kittens!

my dear friends the Olivers have a cat that got pregnant before they could get her spayed after the last litter.  the momma cat disappeared for a few days and so they were expecting that she would soon show up with the kittens.  sure enough, one day when a friend was visiting the momma came into the house and dropped a kitten that was just a few days old onto the sofa.  she then proceeded to do that three more times.  the momma really isn't a house cat so they set up a box outside for her.  it is super cool to see how she cares for her kitties in this raw environment and how she is teaching them to survive.

sunset in Dar el Salaam

all work and no play, etc... on the last day in Dar i escape for a few hours with a friend to have a glass of wine and watch the sunset.  it's a good way to end the Dar trip and get some down time away from the chaos of the city.

creating shared value

each year, Nestle awards companies around the world who are 'creating shared value' and this year NEI was selected as one of two finalist among the 400+ entries.  the general manager and our production manager were representing NEi at the official awards ceremony which is in Ivory Coast.  so i was planning on some press releases, articles, etc. from our global HQ in Moshi.  however, about two weeks before the event i get a call from Nestle saying do we have space to accommodate press and the CEO of Nestle Africa at our offices with a video link to Ivory Coast.  there is no part of this that is viable and i tell them i might have an internet connection if it's not a cloudy day AND i have electricity and no i don't have a room that will seat 40+ people.  they said 'work on it' so i go into freak out mode to find a reasonable caterer and everything necessary to host an event like that.  fortunately, Nestle agreed it was unreasonable and they got back to me with a back up plan.

introducing our farmers at the CSV event

instead, they decide to fly the company into Dar where they can get a reliable data link to the award ceremony in Ivory Coast.  oh, and could we bring some of our vanilla farmers along with us?  as the most senior staff member around it falls onto me to get the team along with the farmers organized and onto a plane [many of them for the first time] and all the transfers involved for three days in the capital which is Dar el Salaam.  

in Dar with some of the staff

then it was a full day with Nestle and we were awarded the second prize which was about $200,000USD.  So a good bump for the company... all of which is earmarked for developing the farmer support group to get as many vines in the ground as possible.  it was nice to put on a business suit and heels and act like an executive.  there's not much of that vibe around the office.

the real value is the connections and training that Nestle can supply the company.  they will take employees as interns to help with skills development and send a team to make some on the ground assessments about the direction we are headed.

at the end of the three days i send the staff back to Moshi and stayed in Dar for some sales meetings.  the staff arrived back around noon so i had them fill some orders that needed to go out and there were huge complaints.  they had been traveling for three days and were exhausted.  so it came as a huge surprise to them that business travel is not all fun.  they did however get to spend a day at the Hyatt in Dar which is one of the fanciest place in the country.

there has been so much bad press about Nestle that some people suggested that we not advertise being associated with such a toxic brand and sadly i agree so it's with mixed feelings that i share this award.  it is however, a huge acknowledgment that the work we are doing with the farmers is of real value.  

so when people send me email sending why haven't you updated your blog, now you know.  i'm catching up slowly.

dirty little secrets

manufacturing isn't done in East Africa.  the best i can see is that Africa is used for it's cheap labor and fertile land but any type of industry doesn't exist.  so as i may have said before Africa is the dumping ground of the world.  everything is second or third hand.  the clothes, the cars [one of my staff members had a Japanese car with the time stuck on the Japan time zone - she couldn't change it because the directions were in Japanese], the planes [yikes!] and that's not all.  

so why should the gas be any different?  the oil companies dump gas that doesn't pass the western standard here in Africa.  all the global environmental policies and agreements won't make a difference if the multinationals continue behavior like this.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/15/trafigura-vitol-bp-dump-dirty-diesel-africa-swiss-ngo-public-eye

leaving zanzibar

after almost a week on the island i am heading back to moshi.  there's a lack of prosperity and strange feeling of despair that i feel on the island.  perhaps it's the spirits of thousands of slaves that died here and are forever tied to this place.  there are many beautiful high end resorts in which you can stay, never stepping outside the bubble to experience the extreme poverty that is the norm on zanzibar.  

that wasn't a luxury i had - it was a business trip and i was constantly exposed to the less luxurious side of the island.  

the sunsets here are as beautiful as sunsets around the world and i enjoyed each one.  there were moments of relaxation and i am grateful for the chance to have seen an island that i have heard so much about.  to get in a day of swimming with the fish and turtles and other sea creatures.  

 i did take the time to get a henna tattoo and this picture probably captures the best moments of the trip.  i don't expect to get in another trip to zanzibar but i think one visit was enough for me.







the trip back to moshi was faster as there weren't any stops along the way and we get a breathtaking view of Kilimanjaro and Mawenzi [that's the smaller knob peak to the right] above the clouds that has even the pilot pulling out his camera for photos.  
it's a work day for me so as soon as i land i head into the office to catch up with the team.

north coast of zanzibar Mnemba atoll

it's just an hour or so to get to the north side of the island from Stone Town and i'm trying to stay on budget but the company's reimbursable expense is very low.  about $20USD per night for accommodations and $6.88USD per day for food.  hahaha.  i don't think i've ever come close to those numbers.  i did stay at a cheap place the first night but it was horrible so i moved the next day and ended up spending $75USD per night.  

