Monica Negotiation in Stone Town Spice Market

Zanzibar and Stone Town

On our last day we traveled to the southern tip of Zanzibar for a tour
of Stone Town and to get to know Zanzibar a little, beyond the
northern beaches.

We were met by our guide Mudi, a friendly and knowledgeably although
slightly uncomfortably man with a somewhat disconcerting giggle. Mudi
wore what appeared to be a McDonald's managers uniform (a white button-
down with a small version of the golden arches embroidered of the left
pocket), which I suspect he saw as a self-marketing strategy. We spent
the morning and early afternoon walking Stone Town with Mudi while he
shared the history of Zanzibar.

Until it joined the rest of Tanzania around 20 years ago Zanzibar was
an independent country of a million people living principally on two
islands. The island were initially governed by Arabs and are today 90%
Muslim. Nearly all of the women you see on the island wear colorful
head coverings, although some are all in black with their faces
covered "burka style". All of the school girls wear what appears to be
a standard-issue yellow or white one-piece head covering that drapes
ove their school uniform gowns.

200 years ago, Zanzibar was the main slave market for East Africa.
Slaves were captured on the mainland, brought here by boat, and sold
for shipment to Arab countries (the U.S. Slaves came from West
Africa). We started our tour underground in one of the slave holding
cells. They were held here underground with no food or water for 3
days before being brought up to the whipping post for auction. Those
that could withstand whipping without crying were sold at a high
price, presumably a better option than being returned to the cell.

We nex went to the fish, spice and meat markets. We saw fresh tuna,
octopus, mussels, kingfish, and others, freshly gutted and still
bloody. We learned tha locals want to see the blood and inner parts,
with ice bringing the freshness into question. We walked quickly
through the meat market as the smell was overpowering and the sights
gruesome. Here, the freshness test translates to goat and beef heads
and innerds sitting on the table below the hanging meat.

At the spice market, Monica negotiated a purchae and then we were off
to tour the narrow alleyways of Stone Town. Monica purchased some
kangas and a bag as we made our way to the waterfront and a three-
story climb to the balcony of a local museum. We ga lunch at one of
the waterfront hotels and then worked out way back to the guide office
from where we would be taken to the ferry on our way to Dar es Salaam.

Random Thoughts on Tanzania Part Two

Transportation. Everywhere We have been in Tanzania is seems that
everyone is in a perpetual state of going somewhere. Maybe it's no
different than in the U.S., except that it takes them so long and they
use so many different forms o transportation. There are six kids on an
adult-sized bike, a guy with 30 dozen eggs precariously strapped on
the back of his bike, guys riding on cow-drawn wooden carts on top of
huge bails of hay, guys pullin fully-loaded cart themselves, guy on
motorized skooter with side-saddle woman with baby on the back, and
everything else you can imagine. And then there are the buses - small
minivans with 30 people crammed inside and hanging on the outside and
12 feet of sticks, palm fronds, and other possessions strapped to the
top. And, of course, people walking everywhere, in the case of women
often with water bottles, baskets of vegetables, or huge stacks of
firewood balanced on theie heads. I guess this is just one more way
that people make it happen here.

Entrepreneurship and Commerce. Everyone here seems to be selling
something here. The blacktop roads in Arusha are absolutely lined with
small stands or just blankets laid out with merchandise. From small
bags of coal to leather furniture to tennis shoes to all sorts of
produce. Monica says she hopes someone has the money to buy some of
this stuff.

Zanzibar Vultures. One of the few downsides to the Zanzibar beaches
are what we have come to call the "vultures". These guys wander the
beach trying to sell you something, starting with a swim-with-the-
dolphins excursion, working their way down through your "no's" to
their final ditch effort, a small ebony key chain that they hope you
will buy just because you like or feel sorry for them. You can't walk
down the beach without them approaching you with "jambo my friend" and
walking along side you. A Americans, shaking them was difficult at
first, but we got the drill down pretty good after the first day and
they left us alone after that. When they approach, we would say
"hapana asante, pole baba".

Tanzanite. In the late 60s or early 70s a hobby gemologist found a
strange blue stone in the hills above Arusha. After sending it to
Tiffany's for evaluation it was determined a unique stone and
Tiffany's suggested it be called Tanzanite. Even today it has only
been found in this one spot and comes out of just 5 or 6 mines
operating there. It is infinitely more rare than diamonds and will
reportedly run out in the next decade or so, making it even more
valuable. The stone can ramge from pale blue to darj blue and is
supposedly very beautiful, although we did not see one.

What Is This Thing?!!

Ou Last African Sundowner

Last Full Day in Africa

On Thursday morning, Monica and I left early to go snorkling at one of
the neighboring atolls. After much discussion with hotel management
and staff and some hand-wringing, we decided to leave the kids on
their own at the hotel for the morning.

Our boat departed from Blue Bay. We were accompanied by a dozen or so
other tourists (most of them European), several dive and snorkel
guides, and three boat crew. As it turns out, most on the boat would
be diving.

The water was choppy and there was some rain during the day, but it
was warm and we had a nice time nonetheless. We saw lots of fish, very
interesting varieties of starfish, eels, and even two different pods
of dolphins. I also became well acquainted with a small variety of
almost-invisible stinging jellyfish.

