Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Beyond the Streets of Arusha
From Charlie: You know those roads, they are just smelly and icky wicky. Everyday we have to walk, walk, walk, and walk. My Mom is afraid for my Dad to drive and won't let him. So we don't have a truck. Pawpaw (who just arrived) doesn't blame her. The only thing I like about those streets is that there is a lot of interesting stuff around. So you never know what is going to happen. For example, Tanzanite and granite are the most often seen in shops. So far the Isuzus are kicking up a ton of dust and pollution right from the wheels and the tailpipe. We have seen quartz with inclusions in it. They're very rare. That's all I have right now from Beyond the Streets of Arusha.
New place and earthquake
From Scott: We moved from our apartment to a house this week. Kids needed a better area to play besides the apartment living room or the front area of nearby shops looking for bottle caps in the dirt (but more on that later). The house is located in an ex-pat area called PPF-Njiro and is run by the Tanzanian parastatal pension fund. House is very nice on the outside and has a great yard with lots of flowering shrubs and trees. I'll try to post a picture soon. The inside is well used and the problem is we have to share it. We are usually by ourselves during the day, but in the evenings, the cockroaches and assorted other insects come out. There are more bugs than the five tropical house geckos that inhabit our front porch can manage.
But the PPF site has a nearby playground, pool, and work out area. So we'll see.
For more excitement, each of the last three evenings, we have had little earthquakes. Yesterday evening it registered 6.0 on the richter scale and brought everyone out of their buildings. The government has issued an earthquake warning startng at 4 PM today. Everyone was to go home and turn off gas, water, and electricity and stay in open areas this evening. So, the adventure continues.
But the PPF site has a nearby playground, pool, and work out area. So we'll see.
For more excitement, each of the last three evenings, we have had little earthquakes. Yesterday evening it registered 6.0 on the richter scale and brought everyone out of their buildings. The government has issued an earthquake warning startng at 4 PM today. Everyone was to go home and turn off gas, water, and electricity and stay in open areas this evening. So, the adventure continues.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Street scenes
From Angela: I thought I would post a few pictures of Arusha town. All of these have been taken out the windows of taxis so they are not the best, but I don't take my camera out in town. In fact, I have never seen anyone with a camera in town.
The first is just a picture along the road to our apartment, the second is the Central Market (a bit intimidating and crowded farmer's market), the third is downtown Arusha and the fourth is, yes, a car wash.
The first is just a picture along the road to our apartment, the second is the Central Market (a bit intimidating and crowded farmer's market), the third is downtown Arusha and the fourth is, yes, a car wash.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Feeling better
Note from Annie: I am feeling much better. Now I know how to take pills and swallow them with water. Thank you all for sending me notes to make me feel better. Now that is the end of me being sick right now!
Lizards and snakes
From Charlie: I have been chasing lizards all over Tanzania. I have seen a lot of different kinds. The most exciting one was an red-headed agama (Kelly Wassell took this picture, my Dad's wasn't very good). One day I was chasing a striped skink at a house we were looking at renting. It was sticking its head through the drainholes in an outside wash basin. I picked it up by its chest and I carried it over to Doug. Before he got his camera to take a picture, it squirmed onto my finger and bit me! I let go and it was hanging in mid air from my index finger. I pulled it off and threw it into a bush. My Mom freaked out and wanted me to put a band aid on it. But I was like, no way, it doesn’t hurt at all. A week later I can still see the bite marks.
When we were at Lake Manyara National Park picnic area something interesting happened. Some people came and sat with us. They were from the US. Earlier they had seen a python that fell out of a tree. The grandma was very scared of snakes. At the end of our lunch, the people started yelling, snake! A small one had fallen out of the tree into their area. Everyone else insisted that it was a garter snake so she wouldn’t be so scared. I was thinking, “what do these people know about snakes. Garter snakes are never green. They are always brownish, tanish, and yellowish." I thought it was a Jason’s mamba. So we got our snake field guide and camera to identify it. It was a spotted bushsnake. Grandma ran into their truck.
