Thursday, February 27, 2014

 

Did some shopping for gifts to take home at the Cultural Centre here.  This is a large modern building containing many replicas of life in Tanzania today as well as the history.  It has many artists works and is fascinating to see.  There is also a new coffee shop with its own pastry chef and we had cappacinno (sp?) and a wonderful chocolate croissant (made with dark chocolate).

Also the gift shop is amazing and residents get a hefty discount.  Thank you Lisa.

What I really wanted to talk about is bananas.  On their property the Coyle/Browns have a lot of banana trees.  You know bananas grow what seems to be upside down, right?

The gardener harvests them just when they change from a bright green color. These bunches of bananas are really heavy- don’t think I could lift this one.  That makes it really impressive when you see men with 4 or 5 bunches like this on their bikes.

 

 

They ripen indoors in a basket covered by a cloth and when they start to turn yellow are eaten. 

They are called sweet bananas well because they are. They are small and so very good.  They are not like our big kind of hard bananas at all.

 

Sue

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Since the roads were blocked yesterday Lisa and I went grocery shopping today.  It’s not exactly like going to Wegmans.  We had to go to 3 different  grocery type stores plus a farmers market.  It takes about 2 hours of driving from place to place, not because of the distance between stores, but because of the traffic.

Arusha is estimated to have a population of 100,000. The census is done on foot and I cannot imagine how they’d count everybody.  So many folks live in very crowded tiny houses. The store fronts and “manufacturing” places (small craftsmen) are in what looks like a run down version of the motels out west Ridge road, but there are many miles of them.  There are people everywhere, and motorbikes and bikes and goats.  Traffic control seems to be non-existent.  The one who doesn’t back down gets into the line. The police stops seem to be everywhere.  Luckily the one time Lisa did get pulled over all the spots were filled, so she got waved on.

We had a delightful lunch after the shopping.  We split a panini and a “beet root” salad.  Sweetest beets I ever tasted.

We stopped home for about a half an hour before it was time to head to ISM (International School at Moshi- Arusha branch) to pick up the kids.  So much fun to see their smiling faces.

Anderson bit a carrot and really loosened his tooth at dinner, so the girls and I got busy and made him a tooth fairy pillow after dinner.  Think it will be any day soon he loses his first tooth.

Not too exciting a day to read about, but fun for me.  Power is off again and we’re on battery back up for a bit.Sue

Monday and Tuesday February 24 and 25, 2014

 

Monday flew by.  Matt left early for a week long meeting in Kenya.  The kids were off school,so one of Tierneys friends spent the day with us.  We played lots of games and the girls made lots of bracelets (and an anklet for me)  Mama Jackie made a delicious lentil and vegetable creation served with flat bread to use as a utensil. Always a salad with greens from the garden accompany the meal.  Lisa made tacos for dinner.

Tuesday went by equally as fast.  Lisa and the kids rode their bikes to school, then Lisa came back and we attempted to go into town to the supermarket and butcher.  Turns out some VIP was visiting and the main road into town had traffic pulled over and at a stand still.  Lisa turned around and the other northern road into town was also closed.  Took us about an hour to get out of that mess.

We met Tierney for her music lesson at noon at school.  She has been taught piano by the Suzuki (sp?) method and is doing very well.  On Friday she is in a recital and I am happy to be here for that.  We ate lunch at school.  I had a hot dog inside of of a dough (not pastry, but more like bread).  It was yummy.  We ate with Tierney and saw Ashlyn and met two other friends of Tierney.

Quick trip home and then back to school for pick up.  Pick up because the girls were to have their horseback riding lessons.  That turned out not to happen because Udine’s mother was stuck in a business meeting and Lisa had to bring 3 bikes, 4 kids and me in the car.  After school was a whirlwind of the 3 girls playing and Anderson and 2 of his friends here as well.

Lisa couldn’t get the groceries she wanted so she improvised dinner and made a quiche with cheese and spinach.  Very good indeed.

It’s now just after 8 and all is quiet.  The electricity went off around 4:30 and we’re on battery back up now.

I’ve discovered you can do fine with no electricity and no internet.  Also on safari cold spaghetti and sauce can taste pretty good.  On safari when you are so wrapped up in seeing the animals you can really not focus on your pain for a couple of hours.  I think there is hope for all of us who are hurting so much.

Serengeti Safari

 

We left Friday morning early for our trek to the Serengeti especially to see the wildebeest migration.

The Safari truck picked us up at 7:30 for our big adventure.  Luckily the girls had done my hair!

Of course there was a police stop on the way, but Lisa and Matt speaking Swahili seemed to placate them, so no money changed hands.

At first on paved roads, then on nicely packed dirt we went to the Ngorogoro Crater.  We had to pass through roads here to get to the Serengeti.

As we approached the number of wildebeests (and zebras) was mind boggling.  Really, beyond my ability to describe.  Miles and miles as far as you could see and it continued.

The camp where we stayed (NAABI HILL) was a movable camp because you cannot predict in advance where the migration will be.  There had been much rain, so the grass was ample and lush.  The wildebeest were directly outside our tents.  Behind in the hills was where the hyenas stayed and you sure could hear many of their calls.

Once inside the Serengeti and the National Park we saw soo many different animals and birds.  I will post a link to all the pictures for those of you who want to see them.  We saw:

Cheetah (7)
Leopard
Lion (20)

Warthog
Zebra
Wildebeest
Hyena
Banded  mongoose
Elephant
Giraffe
Ostrich
Thomson's gazelle
Grants gazelle
Impala
Golden jackal
Black back jackal
Buffalo
Camel
Topi
Hartebeest
Eland
Field mouse
Hippo
Dung beetle
Baboon
Vervet monkey
Blue monkey

So very many animals- many many big cats.  The kids are amazing at spotting and identifying them.  Here are a few pictures of them to whet your appetite.

  

On Sunday we had a “leisurely” drive home (meaning it took 11 hours).  We took a different route back.  This route was really only tire ruts that somehow our guide was able to follow.  We only got stuck a few times.

 

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This way put us in proximity to many Maasai children tending the goats.  Some were afraid of us and ran away but  many were tempted by the candy our kids gave out.

 

What a wonderful experience!

February 17 and 18

February 17, 2014

Lisa and I met in Detroit for our journey to Africa. We Flew overnight to Amsterdam, which was about a 71/2 hour trip. We had a couple of hour layover and then to the gate for Kilimanjaro. In Amsterdam security is very tight and you may not enter the gate are for your flight (which is a separate room for each gate) until one hour prior to take off. The room is most thoroughly searched by security (even into and under garbage cans) and you undergo another security screening complete with pat down before you enter. The flight to Kilimanjaro is in daytime and takes 81/2 hours. Long flight. The only excitement on there was when a drunk lady fell on me when she boarded. KLM flight attendants handled that situation discreetly and professionally.
Arrival in Tanzania was quick as they deplane from both ends of the aircraft. Lisa gave me the tip book to the right at immigration for the visa line. You can procure your visa before you leave the US by FedExing your passport to a place in Washington and receive it back for $150. You can purchase it in TZ for $50 upon landing. It was quick and I beat Lisa to the immigration kiosks. (We turn everything into a game.)
A car and driver (sort of a private taxi) drove us the hour ride to Lisa and Matt's house . It was about 11 when we arrived there on Tuesday night.
Tough to adjust to a sleep schedule that first night, so I'd say I had maybe 21/2 hours of sleep.
Made Wednesday kind of a slow day. It was nice to be awakened by three very happy kids.
Lazy day.