MISCELLANY

A quick review of my blabber on this site made me realize that I have completely skipped over the smaller details of this amazing adventure. And, Judy asked lots of questions about the food – have we managed to stay healthy and well fed at the same time?

The short answer is an astounding “Yes.” Because most nights we are camping we buy, wash and cook our own food. Every few days, when passing through a “big” city, we stop and stock up. There are supermarkets here that rival the ones back home, although there may only be 2 lightbulbs illuminating the whole store. We can buy just about anything in these stores: toothpaste, yogurt, passion fruit juice, saran wrap, snickers’ bars and Pringles. Fresh fruit and vegetables are plentiful and delicious. For breakfast we usually have fruit salad, toast, and/or either pancakes (from scratch) or eggs. And, the Kenyan coffee is substantive and gives a good jolt. Lunch is a sandwich of lunch meats, salad, tuna or pasta. Dinner is goat or cow meat, pasta or rice and sweet potatoes, which are white here, not orange. NO DESSERT EVER is served. I’ve continued with the vegetarian regime I started about 9 months ago and so haven’t had the meat, but Yosy says its delicious.

Although our stomachs have been behaving, we have signs of Africa all over our bodies: I have three spider bites, one each on my wrist, foot and finger. A prick of a needle takes out the pus and some antibiotic cream and a band-aid is all that’s then needed to cure. It doesn’t hurt at all and I have no recollection of ever being bitten. Low-lying acacia trees have 3 inch, very sharp thorns. I’ve been attached by these several times when making a pit stop along the road, and it hurts like hell until you disconnect yourself from the trees. They leave little red dots where they’ve stuck you, which look quite like a mosquito bite, so a few of these are decorating my rear end and arm. I woke up this morning with a scab on my forehead and have no idea what that is. Of course, we are quite tan, despite the gobs of suntan cream we’ve been using – we’re only 4 degrees south of the equator, so the sun is very strong. My feet are filthy and cracked – its hard to get them really clean and every day we are covered in dust. In fact, the hardest thing about being here is staying clean. Its over 95 degrees and showers only trickle down when available. But that’s the worst of it. NO ONE has gotten sick in our group (knock wood).

I finally saw, after a wait of more than 30 years, a baobab tree. There were pictures of the tree in the Little Prince, a book I read sophmore year in college French, and I loved the exoticness of the tree – they don’t resemble anything that we have in the US, nor have I seen them anywhere else in my travels. In the book, they look like old souls who silently watch and wait. They always stand alone and have thick wide, stump-like trunks – almost as wide as they are tall. The branches, which start fairly high up on the trunk, are few and far between and are also thick and very crooked. The branches are sparsely covered in green leaves.. I made the driver stop at the first baobab we saw. It was located off the side of a winding road high in the mountains of northeastern Tanzania. It looked younger and much spryer and happier than I had imagined. Contrary to the picture in the book, the leaves were plentiful and all shades of green. It is still, together with the acacia umbrella, my favorite tree and is unique in character and charm.

We visited a home for street children in Arusha, the gateway city to the Serengeti. The project was started by some English passersby and houses 76, mostly boys. (The director told us that the girls are harder to find – they are often sold as household help and remain hidden inside gated homes.)

Whenever I’m asked where I’m from, I now respond “The United States of Obama.” An African with no knowledge of English at all, will give a thumbs’ up sign and say “Obama,” when they learn where we’re American. Everywhere we go there are signs of Obama worship: T-shirts, photos, notebooks with his and Michelle’s picture on the cover, and even the “Obama Hair Salon.” They are very proud that a black person, one of their own, has made it so far. The Kenyans actually believed that things would change for the better in their country when Obama took office. They all said that “Obama will make things right” in Kenya. They, of course, have no idea of the problems Obama faces in the US and that his time may be otherwise occupied for a while.

We were in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro yesterday and are in the Usambura mountains today (northeastern Tanzania). Between the two days, we trekked 8 hours – 4 today and 4 yesterday, at about 5,000 feet high, to experience village life. As we made our way up and down hills along dirt roads, we passed through one village after another. The area we are now in is called the “Galapagos of the Plant World,” for the diversity of the flora, and it did not disappoint. We passed through avocado and banana fields, corn fields and gumwood forests. We ate jackfruit (a cross between a pineapple, banana and melon) and ate sugar cane straight off the cane. The vegetation is thick and lush and no one here is hungry. As we passed through villages, we heard singing in the churches, childrens’ voices from the schools, goats doing whatever goats do, and cows mooing. It was noisy, but quiet at the same time. It was the sound of happiness and contentment despite the evident poverty. Extended families live close by and communities are strong. Life is orderly and expectations are clear. Everywhere we go people greet us with “Jambo,” (Hello) and “Karibou,” ((Welcome). And people here really do say “Hakuna Matata,” (easy, easy, relax). And, Mt. Kili, the highest mountain in Africa, with its snow-covered peak, looks over the whole place.

