Flora's Adventures in Tanzania

Uluguru Mountains

2007-01-18T07:43:00.000+02:00

Towering over the city of Morogoro (about 3 hrs away from Dar), are the Uluguru Mountains. We took the long weekend to embark on what ended up to be a rather grueling hike, complete with scratches and scrambling up the mountainside. We used a local tour company called Afriroots, which provided a guide, porters and camping equipment. In total, there were ten of us who hiked four hours on Friday, six on Saturday and another four on Sunday. We encountered some villagers on our way up the mountain who were brewing their own local beer, which looked and smelled like dirt. The Saturday hike took us to the top of Bondwa Peak, where it was so high that we could not see anything down below. The whole weekend was lovely though. We set up camp in front of an old abandoned house, where the Afriroots people now use as a kitchen and for storage. It gave such a nice character to a place that already had a magnificent view. Our guide led us through these very narrow paths. It was so humbling to see the local Tanzanian women ambling barefooted down the mountain with a fruit basket on her head, firewoood strapped to her side, a child clinging to her back, while I am sweating and struggling to walk up in my expensive hiking boots and MEC gear. Hahahahaha, what a crazy experience. We came across a party on the last day and joined in for an impromptu dance to the beat of the drums. I think they were celebrating the coming of age of some of the village girls.

ZAMBIA!

2007-01-03T09:30:00.000+02:00

What a wonderful vacation! Five days in Livingstone, Zambia to see Victoria Falls. Despite my unfortunate stomach bug, which left me full of Cipro and no ability to drink on my birthday or Christmas, I had a fabulous time!

Our first day at Victoria Falls, and what we thought would be a 15 min gander over to Livingstone Island ended up being a 5 hr trek through slippery rocks and swamp in our bare feet. At one point, the guides had us swim across the river by cutting through the current so that we "wouldn't fall over the edge". That's how close we were to the edge of Vic Falls. At last, we arrived at Devil's Pool, a 3 metre deep natural pool at the very edge of Victoria Falls. We held onto the edge for dear life as we peered our heads over the Falls. Notice that our guides were hanging onto our feet :)

Some of the girls went white water rafting while I slowly recovered from my flu. We spent Christmas at a local orphanage where we had lunch with the kids and they performed some dances for us. On Boxing Day, I went on my first Gorge Swing. Some of you may have seen it showcased on the Amazing Race. I was strapped to a piece of rope that was tied to the middle of the Zambezi Gorge and then asked to jump from the ledge. I had a moment of hesitation, then free fell to the gorge below. Personally, I think the Gorge Swing is a better alternative from the bungee jumping. First, you get to swing upright. Second, you get to have a beautiful zen-like moment of dangling high above the Zambezi River with nothing but the sound of your body swinging back and forth.

All in all, two thumbs up for Livingstone, Zambia. I recommend staying at JollyBoys Backpackers in Livingstone. I also recommend the 5 hr trek to Devil's Pool, though you ought to bring flip flops if you want it to be 2 hrs long instead.

My first Tanzanian wedding

2006-12-02T08:38:00.000+02:00

My first Tanzanian wedding was lovely. LATE, but lovely. We went to the reception in the evening, where even the bride and groom were late. They new couple were introduced with much fanfare, and with the videographer following them around all night, I can't imagine that they were very comfortable. However, the reception was nice, and each side of the family got up to perform in their traditional tribal dance. At the end of the night, the guests had to, one by one, "dance" their gifts up to the bride and groom :) That was really fun :)

Zanzibar!

2006-11-26T16:39:00.000+02:00

Finally! I have visited paradise, and it turns out, it is reachable by a two hour boat ride! The girls and I went with our friend Ben to Zanzibar where we spent an absolutely wonderful weekend wandering the streets and soaking up the unique charactr that is Stone Town. We arrived Friday evening by boat and had dinner at Mercury's , owned by none other than Freddy Mercury himself (the guy from Queen). Our original purpose of the trip had been to see "some French DJs", which in all honesty was the only information we had to go on. So of course we had a luxurious dinner by the water before meandering down to the Livingstone where we assumed the show would begin at around 11pm, as it usually would in Dar. Our misguided (or rather oblivious) assumptions were clarified when we sat down and the band on stage announced that this would be their last song and thank you for coming out. The last song didn't even have the synthesizer, so we got neither French nor DJ elements of the show. Ah well. After a few lazy attempts at mingling around with the other Mzungus in the bar, I took the lead and dragged evryone to Dharma Lounge, a small club/lounge that played an eclectic mix of hip hop and Top 40s. Actually, the DJ made many bad choices throughout the evening, but it gave more character to our night.