We returned back to the hotel around 1:30 to find, of course, that all
was well with the kids. They had spent the day swiming, at the beach,
and eating two meals at the restaurant. As it turns out, there was
very little supervision from the hotel staff. If you would have told
me before this trip that we would leave the kids on their own I would
have doubted it. But that was before we understood what friendly
people Tanzanians are and before we knew how comfortable we would
become in this country.

There was some excitement in the afternoon when Ben discovered a "big
spider" in the first floor toilet room. Grant went to look and when I
grabbed a flip-flop from the back steps, he said "you're gonna need
more than that." Indeed, he was right. When I sprayed bug killer
behind the toilet it came out looking for a fight. It had the body of
a spider and I'm pretty sure it had 8 legs, although the second-back
set were much longer than the rest, spanning 8 or 10 inches. In
addition to the aforementioned legs, this guy had two long arms with
tiny pichers on the end which he was waving around and snapping. A
spider? Some sort of scorpion? We took pictures with the intent of
researching the matter further when we get home. Although now that I
think about it, maybe we're better off forgetting the whole incident.

After another family walk on the beach, Ben suggested that we go to
the roof of our castle for our last African sundowner. We ordered
some French fries from the kitchen and enjoyed the view and a drink
together, recapping our favorite parts of the trip (and intermittently
listening to Eminem on Grant's iPod). A nice way to spend our last
night in Africa.

A Day with Leon, Aideen, Peter, and Sophia

While I was on day three of coffee farm visits, Monica and the kids
joined Leon and Aideen and their two kids, Peter and Sophia, at their
home for lunch and some play time. Peter and Sophia were home for
several weeks from boarding school in Kenya, creating a nice
opportunity for the kids to meet and spend some time together.

After lunch they went for a swim at the nearby polo club, and then
back to the house where they played 500, soccer, and cricket. Leon and
Aideen have a beautiful home among their new avocado plantations,
including a lovely garden with a nice lawn for the kids to play on.

Elliot, Ngomi, and I joined them for a fantastic dinner of lamb and a
wonderful assortment of vegetables. After dinner, Peter and Sophia
introduced our kids (and Elliot and me, for that matter) to a new game
called 'fireball'. The game involves soaking tenis balls in
methylated spirit, lighting them on fire, and hitting them aroun the
lawn in the dark with polo mallets. Evidently this spirit burns at a
very low temperature, so when the thrill of hitting the ball with a
mallet wears off, you can pick up and throw the balls, or even soak
and light your hand. This isn't something I can imagine at a birthday
party in the states, buy ad you can imagine there had already been
much discussion about where we might get methylated spirit at home. I
have to admit it was quite fun.

When asked later, each of our kids mentioned playing with Peter and
Sophia as one of the highlights of the trip. It was definitely an
added bonus for all of us to have unexpectedly made new friends while
traveling on vacation half-way around the world and we are hopeful
that they will cone visit us in Portland.

By the Fire in Zanzibar

Enjoying Our 'Maasai Beach Fire'

Doing Nothing in Zanzibar

On our first full day on the island we pretty-well accomplished our
goal of doing absolutely nothing.

After a nice walk on the beach during which many shells were
collected, Heidi, Ben, Monica, and I went back to the rooms and woke
Grant for breakfast. We spent the entire day swimming and lounging
around, with the big activity for the day consisting of a walk down to
the Blue Bay Beach Resort where we enjoyed a long leisurely lunch.

We had arranged for a private, candle-lit lobster barbeque dinner on
the beach, and headed down to the Star Bar to have a drink and wait
for dinner. We were joined there only by a bush baby, our first
sighting of the entire trip.

The hotel staff had set up a table and chairs on the beach and were
grilling an assortment of seafood. The whole affair was 'guarded' by
a Maasai in traditional red robes and complete with long belted
knife. Dinner was fantastic, with more lobster on the table than I
had seen since our Boston clam bake days.

The waiter requested that Monica and I take the two chairs facing the
water, but since Heidi and Ben were nervous about having their backs
to the surf in the dark, I ended up facing uphill, away from the
ocean. At one point early in the dinner I leaned back which, because
of the slope of the beach and the rickety nature of the chair, caused
me to go tumbling over backwards into the sand. The look on the faces
on our chef, waiter, and Maasai guard were priceless. I'm not sure
what they thought my reaction would be, but when I emerged from the
sand laughing hysterically they definitely showed signs of relief.

At the end of dinner our Maasai friend built us a fire on the beach
and we sat around talking for a few minutes before heading off to bed.
A perfect end to a nice relaxing day.

Our Zanzibar "Castle"

On the Flight to Zanzibar

Debate Class at St. Jude's

St. Jude's and the trip to Zanzibar

On Tuesday morning we visited the St. Jude's Usa River campus where
one of the math teachers toured us around the school. It was a short
visit, but we were able to visit the library, where a group of
students was being read to, observe a linguistics lesson, tour the
boarding rooms, stop in on an art class and sit in on music class,
where the kids were learning to drum and sing the Tanzanian national
anthem.

