Woah.

I'll be home in a week...

Paul the Elder flew in on Tuesday night and Sally and Paul the Younger flew out late last night. I'll admit it was a little odd having a middle-aged woman as a roommate, but I have to say that I'll miss having her around. We would go biking and cook together and we had some good conversations. We cooked a big Welcome Back/Goodbye dinner last night. Actually, I should say, I cooked a big dinner and everyone else helped out a little. Sometimes I get a wee over-adventurous in the kitchen and have to shout for people to come help me. I made an Indian themed dinner, with butter chicken, vegetable masala, lentils and basmati rice. It was pretty awesome. The recipe for the lentils I traded with Prof. Asher for a biscuit recipe. I think we both got a good deal, since this is seriously the best lentil recipe I've tried to make.

Masala Massoor (Curried whole Lentils)

1 c massoor (green lentils)
2 sliced onions
2 large tomatoes
7-8 small onions
4 tbspn oil
1 tspn green coriander

Grind to paste:
8 cloves garlic
8 hot red chilies
2 tspn coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
ginger (1 -1.5 in piece)

Cook lentils and whole sliced onions in 2 cups water. Saute sliced onions (3 mins). Add paste, fry 3-4 minutes Add cooked massoor and salt. After 5 minutes, add tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Any vegetable or beans (black eyed or split peas) turn out well cooked this way.

I couldn't find coriander at all and the cumin I found in the spice rack was mysteriously covered in mold. Even without those spices, the dish was delicious.

Edson is in Mwanza for a few days trying to finalize arrangements for a CARE Canada retreat. I have the office to myself, which would be nicer if the power didn't keep going on and off. This does mean that I can listen to music while I work. I left my external hard drive in the US, so I don't have anything on my computer. I've been experimenting with online radio, with poor results. For some reason NPR is the only website I can get streaming music from. This is ok for now, but they don't have a big selection.

Sorry this is kind of a boring post. Not much has happened around here recently. I get to go back to Bagamoyo on Sunday for my final workshop. It was supposed to be in Zanzibar, but Ramadan is starting next week. Since Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, a workshop there is not a feasible idea. Bagamoyo is nice, though, it has beaches and large, clean hotels. It's not a bad place to have workshop, but it's definitely a poor substitute for Zanzibar.

Sakare Forest and Bagamoyo

After I got back from the internet cafe on Thursday, I was informed that I couldn't go to the Amani nature preserve. They originally quoted an entry fee of 3000/= per person, which is what Dhahia, the woman in charge of conference logistics, budgeted for. That day they had informed her that that was the price for Tanzanians and all foreigners had to pay a fee of USD $30 (about 35,000/=). Anja and I had to go with the other group to Sakare Forest Reserve instead.

It turned out to be a wonderful experience, so I don't regret the transfer. The drive there was lovely: we passed by farmland most of the way and drove up into the mountains along narrow roads clinging to the sides of steep slopes. I suppose at one point the mountains were entirely covered with lush forest, but now it's been cut back into small isolated pockets. Everything else is planted in neat fields of peas, potatoes, and maize, with some of the plots reaching all the way to the peaks of the mountains. As the road wound higher up the mountains, we started to pass through tea plantations. We stopped to ask a group of women, who were plucking tea, about the plantations. It turns out the tea bushes were planted in the late 1920s, and the plantations have gone through the gamut of ownership: from private German owners to state socialism and now back to private ownership. One of the women said her family started working on the plantations back in the thirties when her grandfather moved there looking for work.