Stone Town was beautiful. The mish mash of rooms and buildings stacked like Legos on top of each other gave the whole city a sense of peaceful chaos. I liken it to your very messy den, strewn with papers and books, but somehow you know exactly where everything is located. Of course, Stone Town is not MY den, and thus I simply followed Ben and his compass around for the weekend, quickly giving up on attempting to guess where "north" was. We had an amazing view atop our hotel (Hotel International), which had a character all of its own as a building. The rooftop area had a wonderful 360 view of the city, and at night, it was so quiet you could hear the sounds of shoe soles shuffling on the pavement. No wonder people fall in love with the place and never want to leave.

My initiation into the African life...

2006-11-17T11:04:00.001+02:00

My purse got stolen! Nettie was right, shit happens as soon as you get comfortable. I was sitting in a friend's car on my way to work on tuesday. How could I pass up a front seat in an SUV when my other option was to cram into the back of a dala dala (mini public bus) with a dozen other people who don't believe in deodorant? Anyways, well I was sitting in the front with the window rolled down chatting away with my friend. I had my purse in my lap and the traffic was slow. When we stopped, someone reached in, grabbed my purse and ran for his life. I didn't even have time to react. And you really don't want to yell "thief" unless you're prepared to have a mob of people beat the culprit to death. Would probably ruin my idyllic African experience, no? I feel extremely lucky though, as I seemed to have prepared myself for such an incident. I had my phone, and my flash disk stolen. Everything else, my bank card etc, was safely tucked away at home. The loss of the flash disk is a pain in the butt, but I had hard copies of the most immediate documents at the office, and an extra SIM card with some of my friends' contact information. So not all is lost. Unfortunately, I have lost contact with the Chinese couple that I have been having lunch with - could not find their phone number, and cannot find their house. I will have to forage around the neighbourhood pointing at my face and asking Tanzanians if they had seen some "Wachina".

It rained all last week and flooded so many of the dirt roads in the area. Its heartbreaking to see some peoples homes submerged in knee deep water, I don't even know how they live through the long rainy season in March. The guys with wheelbarrows made a killing ferrying people across the deep puddles though. There's always someone willing to do something here in Tz.

Zanzibar this weekend! Should be a lovely reward for a frustrating week at work....

Front Row at the Fashion Show

2006-11-05T11:02:00.000+02:00

That's right, how many times will I ever get the chance to sit int he front row of a fashion show? The answer is, only in Tanzania. We went to the "Redd's African Fashion Design Awards" on a spontaneous whim to see what it was all about. This show was the semi-finalist showcasing of 8 specific designs. We had no idea what to expect. It was held at the Movenpick, a really ritsy hotel downtown that has changed names every five years (incidentally the number o years an international company can operate tax free in Tanzania). We were given free Redd's Premium Cold, this reportedly alcoholic drink that tasted distinctively like flat President's Choice Ginger Ale. The first designs were really quite lovely, these African dresses with British and Indian influences. And then it went downhill from there. We saw a hip hop group that was out of sync, and a magician (the ONLY East African female magician, trained in China, no joke). The Traditional dance was neat, though it was interesting to notethat all the middle class Tanzanians snickered int he audience. Finally, the semi finalist dresses were revealed, and they were butt ugly. I didn't even bother to take pictures, because they had to be made in the corporate colors of Redd's Premium Cold : Red, Green and Gold. Everyone looked like Christmas ornaments, it was horrid :) Interesting evening to say the least, I always love a new thing. Will post pics once the internet connection improves

It's only been a month?!

