Pemba Island | Tanzania

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Pemba Island is part of the Zanzibar Archipelago off the Tanzanian coast. The inhabited islands of this archipelago are Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia Island. Pemba has a population of about 350,000.

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Part of a set of 16 stamps about marine life, issued in 2014.  

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Ngalawa boat on the shore of Pangani river | Tanzania

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Pangani River is located in northeastern Tanzania. Ngalawas are sailingboats (actually canoes) with a double outrigger for stability and a triangular sail. Used for short distance transport of goods or people or serving as a fishing boat.

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Tanzania Marine Life

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Tanzania's coast is home to some of the most spectacular diving in the world. The waters off the southern coast of Tanzania are rich in marine life – coral reefs, mangrove forests, fish, marine turtles, whales and many other species.

But..Tanzania is the only country in Africa where fishermen widely use homemade bombs to increase their catch. With devastating impact.

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Baobab at Sunset, Tarangire National Park | Tanzania

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Tarangire National Park is the sixth largest national park in Tanzania. The park is famous for its elephant migration.

 

The baobab is found in the savannas of African and India, mostly around the equator. It can grow up to 25 meters tall and can live for several thousand(!) years.

The baobab is leafless for nine months of the year. The tree looks like it has been picked out of the ground and stuffed back in upside-down.

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Part of a series of stamps “ Grasshoppers of Tanzania”. 

Thank you Steve!

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Giant Tortoise on Prison Island | Tanzania

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Changuu Island is a small island about 6 km north-west of Stone Town, Zanzibar. The island is also known as Prison Island. The island was uninhabited until the 1860s when they started a prison on the island for rebellious slaves prior to shipping them abroad or selling them at the slave market in Zanzibar's Stone Town. 

 

In 1919 the British governor of Seychelles sent a gift of four Aldabra giant tortoises to Changuu from the island of Aldabra. These tortoises bred quickly and by 1955 they numbered around 200 animals. 

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Kilimanjaro Safari | Tanzania

“Ride off in an open-air vehicle for a tour of a lush African savanna, home to exotic animals.”

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Searching for information about Kilimanjaro Safaris I learned it is also an attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom on the Walt Disney World Resort property in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. It simulates an open-sided safari ride through the savanna of East Africa.

The original Kilimanjaro Safari of course can only be found in Tanzania. If you are lucky you can spot elephants, rhinos, lions, giraffes, baboons, cheetahs, warthogs,  Saddle-billedstorks, snakes and many other.

Thx one more time Steve!

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Narrow streets in Zanzibar's Stone Town | Tanzania

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“For generations the name Zanzibar has captured the imagination of people as a far away, exotic and legendary island located in the Indian Ocean near the East African coast.

Following the west winds, Persian, Arabic and Indian traders sailed to Zanzibar and went back fully loaded when the winds turned east. Spices and slave trading made the island rich and famous. 

People from different continents brought their cultures and religions and created the unique and fascinating blend that can be found on the spice island today. During a walk through the narrow and winding streets of Stone Town the history of the spice island flames up into the imagination again.”

thx again Steve!

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Butterflies of Tanzania

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According to good old ‘Wiki’ there are over 1,500 species of butterflies in Tanzania. Six of them are shown on this postcard.

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A Pensive Water Buck. In 2009 Tanzania issued a set of 18 stamps 'Wild animals of Tanzania'. The waterbuck is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Zanzibar's Stone Town | Tanzania

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The Zanzibar Archipelago comprises numerous small islands and two large ones: Zanzibar and Pemba. Zanzibar’s historic centre is known as Stone Town, a World Heritage Site.

Most of the houses that can be seen today were built in the 19th century when Zanzibar was one of the most important trading centers in the Indian Ocean region. Little has changed in the last 200 years. It is a place of winding alleys, bustling bazaars, mosques and grand Arab houses.

 

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(left) World of the Disnosaurs (1994)

(right) Youth and sports (2009)

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Jambiani beach, Zanzibar | Tanzania

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Jambiani is a tiny fishing village with only a handful of guesthouses, hotels and resorts. Jambiani Beach is miles of startling white sand fringed by coconut palm trees. This tropical paradise can be found on Tanzania’s island of Zanzibar.

 

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The dinosaur stamp is part of a set of 16 stamps depicting World of the Dinosaurs, issued in 1994. The other stamp is part of a set of 11 stamps about Youth and sports, issued 2009.

Thx Steve! 

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A piece of art from Tanzania

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A hand painted postcard from Tanzania! A real peace of art. The typical style of painting in Tanzania is Tinga-tinga. The genre is named after its founder, Tanzanian painter Edward Said Tingatinga. This postcard is not in Tinga-tinga style however. It looks similar to the style on the postcard from The Republic of the Congo.