We came to an intersection with a group of men standing around. These were our guides up to the forest reserve. They rode on motorcycles and we followed them up a steep, deeply rutted road through a gate and passed several groups of guards. The gate and the guards are there to protect the forest, not from villagers looking to cut it down for fire wood, but from the owners of a near by tea plantation. The forest is currently being contested by a tea plantation which claims to have bought the land from the government. The villagers claim that the forest is rightly theirs, especially since they replanted most of trees lost to fire and deforestation. Tea requires a lot of wood to create smoke during the drying process and the plantation owners decided they wanted to cut their costs and not pay for the wood. The villagers, who are among Tanzania's poorest populations, see the wood as a valuable source of income. CARE and several partnering organizations have been involved with the community for several years now, teaching about the importance of conservation and biodiversity.

We've also taught the villagers about the many wonderful uses of the media, including how to air your problems out on a national level. The villagers made a documentary that was shown on a national news channel and have written many articles for newspapers and journals. Their plight finally caught the attention of the Prime Minister, who visited and came down on the side of the villagers. They are now awaiting a decision from the courts. Unless their is a massive case of corruption (not out of the question) the ruling should be in favor of the villagers, especially since the tea plantation's ownership papers are forged.

We went on a short hike around the forest to see their watershed conservation efforts. Then we went down to the eucalyptus farm that the villagers have planted. Eucalyptus grows very quickly and, when cut down properly, each stump sends out 10-12 shoots that can also be harvested in 5 years' time. The trees are poor for watershed conservation (what the CARE staff are really concerned about) but great for fire wood production (what the villagers care about). Finally, we went down to the nursery, where the villagers are growing local flora to replant the natural forest. During this part, one of the villagers found a chameleon among the plants:


On Saturday, we tried to leave for Dar around 8am. The land rover started making funny noises, so we dropped it off at a mechanic's and took a cab back to the hotel. It turned out to a be a problem with the air conditioning, but it still took several hours to find the right part and install it. We didn't get on the road until 10:30am. It took us 4 hours to get to the city and another hour to sit through traffic. Anja came home with me and we met up with Lise and Line at my house. Around 5pm we finally departed for Bagamoyo. The ride was very easy, though we were crammed into the dalla-dalla for most of the trip.

Our hotel was really nice. Our rooms were small huts only 30 feet from the ocean! We had a nice dinner and spent an hour or so sitting on the beach chatting with each other. I woke up the next morning to the sound of the waves on the beach. It was wonderful! We got a late start on the day, after playing around for a bit on the sand. We hired a guide to take us to the Kaole ruins, which were about 5km from the city proper. We walked the way there while it wasn't so hot and took a taxi back to Bagamoyo when we were done. The ruins are from the mosque of Kaole and several well preserved graves. The graves must have once been rather spectacular sites, but now were worn down and weathered looking. We spent the afternoon in town and took a dalla-dalla back to Dar around 4pm. It was a short trip, but a lot of fun. I wish I'd known it was so easy to get to Bagamoyo. I would have done it sooner!

The Land of Milk and Cement

I'm at an internet cafe in Tanga right now, which is about 200 miles north of Dar. It's not a tourist destination and is well known in Tanzania for three things: its cement factory, dairy, and a cave which supposedly goes all the way to Mombasa. That's about all I can say about the place. The hotel I'm in looks very nice, but on closer inspection, none of the things actually work. My shower, toilet, tv and lamps do not function as they should. I moved out of the first room they put me in thinking things would be better. They were not, and it turns out that the previous occupant was Joyce, one of the workshop participants. They moved her to another room and moved me in without fixing anything. That night, they moved Aba into the room I was in previously, without fixing anything. I guess they figure if we're moved around enough, we'll stop complaining? What a dump. Half of the group is staying at another hotel, which isn't as nice looking, but everything functions. Normally, I wouldn't complain, but CARE's paying 40,000/= a night for our rooms. That's what many Tanzanian's make in a month. If you're going to charge a month's salary for something, it better be really f***ing nice. Meh.

The workshop is going nicely. I was brought along as the note taker, and I'm getting most things down. Sometimes I'm overcome with boredom and have to play a game or two of minesweeper, but otherwise, the workshop is well documented. Tomorrow we are all going out to visit field sites. I get to go to Amani, where they are apparently raising exotic butterflies for collectors around the world. I'm definitely bringing my camera along!

