Camping in Tanzania

Ian and I joined the Kilimanjaro Mountain Climbing Club, and have been camping with them for the last 3 month. Now, now, before you start thinking that we are climbing Mt Kili every weekend,  let me clarify.

Kili is great to look at, and Ian hopes and prays that I may slip up and say lets climb it, but I'm not setting 1 foot on that mountain... it's HIGH and takes 7 days to climb!!!

Mt Kilimanjaro

Kibo peak of the mountain

Instead we have been camping around the mountain, which is more my style, at least once a month with an eclectic group of people.  Basically you never know who will show up for the trip, all kids or all old people, but we usually have fun anyway.

For the first trip we camped overnight at a flower farm.
Not far from where we camped there was a swamp of papyrus rushes and we were told there's an anaconda that lives there so not to head in that direction.. so where did we take our first hike to?? You guessed it... the swamp, looking for the HUGE snake!! Needless to say we didn't find it which was a bit of a disappointment to us but we did have some really cool views of the mountain, and saw really pretty  flowers grown in Africa for export to Europe because of the longer growing season, and even  chocho, a tasteless vine veggie that grows in Jamaica and mom puts in our soup all the time.

flowers grown in Africa for export to Europe

flowers grown in Africa for export to Europe. 

tasteless chocho

in the papyrus swamp searching for the anaconda 

For our next camping trip we headed to a lodge on the side of Kili were we were able to pitch our tent on their grounds.
As we drove with friends up the winding road to get to our campsite the splendor of Mt Kili's Kibo peak, the one you think of when you picture Kilimanjaro, and the Mwenzi peak were starkly laid out in front of us. Ian remarked how much Mwenzi looked like an evil villain's lair from the comic books. You could see all the crags and jutting of the peak.Later on we were told that you had to have a special permit to climb the Mwenzi peak as many accidents take place there.
We went on a 5 kilometer hike up to the first gate of the National Park and and it was great to watch Kibo seemingly getting closer as it loomed over us.  To our delight we also saw Collabus monkeys in the trees overhead.  Ian described them as tree skunks as they have the same broad body shape and the black fur with white stripe running up the back as skunks do.
As we were on the grounds of a lodge we ate at the restaurant, which was great for me, as I didn't have to worry about not having a camping cooker.  We are avid campers, camping several times in the summer  when we lived in the US so we were well equipped but here we are so unprepared.
That night Ian and I both had weird dreams of running out of time and we attributed it to the evil villains lair looming over us as we slept, Mwenzi!

Mwenzi peak of Kilimanjaro in the background

Ian trudging up to the gate of the Kilimanjaro National Park

Kibo Peak of Mt Kilimanjaro in the background

For our most recent camping trip we headed away from Kilmanjaro and headed closer to the Serengeti. to met with Ben the volcanologist and climb Essimongor Volcano near Mkauyuni, the oldest volcano in Tanzania to get a peek in the hole.
WAY COOL!!!
On the way to the camp site we encountered zebra's and could hear the bellowing of buffalo's.
We camped on the rocky side of the dormant volcano grilling half a side of goat to share with our camp mates and had a fearless Massai warrior standing guard in case we got invaded by buffalo's or other wild animals!!
This trip had a lot more of the younger crowd so it was party till pretty late before hitting the tent so we could be up and climbing our mountain early the next morning .
As its rainy season, I had a rude awakening in the middle of the night when it started raining and the tent started to flood. This lead to a flurry of activity with Shabani and I in the rain trying to secure the tent, and do something as it was leaking everywhere. In the end we were soaked, laughing and huddling in the middle of the tent to wait out the rain. Ian's tent on the other hand had no problems and he slept like a baby through it all.
The next morning, we had a really cool lecture about the mountain range in Tanzania  and were told that all the hills we see going in a line were vents to Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru, the 2 volcano's in the region.  It was all very informative.  At the top of the climb there were giraffes and buffalo's could be seen off in the distance.  The Massai pointed out a lion but I couldn't see it hiding in the grass.. needless to say, we stuck pretty close to him after that.
All in all some really good over nights in the bush!

helping Ian secure his tent

Ben the volcanologist giving us a lecture about the mountain ranges

Shab securing our tent

Ian leading the pack up the volcano

Experiments in Food

Ian is a typical teen when it comes to food… he’s always hungry!!

