TAN: Alone on the Island

We have our first full day of being the only guests on the island. It is fantastic to have full run of the facilities. We follow up breakfast with some more recording sessions. Julius has brought out some of the other staff and they have fashioned a shaker out of a cooking oil can. After a dozen songs and some instrument solos, they take a break to go fetch some of their wives and to practice for the next session. We can hear the practice in the kitchen. It sounds so good that we decide to take the cameras back there. We are rewarded with a spectacular performance that feels much more natural than what we had seen previously out in the guest area.

After our recording sessions are finished, we head over to the mainland to have a look at the town of Bagamoyo, a few kilometers to the north. Bagamoyo is infamous for being one of the port cites where slaves were auctioned off and shipped off the continent. The slave blocks are still intact at the old customs house site. It was too depressing to photograph. The old customs house itself had fallen into disrepair some time ago. An older local gentleman by the name of Tuesday sets upon us. He is the first person we have run across who has vocalized anti-American sentiment. He thinks the US is a war-mongering country. I would tend to agree with him.


A local pick-up truck.

After wandering around town for a bit, we head over to the old German cemetery. I am a bit taken aback by the young people lounging around inside the cemetery wall. They turn out to be students from the sculpture school right next door.
The Bagamoyo Sculpture School has a three year program and an enrollment of 45 students. Check the class schedule. The school is partly funded by the Swedish government.

Student work in cast cement and wood.

We all thought this student made hat was a riot. Chantal and I try it on, as well as our driver Frank and the Lazy Lagoon host Vladimir. Vlad bought the hat for $5.

We talk with the head boy for a while. He is curious about how to get student works sold outside of Tanzania. We are all of the opinion that the work is not up to the standards that would get it wide recognition in the West. There is a definite opportunity for a Pixel Corps here. We ask him about the people we had seen on the way into the area with large sacks full of seaweed. He explains that it is used to make dyes and the fibers are made into cloth. Gabriel and Julie buy some jewelry from some of the students. The old Arabic cemetery dating from the 1790s at the top of the hill was far interesting than the German one.

On the way back to Lazy Lagoon, we make a detour by the salt flats to see the process of cultivating and collecting sea salt.

A hearty alkaline plant

The salt flats. The white mass in the foreground is the salt starting to crystallize.

These ladies are collecting the crystallized salt.

We return to Lazy Lagoon around 4 p.m. Before having a late lunch, we shoot some more activity shots. I kayak while Gabriel snorkels. We spend the rest of the afternoon and evening working.

More commercials for Apple.

We are all ready for bed by the time dinner comes at 9 p.m. Dinner gives us a little boost and I finally tuck in after midnight.