• 7/7 Caught a nice bus 5 hours southeast to Mombo past an amazing clear view of Kilimanjaro. Met off the bus by Mr Muller. #
• 7/7 Drove 90 min into Usambara mtns to gorgeous old German lodge for 3 days of cool forest hikes and birding. Chilly up here! #

Chinlonga Art Exhibit in Arusha

Originally uploaded by furtwangl

Tom: I don’t have much to add - the safari was sublime, Active Tanzania took good care of us and are highly recommended as a small, reliable, fairly priced safari (and Kilimanjaro trek) operator. The hotel we’re in is ok, though the place across the street looks a little better for the same price ($65 for a double), we are headed there for dinner.

The close-up look at lions, the Panorama campground, descending into the crater, the elephants in the landscape at Tarangire, and all the other animals and birds, all of it was awesome. But I’ll add one more little story from last night, one of those coincidences that happen on the road.

We had one evening in Arusha and asked for a restaurant recommendation. We went to a place called the Maasai Cafe, with wood-fired pizza. As we waited for our food we looked on the walls and there was a show of paintings - for 2 weeks only - by a Tanzania painter named Haji Chilonga. Now of all the artists in Tanzania, I happen to have seen his work once before, in Dar es Salaam, and even bought two small paintings which hang in my room at home. I had even considered trying to see his studio when I get to Dar, and instead here we were eating in a room full of his most recent, and lovely work. I travel, partly, for moments like that - tasty pizza, a great safari to reflect on, and wonderfully unexpected bit of synchronicity.

PS I posted a simple map in our photos, which shows roughly where we went on safari, down to Arusha from Kenya and tomorrow on the Dar Express bus onward to the east past Kilimanjaro to the Usambara Mountains and Muller’s Mountain Lodge.

Lion!!!

See all photos posted by furtwangl

CLAIRE: I shudder at the thought that you have not heard anything about the amazing lion experience in Ngorongoro Crater! Well, here’s the story. Silvester (our safari driver) got a message from a ranger that there were lions quiiite close to the road (all the roads here are rough dirt roads). We drove over to have a look, and sure enough, there was a male and female lion just a few feet from the road! The female was standing up and the male was sleeping farther off. Then the male sat up and we saw his face–he was SOOOOOO handsome!! I just wanted to go up and stroke his mane (but in a way I didn’t want to)!. Right when I thought that was just about the best thing that could ever happen, the female stood up and started walking straight towards are car! The safari land rover has an open top so we can stand up in the open air to see the animals, and she came so close, we could just reach out and pet her (but we had enough sense not to)!!!! It was AMAZING!!! When she got to the other side of the road, she flopped down a little ways from the road, and fell asleep. Then the male lifted his handsome body and followed, taking long strides (if you’ve ever seen “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” movie, this lion is like Aslan in real form). He came just as close to us as the female, then flopped down quite close on the other side of the road. That was the Lion Experience!!!!!

LYANDA: Hello dear friends. We are enjoying a rainy chill-out day at a funny little hotel in Arusha after our amazing week of camping and exploring the Northern Tanzania parks–Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire. I would have been happy to continue staying in our tent overlooking the Rift Valley for weeks, but I have to admit that last night’s hot shower felt GREAT–there was actually a river of brown muddy water flowing from my hair down the drain. Then out for pizza served with South African wine from a box–heaven!