The Usa River campus was similar to the Moshono campus - nicely
constructed and, of course, full of uniformed childen with smiling
faces. The main difference is that this campus has several acres on
which to expand.

We then traveled to the Arusha airport, which is on the other side of
town. Our Kibo guide helped us with the check-in procedure and then we
waited on plastic lawn chairs and ate our boxed lunches. The plane to
Zanzibar was tiny, seating only 10 (which they stretches to 11 by
seating someone up front near the pilot). The flight afforded
spectacular views of Kilimanjaro and the pilot aborted the first
landing, which made for some excitement.

After an hour drive to the northeast coast of the island, we arrived
at The Shooting Star. The corny name caused us some concern, but we
were pleasantly surprised by the accomodations. The hotel is quite
rustic in a beachy sort of way, with the main lobby and dining area
consisting of thatch roofs over sand floors.

The real delight came when we were shown to our rooms. We were to stay
in our own white, stand-alone "castle", complete with spiral
staircase, a roof-top living space, and private pool! The first floor
had three netted four-poster beds for the kids and the second floor
consisted of a master suite. When we arrived there were even flower
petals strewn on the bed.

We climbed the second set of stairs to emerge onto the roof, where we
found a queen-sized day bed, an outdoor bathtub, and spectacular views
of the Indian Ocean and the lush green Zanzibar Island. We were
certainly well-appointed for the final, beach-vacation phase of our
trip to Africa!

Smallholder Sorting His Crop for Weighing

CCPK Collection Agent

Sorting and Washing Channel at Olturoto

CCPK Managers at Olturoto Pulperry

Coffee Day #3

On Monday July 12, Elliot, Ngomi, and I met Annabel Legg who, along
with her father, runs both a coffee estate and manages a set of mills
that collect from hogh-altitude smallholders in northern Tanzania.
Monica and the kids hung around the lodge in the morning and then took
Leon and Aideen up on their offer of lunch and an afternoon at their
house.

Central Coffee Pulperies of Kilimanjaro (CCPK) operates 5 pulperies,
buying coffee cherry from smallholders in 6 different locations on
Mount Kilimanjaro and nearby Mount Meru. Each mill has established
collection stations where a CCPK agent buys only high-quality cherry
at a set price.

The first mill we visited, the Olturoto Pulpery, was at the site of a
financially defunct coop on the southern slopes on Mt. Meru. CCPK
leases the mill from the coop and most of the contributing farmers are
coop members. We met two of Annabel's managers, who explained to us
how they time the fermentation by feel. We saw the pulping process in
operation and observed several women hand-sorting on the drying
tables. The mill is clearly well-run.

Next we visited a smallhoder near the mill. He was one of the larger
contributing farmers with nearly 800 very healthy, well-pruned coffee
trees interspersed with banana trees on his two acres. He had planted
the trees himself in 1967, and it was impressive to see the size of
the stumps from which the 3-year-old heads were growing.

We next traveled an hour up the slopes of Kilimanjaro where we had a
tour of the estate mill and a nice lunch. Afterward, we traveled
another hour or so up the mountain on some of the worst roads I have
ever seen, only to come around a bend into a bustling little town with
hundreds of people engaged in market day. A little further on the
"road" and we arrived at the small Boloti Pulpery at about 1,500
meters altitude. This project uses a Panagos mill, which requires much
less water because it removes all of the fruit, eliminating the need
for fermentation.

We next visited the collection agent for the Boloti Mill at his home,
where the collection occurs. While we were there a woman brought in a
small plastic bag containing her harvest. After she was asked to sort
out some of the green cherry, her crop amounted to about 3 Kg.

The average smallhold farmer in this area has about 20 trees. Many
trees produce as little as one or two kilograms per year, although
their potential is about 6 Kg, which would yield just over 1 pound of
exportable coffee. Using this math, the average contributor to the
CCPK is responsible for around 10 pounds of green.

I was very impressed with the CCPK projects. I believe that by
collecting coffee from the higher slopes of Kili and Meru and applying
good sorting and milling practices, these projects will produce some
nice coffees. I was also pleased with the detailed records of payments
to farmers and was encouraged by Annabel's plans to educate and
provide good plant material to the local smallholders. It seems to me
that good coffee from the slopes of Kilimanjaro would be very
marketable in the U.S. and might help break Tanzania away from an
almost exclusive association with peaberries.

Random Observations on Tanzania

The Handshake. The Tanzanian handshake can be uncomfortably long for
westerners and I have to admit that I have not figured it out.
Tanzanians seem happy to hold your hand indefinitely, sometimes even
transferring it to their left hand, and I have found it common to see
two men walking down the street holding hands. There also seems to be
some thing they want to do with changing the grip three or more times
during the shake, but I can't figure that out either. I definitely
like the sentiment.

Construction. Everywhere we have been in Tanzania we have seen lots of
half-built houses. There are no mortgages here, even for people with
means, but why don't they save up the money and then build the house
all at once? As it turns out, partial construction is a better place
to hold the savings. Because banks make so few loans, they make their
money largely off fees, so ones savings erodes significantly while
deposited in the bank.

