Battling the Bone Breaker

This was going to be a different journey….

A journey from Tanzania to Seychelles – a journey into the Indian Ocean Idyl of my next job in Victoria on Mahe Island.

This story has been ‘choked at birth’. Barely three weeks from accepting the post a routine medical check in Nairobi has put an end to things and forced me to return to the UK ahead of schedule.

Here I am embarking upon a journey, a battle against Multiple Myeloma (Cancer of the Blood Plasma). It’s a battle which will last many months but should ultimately lead to a remission, to the point of normality, though I will never be cured (medically) and will need repeat treatments.

I am writing this as a journal for my own sanity as much as anything else. Although it may reflect my Christian Faith from time to time it will not be a ‘Bible Bash’ more of a story. Feel free to join the journey a new blog battlebonebreaker.wordpress.com –  in the coming days – the first post will be repeat of this one.

Lakeside Living – Part 2

Lake Victoria is an amazing place. Even though you’d never want to swim in it, nonetheless it provides some stunning scenery.

We are lucky that within ten minutes by car we can be on the lakeside for an afternoon stroll or a sundowner.

Over the past few months we have been fortunate to see some hidden places on the lake in the company of a colleague we have hiked the back roads of Mwanza and seen some hitherto unvisisited beaches. We have also had a couple of recent boat trips and a follow up visit to a little area of parkland.

So here is part 2 of  a summary are some of the experiences of the past few months in Mwanza.

Part 1 is here.

Riding the Waves

A couple of times this holiday we have ventured out onto the waters of Lake Victoria. The first time was a boat trip organised by some friends. We took a speed boat out from Mwanza, passing by the many islands which dot the lake, including Senane Island – home to a small safari park, then returning for a glorious sunset. It got a bit wet too as the waves crashed over the speeding boat.

 

Ferry Cross the Strait

Our second boat trip took us across the Mwanza Strait to Kamanga, followed by a walk up a hill to watch the sunset. At 1000TzS (37p) each way, a bargain!

Lakeside Living – Part 1

Lake Victoria is an amazing place. Even though you’d never want to swim in it, nonetheless it provides some stunning scenery.

We are lucky that within ten minutes by car we can be on the lakeside for an afternoon stroll or a sundowner.

Over the past few months we have been fortunate to see some hidden places on the lake in the company of a colleague we have hiked the back roads of Mwanza and seen some hitherto unvisisited beaches. We have also had a couple of recent boat trips and a follow up visit to a little area of parkland.

So here is part 1 of  a summary are some of the experiences of the past few months in Mwanza. Part 2 to follow soon.

Hiking the Back Roads

We have been on a number of walks this Autumn – these have taken along lakeside tracks difficult to access by car and provided some stunning views.

Taken from three separate walks in September (Jembe Beach area), October (Mwanza Brewery area) and November (Fish Market and peninsular walk).

Weekly Photo Challenge: Anticipation (II)

A second submission to this week’s photo challenge: Anticipation

Two years ago we were lucky enough to visit Zanzibar just before Christmas – an island of the coast of Tanzania which is a dream destination for many but right on our doorstop it’s an affordable destination.

This Christmas we are spending the holiday period back on Zanzibar and very much anticipating our return to this Island Paradise.

Red Colobus Monkey

Sunrise over Zanzibar

Weekly Photo Challenge: Anticipation

A submission to this week’s photo challenge :Anticipation

It’s that time of year when Christmas is approaching fast. Advent is the four weeks leading up to Christmas and each year as part of the anticipation of this most important event we put up  decorations in early December. Even though the glitz and glamour could be said to overwhelm the true meaning of the season- it is nonetheless a great way to signal that this important event is on it’s way.

Living here in Tanzania, a long way from family it is a touch stone to the life we lived before we came here, even if the equatorial heat makes Christmas a bit different to a British Christmas.

So for this submission the focus is Christmas.

A year ago we were anticipating and then welcoming our mums to Tanzania.

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This year with no family visits and with our son back in the UK at University we’re doing something a bit different for which you will need to read the next submission.

Happy Christmas to all who read this post.

Kingfisher Collection

Kingfishers are rare in the UK – I only saw my first Kingfisher back in the UK last summer.

Here in Tanzania they are much more common. Last week I saw a Woodland Kingfisher – thus completing the set of all those which can be seen in this part of Tanzania. All of these have been seen in our garden, apart from the Giant Kingfisher (seen in Kigoma) but resident here. However, not all of the photos were taken in the garden.

So here is the collection…..

Woodland Kingfisher

Grey-headed Kingfisher

Pygmy Kingfisher

Malachite Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Giant Kingfisher

Weekly Photo Chalenge: Chaos Reigned / Chaos Rained

A contribution to this week’s photo challenge on the theme  of Chaos. Taken just over a year ago on the morning the heavy rains arrived just as people were heading of to work. The ensuing torrents of water turned roads into rivers and chaos reigned (and rained!).