Happily, my fears of tourist over-run in the safari parks were far overblown. We spent our first couple of days outside of the parks, camping and walking the dry hills of the Monduli mountains with our young Masai guide, Melubo, who we adore. He is 25, and just the third in his village to attend secondary school. As we walked, he told us about Masai culture, and the traditional uses of the many acacia species, and other plants. He was sweetly solicitous of Claire, and treated her as a loved little sister, patiently picking thorns out of her socks, holding her hand on the steeper spots, saying “Come, Clara, walk with me,” whenever she started to lag, and best of all, pulling out his “bush knife” to make her a Masai walking stick of her own. The second day, we walked with him to his home–”that way,” he waved his stick toward the hills. After two hours of incredible walking, Claire asked if we were almost there. “Oh yes,” Melubo gave her his winning smile, “We are just arriving.” After another hour, he said, “See, there is my home,” pointing about a kilometer across a wide valley. It’s true–for the Masai, an hour’s walk counts as “almost there.” Nearly all the Masai still dress traditionally, in a red or purple cloth wrapped around the waist, and another thrown over the shoulders and across the chest. Most have large holes in extended earlobes (though not Melubo), and eat mainly meat, milk, some beans and corn if it managed to grow, and also sometimes blood (it’s a plug for the low-carb diet–they are also invariably tall and thin). And they really do carry sticks, for walking and moving along the goats, cattle, and donkeys. Melubo is quietly proud of being Masai, and of his beautiful land–rightly so. Still, the effects of isolation and poverty are palpable–we saw so many children out herding the animals–the less shy ones would approach us, and we could see they were caked in dirt, and often torn clothes, which is perhaps not so bad, but so many of them clearly were suffering from chronic respiratory and eye infections. They held out their sweet, germy little hands to us. We loved seeing Melubo’s simple home, the boma where he was born–we sat there in the smoky dark (they cook on a fire, but there is no chimney), and as our eyes adjusted, he translated his aunt’s questions to us–you have only one child (peals of laughter, she has eight!)? Do you have cattle? When do you plant your corn? Later, at the campfire, I asked Melubo if he would consider the people in his village to be basically happy, sort of a dumb question, maybe. He said, “Well, today they are happy, because you came, and visitors are unusual. You saw them smile.” Yes, and other days? Day-to-day? “Well, yes. Some days they are happy, if they are not hungry, or if the children are not sick. The life is good, but it is difficult.”

We left dear Melubo behind, and continued with our driver and cook to our camp above Lake Manyara. There were other travelers there, but the tent-camping mode of safari seems to attract more alternative, Euro-backpacker types, and we enjoyed the camaraderie, and trading of stories.

The parks are stunning–the scale of Africa is almost inconceivable. Tarangire was so picturesque–the classic, “Lion King” image of Africa. We SO enjoyed the multi-age lines of elephants, splashing in the mud, and trailing across the river bottom–indescribably lovely. We saw one tiny baby, born this year–the smallest baby elephant ever. Her ears were much too big for her, and she seemed all fresh and new compared to the larger elephants. We named her “Hansa,” in memory of Woodland Park Zoo’s beautiful little girl elephant who died last summer. The many zebras congregate with the blue wildebeest, or “gnu,”–a regrettably ugly animal–I am sorry to say it, but it’s true. The puns roll too easily: What’s gnu? That’s gnood gnus! Honey, the gnu jokes are getting old. Should I make some gnu ones? Ha ha. So you see, we keep ourselves amused. And I know we are supposed to respect the animals as “wild,” but all I really want to do is rub my face in the lion’s mane and kiss his soft nose, or climb on an elephant’s back and lie there in the sun. xo, L

• 7/4 6:30AM Dawn over the rift valley gorgeous from our tent high on the escarpment this July 4. Thurs in Manyara park saw great animals & birds culminating in 2 lions at day’s end. #
• 7/4 10AM - Now we are in Ngorongoro crater which is incredible! Lions, gnu, hyena! #
• 7/4 7PM - Amazing 4th in Ngorongoro crater seeing wildlife & experiencing landscape: 19km wide crater floor savannah. #
• TF: Back @ our tent w/ million $$ view of valley after another amazing safari day. Popcorn @ dusk; dinner 2 be served soon. #
• CEF: Zebras! Gnus! Rhinos! LIONS!! Etc. We saw it all today in the beautiful Ngorongoro crater! Safari is a blast!! #
• Ly: The birthplace of humanity is all we could hope: raw, life-filled, somehow comforting. A wonderful day. XO, L #

• 7/3 2PM - Great night camping in hills near Masaii village & 2 long walks with local guide named Melubo. Camping in style with cook along, 3 hot meals served on tablecloth outside giant tent. Now headed to Lake Manyara park, pm and am game drives and camping nearby.
• 7/3 7PM - Lake Manyara Park PM game drive: Saw baboons, elephants, giraffe, zebra, hippos, birds: Storks, fish eagle, hammerkop, hornbills, etc. Yay!!

