Monsoon time is not always the best time of the year. Really.
The long rainy season begins at the end of April, when most of the annual average 65 inches of rain falls over the course of about 3 months. Combined with an insignificant drop of 4 degrees Celsius, the rains provide a welcome relief and an average temperature of 24 degrees.
A typical rainy day starts off with the most glorious sunshine mornings, no clouds, quiet wisps of wind and the uncanny desire to grab a good book and lie under the trees with a freshly brewed cup of coffee. A good stretch and a boiled kettle later, the dark grey clouds have snuck up from behind the tree at the back of the neighbour’s house, and are getting ready to deposit half that annual rainfall on your sunhat.
Stone Town is really not the cleanest place in the world. Although a world heritage site, it would appear at first sight to have lost the memo on cleanliness and sanitation. A quick walk through the fish and meat market outlines the distinct need for gallons of disinfectant. A year’s worth of slop and off cuts has luckily not blocked the drains this year.
Zanzibar's streets disappear when it rains, and whatever was lying under or on the street races down the alleyways, knee deep in some places. This spring clean reveals a sparkling new paradise, lush and green, free of the plastic and scraps that usually line the roads. On one hand, wonderful, on the other not so good.
The streams channelled by the alleyways of Stone Town always find their way to the sea. The rainy season lines the beaches with an array of trash, destined to lie buried beneath the sand or washed out to sea. The unfortunate consequence of a blind eye.
Increased rains on the mainland of Tanzania contribute to hydropower generation, which feeds the national power grid. However this year the water level in the Mtera Dam has not risen to the level required to guarantee a regular power supply. Tanzania will be experiencing a week of daily 11hour blackouts, in order to do general maintenance on the Songosongo gas plant, to ensure electricity supply over the next year.
So people of Tanzania please enjoy the rain, appreciate the cool air and damp darkness of the African night.
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