Children and Responsibility. It is shocking and I guess a bit
impressive how much responsibility children have in Tanzania. We have
seen very small children tending live stock, walking all by themselves
along the road, and getting each other to school. They are also very
respectful to adults. Makes me think we will do things a little
differently when we ge home.

Taking Pictures. Without question the most interesting thing to look
at here is the people. From the beautiful, multi-colored kanga and
head scarves that the women wear, to the Maasai and others wearing
traditional clothing, to people simply going about their daily
activities so different than ours. And of course the beautiful,
smiling children. There is, however, always that sense that to look at
them through the camera lens you are intruding or exploiting, and more
times than not we have chosen not to get the camera out. We won't have
all the grea shots, but hopefully will have connected better with the
people and their daily lives.

Lunching at 'Arusha International' on Our Way to Zanzibar!

Original and New

Serendipity

On Saturday, we visited the Maasai Market in Arusha, where Grant
bought a carved wooden chess set. He was disappointed when we got to
the lodge at Mt. Meru and discovered that one of the carved pawns was
missing from the newspaper wrapping.

He and Ben wanted to play, so I left the room to search the grounds
for a rock or nut that would serve as a suitable replacement. This
being Africa, instead of a rock I found an actual wood carver sitting
near the entrance to the lodge. I handed him 5,000 tsch. and one of
the pawns as an example, and the next day we had a very close replica
(actually better, the kids say).

This just seemed like one of those 'only in Africa' stories.

New Coffee Planta in the Nursery at Mondul Estate

Monica Helping to Sort Coffee at Burka Estate

Coffee Day #2

Today, Sunday July 11th, Monica and the kids joined me for our second
day of coffee during this trip. We were hosted by Elliot Benson of
Schluter, a 100-year-old African coffee export company, and Elliot's
friend Ngomi, a Tanzanian of German descent who owns his own guide
company.

We started the day at Burka Estate, the largest coffee plantation in
Tanzania with around 700 acres under plantation. After a tour around
the fields with James, the very knowledgeable and experienced Kenyan
farm director, we joined Edwin, another Kenyan, in the cupping lab.
Edwin is in charge of the coffee quality at Burka. He is a Q grader
and has an impressive knolwedge of all influencers of coffee quality.
When he came to Burka a few years ago he brought a meticulous grading
and record-keeping process unlike I've ever seen at a coffee farm.
Through this process, they are able to produce some really nice
coffees at the relatively low elevation of around 2,000 feet.

After a nice lunch with Edwin, we traveled to the mountains above
Monduli Town to visit a higher-elevation farm puchased by Burka around
three years ago. Monica, Elliot, and I toured the Mondul Estate mill
and fields with James and the local manager Hugh, another Kenyan.
Keen on avoiding any more coffee talk, the kids and Ngomi struck up a
game of soccer with a handful of local boys.

Hugh is a delightful man who shared with us the work they have done to
rehabilitate this farm, their unique soil situation, and their plans
to go from 90 to 200 acres under cultivation. This is a lovely farm at
around 4,500 feet elevation and I have no doubt it will produce good
volumes of really nice coffee.

Elliot and I joined the soccer game for a few minutes, then our kids
said 'kwa heri' to the local boys and gave them the soccer ball we had
brought. After a nice sundowner on the patio of the estate main house,
which has beautiful 270 degree views of the surrounding country, we
piled into the van for the 90 minute drive back to the lodge.

Visiting Anna and Her Family at Their Home

Visiting Anna's Home

Saturday morning we boarded on of the school buses, headed for a visit
with Anna's family in their home. On the way we picked up Anna and the
secondary math and physics teacher, Mr. Korigo, who would serve as our
interpreter. Mr. Korigo is a friendly, energetic man who was
interested in discussing the state of education in his country and in
hearing about our experience here.

When the bus stopped on a bustling dirt road in Arusha, we traveled a
hundred yards down a winding alleyway to a small courtyard where we
found Anna's house. The house is typical from what we've seen - a 10'
x 12' cinderblock building with no electricity or water, curtains that
serve as a front door and internal divider, and a communal toilet
further down the alley.

We were warmly greeted by Anna's mother, her two late-teens sisters,
and her younger sister, Sweet. We would later be joined by Anna's 16-
year-old brother Isaak. The house was clean and well-organized,
although of course fairly tight with furniture and the other
belongings of the 5 people who live there (6 when Anna is home from
school). There were three couches (undoubtedly doubling as beds), a
coffee table, and a rug in the main living area, the walls if which
were decorated with a few family photos and some very nice ink
drawings by Isaak.

The visit was a lot of fun, as Anna's family delighted in Monica's
Kiswahili and we shared jokes over sweet tea and bread and butter
sandwiches. Monica handed out small gifts to each member of the family
and then I took them through a photo album of our family, friends, and
our family life, which we left for them to keep.

Anna was shy during the visit, but seemed to be happy that we were
there. We got some good laughs when Monica made the observation that
the female lions do all the work and I said I think she might be
referring to me.

When we got the call that the bus was on it's way we took some
pictures inside and out and then said our goodbyes, with lots of
wishes from both sides that we would see each other again. All three
of the teenagers in this family are in secondary or trade school, in
addition to Anna's achievements at St. Jude. They all should be proud
of what they are accomplishing in the face of fairly extreme poverty
and we were happy to be supporting their efforts.