We had a few food questions so I am leaving this to auto-post while we safari. Almost everywhere we stayed in Kenya we were in homes or volunteer shared housing where a cook made dinner and sometimes lunch, and we were left on our own to make breakfast in the kitchen. Typically with a scary gas stove - I have no hair left on my knuckles from lighting them with matches.

For breakfast Claire eats local Kenyan cornflakes (with 3.3% milk!) and Lya and I usually have fried eggs and toast. With Africafe instant coffee. Claire eats PB&J for lunch. We are buying bread and PB&J for her along the way. They also have processed cheese slices here, so occasional cheese sandwiches. And TONS of fruit, it is mango season, and watermelon, and papaya, and Claire loves the sweet tiny bananas. And passionfruit. Etc.

One of the big coastal dishes is chapatis and beans, Claire eats that happily. Also pilao rice, which is tasty. Lentils are made here too, into a dal (both yellow and brown), and Claire eats that. And we’ve run across our share of pasta and pizza, in fact A Rocha served chapatis and beans last night, and pasta with red sauce today before we left.

Food on safari next week will be interesting, we bring a cook with us who cooks 3 meals a day. We’ll report back.

• 6/30/08 2 PM - Bussing across the plain Nairobi to Arusha. Thorn trees, Masaii herders & the occasional ostrich and gazelle. In half an hour we’ll hit the border.
• 6/30/08 6 PM - Ran the gauntlet of hucksters @ the border and we’re in Tanz. Sun setting over the plain, Mt Kili on horizon, slowed for camel herder crossing the road.
• 6/30/08 9 PM - Polite notice to our esteemed customers or guests: Due to some reasons best known by the management … We offer laundry services in our hotel and therefore… washing inside the rooms is not allowed.
• 2. To all non-resident guests must have particulars to identify you properly & avoid any inconveniences which may happen

Rusted rump sign

Originally uploaded by furtwangl

(From Claire:) Today we just moved to another hotel in Mombasa. It’s very fancy and I like it. I really wish we could stay longer at A Rocha though. I loved it there and I want to go there again when I’m older. There’s a pretty beach just like Diani, but the waves were too rough to play in now, so we could just get our feet wet. I miss Seattle but I love it here!

The Golden RUMP!!! A-S forest.

Originally uploaded by furtwangl

(From Lyanda, who passed me scrawled notes to transcribe in this stuffy internet cafe while she headed for white wine by the pool-ed.)
Takaungu was very good to us, and we were reluctant to leave. While Tom was at his long Swahili lesson (should be “Kiswahili”-ed.), and Claire in school, I spent my last morning there walking the long, (illegible), red-soil path to the next village, Vuma. Second growth forests of palm, mango, and cashew-nut trees were dotted with traditional shambas (or family compounds - 3 or 4 small mud and thatch homes and shared gardens, goats, chickens - I am constantly amazed here by the tidiness of the shambas - the dirt floors are swept, the yards are raked, and it is all orderly).

Outside of Takaungu, where there are now a few pink-skinned volunteers all the time, “muzungu” foreigners like me are fairly rare, and so whole families would stand and stare , then would all smile and wave and say “habari” and invariably an adult would offer “karibu”-welcome.

The palm eventually gave way to maize fields and glistening views of the Indian ocean. I walked for hours, and can’t think of a better way to have ended our visit there.

If we needed cheering after the sadness of leaving Takaungu, the Golden-Rumped Elephant Shrew picked us right up. The Arabuko-Sokoke forest is pretty incredible and its most famous inhabitants the strangest, most wonderful little creature I have ever seen. It sure let us watch it, which is rare, and the more we watched it, the more weirder it was. Digging little holes in the leaf litter with its funny brown front legs, and sniffing around with its long “nose.” And its rump is SO golden!
The many endemics in the forest (shrew, birds, reptiles, and others) are depressingly endangered, depending entirely on this forest remnant. We feel fortunate for our hours of peaceful wandering there, in their presence. Many thanks to the lovely folks at A Rocha Kenya for their great conservation work, serene hospitality, and for the simple, perfect guest house at the edge of the forest and the ocean. XXOO - Ly