2006-10-20T08:56:00.001+02:00

Dar is a city of many perspectives. There is a sort of bittersweet beauty in how poverty and opulence can co-exist under the same identity of what it means to be Tanzanian. Here is a picture of the street that I live on. Whereas 70% of Dar is comprised of informal settlements, I am fortunate to live on one of the few neighbourhoods that are planned. Despite the number of compounds (and perhaps because of) there is garbage everywhere on the streets. This past weekend, the Tanzanian government destroyed all the illegal stalls that were set up on the side of the main roads. These informal stalls are, or were, sell everything from clothes to vegetables to cell phone top up cards, and it is a shame to see peoples’ livelihoods literally turn into rubble on the side of the roads. These stalls existed all over the city, generating thousands of dollars for the informal economy. Unfortunately, they usually inhabit land that is reserved for future road allowances. They contribute to the traffic congestion and, as one Tanzanian observed, “are eyesores.” I doubt these local stalls will go away, as people still have to earn a living somehow. We shall see what happens as the months progress.

On Saturday, we took the walking tour of downtown suggested by the Lonely Planet, which was actually rather boring. The most interesting part of the tour was our visit to the fish market, the smell of which assaults your nose. Dozens of vendors are deep frying their catch and selling them to the public. I will have to return to the fish market for pictures and a taste of the catch. We also visited the Botanical Gardens, where we saw monkeys with bright turquoise blue testicles! I was unfortunately unable to get a good shot of said image, but I did catch a shot of the family of monkeys before they scooted off J My roommates and I visited Karembezi Café, a beautiful terraced restaurant perched next to the Indian Ocean. As I sipped my coffee and enjoyed the ocean view, I can hardly believe that just a few minutes ago I was walking through Dar’s dirty and rather languishing city centre.

I must admit, this electricity crisis in Dar is becoming a rather severe issue. As it is Ramadan, we are now without power 7 days a week between 6am and 6pm, though the availability of electricity at night continues to be unpredictable. I am lucky enough that if I cannot cook at home on the weekends, I can still spend a bit more to eat out.

Friends, family, please send emails or throw up your comments on my blog when you get a chance!

thwarted by Tanesco

2006-10-16T13:37:00.000+02:00

The whole power situation in Dar is getting on my nerves, as our access to electricity is never predictable. On Saturday, we had planned for a lovely TV night of watching episodes of 24 and curling up with pizza (yes, there is a lot of Italian food here in Dar, apparently, the Italian tourists are many). We sat in frustration and in the dark willing the damned lights to turn on until, defeated by the hunger, we made grilled cheese sandwiches on our little kerosene stove. Finally, the power came on at around 10:30 at night. Good grief, I didn't think it would be so boring without power, but what is there to do but read under the candlelight? And when you start running out of candles (and you do, pretty quickly), all you want to do is sleep. Our plans are always thwarted by some unpredictable thing - no power, no water, high traffic whatever. No wonder people here take it so easy, I am already irritated by this, and I'm the most laid back person in my family.

So Aaki, Rebecca and I decided Sunday would be beach day, because well, the beach doesn't "turn off". Poor Kelly, who was bent on not getting malaria, and was the most diligent in terms of wearing long sleeves and pants, nevertheless got sick and had to stay home. We took a short ride to White Sands resort, where we chartered a speedboat to Mbudya Island. What a beautiful place, the speed boat ride was definitely the most fun, bumping up and down along the waves. When we arrived, we set up camp underneath a rented banda and ordered our lunch, which was a simple but OH so delicious meal of fries and fresh grilled whole fish. It can with a bit of sea salt and no cutlery. Such yummy fresh food, I was so happy. The weather was a bit rainy, and there were more clouds than we'd like, but it was a spectacular day nontheless to relax on a hammock. The best part was getting soaked riding back on the speedboat, as the waves get really choppy near the evening. We even saw a whale in the distance!

*Sigh*. I have a fundraising workshop to go to all next week, which also falls RIGHT on the only four day weekend of the year. So all my friends are going to Zanzibar, while I get to stay at home and then attend this workshop all week. Boo hiss. I hope I get to go to Zanzibar soon, this will be ridiculous if I can't.