Our Friend Moses

Moses

After spending nearly every waking moment with him for ten days, it
became abundantly clear how lucky we were to draw Moses as our guide.
In fact, we ran into many people during and post-safari who know Moses
and sing his praises. He is 'mcheshi sana' and leaves a trail of
friends as he crosses the country.

He is very knowledgeable about Tanzania's animals and the environment
in which they live and we learned more than we will ever remember
about their fascinating behavior. However, most of our thousands of
questions for Moses seemed to focus on Tanzania's people, culture, and
history. He was generous with his thoughts, giving us a valuable
window into Tanzanian society by openly sharing with us his family
history, information about his home life, and his plans for the future.

Clearly, it is Moses's genuine, friendly, and caring personality that
defines our time with him. We passed hundreds of other guides during
our safari and it was the rare situation when he didn't stop, roll
down his window, and greet them with 'vipi mambo'. I suspect we
benefitted from his relationships by always knowing where the best
animals had recently been cited. Other guides' faces light up when
they see him coming; when we were in a hurry he had to signal to them
that he can't stop as I'm sure they have come to expect.

Wherever we went, he made new friends and learned more about people
and the surroundings, undoubtedly what has made him such a great
guide. While the Datoga were showing us their blacksmith trade, Moses
was talking and laughing with the Datoga women. Later, when Monica
noted how white their teeth were, Moses mentioned that he had asked
that question of them.

Even if he couldn't be of assistance to someone on the side of the
road, for example when we came across a man rebuilding an entire
transmission under a truck in the serengeti dust, he would stop with a
'pole baba', a few words of encouragement, and an offer of water.

I am clearly not going to capture Moses completely here. On our last
day with him I told him that I felt like a baby bird and he was about
to push us out of the nest. He may no longer be our 'mama bird' but I
know we will always consider him friend.

Heidi and Monica Share Puctures and a Laugh with Friends

Helping in the Library with Librarian Somania

Anna (top left) and Her Bunkmates

St. Jude's

Yesterday, June 9th, we we spent the full day on the St. Jude's
campus. We attended the weekly primary and secondary school
assemblies, each of which included the singing of the TZ national
anthem, a student performance, and awards for student achievement.
During each, there was a group of boys on stage with various sized
drums, playing vigorously during performances and between speakers.

We also enjoyed spending time with our sponsored student Anna and her
friend Dorcus over the standard school lunch of rice and beans (they
get meat once every two weeks). We were delighted when Anna
approached Monica and the two of them immediately recognized each
other from pictures - an impressive feat for Monica in a crowd of
hundreds of students all wearing the same uniform and with the same
haircut. Anna was shy at lunch but having a friend there seemed to
help the conversation.

In the afternoon we attended a PE class, sat in on a secondary form 2
(9th grade) debate class and helped in the library. In PE we played
games of 'flinch' and 'catch or push'. Ben and Heidi really enjoyed
playing these games, which incited frequent laughter from the St.
Jude's students.

The special moment of the day happened when Heidi was surrounded by a
group of girls who were waiting for their turn on the bus (it being
Friday, they were headed home for the weekend). They all sat together
on a bench while the other girls braided Heidi's hair and asked her a
thousand questions about her school and life. When Monica sat down
with a photo album, they enjoyed seeing pictures of our friends,
family, and home life. Monica and Heidi gave them each a Criteser
family picture and they ran to their buses.

On the Bus Ride Home

Safely Landed in Arusha

Back to Arusha and St. Jude's

Thursday, July 8th. On our way to the Serengeti airstrip we saw two
female lions with four cubs between them. It is interesting how little
attention the lions pay to the cars. Moses says they will react to
people on foot but are used to the safari trucks. They walked along
the road, crossed right in front of us, and stopped a few feet off the
road, giving us a great close-up view of the cubs. I unfortunately I
forgot to take a picture with my phone but we got some great shots of
them with the camera.

Both Monica and I felt sad with a bit of underlying anxiety about
leaving the Serengeti. It was hard not to think that we might not
make it back, wondering if we saw and did everything we wanted to on
safari. After a tearful goodbye to Moses at the Serengeti "airport",
we boarded a small plane for Arusha.

We arrived at St. Jude's in the afternoon and were taken on a brief
tour. After the tour we boarded one of the buses with the children who
were headed home for the day. Grades 1-3 go home every night, grades
4-7 go home on the weekends, and the secondary school kids go home
once a month.

Traveling through the neighborhoods where these kids live, including a
smoldering dump site, was heartbreaking. The school is truly
impressive (more detail in a future post) and the contrast to their
homes was striking. The kids at St. Jude's were chosen for their
drive and intellect (testing and interviews), and qualify only if they
are in extreme poverty. It is immediately clear what a profound
impact admission to the school will have on these kids' futures, and
probably the futures of their entire extended families for generations.

