My parents win, ecology IS cool.

There has been a huge influx of students at SUZA over the past ten days, which unfortunately for me meant that my teacher was swamped with work organizing them, finding them all instructors, etc. So I had almost no lessons last week. My mwalimu did make an effort to keep me occupied, though, despite his crazy schedule. I made two additional visits to the maternity clinics on Tues/Thurs, where I was fortunate enough to sit in on some pre-natal checkups. The women, who were 6 months and 8 months pregnant respectively, even let me palpate and listen to their stomachs using a fetoscope. I could clearly make out the rapid fetal heartbeats, and I also listened separately to the umbilical cord beating, which was fainter and much slower. I was shown how they measure the size of the uterus, both by hand and using a measuring tape. Using your hand, one finger width (no thumbs) indicates about one week. At 6 months, her uterus was 22cm wide, and at 8 months I believe it was around 34cm (though I may be remembering inaccurately). And in the case of the woman who was 8 months along, the midwife showed me where and how to feel the baby's head, which was in position for a normal, headfirst delivery.

On Saturday we visited Prison Island, where I had already been with Trisia and her family a few weeks ago. But this time the school got us into the Giant Tortoise sanctuary during feeding time, which was definitely a highlight. We hand-fed them as they walked slowly around us, totally un-phased by our presence. It felt like I spent the morning with a hundred dinosaurs. Those of us who can swim also rented snorkeling gear and spent about an hour at the surrounding reef. Unfortunately, that part of the trip was unimpressive and the waters in that area have some little stinging creatures, which Trisia and I dubbed the sea fleas. Needless to say, I preferred the dinosaurs.

On Sunday, however, I got to experience some really great snorkeling! Separate from school, I arranged a trip to visit Chumbe Island, which I read about in my Rough Guide to Tanzania. It is a Coral Reef Sanctuary and Private Eco-Lodge. My mwalimu seems to know pretty much every important person on this island, so of course the manager of Chumbe was a former student of his. Through him, I was able to secure the resident rate without having to carry my passport ($60 instead of $90), which included my boat transfer to/from, my own eco-friendly bungalow for the day, a guided tour of the coral rag forest, an incredible lunch, and a guided snorkeling tour. I dedicate the island hike to my Dad as his father's day gift, because it's definitely the kind of thing he would have dragged me to when I was younger. Dad, you will be proud to hear that I truly enjoyed the nature walk, so you and Mom win. Ecology is cool. The snorkeling was better though, and despite rough waters and a slightly too small mask, I saw huge spiny lobsters hiding in coral caves, puffer fish, poisonous lion fish, and a host of other sea creatures. Completely worth the money, which also goes towards conservation efforts. Additionally, the manager had informed his staff I was coming, so everyone was super welcoming and excited to test my Swahili skills! Even though I showed up by myself, I felt I was in great company with them, and the other travelers that day were fun to hang out with. There were two University of Washington grads, an older Californian couple, and a couple from, of all places, Watertown, MA! They just finished climbing Kili and safariing through TZ, and even more ironic than our shared homestate is they are both UW-Madison grads, and the woman had studied with one of my former Swahili teachers! Just further proof that those of us who live a globe-trotting life can almost always find someone with a common history, be it a shared relative, school, city or experience. In Africa, you are never alone, even when you are by yourself.