Living in Moshi we are nowhere close to a McDonald’s, Burger King or any fast food for that matter and I  wondered how he would handle eating local foods of banana, roasted meats, fish, beans, ugali, (a stiff mix of corn flour and water),  maize (corn) and chappati; a flat bread eaten mainly for breakfast. Even going to a restaurant here we have to wait at least an hour or more for food as everything is cooked fresh to order.. which is good.. unless you’re like Ian..hungry.  Funny enough, Indian food is huge here so we are able to try many different Indian cuisines.

Eating butter naan at the Indian restaurant 

We have the regular foods that we can buy at the shops and the butchery, (butcher shop), chicken, beef and goat that we are able to cook in a variety of ways, but sometimes it’s not always about a quick, easy or familiar meal.

We went to visit with friends in the village and as a great honor for us coming; they decided to cook a chicken for us. The catch? It was still alive.  Talk about fresh meat.   The children living in the home started a merry chase of the rooster who seemed to know it was his last day and took off like a shot from a gun. I never knew little legs could move so fast… both the children’s and the rooster’s.

Not to sit idly by while his meal was getting away Ian joined in the chase.  It was boys vs rooster and for a moment it seemed like the rooster had a fighting chance when he jumped into a nearby tree and then glided the short distance over everyone’s heads. Alas, the chase ended with our rooster being a tasty meal along with rice and a side of beans.  Ian walked away from that one tired, but full.

Traveling in Kenya Ian was able to get his fast food fix at the KFC, and we had the best creamy gelato in Uganda. Sad to say the head guy who makes the gelato recognized me as the creepy lady who stares at him whenever I come to the shop… I swear, he looks just like my brother and the resemblance always catches me off guard and causes me to stare.. (Note to self.. don’t stare, it creeps the gelato guy out.. :) )

Rwanda I still contend has the best food in East Africa.  We ordered tasty beef brochette with bananas garnished with cilantro and onions.. I was well into my meal before thinking I should take a pic… oh well, you’ll have to take my word for it, it was tasty!

 In Congo we lived in the village so along with our host family we were responsible for helping with the meals, for me, that meant cooking over an open wood fire and for Ian, well he’s learned how to help slaughter the animals. 

Ian chopping wood for the meal fire

our stove and meal cooking

The first meal Ian had to help with was a cute little black pig that he named Gerald.  We decided to cook Gerald and share some of the meat with another family; Ian was up for the task of learning how to do this. In preparation both Ian and Willie, the other teen in the house, fed Gerald his last meal before they ran off in search of dried banana leaves and firewood to burn the hair off Gerald once the slaughter was done.    As I’m very squeamish I stayed away for this part.  I wondered if Ian would eat the meat after watching how our food made it to the table but I needn’t worry, before Gerald had even made it into the pot Ian comes up to me and tells me he’s the hungriest he’s ever been in his life.. teens, go figure!

Gerald the pig

After dinner while we sat chatting away at the table Mr. Aksante, one of our host, was chewing at the bones left on his plate.  Me: “Aksante, seems like you’re really enjoying the pork” Aksante casually answers, “No, I’m chewing the bones for the dog” Ian and I both responded at the same time with a puzzled look on our face. “Dog? We have a dog on the compound?” Aksante looks at us sheepishly, “Well, no.” “It died.” “Last week.” “Just before you came.”  Ian and I couldn’t help busting into laughter, as the first week we ate meat that we were both questioning what exactly it tasted like.  Maybe we had eaten the dog and didn’t know it.

Being in the village there were 2 market days, Thursdays and Sundays.  On these days we would head down to the town square to stock up on the basics as well as to meet and greet with our village neighbors.   We noticed they sold guinea pigs and asked  Aksante if they were sold as pets. Aksante laughed shook his head and said “No, its for eating!” Then he added, “I love the meat of mini pig, its so tasty!!” Of course right at that moment Ian decided he had to try it.  So home came the guinea pig as Sunday supper.  As I’m not as adventurous I left him to describe the taste to me.. he thought it was alright, a bit too many little bones for his liking  but not something he would be buying for next Sunday’s dinner.

