To someone who has never spent time in sub-Saharan Africa traditional village life there usually conjures up negative images of poverty, illiteracy, disease and overpopulation. Fortunately there are upsides to living in rural Africa. The following images are from a small village named Nungwi which is located on the northern tip of a very famous and exotic island off the east coast of Africa named Zanzibar (now a part of Tanzania), and highlight the good, bad and utterly unique that make up African village life.

Like nearly every other African village Nungwi has a main unpaved road that serves as its major artery.

The women of Nungwi have a habit of "putting their head to good use".

This villager could be working on a variety of straw products; be it hats, mats or even huts.

Handmade dhows have long been one of this village's trademarks.

Even small villages such as Nungwi are not immune to the HIV plague wreaking havoc on continental Africa.

Nungwi’s version of a beauty salon is located outdoors and specializes in "African braids" for locals and tourists alike.

Many villagers can be fully self-sufficient in terms of food due to the large amount of fruit-bearing trees.

Jackfruit stand.

Nungwi's fabulous coastline.

Nungwi residents also treat themselves to fabulous seafood on a regular basis.

This lady's efforts to clean up somehow seem utterly futile to the average observer.

Though the official language of the island (Swahili) uses Latin script, here the young pupils are taught the traditional Arabic version. The entire island of Zanzibar was under Omani rule for nearly 300 years (till the 20th century) and during that time Arabic was the official language.

Evening entertainment for the villagers usually comes in the form of a communal television set. European football broadcasts are a major hit among this crowd.

Arya Kazemi is a semi-professional vagabond and aspiring travel writer/photographer. More of Arya’s work can be seen on his personal site www.hetrippin.com

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