i had a few meetings [with chefs at some high end resorts - so i do get fed a lot of good food].  in this job i've discovered that chefs love to feed you and you can't say no when they are telling servers to bring food and drinks to your table.  maybe that's why i've been putting on pounds.  

one day i get out on a dive trip and it's phenomenal except it's a cloudy day.  still the marine life around the atoll is spectacular and i see a ton of great sea life.  the beaches i visited on Zanzibar are not so spectacular but the water around the island is the turquoise blue you see around the pacific islands.  the water is really cold and i hate diving in a wet suit but it's a fantastic day in the water and i love every minute of it.

zanzibar

having arrived safely in Zanzibar and found our hotel in Stone Town we set out for a roof top dinner and sunset.  Zanzibar has a sketchy past, being most well known for it's slave trade.  they try to pass it off as a 'spice island' but that's just bad marketing.

happy hour at the ritz carlton

anyways, in between meetings in Stone Town i manage to see quite a bit of it and am happy to have some friends around as well.  one night we do a sunset boat tour and just being on the water makes me happy.

sunset cruise on a dhow

 there was a mixture of storms while i was on the island so not the best weather and more than once i got caught out in a storm.

Stone Town for me wasn't such a special place and after the weekend I moved across the island for meetings and to see what potential the island might hold for us.  

getting to zanzibar

i don't have a resident visa but remember that Tanzania driver's license i got?  well, i can sometimes use that to bluff my way into getting a resident rate on things that they otherwise charge obscene amounts of money for.

moshi airport

there is a small airline that flies around the country and it's called coastal.  they have really small planes, like the kind where everyone gets a window seat.  i stopped in to ask about some cargo rates and requested to get on their flight to Zanzibar which is direct from Moshi without going the 45 minutes to Jaro Airport.  i had already put down my business card and they could see my dl so when they said you have to wait until tomorrow for the resident rate i said ok.

so round trip to Zanzibar was $120 while the tourists were paying $350 [i know this because someone in our group could not get the resident rate].  i went on business but timed it so i could spend the weekend on the island with some friends.

the plane

like other places i've been they just have  a few airplanes and they make a circuit each day around the country like a bus would on a circular route.  

moshi from the air

so they start in the morning in the Serengetti, then stop Arusha, Moshi, Tanga, a Plantation, Zanzibar, Dar and then back to the Serengetti.  each leg is less than an hour flight but i was still three landings for me to get to Zanzibar.

it was really pretty cool to see the sprawling metropolis that is Moshi from the air.   there are about 100,000 residents and i don't think anyone has counted the muzingas but there are probably almost a thousand in the region.

first was Tanga, a coastal town and then a stop at a sisal plantation which is a hoot as the runway isn't even dirt it's more like a grass strip.  Then finally onto Zanzibar which has been in the news because of some very undemocratic like practices in the last election.  they like to think they are a separate country and the politicians run it like it is but the people don't care.  they'd rather have the protection of Tanzania and it just causes problems like you have to have a passport to enter Zanzibar. 

golf?

there's a sugar plantation, a very very large sugar plantation, just outside of Moshi.  it's owned by some Mauritians and it's a popular place for westerners.  it's about a 40 minute drive to get there but it's a really nice drive.  no lorries and no buses driving crazy speeds and passing everything on the road.  the drive is lined by trees and the fields of sugar cane surround you once you enter the premises.  it is amazing efficient for a plantation in Africa.  

they have a lot of heavy machinery and a rail system that automates the delivery of the raw sugar cane to the factory.  if the wind is right, when they are burning off the fields it blows right over moshi and can be seen for miles.


one day a few of us went out for a tour of the sugar processing plantation.  i got physically sick and left mid tour.  the smell was making me want to vomit.  i left thinking that i would probably never consume sugar again.  a few weeks later when i was exploring the idea of vanilla sugar as product to bring to market i found out that this factory doesn't export as their sugar doesn't meet international food safety standards.  yummy. 

it's a huge plantation and has it's own school, hospital and other administrative offices and every western convenience.  so it's a popular place for expats.

they built a lovely club house which includes a room for ping pong and billiards and the restaurant overlooks the golf course which i've only seen one person playing any time i've been out there.  the food is lovely and there is tennis and a pool so everything one needs to be comfortable.  it feels like a different world from the chaos that is the cities of Moshi and Arusha.  we did walk around the golf course after lunch and it was covered with monkeys which makes one wonder if they steal the balls.

vanilla is not boring

why vanilla?  vanilla is the second highest valued spice [after saffron] on the global market.  global demand for raw vanilla far exceeds what is produced today and it's a volatile marketplace because very few people control access to 80% of the global production.  in addition, one tropical storm can decimate the crop of Madagascar, producer of the 80% vanilla available globally.

the altitude and rich volcanic soil found in northern Tanzania and around Kilimanjaro is exceptional for the production of vanilla.  it creates higher concentrations of vanillian [the component evaluated for quality of vanilla pods].

so mom, that's why your vanilla extract is so expensive.  bad news, it's going to get more expensive.  the reports out of Madagascar are the crops will be under performing leaving a huge gap in demand vs. availability.

vanilla is used everywhere in so many things, ice cream, yogurt, baked goods, my baths [haha just kidding] the vanilla at the factory is under lock because the value is so high.

more details here...
https://epicurioushedgehog.wordpress.com/