And that was about it for our non-scary adventures that had to do with cool snakes and lizards.
When we were at Lake Manyara National Park picnic area something interesting happened. Some people came and sat with us. They were from the US. Earlier they had seen a python that fell out of a tree. The grandma was very scared of snakes. At the end of our lunch, the people started yelling, snake! A small one had fallen out of the tree into their area. Everyone else insisted that it was a garter snake so she wouldn’t be so scared. I was thinking, “what do these people know about snakes. Garter snakes are never green. They are always brownish, tanish, and yellowish." I thought it was a Jason’s mamba. So we got our snake field guide and camera to identify it. It was a spotted bushsnake. Grandma ran into their truck.
And that was about it for our non-scary adventures that had to do with cool snakes and lizards.
Our apartment
From Angela: After looking at a number of rental houses, we decided to stay at our temporary apartment for the rest of our stay. It only has 2 bedrooms and sleeps 4, so when we have company it’s a bit crowded. But, it is within walking distance of Scott’s work and downtown restaurants and shops. And after seeing several other places, we realized how nice our place is.
The apartment is similar to one in the US with just some odd little quirks. All the doors have keys and locks on them, so when we arrived I kept opening locked doors to find the bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen. We have a very small refrigerator in our dining room (with a lock and key on it, of course) and a very small stove (called a cooker) in the kitchen. Every appliance is plugged into a socket that has a switch on it that you have to turn on when you want to use it. The hot water heater has a switch in the hallway. Unfortunately, we thought it was a light switch and turned it off. When Annie was sick and needed a bath, I just thought we didn’t have hot water and boiled ten pots of water two at a time to give her a lukewarm bath. It took almost two hours. Later on I saw the light switch and after wondering, figured it out. You are supposed to turn it on when you need hot water and then turn it off after you’re finished.
Our apartment building has a very modern looking stairwell with tile floors and steps (we live on the 3rd floor). But each of the stairs is a different height and angle, so each of us has tripped more than once just walking up the steps. The top step is so tall that Charlie felt flat on his face running up the steps to see me after a day out with Scott.
We live right in town so at night there are a lot of noises: roosters crowing all night, dogs barking, music playing, cars, trucks, the sound of the big, metal gate to the complex opening and closing all night, and the prayers over the loudspeaker at the nearby mosque that start at 5:00 am. That is also the time when the drivers (and security guards) start washing all the cars in the courtyard to get ready for the day.
We don’t have a dishwasher or washer/dryer, so dishes and laundry are done by hand. There are women out on the neighboring balconies all day doing laundry and hanging it to dry. I have been washing some of our clothes in the bathtub and giving some to a girl here at the apartment building to wash. I have also hired her to clean our apartment, but this involves negotiating a price each time. The last time she cleaned our apartment she charged me 3,000 shillings – about $2.75. I was shocked and gave her 4,000 shillings. Unfortunately my laundry rates have now gone up. I learned my lesson. She does not have a vacuum so she cleaned our rug by brushing it with a stiff brush for what seemed to be 30 minutes. During that time, probably because of the spiral notebooks the kids had been playing with, she looked at me and said “Oh, Jesus Christ.” It was the only English I heard from her all day. Needless to say, I now try to pick up the little scraps of paper before she comes. I’ve also noticed that she and the apartment manager always take off their shoes whenever they walk across the 8’ x 10’ rug and then put them back on when they get to the other side.
Most shops are within a 30-45 minutes walk. I prefer walking to negotiating price with taxi drivers and explaining where we live. There are very few streets signs, no traffic lights and most drivers don’t understand maps. First I tried to explain which road I lived on and that didn’t seem to work. The next time I tried to point it out on a map and that didn’t work. After that I had someone take me to a major landmark in the center of town and gave him directions from there. If I don’t know a landmark, I am in trouble. I used to dread going to the large grocery store because it’s far away. But now I have my new favorite cab driver, Riziki who gave me his phone number. It makes everything much easier!
