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7-25-07
Hi all! The trip to Tanzania is coming to a close. I did not love
Tanzania as much as Ghana or Rwanda, but I still haven't gotten my
fill. I wish the stay here were a bit longer.
We have continued the orphanage work and are enjoying the kids (though
they seem intent on breaking my glasses before we leave the country)
and we are starting to recognize the neighbors at sight. We learned a
few Swahili words and that makes things a lot easier. People here are
less educated than the other African countries we have visited so it
has been harder to develop real tight relationships with any local
people. But, our friend Billy, has been an essential help and we were
really happy to have seen him while we were here.
We did a few days of tourism and traveled north, just south of the
Serengeti. We arrived (with Billy's great directions) with little
problem and got off the bus in a town called Arusha. We met a girl on
the bus who asked if we wanted to share a cab and so we all traveled
to a nearby hotel. The travel book had warned this town was filled
with people trying to scam people into paying for fake safaris. I
assumed it couldn't be any worse than anywhere else we had visited. It
was insane!!! As soon as we arrived at the hotel we were mobbed by
"touts" (people trying to lure you to a shop for a commission . . . .
sometimes legitimate but usually a scam). My firm rebuffs were
ignored. We took refuge in the hotel and decided to go into town to
look for a one-day safari for us and a 5 day for our new friend. We
were literally swarmed by several men who followed us or walked right
in front of us as we walked from shop to shop acting as if they had
lead us there! It was insane! The only thing I can compare it to is a
border crossing in Latin America . . . . but for an entire town!
We were able to finally find a trip to Ngorngoro crater for a decent
price and were really excited. We grabbed a taxi and retreated to the
hotel and ate at the closest place nearby to avoid hassle . . . which
happened to be a pizza place. It was frustrating because I felt like I
could not be friendly to anyone. The second I smiled, I was mobbed! It
was craziness!
The next day, we woke up early and a 4 by 4 jeep picked us up to drive
to the crater. It was apparently once the top of a volcano and has a
permanent water source with grass and so it is filled with animals. On
our one day safari we saw an elephants, hundreds of wildebeast,
zebras, hippos, ostriches, flamingos, storks, and lions!!!!! We saw
female lions prowling the plains and male lions sleeping. It was
awesome! Tom had hoped to see a black rhino, but there were none
spotted that day. We were able to stand in the jeep with the roof off
and feel the wind on our faces as we rambled through the yellow
grasses. It was beautiful!
The next day was not as successful. We heard that the cultural tour of
the Maasi village was particularly awsome (turns out our source had
traveled on market day and we did not). Our tour kind of sucked and
was awkward and uncomfortable. The Maasai people often wear red cloth
resembling a blanket, have stretched earlobes, lots of jewelry, and
jump really high when they dance. Once woman, dressed in typical
Tanzania clothes, offered to change into a traditional outfit. She ran
to her home, changed and posed for photos. It was very awkward and
strange haha . . . but the walk was beautiful and it was nice to see
some Tanzania village life. We also got to enter a Massi home which
houses the wife, a fire for cooking, and a cow!
After that we hopped a dola-dola (like a tro-tro) to Moshi where Mt.
Kilimanjaro is. It was cloudy so we couldn't see the mountain. We had
planned to spend the afternoon walking around the park, but it was
going to cost $120 plus a guide! It was too much so we decided to walk
down from the gate to the base of the mountain (about 5 km) and were
still sore haha. While walking down we saw a waterfall and saw some
more local life. It was a pleasant walk, but I was disappointed about
missing the chance to walk on the mountain.
The next day we traveled back to Dar and our bus broken down for 5
hours! We were at the side of the road in a beautiful spot but it was
filled with thorns and didn't have food or water. Tom and I explored
the land, played baseball with a rock and stick tom found, and played
hangman. It was annoying but also a relaxing laid back time.
We leave tomorrow fro India after a day of volunteering. Fun times!!!
Pictures will be up soon and I fixed the problem with the Ghana pics.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/558539930YnAFRI
7-13-07
We have been in Tanzania for a few days and are enjoying ourselves.
Billy met us at the airport and gave us a great introduction to Dar.
We are staying in a cute hostel with running water! We are very happy.
We are tired from Ghana and its nice to have a home base. We went to
the beach yesterday with Billy We saw some old German ruins from
colonial days past and ruins from the oldest mosque in eastern africa.
It was a nice relaxing day with a lot of walking.
We started at the orphnage today. The kids are hungry for attention
and have developed many maladaptive ways of gaining attention. But
they are all super cute! The orphange also houses some developmentally
disabled people. 5 or 6 are clarly autistic. I wish I was here along
enough to be able to get my hands on them on teach them some skills.
Two are deemed "unmanagable" and are tied to their wheel chairs. It
breaks my heart to be in the room with them.
Overall, Tanzania is a lot like Ghana . . . but a little rougher. It
is pretty and people have been very friendly. Muslim women dress in a
more middle eastern headware style than in Ghana and there is a large
native Indian population.
On weds we will go see Mt. kilimanjaro and hopefully go on a small
safari. I am excited to hopefully see lions.
I uploaded some pictures
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/558539930YnAFRI
9:25 AM
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