After our bus ride, we had a nice time visiting with a group of
Australian teachers, volunteers, and visitors at a small cinderblock
"bar" right outside the school gates. The kids had a soda and then
played with a couple of local kids while we had a few beers and
learned everybody's story on how they ended up at the school. When
Monica told the PE teacher tha we had brought soccer balls with us he
hugged her.

We are very much looking forward to our day at the school tomorrow and
to meeting more of the kids.

Cheetah with Fresh Kill from 15 Feet

Last Day on Safari

Today, Wednesday, July 7th, was our last day in the Serengeti and
concludes the safari part of our trip. Tomorrow we fly a small plane
from the local dirt airstrip back into Arusha and begin our visit at
St. Judes school.

What a great end to the safari! We started the morning by watching a
cheetah eat a freshly killed gazelle 15 feet from our truck. Later in
the morning we found the ever-elusive leopard on a branch 30 feet
above the ground, having carefully placed a gazelle carcass on a
neighboring branch. We ended the day with a nice evening drive during
which we saw more lions and a pair of small elephant calves.

We have invited Moses to join us for dinner tonite. He has been a
great guide and has become a friend. We will all be sad to part ways
with him but are hopeful that we will see him again.

I have been unable to post for the last several days so by the time
you are reading this I suspect the last several days of entries will
all post at the same time. Be sure to check beyond the front page to
see if there is something more you haven't seen.

Monica with Datoga (Kushite) Women

Hadza (Bushmen) Man in His House

The Maasai

While on safari we have learned a lot from Moses about the Tanzanian
people. There are four major ethnic groups - Bantu, Kushites/Iracqu,
Maasai, and Hadza (Bushmen). The Bantu make up about 85% of the
Tanzanian population and almost 100% of the southern half of the
country.

Within these four ethnic groups there are approximately 120 different
tribes, each with their own identity and laguage, or at least
dialect. Most now also speak Kiswahili, a language that was invented
through the combination of other languages in the 1940s in order to
unite the many East African tribes. Today over 100 million people
speak Kiswahili.

Before coming to Tanzania it was my impression that the pictures of
Maasai in bright red blankets standing next to their bomas of mud huts
were staged for tourists. What we have learned, however, is that of
the 2 million Maasai living in Tanzania, roughly 600 thousand still
live in their traditional lifestyles. In fact we have seen dozens of
bomas and hundreds of Maasai tending their livestock in the plains.
Interestingly, "Arusha", the name of the city where we are spending
much of our time, translates as "modern Maasai" and it is largely
populated by the other 1.4 million.

The Maasai were traditionally a nomadic people, sending their famed
warriors ahead of the rest of the herders and families to find good
pasture land and clear it of its inhabatants if necessary. When the
Maasai moved south into TZ 400 years ago, the Kushites and Bushmen
inhabated the northern part of the country. After some fighting, the
Maasai were able to establish a presence here. However, when they
attempted to move south they were defeated by the Bantu, a well-
developed farming society that would later defeat the first German
attempt at colonizing the country.

The defeat at the hands of the Bantu caused them to settle in the
Serengeti plains and in other areas of northern Tanzania. Later the
traditional bomas were moved by the government from the Serengeti into
the Ngorongoro conservation area, where they continue to live the
traditional lifestyle, supported in some ways by the government in
times of drought or medical emergency.

There is possibly no more striking image of Tanzania than the sight of
a Maasai in bright red or purple, acacia stick in hand, working his
way across the plains. There is some controversy, however, about
capturing this image in photos. many Maasai either don't want their
picture taken or believe they should be paid for it, and some believe
that paying them for pictures is an invasion of their lifestyle. You
can visit a tourism-oriented boma, but we gave chosen not to. At this
point, I am guessing that we will leave Tanzania with only the
memories and a few haphazard photos.

Wildebeests on Migration

Serengeti Day 2

Today, Tuesday, July 6th, we spent our second full day in the
Serengeti. We left early and brought a box lunch so that we could make
it far to the southwest to see the wildebeest migration.

As we traveled southwest, the seemingly endless plains ("serengeti"
actually means endless plains) gave way to rocky terrain with more
trees and bushes and w eventually came to the Grameti River.

By late morning we caught the tail end of the migration. We came
across several smaller groups (meaning in the hundreds) and enjoyed
warching their haphazard progress. The rains ended early this year
causing the wildebeest to move north into Kenya earlier than usual.

We also saw crocodiles fir the first time and some large groupings of
hippos. Twice we came across groups of vultures and hyenas eating the
remains of kills made by larger animals. Again, we saw many lions,
including a large older male (Moses guessed 10 years old) who walked
right down the road within 3 feet of our jeep.

On the long drive back, while the other four of us were having trouble
keeping our eyes open, Monica spotted a zebra with three deep,
bleeding gashes in it's side, presumably from a fresh run in with a
lion. There are between 2 and 3 thousand lions living in the Serengeti.

We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for the elusive leopard,
the one big animal that we haven't yet seen. This has become somewhat
of a running joke as three times today we learned from another gide
that we had just missed a leopard by minutes.

We are looking forward to tomorrow, our last full day on safari.

View from the Pool

Breakfast on the Seregeti Plains

The Famous Oldapai Gorge

Arrival in Serengeti

On Sunday we drove from Ngorongoro to Serengeti. We will conclude our
game viewing over the next four days; on Thursday we will fly to Arusha.

