Tanzania | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

Sony Releases “A Night In” World Music Collection

Published December 20, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

Music is one of the joys of traveling. In SE Asia I discovered Cambodian wedding songs. Hindu legends set to music charmed me in Bali. And music in Tanzania and Zanzibar was an amazing melange of drums, rhythm, and harmonizing voices. In years past, the only way to sample music around the world was to travel to these places. Fortunately, this genre of music has become very popular over the past few years, thus collections are more readily available in the U.S.

worldmusic One example is Sony’s new “A Night In” World Music Collection. Each of the collection’s ten CD’s features the music of a different country. “A Night in Cuba” features the outstanding singers and songwriters of Salsa, Son, and other Latin rhythms, while “A Night In Italy” presents the most exquisite voices of opera. Tango is the focus of “A Night In Argentina” and “A Night In Puerto Rico” encompasses the Afro-Carribbean rhythms of the Salsa, Plena, and Bomba styles. Romantic melodies and quirky jazz are the basis for “A Night In France” and “A Night In Spain” showcases artists who have Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tagged A Night In World Music, Argentina, Bali, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Mexico, Music, Puerto Rico, Sony, Spain, Tanzania, Travel, world, Zanzibar |

MIT Summit Applies The Principle Of Ockham’s Razor To Assist Developing Nations

Published September 11, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

Ockham’s Razor is a scientific principle that is often paraphrased as “All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.” Today this principle is often taken as a rule of thumb that advises economy or simplicity, especially in scientific theories. This summer, masons and mechanics, farmers and welders, scientists and a pastor dedicated themselves to the theory of Ockham’s Razor as they brainstormed methods to create low-tech solutions to big problems that persist across the globe.

Converging at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the three-week long International Development Design Summit, these 61 inventors from 20 countries divided into ten teams that worked round-the-clock to develop and build prototypes of low-tech device designed to make life a little easier for the poor peoples of the world. Prototypes ranged from an inexpensive incubator for low-birth-weight babies to a rope system that could help craftswomen in the Himalayas get their products to market, but in my opinion, the two most interesting inventions to emerge from this yearâ€™s summit are a low-cost charcoal crusher and a scheme to produce electrical power with incidental effort as people go about their everyday tasks.

I was personally made aware of the need for a charcoal crusher when I visited Tanzania last year. My safari driver stopped one day to buy charcoal for his family’s cooking needs. The whole affair seemed cloaked in secrecy; the bags were nowhere to be seen upon arriving at the store and my diver disappeared into a back room to negotiate for the purchase. Finally, a tall young man emerged from around the rear of the store, toting an enormous sack, which was Continue reading →

Posted in Inspirational |

Tagged charcoal crushers, corn cobs, developing nations, electricity, generators, Gratitude, India, innovation, International Development Design Summit, M.I.T., Ockham's Razor, poor peoples of the world, simple solutions, simplicity, simplify, Tanzania, Technology, third world countries, water |

2 Comments

How To Cross A Street

Published January 10, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

It seems a simple thing, crossing a street. But my idea of how to get across a busy street in the U.S., whether on foot or in a vehicle, is significantly different from methods employed to cross streets in other places in the world. For example, take a look at this video showing a busy street in India:

Above YouTube video courtesy of SteveInSpain35

As I traveled around the world I was intrigued by the various means employed to cross a street. On my very first morning in Saigon, Vietnam I spotted a bakery across the street from my hotel. I stood at the curb for 15 minutes, waiting for a break in the monstrous traffic but the vehicles just kept coming. Just as I was about to give up, a local man stepped off the curb, walked out into the midst of the traffic, and slowly crossed the street as the vehicles weaved and darted around him. Eventually, I got up the nerve to try it and stepped out into the stream of traffic. Continue reading →

Posted in Travel tips |

Tagged Africa, cross a street, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Tanzania, Thailand, traffic, Travel, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe |

4 Comments

Photo Library For Tanzania And Zanzibar

Published July 28, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

I have arrived in Zurich, Switzerland, following a nine-hour, overnight flight from Tanzania. Today is a day of walking and resting – but in the meantime I have uploaded all the Tanzania and Zanzibar photos to the photo library. If you’d like to take a look, just click on the button labeled “Photo Library” on the upper right-hand side under the green menu bar and then on the appropriate country/area link. Enjoy, and I’ll be back soon with some great photos and commentary on Zurich.

Posted in Africa travel |

Tagged Africa, Around The World, Free Spirit, photos, Switzerland, Tanzania, Travel, Zanzibar, Zurich |

2 Comments

Three Words – African Countries

Published July 27, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

As I leave Africa and wing my way toward Switzerland, I have been thinking about the three words I will assign to each of the African countries I have visited. I have decided not to do this for Zambia, for I only spent a couple hours in this country and then only in the Victoria Falls East Cataract National Park, so I don’t feel that I had adequate exposure to the country to really get a sense of it. However, the following are the words I have chosen for the rest of the African countries I visited: Continue reading →

Posted in Africa travel |

Tagged Africa, Around The World, Botswana, Free Spirit, South Africa, Tanzania, Three Words, Travel, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe |

1 Comment

Barefoot And Brainless

Published July 26, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

For the past five days I’ve been staying at the Sunset Bungalows on the northern tip of the island of Zanzibar, near the village of Nungwi. Initially, things did not go smoothly. On my first day I had lunch at the resort’s restaurant on the beach and tried to charge the meal to my room, intending to pay the entire bill when I checked out. For some reason they did not want me to do this, but the waiter was unable to explain why. I eventually had to hunt down the general manager for an explanation. Apparently the restaurant and the resort are owned by two different people and there is no accounting system in place that allows them to track charges from the restaurant. I could have charged meals each day but then would have had to clear the bill the next morning – fat lot of good that would have done me. I also discovered in this same conversation that the resort does not accept credit or debit cards, yet they never informed me of this prior to arriving. Fortunately I had enough cash with me to cover my food and incidentals during my stay but I met a lot of people who got caught short and were literally living on potato chips.

Sunset Bungalows on the northern tip of the island of Zanzibar

The restaurant’s food was terrible, the refrigerator in my room didn’t work, I had no towels, and I had WARM water (not hot) only two of the five days I was there – the rest of the time it was ice cold. The resorts to the north and south all had lounge chairs set out but the beach in front of Sunset was bare. When I asked the manager where I could get a chair he said all theirs had broken and they “had not been able to replace them.” He suggested I use the chairs from the adjacent resorts. I did better than that. I spent ALL my money at the adjacent resorts for the balance of my stay. Continue reading →

Posted in Africa travel |