Tuesday June 28 and Wednesday June 29, 2011 – Mimi akaanguka katika upendo na Arusha (I have fallen in love with Arusha)

June 28 went to the cultural museum in Arusha today but it turned out to be a souvenir store with a bit of museum stuff to look at, but mostly an art gallery. After that we walked down to some local street markets and I ended up buying some kanga, which is the African fabric that all the women wear. They make skirts, dresses, scarves, hats, you name it out of this stuff. It`s really pretty and colourful. We walked around until it started getting dark then headed back to our hotel. That night six of us piled in a taxi (four sitting in the back with Alex lying across all of us and one in the front, haha) and then went to this local bar called Empire State Bar for their Reggae Jam Night. It ended up being a lot of fun!

Feeding the babies mashed avocado! 

On Wednesday we had a WildTracks coffee plantation tour planned so the company picked us up from our hotel at 9am and then headed up towards Mt. Meru. If you ever go to Tanzania please come to Arusha, it`s gorgeous! When we got to the village of Nkuaranga in Mt.Meru we met our guide for the day and then he took us to a small shop where part of money from this tour went towards buying some kg`s of rice, pasta and fruit for an orphanage we`d be visiting shortly. We walked a short distance up to the orphanage and were warmly welcomed by the Mama. Our guide told us this was an orphanage of about 24 kids. The primary aged kids were out at the school, but we got to sit, play and cuddle with all the babies that were there. When I walked in, there was about six babies lying on the floor on an old mattress and then toddlers playing around the room. There were some volunteers staying there that helped take care of the kids but there was nowhere near enough volunteers for the amount of kids. It was sad to see and the experience left a strange feeling in my stomach. The kids were dirty and smelly, but none the less happy. I picked up one of the small babies and cuddled him or her (we weren`t sure who were boys and who were girls because they were just dressed in plain clothes. The baby was so content and I think really enjoyed the cuddle! Their lunch came out and we fed them some mashed avocado. I`m not sure if it was because they were babies or if it was because I knew that this was a really good orphanage and the thought of what else is out there in the world was…let`s just say more than depressing.

The gorgeous flowers along our hike/walk!

We then visited the primary school just for a bit before we headed up the mountain through a beautiful, lush forested area. There were countless banana trees and nature galore! I was in my element. We went to a coffee farm owned by a local and got to see how the coffee looks when it`s on the bush and then the rigorous process it takes before the coffee even reaches the point to when it can be roasted. Let`s just say I will appreciate every cup of coffee I drink from now on because the work that goes into making it (especially from places like Tanzania and fair trade coffee companies alike). They showed us the different stages they must do with the plant before it`s ready to be planted again and then grown to maturity and ready for the beans to be picked and then sorted and then dried and roasted. We saw three different natural pesticides they use, which (and I may be naïve but I had no idea) are actual plants! I was so impressed with how much they use nature to their benefit and a bit envious. These plants have special compounds in them to ward off bugs and insects, so this coffee and the all the coffee I bought is 100% organic! Also I had a bandaid on my finger that day and immediately the owners son noticed and told me they don`t use bandaids there and he took me to this plant that is used to rub on cuts and then it stops them from bleeding and helps them heal! There`s even a very soft plant they use as toilet paper and one`s they use as a medicine against malaria (its actually a tree and they scrap off the bark). I`m a sucker for nature and can really appreciate it so I was just loving every second of learning all this. Oh and the flowers up on this mountain were breathtakingly gorgeous! I think some of the beauty might have come from the combination of run down poverty stricken houses in the backdrop of luscious green forest and being in this village made me feel like I was in another world (and it was another world compared to Dar!)

Fixing the coffee plant to prepare it for re-plant

For lunch we walked to the owner`s of Wild Tracks house and had a traditional Tanzanian lunch and the coffee from the farm we just visited on their patio. The food was the best I`ve eaten yet and when I mentioned how wonderful the rice and everything else was she explained that the rice came from a lady down the street, the banana`s or ndyzi also from down the street, and everything else also local! After lunch we saw them roast the coffee and the process all the way to the coffee being sealed in airtight bags and put in cloth bags and tied with dried banana leaf string! I even got to package the coffee that I bought! I loved seeing the whole process and knowing that what they do is so amazing. This company also employs locals and gives them fair wages, which is such a great thing in Tanzania because so many people are exploited and taken advantage of when it comes to employment. Today was an amazing day that I will never forget! Asante Sana Arusha!