So far we have not had a repeat – the rains though probably now started have been overnight, but they are getting heavier – it’s only a matter of time before chaos reigns again.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Chaos Reigned / Chaos Rained

A contribution to this week’s photo challenge on the theme  of Chaos. Taken just over a year ago on the morning the heavy rains arrived just as people were heading of to work. The ensuing torrents of water turned roads into rivers and chaos reigned (and rained!).

So far we have not had a repeat – the rains though probably now started have been overnight, but they are getting heavier – it’s only a matter of time before chaos reigns again.

My new favorite place

When we were back in the U.K. in the summer we invested in a couple of hammocks. Costing just £11.99  from Amazon these have been amazing. Made of parachute material and complete with two carabiners and two pieces of rope they have been really easy to set up. 

We have strung one from the rafters of our veranda. 

It’s a great place to relax after work or at the weekend. For me it provides a new perspective on the garden.

This is very much my new favorite place.

Purple Patches

All along our journey from Mwanza to the Usambara Mountains -the landscape remained arid and dusty; yellows and browns the predominant palette. However breaking up the colourscheme throughout, the Jacaranda trees providing eye catching purple patches across the plains, mountains and valleys of Northern Tanzania. In the Usambara they flower against a greener landscape. They herald the yet unseen rains and will continue to flower until Christmas before returning to their usual green for another year.

Weekly Photo Challenge: H2O of Life

We are approaching the end of the dry season here and have the odd storm – but water still remains scarce away from the Lake. This summer we have had constructed a bird bath, comprising a wheel hub, pole and some metal prongs it resembles a hat stand but the bind lid sitting upon the prongs reveals it’s true purpose. It took several weeks to attract it’s first customers but is now in use by birds of all sizes including the Yellow-billed Black Kites which swoop in for a drink.

Other birds include house sparrows, yellow-vented bulbuls, african thrushes and red-billed fire finches, a grey-headed kingfisher- all seeking H2O

Weekly Photo Challenge: H2O (of Life)

We are approaching the end of the dry season here and have the odd storm – but water still remains scarce away from the Lake. This summer we have had constructed a bird bath, comprising a wheel hub, pole and some metal prongs it resembles a hat stand but the bin lid sitting upon the prongs reveals it’s true purpose. It took several weeks to attract it’s first customers but is now in use by birds of all sizes including the Yellow-billed Black Kites which swoop in for a drink.

Other birds include house sparrows, yellow-vented bulbuls, african thrushes and red-billed fire finches, a grey-headed kingfisher- all seeking H2O

Beautiful Bougainvillea

The rains are imminent – in fact three storms have come and gone – nothing on the scale that is to come, but a sign things are changing.

Even so the ground remains parched and yellow, dusty and dry – the exception being the Bougainvillea which is in bloom at this time and throughout the dryest time of the year and provides a welcome splash of colour to the garden.

 

Weekly Photo Challenge: (Crater’s) Edge

A submission to the latest Weekly Photo Challenge :Edge

Taken on our trip to Ngorogoro Crater in October 2014.

Rising Mists

Crater from the top

Weekly Photo Challenge: Edge (of Paradise)

Taken from our trip to Zanzibar in December 2014. Photos from the edge of paradise.

Sea Urchin

African Monarch Butterfly

Dimorphic Egret

Plovers

Hipolimnas Misippus

Starfish

Zanzibar Coast

Grey Mullet

Anemone

Red Colobus Monkey

Zazibar Paddle

Weekly Photo Challenge: Edge (of Glass)

Why is glass green when viewed edge on? I wondered this today as I looked at the glass slats on the windows of our Tanzanian home. 

Google is a great resource for such trivia. It seems the colour is a result of iron impurities which impart a slight green tinge to most glass – the colour is amplified at the edge as you peer through a much thicker layer through  it’s length.

Apparently the iron is a legacy of the manufacturing process as it lubricates the passage of molten glass across  the smooth surface of molten tin during the formation of glass sheets. The only way to ensure flat glass!

So here is a submission to this week’s photo challenge edge.

WeeklyPhoto Challenge: (Water’s) Edge

A submission to this week’s photo challenge taken at the water’s 
edge at Whisby Nature Reserve in the UK this summer. The sharp plants standing out against the blurred water.

Istanbul from the Air

Our departure from Istanbul gave us from great sunset views of the city below and the Bosphorus.

 

 

Weekly Photo Challenge : (Parabolic) Mirror

Wandering through the streets of Nottingham (England), this summer, we came across this parabolic mirror sculpture. 

Istanbul

We travelled back from the UK via Istanbul in Turkey. We flew using Turkish Air with a 15 hour delay between flights. We wanted to take the opportunity to visit the city, though this was planned long before recent events, we felt reassured it was going to be safe to visit. 

What we didn’t realise was that as part of the flight we had the option of a free walking tour of Istanbul with breakfast and lunch. This took in two of the most famous sites in Istanbul, the Blue Mosque  and the Hagia Sophia, a former church turned mosque, turned museum. 

Here are some pictures of the day.