We're heading out early on Saturday morning. Anja (pronounced Anya), my new Danish friend, and I are going to meet up with Lise and Line in Dar. The plan is to catch a late dalla-dalla to Bagamoyo and spend the night. There are neat ruins and a museum about the slave trade there. Sunday is Lise's birthday and we'll probably celebrate by going to the wonderful Ethiopian restaurant near my house. I'm looking forward to it!

The weekend, then off to Tanga

This weekend I tried to relax and get some work done. Saturday I mostly stayed around the house, but I did take a nice bike ride around the peninsula and stop by the Slipway for some ice cream.

On Sunday, I wanted to go to Bagamoyo to see the ruins and the old slave trade head quarters. I was reading through my Lonely Planet guide book, and it turns out the tourist information center isn't open on Sundays. The thought of trying to deal with touts without the respite of a paid official to tell me which tours were legitimate didn't sound like a good idea. Instead I decided to check out the Village Museum. The guide book told me that the museum was across from the Mwenge carver's market, so I hopped on a dalla-dalla up to Mwenge. I got out and wandered around for 10 minutes, not seeing anything that resembled a museum. I finally asked someone, and it turns out the museum is back towards where I came from and nowhere near the market. Lonely Planet: you suck.

I headed back to the market, which was a mistake! I went into a shop and was talked into wandering around the market with the owner. We visited the stalls of his friends and family and I picked out a few really nice pieces. I had originally intended them to be gifts, but after the price I paid for them, I think they're all going to be mine. Haha! I have a wee bit of buyer's remorse from the price, but I think in the end, they are worth the cost. Now the problem is, how do I get heavy chunks of ebony home??

After our business transaction, my new, much richer friend took me out to lunch. His name is Sigari and he can't be much older than I am. I asked him about the carving business, which his family has been involved in for generations. Each of the statues I bought took one to two weeks to carve. His family now owns two stalls in the market and rents another two. In typical African fashion, all of his friends and family in other countries are being used as business contacts. He says he is now starting to ship carvings to LA and Helsinki, of all places. He knows a guy in Boston, and is trying to set up a seller there.

After our lunch, I told him I still wanted to see the museum. It was now 3pm and the museum would be open until 6pm, so I had plenty of time. He flagged down a top-top for me. I've seen tons of these little vehicles driving around, but had never had the courage to ride in one. They are very cute: three wheels and open on the sides. Their tiny little engines make high-pitched whirring sounds as they weave through traffic at break-neck speeds. Also, they are much cheaper than taxis, owing to the gas conservation of their small engines. At one point, I thought we were going to tip over, but we made it to the museum without incident. It turns out I could have easily biked to the Village museum from my house. It's probably closer than the CARE offices. I don't understand how the guide book could have such blatantly wrong information...

The museum is really neat. It's filled with the traditional houses of about 30 of the tribes in Tanzania. This country has over 120 different tribes and the museum showcased the largest groups. The houses ranged from domed huts made entirely from grass, to complex, many roomed mud brick houses with intricately carved doors. Many of the houses had corrals inside, so the people had to sleep only a few feet from the cows and goats! It must make for quite a stink.

I paid the extra 2,000/= fee to see a performance of traditional dances. It turned out to be a performance just for me, since no one else was visiting the museum at the time. There were three percussionists and four dancers. The dancers also sang and one of them would occasionally blow on a whistle. If I was asked to interpret the dances, I would say they were about farming. The women spent most of the dances bent over and sweeping their arms back and forth. After the performance ended, one of the drummers called me over and handed me the sticks for the marimba. Haha. Little did they know, I have no sense of rhythm. I actually handled the first song alright, since it only had three notes. The second one was more complex and I was completely hopeless. After about 15 minutes, I gave up, thanked them and then wandered around the museum grounds some more.

