Ngorongoro Crater

rhino

The second day of our safari was in Ngorongoro Crater.  The crater itself is a spectacular landscape.  Early in the morning our safari truck climbs up the mountain, on the side of the road water buffalo are shrouded in dense fog.  The temperature drops as we reach the summit and then begin the half-hour descent into the crater.  As the visibility increases, we can see the crater stretching out below. Apparently animals are drawn to Ngorongoro Crater by the abundance of water and relative safety from predators.

Zebra Family

Zebras are everywhere, next to the road, in the road and totally unafraid of all the safari trucks. We were a bit surprised, perhaps disappointed, that zebras are like squat, plump, striped donkeys.

One of our most remarkable encounters was a lioness stalking a gimpy zebra.  Along with dozens of other onlookers, we held our breath and watched like hawks as the lioness artfully stalked the zebra.  We waited almost an hour, guiltily hoping for a little carnage. Somehow the gimpy, seemingly clueless zebra escaped by leisurely eating grass on his way back to the herd.

Wildebeest

homo sapiens americanas

Hippos definitely exceeded my expectations. Not only are they huge animals, they look overweight with fat rolls, huge haunches and rosy pudgy cheeks. We saw a mother swimming in the pond with her baby. What a beautiful sight. Hippos are not to be toyed with though. Despite their cuddly herbivore exterior they are fiercely territorial and I have seen a man with his leg sliced wide open by a hippo. 

During our safari it was the dry season and the animals were not as numerous as other times of the year but we saw a lot nonetheless. I don’t have pictures of all of them but here are a few.

hyena

Thompson's Gazelle

grants gazelle

Agule

Before leaving the States we heard about a rural medical clinic in Uganda in need of volunteers. Our initial plan was to leave Tanzania after 3 months and volunteer in Uganda. Tanzania grabbed ahold of us and hasn’t let go yet but we did visit the clinic, Agule, while vacationing in Uganda.

First of all, there is no way to describe the overwhelming hospitality we received.  It was one of those rare experiences where the generosity and consideration make you feel sick to your stomach, at worst you feel like a pathetic loser. The director of Agule dropped everything at his job in Kampala to pick us up an hour away in Jinja.  His wife had given birth to a baby girl the day before and despite her pleading he didn’t give her a ride home from the hospital because he was too busy showing the surprise visitors around Kampala! Although mom was clearly in pain and caring for a newborn they kindly invited us to stay the night in their home. Their house has been under construction for 5 years (make hay while the sun shines or build while you have bricks) and promises to be large enough to accommodate extended family. They insisted on buying us shoes, sheets, toilet paper, bottled water and who knows what else. That evening the women of the house spent 5 hours cooking a DELICIOUS meal for us.

Aside: We were quite shocked when the women shuffled into the room on their knees to greet us. Later in the village, we realized this is how women are expected to greet superiors (men and white people). I heard a few giggles when I got down on my knees to thank the women for cooking our meal.

The clinic, Agule, is an hour or two outside of Kampala, in the Pallisa district. Along with meeting the clinic staff we were introduced to many “officials” and were even asked to make a speech at the church. A district representative to the president lectured us about development in Uganda while sucking on fresh mango and reclining on a straw mat in the shade. We met the district sheriff, the representative to the president, the president’s representative to the district, and a former ambassador to the US. In a strange twist, we ended up paying for beers and a dinner party of men in suits making long speeches at our hotel about how thankful they were for our visit.

Agule Hospital lies at the end of a long flat dirt road and was founded by a handful of men born in the community. The founders are not medical professionals but they do have an incredible vision and the management skills to achieve their goals. In several years it may be a full teaching hospital!

We were all absolutely stunned by the excellent staff at this tiny rural hospital: a medical doctor, AMO, lab technician and nurses. It was incredible what the staff could do with very limited resources. Everyone seemed to be there because they genuinely want to make a difference. There are volunteers in the States also dedicated to helping Agule grow.

Since I can’t do it justice, here are some photos.

This is the hand cranked centrifuge for the clinics lab. Although the lab tech was trained in Uganda working in this lab was a big adjustment.

This is the microscope, it is monocular and can give you a real headache after hours of doing malaria tests. For the most part they use just the mirror and sunlight.

Centrifuge

Just two weeks after we visited a group came from the United States to complete the building of a maternity ward and they donated two new microscopes!!