We have a nice, flat screen TV. We get four channels: Tanzanian parliament, Tanzanian parliament, VTN, and, wait for it, Al Jazeera. VTN showed John Tesh live from Red Rocks. We were rocking.
For decorating, I purchased two Maasai cloths to cover the tables. Red and purple to go with the black Chinese furniture. Combined with the mosquito netting it is a good look. It is not exactly the pottery barn style of 901 N. Oak, but memorable in so many other ways. Wish you all were here to see it!
From Scott: We are trying to upload pictures but experiencing glitches. We'll keep trying.
National Park Trip
From Angela: We had a fantastic trip to several national parks and protected areas in Northern Tanzania last week with Thadeus Binamungu and Tusime from the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF). I was so anxious to write about it when we got back but our e-mail has been down ever since yesterday.
We visited Tarangire National Park, Manyara Ranch (owned by the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust), Lake Manyara National Park, Burungi Wildlife Management Area, and Mt. Kilimanjaro area. They all had very different habitats and we saw so many different animals and birds. At each location we Scott had field and office meetings. While he was in meetings, the kids and I hung out waiting for him. We were oftentimes an unusual sight for the villagers.
Tarangire is a large park that looks like the Africa you expect. Endless savannas and grasslands with giant, ancient baobab trees on the slopes and filled with wildlife. The Tarangire River runs through the park. The park is known for the large elephant herd. We saw many family groups up close (check out Annie in the truck) but also saw giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, gazelle, impala, baboons, rock hyrax and many birds. The wildlife migrate long distances between the national parks and conservation areas between the wet and dry seasons.
Next day we went to Burungi WMA (west of Tarangire NP) on Maasai land and met with the chairman of a village organization working with nine villages to secure wildlife corridors across their land in exchange for tourism revenue from tented lodges on their land. (The man bicycles 12 miles to work each way on a dirt road). The organization received $5 from each tourist/each day for use for schools, water projects, and anti-poaching patrols. While the staff met with him, Annie, Charlie and I drew a crowd of children watching us play cards on the front steps. Charlie eventually joined in a soccer game with a group of boys. He said they were very good. Looking across the miles of savannas surrounding the few village buildings, Scott said they probably got plenty of practice.
The next day we visited the north side of Manyara Ranch. Scott and Doug wanted to see a recently burned area. Charlie rode in the back of the game scout truck while wildebeest, zebras, giraffe, and cattle ran past. I could see his smile 100 yards away through the cloud of dust a 100 yards behind him. We scared a cheetah off a termite mound, which was cool.
Each evening we returned to a very nice lodge overlooking the rift valley and all of the sites we visited. At the pool, the kids leanred a new phrase - baridi sana - very cold.
Next we traveled to the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro and met an elephant researcher (Alfred Kikoti with AWF) documenting elephant movements and securing their travel corridors between the Tanzania and Kenya national parks. At one site, the work crew went hiking up to an overlook with some villagers. They were viewing a wildlife corridor between Tanzania and Kenya the village designated as protected. Annie and I were stuck in the truck on the side of the road. We attracted a crowd of Maasai women who pointed and talked animatedly about Annie for half an hour. They don’t see many blond-haired girls in that area.
That evening, we stayed in a tented camp with a view of the mountain on one side and the slope down to Kenya on the other. It was amazing. They had showers and flush toilets they operated with buckets and lighting from solar panels. The Maasai sang before the dinner. Dinner was held in a large tented dining area. Warm washclothes were offered towash our faces and hands. During dinner bats flew overhead and between us catching moths hovering around the lights, providing great evening entertainment. We could hear jackals and hyenas while we lay in bed. A full moon illuminated Mt Kilimanjaro. Beautiful.