Today, I'm supposed to head to Tanga for my second workshop. This time it's with the environmental sector and I'm just tagging along as the note taker. I'm a little hesitant about the trip, because I'm running out of time here. I think it will be an interesting learning experience, however. One of the sector's main issues is land and resource governance in communities with refugee populations. Anyway, they're paying for my housing and food, and this time the conference will be in English. Many of the program directors are ex-pats who do not speak Swahili fluently. I'm at the offices now, but I'll have to leave soon with a driver to pick up my luggage. The man I'm driving with, Balaram, is apparently prone to leaving when he is ready and not at a set time. This means we will be leaving at some unspecified time before 1pm. Haha. Not much time to get work done...

Belated shout out for my sister:

Happy 20th Birthday to my ickle sister, Maren!

Here, have this picture of a giraffe as a present:


Yay!

Final Iringa post!

August 15

Wow, the ride home was crazy. We passed by THREE major accidents on the way from Iringa. The first was at the top of the first mountain we climbed. We didn't see any of the wreckage because the petrol tankard had ROLLED off the mountain and into a small crevice between peaks. The fact that it was a petrol tankard meant that we passed several hundred people running up the road with buckets to collect the leaking gasoline before the authorities could arrive to clean up. The accident was probably one of the largest windfalls the villagers in the area have ever experienced. I just wonder if the driver made it out alive.

Once we were out of the mountains, it was a straight shot to Mikume, where we stopped for breakfast. The restaurant was also attached to a snake farm, but they wanted me to pay in US dollars in order to get in. I told Edson I could see snakes in glass containers in the US, but not wild giraffes, so we jumped back in the landrover once we finished eating. Our first ride through the park occurred during the afternoon and there were few animals to be seen. This time, it was around 10am and there were many more out and about. I believe we saw impala, zebra, buffalo, elephants and giraffes. There were way too many impala and not enough of anything else. The elephants were spotted by Rama lying under a distant tree. I'm not sure how he saw them while also keeping control of the car. The man has good eyes. The giraffes were my favorite and we got to see about 10 in total. I took pictures, and I'll post them when I can.

At this point, we saw our second accident. A bus had collided with a tractor trailer. The front of the truck was completely smashed to pieces and was on fire when we passed. The bus had been pushed off the road and was compacted all along its right side. About two dozen people were standing alongside the road looking confused and upset. There was a tow-truck moving the bus, but no evidence of an ambulance or emergency vehicles. I'm not sure how emergency services work (or don't work) in this country.

We again stopped in Morogoro for lunch. On the way to the restaurant I saw two familiar blond Danish girls walking by some shops. I pulled out my phone and dialed Lise and invited her and Line to eat lunch with us. They were totally surprised, but quickly joined us at the restaurant. It turns out they are in Morogoro for the weekend taking a break from life in rural Turiani. They have plans to go hiking in the morning (I'm totally jealous). We said a quick goodbye after lunch, but I should be seeing them in a week's time when they come for a visit in Dar. I believe Lise said it was her birthday on Sunday, so I'll have to figure out a celebration of sorts.

Just before the bridge that separates Morogoro district from Dar es Salaam city limits, we passed our third accident. This one looked like it was a few hours old. There was another tractor trailer blocking one of the lanes in the road. When we drove around it, we could see that the front was also smashed, similar to the accident in Mikume. There was no evidence of the other vehicle, though it must have been large to cause that much damage. Given that the truck was in the right lane facing the wrong direction, it must have been trying to pass another vehicle when it rammed into something going the other way. I don't think I've seen so much destruction in one day before.

I have the weekend free and then I have to pick up and go to another workshop on Monday, this time in Tanga. Tanga is a city roughly parallel to the smaller of Zanzibar's two islands. It should be about a two hour drive, but you never know in this country. I'm trying to decide if I want to go to Bagamoyo for the day tomorrow or not. Hmm.