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Travelogue

Yvonne Raley
Written by Yvonne Raley
Filed under
arusha, cecile raley designs, Gem Dealer, gem trade, Gems, John Saul, Longido, ruby, spinel, tanzania, Tanzanian Spinel, tanzanite

My Trip To Tanzanian - Part II

Yvonne Raley
Written by Yvonne Raley
Day two in Arusha, Tanzania. The day started with a visit to one of Jochen's suppliers, a long time dealer in gemstone rough, one of the richest men in Arusha who has also supplied to a few dealers I know here in NY.. T. who has to remain nameless for security reaons, is a White African native in his early 60s and like all the other dealers there, totally hooked on what he does. T. showed me a...
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Written by Joanne Simmons
Filed under
arusha, cecile raley, cecile raley designs, gem buying, gem district, Gems, kilimanscharo, Kinjonga, ruby, Swala Gems, tanzania, tsavorite, zoisite

My Trip to Tanzania

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Written by Joanne Simmons
We left for the airport at Antanarivo (Tana), Madagascar, in the early morning hours to catch the mid-day flight to Nairobi, Kenya with a connecting flight to Kilimanjaro (Kili), Tanzania. Travel involved a 3 to 4 hr car ride from Antsirabe to Tana, and then a meeting with the local mining office for export. An export fee is hashed out based on our purchases. It seems to be rather fluid and is... Continue reading
Yvonne Raley
Written by Yvonne Raley
Filed under
antsirabe, Betafo, Burial, Burial Cloth, cecile raley designs, Clan, Exhumation, Famadihaha, Gems, gemstones, madagascar, Mausoleum, Raising the Dead, Rice Water, Turning of the Dead, Vazahy, Yvonne Raley

My Trip to Madagascar, Famadihana

Yvonne Raley
Written by Yvonne Raley
As I reported in my previous blog post, I got a very intimate sense of living in Madagascar when I was invited to an exhumation. The locals call it 'Famadihana': Turning of the Bones. This is the tradition of exhuming the bodies of the dead, which takes place every 3-7 years, depending on the family's wishes. The body is removed from the mausoleum or dug out of the ground. Bodies are wrapped in...
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Written by Joanne Simmons
Filed under
africa, antsirabe, arusha, congregation, Felician, Garnets, gem market, gem shopping, gem trade, Gems, geologist, graduate school, madagascar, Nairobi, safari, sapphire, sphene, tanzania, tourmaline

Yvonne Goes to Africa

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Written by Joanne Simmons
Yes, this is really happening, a dream come true. On August 17th, in just a few days, I'll be flying first to Germany to see my mom and then to two of the world's most famous gem paradises: Madagascar and Tanzania. This trip has been in the planning stages for about a year. My friend Jochen Hintze from Jentsch Mineralien, a German geologist who travels to Africa up to 10 times a year, is going to... Continue reading
Recent posts
My Trip To Tanzanian - Part II Oct 27, 2016
My Trip to Tanzania Oct 13, 2016
My Trip to Madagascar, Famadihana Sep 19, 2016
Yvonne Goes to Africa Aug 11, 2016