The next day we visited a defunct ranch on the other side of the mountain owned by the Tanzania National Ranching Company. It was overrun by neighboring villagers grazing cattle, farming, and diverting water from streams. We saw no wildlife. The Tanzania Land Conservation Trust is negotiating with the government and neighboring villages on establishing a conservation corridor and compatible grazing. During the trip, we experienced the dustiest drive of our stay so far. Fine volcanic pumice in a dry lake bed. The dust had dust. It was hilarious. All part of the adventure.
We visited Tarangire National Park, Manyara Ranch (owned by the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust), Lake Manyara National Park, Burungi Wildlife Management Area, and Mt. Kilimanjaro area. They all had very different habitats and we saw so many different animals and birds. At each location we Scott had field and office meetings. While he was in meetings, the kids and I hung out waiting for him. We were oftentimes an unusual sight for the villagers.
Tarangire is a large park that looks like the Africa you expect. Endless savannas and grasslands with giant, ancient baobab trees on the slopes and filled with wildlife. The Tarangire River runs through the park. The park is known for the large elephant herd. We saw many family groups up close (check out Annie in the truck) but also saw giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, gazelle, impala, baboons, rock hyrax and many birds. The wildlife migrate long distances between the national parks and conservation areas between the wet and dry seasons.
Next day we went to Burungi WMA (west of Tarangire NP) on Maasai land and met with the chairman of a village organization working with nine villages to secure wildlife corridors across their land in exchange for tourism revenue from tented lodges on their land. (The man bicycles 12 miles to work each way on a dirt road). The organization received $5 from each tourist/each day for use for schools, water projects, and anti-poaching patrols. While the staff met with him, Annie, Charlie and I drew a crowd of children watching us play cards on the front steps. Charlie eventually joined in a soccer game with a group of boys. He said they were very good. Looking across the miles of savannas surrounding the few village buildings, Scott said they probably got plenty of practice.
The next day we visited the north side of Manyara Ranch. Scott and Doug wanted to see a recently burned area. Charlie rode in the back of the game scout truck while wildebeest, zebras, giraffe, and cattle ran past. I could see his smile 100 yards away through the cloud of dust a 100 yards behind him. We scared a cheetah off a termite mound, which was cool.
Each evening we returned to a very nice lodge overlooking the rift valley and all of the sites we visited. At the pool, the kids leanred a new phrase - baridi sana - very cold.
Next we traveled to the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro and met an elephant researcher (Alfred Kikoti with AWF) documenting elephant movements and securing their travel corridors between the Tanzania and Kenya national parks. At one site, the work crew went hiking up to an overlook with some villagers. They were viewing a wildlife corridor between Tanzania and Kenya the village designated as protected. Annie and I were stuck in the truck on the side of the road. We attracted a crowd of Maasai women who pointed and talked animatedly about Annie for half an hour. They don’t see many blond-haired girls in that area.
That evening, we stayed in a tented camp with a view of the mountain on one side and the slope down to Kenya on the other. It was amazing. They had showers and flush toilets they operated with buckets and lighting from solar panels. The Maasai sang before the dinner. Dinner was held in a large tented dining area. Warm washclothes were offered towash our faces and hands. During dinner bats flew overhead and between us catching moths hovering around the lights, providing great evening entertainment. We could hear jackals and hyenas while we lay in bed. A full moon illuminated Mt Kilimanjaro. Beautiful.
The next day we visited a defunct ranch on the other side of the mountain owned by the Tanzania National Ranching Company. It was overrun by neighboring villagers grazing cattle, farming, and diverting water from streams. We saw no wildlife. The Tanzania Land Conservation Trust is negotiating with the government and neighboring villages on establishing a conservation corridor and compatible grazing. During the trip, we experienced the dustiest drive of our stay so far. Fine volcanic pumice in a dry lake bed. The dust had dust. It was hilarious. All part of the adventure.
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