Continuing to head south

The Serengeti

The Ngorongoro Crater is at the entrance to the "endless plains" of the Serengeti and what looked like the movie set to the Lion King. The crater is actually a "caldera," a volcanoe that imploded in on itself and stretches 12 miles across. Now a flat bottom surrounded by the mountains of what remains of the volcanoe, it is filled with water in the rainy season (now) and is the local cafe for thousands of animals and their prey. Pink flamingoes and hippos, warthogs and giraffe, to name just a few. We circled the rim and descended into the cafe. They were dancing and drinking and partying. Life was good - there was plenty to drink and the sun was shining. No lions were in sight and all was good in Ngorongoro (which comes from the sound of the bells of the Maasai cows - while our's in the US go "ding-dong," their's apparently go "goro, goro." ) As we left the paradise of the Crater we reascended to the rim and continued onto the Seregenti, which means "endless land" in Swahili. Its a vast space - the size of Connecticut - which is protected by the Tanzanian government and is transversable only in specialized vehicles on dirt road tracks, two tires-wide. There is not a building or a person in sight. No gas stations, fast food restaurants or malls. There are no people other than those in the Safari jeeps - open roofed Toyota landcruisers that fit 5-6 people and the driver, shaded by a high canvas roof. The only activity is to drive around the endless plains looking for animals. At first I didn't get the thrill everyone else seemed to be feeling. But then I got it after I spotted our first leopard - lazing in a tree. Things really picked up as we saw a herd of elephant in the distance and made our way to their "neighborhood." It is all about the hunt - Looking for the elusive hyena or jackal in the tall alfalfa-like grass - is that a rock or is it something moving? Elephants and lions, wildebeest and ostriches, all went about their lives as we observed from only feet away. No one could exit the vehicles, for obvious safety reasons. A spontaneous survey in our truck proved my theory: Men prefer to watch the leopards and the lions, while the women all got excited about the elephants and giraffes. At sunset we went to a beautiful lodge, completely unseen from the dirt roads we were traveling all day, for the most unforgettable sunset I have ever seen - truly it was the most unforgettable sunset. Perched about the plains, dotted with acacia that are the umbrellas of Africa, we saw all of Noah's animals grazing and lazing below us.

Our camp at night was unfenced. There were no lights and the stars were as plentiful and bright as they used to be in the 1950's. Right after the campfire (no marshmallows) and turning in for the night, we heard a pack of hyenas storm the campsite and trash our trash.

The next morning it was back in the Safari truck for more viewing. I was getting the hand of the "hunt." I spotted a lion, which turned out to be a baboon, but hey, at least it wasn't a distant rock, which I had consistently been mistaking for animals the previous day. We saw falcons and herdebeest. Zebras by the thousands and of course, the ubiquitous acacia tree which dotted the landscape. Outcrops of giant granite bolders, just like the kind Mufasa stood on in the Lion King, also appeared out of nowhere every few miles. These outcrops (called "kopjes," but pronounced "copies") are vital for the lives of the lions, which have their cubs, scout for food and laze in the shadows there. We saw "bachelor" elephants - those that stand apart from rest of the herd, where they will remain until they find a few "wives" and have heir own family of elephants.

It was all idyllic and quiet. There was no sound except the motor of our truck, which we shut down whenever we stopped to observe the nearby animals which have become acclimated to the tourists and no longer seem to fear man now that the poaching has subsided.

We have now left the Serengeti and have returned to "civilisation," - Mta Wa Ambu, or the River of Mosquitoes, where 90% or more of the population has had malaria. While the tsetse fly (which causes sleeping sickness) is prevalent, no need to worry - they are attracted to blue and black and so flags of these colors are flying in areas where humans don't go. We are headed to Mt. Kilimanjaro and will arrive in about 2 days.



I hope to post photos in about 4 days when I have access to an internet connection that is faster than this and when I will have more time.

Thank you all for reading and commenting. Miss you all

Rafting Class V Rapids at Jinja, The Source of the Nile, Uganda: S--T!!!!!

We went white water rafting two days ago. It was the scariest thing I've ever done. The rapids began at the source of the Nile River, in Uganda. Class VI rapids are non-navigable. These were Class V. We flipped several times and were caught up in the whirlpool of the rapids. I thought I was in a washing machine. I prayed to survive. Although I got banged up a little, I made it out alive. Of course, there are no pictures because cameras can't float - but there is a video, filmed by a member of the extensive support team that followed us as we made our way 32 kilometres up the river - an all day event. I will try to post it if and when I can figure out how to do that. It would be an understatement to say that I was happy when it was all over.

I am now back in Nairobi, where Yosy was waiting for me at the hotel, having arrived here yesterday. How good it was to see him. He's already helped me with my bags, my laundry, helped scrub the dirt and mud from my body and listened to much of my stories. I had my first great meal in two weeks at a local restaurant and am now ready to set out tomorrow morning for Tanzania and the Serengeti. Since I last wrote much has happened: We were forced to sleep in a field (with the permission and protection of the Village Chief), we were almost killed on the road by a runaway double trailer, just a few short miles from Nairobi, where a warm bed, warm shower, and very hot meal were waiting, and we passed the equator - twice. More about all of this whenever I can get some time to concentrate.

I am having a great time. it should be even better now that Yosy is here and we are headed south, toward the sunshine and away from the rains.