On the way we stopped at the Oldapai Gorge where the Leakys discovered
multiple remains of early man. And yes, that us the correct spelling
with a "p" instead of a "v". I know because It is named after a plant
with which I have a special relationship after being gored in the hip
by one while running to keep up with the Hadza bushmen.

Just as we entered the Serengeti we saw our first cheetah! We went to
the lodge for dinner and then out for a quick game drive. We were
all very excited when Moses spotted a Black Mambo, one of the
deadliest snakes in the world. And it got even more exciting when
Monica got out of the car to 'kick the tires' not 50 yards from the
Black Mambo sighting!

After spending a nice night at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge, we left for a
pre-dawn game drive. We were rewarded for getting up early as we came
upon two female lions stalking a pair of zebras. We were right in the
middle as several other zebras approached and alerted the targeted
pair with their loud 'whoops'. So, no kill, but lots of excitement
nonetheless.

We stopped and ate our boxed breakfast on a large granite rock in the
middle of the plains, one of the rare times we have exited the truck.
After breakfast we went on to see another dozen or so lions and lots
of elephant and giraffes.

As I write this we are back at the lodge swimming and sitting by the
pool. From poolside we can look out over the plain and watch zebras,
antelope and other characters go by.

If you are following please be sure to check the archives for new
posts as well. Sometimes we suddenly get service and multiple logs
will post - I'm afraid some new ones may even get pushed off the front
page.

On the Floor of the Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Farm House

Ngorongoro Crater

We spent two nights at the Ngorongoro Farm House and on Saturday
descended into the Ngorongoro Crater (which is technically a caldera
because of it's size). The Ng Crater is 100 square miles and is home
to one of the largest concentrations of big animals in the world. We
saw for the first time hippos, flamingos, hyennas, and lions,
including a lioness with small cubs.

The highlight was seeing mother and child black rhinos. We hear that
there are only 20 in existence, which means we saw 10% of the total
population!

We also saw many Masai shepherding their livestock through the crater.
They do not live in the crater itself but bring their livestock there
to eat and drink during the day.

The ascent out of the crater was absolutely breathtaking.
Unfortunately all the best photos are on the camera and I can only
post from my phone so you'll just have to take my word on it.

Coffee in Tanzania

Our First TZ Coffee Farm

Friday, July 2nd. Between Lake Eyasi and the Ngorongoro crater we
visited a coffee farm in the mountains above Karatu. Leon and Aideen,
the 40-something couple that purchased the farm 2 years ago, walked us
through the farm. The farm was very poorly manage by the man who owned
it before them and they discussed their efforts to rehabilitate it,
expand the coffee acreage, and deal with their challenges with limited
water and string winds (and elephant damage!).

It was interesting, too, to learn about their complex relationship
with the nearby villages, in terms of land rights, employment, and the
adjacent Ngorongoro preservation area. They are determined to improve
the quality of Tanzanian coffee (notably to expand beyond the
association with peaberries). I am convinced that their farm and the
several others on the same mountian ridge, are going to produce great
coffees.

We enjoyed a fantastic lunch with Leon, Aideen, and Moses. The views
from their veranda are breathtaking and this farm is truly a slice of
heaven, even with the farming challenges. They invited us to join them
for dinner at their home in Arusha later on our trip, which we are
very much looking forward to.

We had some technical difficulties (couldn't send large files) so I re-posted the earlier stories without pictures so they are a little disjointed.

Today was our first day to get online and we were disappointed to see our stories aren't postin with the pictures.

Lilian

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>

Lilian

>
> This is Lilian. She has been with us for breakfast, lunch, and
> dinner here at Terangire (when does she sleep?!). She has born the
> brunt of Monica's persistence in practicing Kiswahili (which is
> great and much appreciated by the people we meet!) and we have
> really enjoyed getting to know her.
>
> Lilian lives away from home to work here in order to send her 10-
> year-old son to private school. The public elementary schools here
> are underfunded and understaffed and have the further disadvantage
> of not teaching English, which we understand is almost a requirement
> for success in secondary school.
>
> Lily tells us that tourism here is down by 50-75% in the current
> recession. Given the importance of tourism to the TZ economy it
> makes you think that the global recession has probably really
> impacted the working people of this country.

Our First Game Drive

> Elephants, zebras, ostriches, baboons, wildebeasts, monkeys,
> giraffes, impalas, dik diks and more. What a great first game
> drive! We even got within reachout and touch (or from their stand
> point, reach out and rip a limb off) distance to a mother elephant
> and her baby. We are staying at a lodge inside the Tarangire
> Reserve and can literally see elephants and impala from our balcony.
>
> I have to say, however, that the best part of the day from my
> standpoint was the drive to Tarangire, which took us through several
> small towns and past dozens of Masai domas. We even stopped at a
> Masai market where they trade with each other (no tourist souvenirs
> here). A highlight was seeing two 5-year-old Masai boys wearing
> traditional red blankets and carrying the requisite acacia sticks in
> charge all by themselves of a herd of 40 or 50 livestock.
>
> The animals are phenomenal and the country is breathtaking, but I
> can tell already that it will be the people of Tanzania that stay
> with us.