African Sunsets

One night in Uganda we paid a pretty penny for a little hut with dirt floors, palm thatched roof, no electricity and no running water.  It was worth it though for the spectacular views.  From the porch we could see Sipi Falls in the distance.  During a short downpour I got to shower and wash my clothes at the same time.  When the sun burst through the clouds there was a double rainbow overhead, which ended in the waterfalls below. In the evening we sat on a rock outcropping and watched (very carefully) a spectacular sunset. The next morning a troupe of monkeys came by waiting to be fed bananas.

It’s all about the journey

Transportation plays a big part in our adventures. If you are traveling on a tight budget getting from one place to another can easily account for half of your trip. In Moshi we get around on dalla dallas. It’s slow, uncomfortable, smelly and hot but I love it. People are kind, patient, and if the music is playing or a mama has entrusted me with her baby, I am in love with Tanzania all over again. In Kenya, the dalla dalla is called a matatu and in Nairobi they are often decked out with powerful sound systems, black lights and lots of decals.

In Uganda, we discovered bicycle taxis. Everywhere we went men were straining to pedal passengers up steep hills and through traffic jams. The only modification is a cushion over the back tire where ladies dressed for the office or mamas with babies on their backs or children headed to school will be gingerly perched as the bike plods down the road. In Jinja, the street corners were crowed with motorcycles, boda bodas, vying frantically for passengers. For half the price of a car taxi you can hop on the back of a boda boda and get just about anywhere you need to go. At most, I have seen 4 people creatively piled on a motorbike but we certainly stretched the limits ourselves with 3 people and 3 backpacks. We know it isn’t the safest option but there is nothing like riding a motorcycle, the wind in your hair, feeling like you are a part of the landscape as it passes, dodging through traffic.

The only thing that tops riding on a boda boda is hitching in the bed of a truck, which we do as often as possible. It has the benefits of a boda boda but is more spacious and free!

Tarangire

For months we didn’t even consider going on safari, paying hundreds of dollars to sit in an SUV driving around a park with hundreds of other wazungu snapping photos at animals we know from Lion King.  The contrast was too sharp to our Moshi routine of driving a hard bargain to pay 100 TSH instead of 200 TSH a cucumber.  Seriously! Well, we finally went on safari, it met our expectations but so much more and it was absolutely worth it.

There are hundred photos from our two day safari to Tarangire and Ngorogoro Crater.  Here are a few of my favorites from Tarangire. This day we saw zebra, elephants, wildebeest, common ostrich, lions, secretary bird, giraffe, mongoose, superb starling, baboons, black faced capuchins, and tons of others I can’t remember.

superb starling

Mbege

Some things are universal. It seems no matter how far you travel people are making alcohol from something. In southern Tanzania, they collected the fruits of cashew nuts, dried them in the sun, then fermented them to make a stiff brew. We had an accidental encounter with cashew alcohol ourselves when we tried to soften the dried fruit by soaking it only to discover it never softens but does ferment rather quickly.

In the Kilimanjaro region, bananas are abundant and so is mbege, a fermented beverage made from bananas. Mbege, pombe and other banana based alcohols are traditional to the Chagga tribe that predominates the Kilimanjaro region. Mbege is made from bananas, water, millet and contains about 6-9% alcohol. We’ve heard some banana brews are spiked with cheap pills and even fertilizer!

This is a single serving of mbege. Bet you thought the Blue Cups at He's Not Here were big.

We had some culinarily adventurous guests and took them to a bar of sorts that is popular with locals. Before our bleary-eyed server handed over a half gallon of mbege for 1,000Tsh he took a swig to assure them it wasn’t toxic. The locals looked quite amused as four wazungu sipped, chewed, gagged and laughed for an hour only to make it a quarter of the way through the serving.

Women will carry one or even two of these bunches of green bananas several miles on their heads to sell them in town. Even using a wheelbarrow they are heavy!

bananas for mbege

Also universal is the sad situation that poverty and alcohol are a dangerous, sometimes lethal combination. A half gallon of calorie-rich mbege costs only 1,000Tsh (usually less) and often takes the place of a meal. During our work in the village we see the serious toll alcoholism takes on people’s health and families. Much like in the US, alcohol leaves in its wake hypertension, liver disease, blindness and domestic problems.

I suppose all things are better in moderation.

For Your Consideration

Yay, I still have my head!!

Monkeying Around

A while back we took a trip to the Usambara Mountains, four hours on a bus heading east from Moshi. Just past our bus stop we found a curio shop and tried to visit without being noticed by the touts.

Shuka

Aaron and Christopher bought some Maasai shuka in town. The shuka are wonderful for all sorts of things: blankets, sleeping bags, wraps or trying to dress like Maasai.

The Nile