... so we watched a TURP, a cystoscopy and a prostatectomy (100,000 TSH = 50 pounds ish). It surprised me that they had the resources to do the first two but lo and behold there was a camera and a TV screen. The prostate op was interesting... the two surgeons obviously didn't get on and argued about everything and then the guy had a prostate 5 times the normal size. . I asked to take a picture of it and the surgeon willing obliged. It is massive. I was disgusted with my own curiosity.

I'm going to post this now because I have already tried 3 times and the stupid internet always failed at the crucial moment. We are at a different internet cafe now so hoefully it will work or I might actually go insane because i have written the same thing so many times!

See you soon
Salxxx