Kipepeo Beach...paradise only 2 hours away

2006-09-28T17:16:00.000+02:00

Woo hoo! And apparently Zanzibar is only better! We stayed in really simple and clean huts on the beach this past weekend, and just listened to the sound of the Indian Ocean. I ate so much food, as the restaurant, on the left here, is just next to the huts. I ate coconut straight from the shell. The beach is a bit touristy, and we saw tons of foreigners. The camel is there to give us tourists a ride (I didn't ask for the price), and we saw some cattle roaming across the beach, a sort of reminder that the rural life is never far away....

My new house and all that....

2006-09-28T16:58:00.000+02:00

Here's Kelly in front of our new home! It is nice, and in a little compound of two other houses like this. As there is no street address, our current directions are to "pass the BP, turn left after the Oxford sign, follow the street to the end, and it is the red gate after the store." Simple, huh? The taxi drivers here have amazing visual memory, partly because they really have no other choice given the lack of gridwork roads and street names.

The kids living in our compound are really cute. I find that the children here are generally less fussy and more smiley. It makes me wonder what makes our Canadian kids so fussy? I haven't seen a tantrum or a scolding in public yet in Dar.

A fortnight in Dar....

2006-09-19T17:25:00.000+02:00

Ah, so now it has been two weeks since I arrived in Dar, so allow me to recap the events of one fortnight in Tanzania......

I arrived with my roommates Kelly and Rebecca after a full day and night of flying. The airport at Dar is small, but it was the fastest baggage claim I've ever had in my life. In other words, opposite of Air Canada :) Since I could not get a hold of the girl I was supposed to have stayed with, and there are no street signs or clearly defined directions in Dar, I opted to stay with Rebecca and Kelly. Thus began our introduction to the informal rental housing market of Dar es Salaam. What a nightmare, we were told that going through illegal touts would allow us to find a house that was more in our price range, as the property management companies cater only to rich Muzungu (foreigners), which I realized were apparently synonymous even if you are a poor graduate student.

It was at times hilarious. At no time in this adventure were we told the correct price of the rent. Each time we went to see a house that was "apparently" in our price range, we would slowly amass more middlemen along the way until the commission of each tout was so expensive that the rent was no longer affordable. At one point, I found myself squished inthe baskseat of some minivan with my roommates, two illegal touts, one official agent who didn't know what the heck he was doing, and our well-intentioned Swahili friend who was genuinely trying to get us a good deal. We were even shown a house that looked distinctively like a motel because, well, each room had a numbered key and, well, it WAS a motel. The askari (guard), the random informal agent, and the interpreter all insisted that the landlord could rent the whole compound to us because it was the low season. Whenwe finally met with the landlord late at night, he informed us tht he could for sure rent three of the five bedrooms to us, and that the guests using the other two rooms would"not bother using the kitchen or TV room because theyusually stay one night and leave." We politely declined his offer to live in what sounded more and more like a classy brothel.

Other interesting memorable snapshots of our search: Having grapes and orange Fanta on the Persian rug of a man who was showing us his home, while his children and two wives giggled in the background; getting squished in the back of a sedan with three other women and a spare tire (literally).

Luckily, this adventure has concluded with us now residing in a very nice little white house in a quiet neighbourhood in Mikocheni. The people are friendly, the children run barefoot and always with smiles, the cows move out of the way as enormous SUVs barrel down the rocky dirt road, and my life is slowly settling. Its heartbreaking to see the kids so poor, and to even dare to complain about my VISA issues while they are begging on the streets is an enourmous amoutn of guilt to handle. We had no water the first night we moved in, and I came to the realization just how much water our damned Western style toilets use. Sooooo much water, I can bathe and wash my hair with that amount of water.

But I digress. The food here is ...starchy. All those who are diet obssessed can forget about coming to Africa, I have never eaten so much beans, fried bread, and meat, and so little vegetables and fruit. What I would give for a salad right now. But I've been having a blast eating nonetheless. I've resigned myself to getting mild stomach issues and am letting my body slowly adapt. My favorite is to get up early and buy some maandazi (fried bread) and chai for breakfast. The people around my work are slowly getting to know me, and they call me "Mchina" and smile.

The girls and I are planning a nice trip to the beach this weekendso I should be getting some lovely pictures on this blog soon.