Mtemwo Town

>>
>>
>> We spent an unforgettable day in Mtemwo Town. Moses introduced us
>> to Abraham, a friendly, knowledgeable, community-minded young man
>> who took us through the paths and alleyways off the main drag where
>> we made new friends every few steps. The people here are so
>> friendly and eager to talk, particularly the kids, most of whom
>> appear to be limited to the word 'hello' in English. We met the boy
>> pictured above who, like most of the children, was excited to have
>> his picture taken so he could see it on the camera or the phone.
>>
>> Ben learned to carve ebony with a chisel, Grant learned to paint
>> with a knife in the traditional way (and got to keep his painting
>> of Masai, which turned out great), and Monica enjoyed drinking
>> banana beer with the locals. We also visited an orphanage where I
>> think we all had trouble keeping it together when we saw the
>> sleeping conditions. The children did all seem happy and the
>> director, Oscar Ngunga, seemed like a great guy.
>>
>> We enjoyed spending time with Mama Tito, a 74 year-old grandmother
>> who was sitting in her yard doing her laundry. She has 12 children
>> and we learned that it is traditional for women to be referred to
>> in relation to their oldest or favorite son (in her case Tito).
>> She first tried to give Heidi a cat and then asked Heidi if she
>> would stay and live with her. In fact, many of the mothers and
>> grandmothers wanted Heidi to sit on their laps and several offered
>> to raise her if we tired of her, so she has some nice options.
>>
>> I am writing these blogs as we go, but they will only send when we
>> are in certain areas, so I expect they we get posted in batches. In
>> fact, I am writing this in our tent at Eyasi at 3:00 a.m. I can
>> hear some animal snorting outside, maybe attracted to the light of
>> my phone. Everyone else seems to be sleeping well but, either
>> because of jet lag or just the excitement of being here, I wake at
>> 3 most mornings. Oh well, it gives me a chance to keep up on my
>> blogging.

Hunting with the Bushmen

>
>>
>>
>>
>> Unbelievable. I've probably used that word in previous posts but I
>> can't imagine that it will be used more appropriately than to
>> describe our day yesterday with the Bushmen and the Datoga tribe.
>> The picture above hardly does it justice but thankfully we have a
>> lot of great shots on the camera and some video.
>>
>> We left the tented camp at Lake Eyasi well before dawn and picked
>> up a local guide named Fanu on the way. Fanu speaks the Bushman
>> click language, has a good relationship with them, and tracks their
>> location as they move about every 2 or 3 months.
>>
>> We arrived at the Bushmen camp just as the sun was rising. The men
>> were beginning to emerge from the small temporary stick and cloth
>> houses where they live and we watched them build a fire. They were
>> friendly and greeted us with hand shakes. Most wore some form of
>> modern looking shorts and sandals, combined with traditional wear
>> such as a baboon skin vest (still with tail), animal hats, and beads.
>>
>> After their morning smoke (tabacco and marijuana), 5 or 6 of the
>> men picked up their bows and arrows and started running down the
>> adjacent dried-up river bed while one motioned urgently for me to
>> follow. We spent the next 3 hours doing our best to keep up with
>> them through thorned bushes and rocky hills as they spread out and
>> tracked animals. The boys loved it and Heidi was a trooper. They
>> ended up shooting two birds, one of which was still alive impaled
>> on the arrow until the man who had shot it bit it's neck. They said
>> it was an unlucky hunting excursion, but I suspect it was more a
>> function of us slowing them down and making a lot of noise.
>>
>> Back at their camp we met the women, and the men gave us a shooting
>> lesson while a baby walked around the camp with one of the recently-
>> caught birds in his hand, taking the occasional bite. Grant hit the
>> target twice and I hit it on my second try, which was probably just
>> luck. Their skill with the bows was impressive and obviously a
>> source of pride and when one of the women said something along the
>> lines of 'the white guys won today' one of the men took the bow
>> from me.
>>
>> We bought some beaded bracelets and a bow and some arrows and one
>> of them gave us a 'tour' of his house. They were very friendly
>> people and we enjoyed joking around with them. One of them put his
>> furry baboon-skin hat on my head, as pictured above, and they all
>> thought it was great fun when they tried to get Heidi to hold a
>> baby, who proceeded to pee on Heidi's pant leg.
>>
>> This is already a long post but I can't close without mentioning
>> our visit to the Datoga domo. They are a blacksmith people and we
>> enjoyed watching them melt metal to make jewelry. The highlight,
>> however, was watching Monica connect with the 8 or 10 Datoga women.
>> They were very pleased with Monica's Kiswahili and crowded around
>> her to ask questions and joke with her. They seemed almost like
>> old friends, or at least new friends living in the same culture.
>> They were very interested in having their pictures taken with
>> Monica and Heidi and made us promise to mail some prints to Fanu so
>> he could deliver them.

I just posted several new updates so if you're keeping tabs on us make sure to read the last few. If there's a duplicate the oldest is a draft. Thanks for following - there's more to come!

Hunting with the Bushmen

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Mtemwo Town

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