Bagging my coffee!

Please check out their website at: http://www.wild-tracks.com/coffee_english.html

Monday June 27, 2011

The crater was my favorite! There were so many animals there and I was really glad we did it last because it was like a finale!! We saw a hippo out of water and we even saw lions up close and personal....there was one so close to our jeep that if I bent over I could have petted her! Today I learned that ostrichs can run up to 70kms/hr! It was an all around amazing day today and not much went wrong with the vehicle to boot! Today was our last day on safari, it was the best four days EVER and I wish I could keep going for another four days. In summary I think we had: three flat tires, one broken clutch, three times that the jeep overheated, stuck in the mud twice (once where we had to push), one roof that wouldn’t close so we got soaked, and three nights four days of pure African safari bliss! Maisha ni nzuri....a.k.a....life is good!

Sunday June 26, 2011 – Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater

We are Masai!

Nzuri Sana!

Woke up bright and early, had tea and then headed out for a morning game drive. We ended up seeing three leopards, a bunch of elephants, zebras, wart hogs, impala, antelope, male lions and female lions, giraffes, ostrich, hippos, monkeys, and a bunch of neat looking birds! It was raining for a bit and our jeep got stuck in some mud and we couldn’t get out so we all had to get out and push! Our feet got really muddy and we were all soaking wet and so dirty, but it was a blast! Went back to camp around noonish to pick up our stuff and have lunch and then we picked up our fixed popped tire and headed towards the crater. Our guides tied our luggage and tents to the top of the jeep and part of it was in the way of our roof top shutting properly so when it started to rain again we all got absolutely soaking wet inside the jeep and water was literally pouring in! Water was even getting in through our windows on the side of the jeep and they were shut, but the seals on them were old and didn’t work properly. Shortly after our vehicle decides to overheat! We were broken down for over half an hour until another vehicle stopped to see if we were ok. One of the girls from inside the vehicle was from Abbotsford, BC, of all places (small world!). We were shortly on the road again, but just when we thought that we had dealt with all the bad luck coming our way, we got another popped tire! A different group stopped to help us and then their radiator over heated, lol, so our guides helped them! Luckily everyone is so nice! Unfortunatley from all the breakdowns we wouldn’t make it to our camp by dark. We quickly stopped at a Masai village before getting to camp because there was one on the way that lets people tour their village for a small price. We didn’t get to stay long because it was getting dark but I’m glad we went because it was really neat to experience! They took us inside their huts, which by the way the women make out of acacia trees and cow dung! Their huts consist of an entrance room with a small fire in the center, a room just big enough to fit one cow, a room for the kids to sleep and a room for the parents or grandparents to sleep. The fires burn just enough to keep the huts nice and warm and they had tiny little windows that let enough light in without letting the warmth escape or the wind and rain to get in. Masai are nomadic to they travel around the country and make new villages as they go. Then they took us to see their primary school where they teach their children right there in the village and then they tried to sell us necklaces, bracelets and jewellery for ridiculously high prices! We got to camp and it was pitch dark out so we quickly set up tent and had dinner. It was freezing cold because we were camping at the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. I didn’t sleep well because the ground was so hard and my feet refused to get warm, but I didn’t mind because I WAS ON A SAFARI IN AFRICA!!!!!

I slept in the one on the right!

Inside the house of a Masai warrior!

Masai children coming back from school (in the back)

Saturday June 25, 2011 – Serengeti a.k.a the place where you can’t see the end!

On the way to Serengeti we stopped to get some red bananas from a local because red bananas are famous in Arusha. We pulled over to the side of the road and 5 ladies ran over to the car, all selling a different type of banana! The red bananas were good but they kind of made my tongue numb, haha! We also saw a lion in a tree on the way to our game drive, which is actually pretty rare so we were lucky to see it. Then we drove through a little town and stopped at a drop hole bathroom where we had to pay 200 tsh to use it and it was flooding and I got hopefully what was water all over my feet! Jenny let me use one of her wet wipes so I was ok…this is one thing I won’t forget to pack when I come back to Africa! We later saw zebras, elephants, donkeys, baboons, buffalo, impala, and ostriches. We also had our second flat tire in Serengeti, haha. Normally on a safari you have two guides, one as the cook and one as the driver, but we had three because one guy was training to become a guide so that was good for helping fix tires and all the other bad luck we had coming our way!! Our guides names were Richard (trainee), Said (cook), and Hassan (driver). Jenny couldn’t say Hassan’s name right if her life depended on it, haha! Soon after we changed the tire it started to pour and we got drenched because our roof wouldn’t shut properly because some of our luggage was in the way and we couldn’t fix it because it was on top of the roof tied up really good! It makes for an unforgettable adventure though! That night we set up camp and had a delicious supper. It was kind of cold that night but nothing compared to what it would be tomorrow night at the Crater!

