The blush of early morning sun
awakening the new day
Zanzibar
Favourite Places
Where would I rather be?
On a beach in Zanzibar listening to the surf breaking on the reef and the gentle lap of waves on the sand …
On the balcony of one of my favourite hotels in Bali, overlooking rice paddies and watching the sun come up behind Mt Agung …
Or on my local beach in Western Australia walking with my dog?
A privileged life indeed.
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/favorite-place/
Windows on the World
A stone house with a tin roof and maybe, one day, some glass windows.
Unguja Island, the largest island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, is according to Tripadvisor, a ‘breathtaking spot to escape the world’. And so it is. The East coast has beautiful white palmtree-lined beaches, a coral reef and warm waters. The tourists flock to the resorts, enjoy the watersports or laze by the pools, eat the gourmet food and drink bottled water. If it gets a little hot they turn on the air conditioning and or a fan. One can indeed escape.
In the sandy streets behind the beach, are many small villages where life is different. For them ‘escaping the world’ might mean something else.
But the right kind of tourism and development might mean that one day these kids get a decent education and one day perhaps a window with glass in it.
World Heritage
I have travelled to many UNESCO World Heritage sites. Zanzibar Stone Town in Tanzania, Kathmandu Valley in Nepal, the Medina of Fez in Morocco, Robben Island in South Africa, The Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Grand Canyon in the USA, the rock-hewn Churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia, Lavaux Vineyard Terraces in Switzerland (below), to name a few.
I wondered what the listing actually meant, so of course I googled it.
‘Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.
Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.’
This got me wondering even more.
If these sites are to be passed on to future generations, why do we do so little when some are so threatened?
Kilwa Kisiwani, Tanzania
Wondering and Wandering
I don’t think I’ll ever lose my wanderlust. It ebbs and flows like the tides on my doorstep here in Western Australia. Sometimes the pull to stay ‘home’ is strong: when the beach beckons, and the outdoor lifestyle is easy, with good food, wines and friendships.
Then there are times when the lure of new shores overwhelms, the draw of old haunts tempt, and the need to leave this remote city to return to the familiar people and places of my formative years is stronger than the urge to stay.
Bali
Addis Ababa
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verbalising 
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