Animals on more Animals

Hello again world. It’s been awhile. Can’t say I missed you too much internet, but my peeps from back home I miss you! I’ve been away in paradise, and what I wouldn’t give for you guys to be able to join this adventure.

            The past 2 weeks we travelled and camped in three different places: Tarangire National Park (my fav so far), Lake Manyara Forest Reserve near Mto Wa Mbu village (a village with the best campsite and pool), and Mozambai Tropical Forest Reserve in the Usambara Mountains (where we camped on a lawn next to a beautiful, old colonial Swiss chalet).

            Before we jump to the incredible animals we saw, I must describe my first glimpse of Tanzanian government corruption. After staying in Arusha for a few nights after Ndarakwai, we were off in the safari cars to Tarangire National Park. We hadn’t even left Arusha when a female police officer chose our car as one of the random inspections for registration and to ask why we didn’t have a tour sticker. Most cars just keep going even when asked to pull over. Our driver kind of swerved around her (not sure if he intended to stop or not), but she was not pleased and slammed her fist on our car and requested the soldier guys to assist her. So then about 12 soldiers with huge guns (who we were told to avoid) rip our driver out of our car, give him a slap on the back, throw him in the back of their truck, and a screaming match ensued. Of course a huge crowd developed and we had no idea what was going on since we know barely any Kiswahili. In the end, we ended up going to the police station and our driver had to pay $50,000 TZ shillings (she initially wanted 120,000..crazy) because he didn’t have his license on him. (Interesting random fact: a lot of Tanzanians have a license with a fake birth date to make them older.) We later learned that she was likely on a power trip and demanded the money because she could.  Money trumps here and government corruption will always exist as long as money has the power over justice. Sad days.

            So back to a happier note…the wildlife parks were simply incredible.  You have to view the wildlife from a safari rooftop, which suited my lazy bum just fine.  We saw impala, lots of elephants, cheetahs!, waterbuck, dikdiks, jackals, mongooses, lions!, ostriches, hippos, gazelle, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some.  The lions were obviously my favorite.  (Look at the pic, the male simba is such a boss).  Every night we could hear 2 different male lions about a kilometer away roaring to establish their territories. We also had nightly hyena visitors sniffing some of the tents, which I sadly slept right through each time.  O and we’ve been learning things too and doing field studies, so don’t worry mom and dad.

            We also got to swim at one of the fancy lodges (500USD a night). It felt amazing. With a beer in one hand, dirt finally off, my feet in the pool, and watching elephants nearby…HEAVEN.

            Mto wa Mbu village was also incredible. We got to visit a Maasai spiritual healer…a 70 year old man with 27 wives and over 100 children.  If that doesn’t take spiritual power, I don’t know what does. In the village we also toured the various ethnic groups nearby and purchased some beautiful wooden carvings and paintings and tried some banana beer and wine. But the fun really got out of hand when we went to the nearby disco…obviously we danced the night away, American style.

            The tropical forest was breathtaking as expected, the pics speak for themselves.  But the best part is the Usambara peoples’ beliefs.  They think that white people are vampires. But really, they do. All generations believe this. Although in the day they’re okay because white people are only vamps at night. Crazy. This would’ve been useful to know before our village interviews (which included interviews on agriculture, women, ethnobotany and wood fuel). Now I understand why there were about 50 school kids surrounding me and 5 other girls…they wanted to watch the vampires. (SOOKIE).

            I’m clearly still on a whirlwind African adventure and can’t get enough. This past week a few girls have gotten sick, which was painful just to watch, but I’m still gong strong (knock on wood). My favorite part of TZ is still meeting people and making local rafikis. (and we have the most amazing camp crew, who are starting to feel like family). The people here are so welcoming and I have so much to learn from them.

            Today we meet our homestay families and stay we them for the next three weeks. So nervous.
Miss you all at home. I usually only get internet for about 30 minutes every few weeks. So until next time. KWA HERI!

            Miss you all at home. I usually only get internet for about 30 minutes every few weeks. So until next time. KWA HERI!