 

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Birds of the world. Part of a set of four stamps issued 1997.The Cactus Wren is a species of wren that is native to the southwestern United States. It nests in cactus plants.

Thx Steve!

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Red Colobus Monkey at Jazani Forest, Zanzibar

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The Zanzibar Red Colobus  is a species of Red Colobus monkey endemic to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania.

The largest and most significant area of protection and habitat for the monkey is in Jozani forest located on the island of Zanzibar.

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(left) World of the Disnosaurs (1994)

(right) Youth and sports, issued 2009, part of a set of 11 stamps.

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International Women's Day 2014, Masaai women in Tanzania

International Women's Day has been observed since in the early 1900's, a time of great expansion and turbulence in the industrialized world that saw booming population growth and the rise of radical ideologies. Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. 

Women's equality has made positive gains but the world is still unequal. International Women's Day celebrates the social, political and economic achievements of women while focusing world attention on areas requiring further action.

 

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Located in the heart of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which surrounds the Ngorongoro crater, one can find one of the most vivid and proud cultures on this planet: the famous Maasai.

Whereas women all over the world are nowadays in a process of empowering themselves, Maasai women are clearly inferior to the man and have little opportunity for advancement without help.

Read more here: maasai-women.org

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(left) 350th death anniversary of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

(right) Diana, Princess of Wales (1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, who is the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II.

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The Masai Shuka

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The Shuka is an African piece of clothing. It is the main garment worn by the Masai, initially made out of animal skins but today cotton is the main material. 

It is a dress-like cloth, traditionally worn wrapped around the body, and over each shoulder. It isn’t specially patterned to fit like this, but is simply a very large square cloth. They are almost always red, and usually have a plaid or striped pattern on them. The patterns are blue, black and purple.

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Part of a set of stamps issued 2011 about grasshoppers of Tanzania. According to the text on the stamp this is mole cricket. But it just doesn’t look like it. 

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The map of Tanzania

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Tanzania is located in East Africa. The country is bordered by Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi.

 

Arab traders first began to colonize the area in 700. Portuguese explorers reached the coastal regions in 1500 and held some control until the 17th century, when the sultan of Oman took power.

With what are now Burundi and Rwanda, Tanganyika became the colony of German East Africa in 1885. In 1964 Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania, and Tanganyika merged into a new country: Tanzania.  

The famous Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest point of Tanzania, is located in the North. Dar es Salam was the capital of Tanzania but the city of Dodoma became the country's capital in 1973. 

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Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania

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The island of Kilwa Kisiwani is located in the south of Tanzania, a short boat ride from the mainland. It was once a thriving seaport; from the 11th century the sultans of Kilwa grew rich from control of the gold trade. 

At its height, in the 14th century, Kilwa Kisiwani was the single most important trading centre on the East African coast and its ruins include a number of mosques,  a well-preserved Omani fortress, graves, and the remnants of a Great Palace.  Together with the ruins of Songo Mnara, the ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani was declared a Unesco World Heritage site. 

Thx Steve!

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Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (zoom level 3)

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In 2007 85 percent of the ice that covered the mountain in 1912 had been lost, and 26 percent of the ice there in 2000 is now gone.

The remaining ice fields atop of Mt Kilimanjaro could be gone within two decades and perhaps even sooner, based on the latest survey of the ice fields remaining on the mountain.

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Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (zoom level 2)

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At 19,336 feet, snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is Africa's highest peak. The vast ice fields of Kilimanjaro are melting at a faster pace than at any time over the past 100 years.

This is due more to land use than to global warming. Deforestation of the mountain's foothills is the more likely culprit. Without the forests'  humidity, previously moisture-laden winds blew dry. No longer replenished with water, the ice is evaporating in the strong equatorial sunshine.

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Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (zoom level 1)

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Kilimanjaro is one of the largest volcanoes in the World and it is the highest mountain in Africa. Even though the mountain is very close to the Equator, the peaks are so high that snow and ice can form on them. 

Covered in mist most of the day, Mt Kilimanjaro is the leading tourist attraction in Tanzania.

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Butterflies of Tanzania and Spiderwort plant.

Thx Mzee Steve!

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Going on Safari, Tanzania’s Big Five

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The "Big 5" refers to the African: Cape buffalo, lion, rhino, leopard and elephant. Why not the hippo, gorilla or giraffe you may ask? Are they not large as well? How about the cheetah -- that would be an animal you would probably like to see as much as a buffalo. Well, the term "big five" was actually coined by big game hunters. It refers to the difficulty in bagging these large animals, mostly due to their ferocity when cornered and shot at.

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(left) 350th death anniversary of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

(right) Wild Animals of Tanzania (2010 issue): Elephants.

Thx Steve!

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