A curious buffalo

Elephant bum!

Hyenas are shockingly cute! Who would of thought!

Friday June 24, 2011 – Safari Time!

We got a complimentary breakfast at our hotel which was chapatti, mandaazi, watermelon and the tea I’m obsessed with, African pride tea! We got picked up at 8:30am for our safari and stopped on the way to buy some Masai blankets to use as a blanket at night in the tents. It took about three hours to get to Lake Manyara because on the way our tire popped so the guides had to replace it. Shortly after we got to Lake Manyara our jeep broke down. It was the clutch and it took close to 2 ½ to 3 hours to fix. Luckily we were stopped in an area where there was a ton of baboons and they came up really close to us and we got some good pictures. We had lunch while we were waiting, but they forgot I said I was vegetarian so all I could eat was a chapatti and a deep fried muffin! Jenny and I were eating our lunch on the roof of the jeep and we thought we were going to get attacked by a baboon because this one came running up really fast to the car because it smelt the food! Another vehicle came to get us and take us to the hippo pool while the jeep finished being fixed. When the jeep came back we went for a game drive and we ended up seeing wildebeest, giraffe, zebras, vervet monkeys, elephants, dik diks, and waterbucks. It was so dusty driving in Lake Manyara so we were all very dirty by the end. We went back to have dinner and to our surprise we got to sleep in a lodge on the first night. We thought we’d be camping for all three nights but we stay in a lodge the first night and then camp the other two nights. Our cook Said was amazing, he made us homemade cucumber soup, popcorn appy, hot chocolate, tea, mixed veggies, fried potatoes, fish, and mango and oranges. To our surprise the showers at the lodge were also hot, which was nice since we wouldn’t be showering for the next two days!

Thursday June 23, 2011 - Off to Arusha

Woke up at 4:45am to catch the bus to Arusha. We thought it was supposed to be a 9 hour bus ride but it ended up being closer to 12 hours. It was a gorgeous scenic ride so that helped with the length! We stopped for a pit stop about 3 or 4 hours in, but it was just on the side of the road with no bathroom and a giant bus load of on-lookers so none of us went. Luckily we stopped for lunch a couple hours later and there were drop hole bathrooms. There was a concession that consisted of purely chicken and chips, so I got the only thing I could which was chappati and mandaazi, which are both deep fried goodness. On the way to Arusha we passed by a town called Moshi and it is apparently the cleanest town in Tanzania. We got to Arusha and went to our hotel, the Caanan hotel, to drop off our bags and then went to the safari office to pay for the rest of our safari. The climate in Arusha is way cooler than it is in Dar and I was actually a bit cold. It is also way less populated. Had a late dinner at our hotel which had a restaurant with a menu that had about 25 different dishes on it but they only had the supplies to make about 3 of them. So everything we asked for they said they didn’t have, haha, so being a vegetarian the only thing they had that I could eat was a green salad. About forty five minutes to an hour later they bring out our food and my green salad was a mixture of mango, banana, and avocado, haha! It was good though and it was only 2,000 tsh! We were happy with our rooms, they were only about $10 a night and the showers were hot, it was clean, and there was electricity at night time to charge our cameras, oh and the toilets that flushed! Although, the double beds were just slightly bigger than a twin bed so Moriah and I had to cuddle, haha!

Wednesday June 22, 2011

Woke up bright and early to do some laundry by hand before our week trip to Arusha tomorrow. Today the power went out shortly after 8am so a few of us went to sea-cliff to use their internet but when we got there the internet wasn’t working there either! So I went to the book store ‘novel idea’ and ended up buying a book called “The Invisible Cure: Africa, the West and the Fight Against AIDS” and read it while having coffee. So far it’s really interesting. Then I went to boona baana today because I won’t be able to go tomorrow when I’m supposed to be going because we leave for Arusha in the early morning tomorrow. We brought a cake over for the kids to decorate and they thought that was pretty cool!