Guinea pig being roasted

By the end of our stay the feral cat that prowled the house at nights eating anything left over and still sitting on the table walked up to Ian and decided to become friends.  Everyone in the house was excited, Ian had caught the cat and it was to be our next meal!!  Although Ian was adventurous in eating guinea pig and possibly dog he put his foot down when it came to the cat… no eating Tyga!! The disappointment was audible throughout the house.  But all was not lost as we were only staying for 1 more week and watched throughout the week as one by one they would hold poor Tyga up, under the guise of petting, and discuss which parts everyone wanted once we left.

I guess its all fair game.

Ian and Tyga, 

Back to Tanzania and for Christmas Eve we had drum roasted turkey while hanging out with friends. What a treat for us!! And fish on our latest adventure was the yummiest I’ve tasted in a long time.

yummy fish meal!!!

drum roasted turkey at friends house.

Traveling has been great for us as we have been able to eat outside our comfort zone, but Ian keeps reminding me “The moment I get back on U.S. soil, the first thing I’m going to do, is go to a McDonalds.”

New Year New Beginnings.

 Birthdays, in my opinion, are a time to hit the life reset button. It’s like you get a chance to restart your whole year.  With our birthdays being so close to the New Year, (2 days on either side, Dec 30 and Jan 2), and the rest of the world feeling like it’s a new beginning ,Ian and I,  get to reset along with everyone else.  I know, I know, sounds so cliché.

We decided to take a trip to Mafia Island, off the coast of Tanzania, to go swimming with the whale sharks.

We hop on the 6am bus to Dar Es Salaam, take a room for the night and back up at 4:30am to catch a taxi and another 6am bus to the coast.   

The bus gets in late, and we find ourselves stranded in a little fishing village on the river, our ferry has already left, and it’s the only one for the day.  We’re gonna have to spend the night in this little village that reeks of fish.  Standing in the middle of the road looking around we take in the entire village, and I’m not kidding when I say this.  We find the one English speaker of the village and he helps us get a room for the night.   We make the best of it, go to the New Corner Pub for fish and rice, the only thing on the menu, and sit at the town square watching the young guys play pool for a while. We started chatting it up with the locals who were under the impression that Ian was my boyfriend… haha!! I may look young, but not that young. We decided  to take a nap, we were tired, and we had been up early for the past 2 mornings, something we are definitely not used to.

The day and night, were sweltering.  We were right on the river and hoped sleeping with the door to our room open would provide us a cross breeze… no such luck. 

The next morning we stood watching the villagers load and unload the ferry that would take us to Mafia Island; it did not meet the definitions of a ferry, but was much closer to being a medium sized boat. The refrigerators  that were being used as benches the night before were still laying flat  on their backs, but were now being packed with ice and loaded with crabs, prawns and fish to be taken to the markets in Dar Es Salaam.

our ferry to Mafia Island

 Once the boat was loaded with many goodies from the main land it was our turn to get on board and find a seat.  We noticed many people getting on and laying on the floor but didn’t know why.  Turns out what we thought was going to be a 2 hour crossing was closer to 5.  The people lying on the floor got a chance to take a nap and did not have to encounter the uncomfortable wooden benches.  As we looked out over the side of the boat, we saw what we thought was the horizon, except it kept getting closer and closer.   Turns out there was a line of muddy water, separated by a line of blue water from the Indian Ocean.  It was as if someone had drawn a line that neither waters from the river or the ocean was willing to cross. We also encountered dolphins and were escorted for a few meters with a front row seat to watch as they jumped and flipped out of the water swimming alongside our boat.  About 90 mins into our boat ride Ian started to feel a bit sea sick, thank God for homeopathic Tabacum, it helped in settling his stomach. 

Although a day later than we anticipated, we got to our hotel and were grateful for the hot shower and air condition. We needed some comfort after the past couple day’s hard travel.

Headed out to sea by 8am Tuesday morning it turned out to be one of the few mornings the weather was overcast, this coming on the heels of 2 months of steamy hot rainless weather.  The seas were rough, but this Island girl was hell bent on dipping her toes in the water, after all, it’s not New Years if you haven’t had a sea bath. Wind kicking up and waves fit more for surfing than boating we made our way out to deeper waters to look for whale sharks.  Only a few minutes out our guide starts puking over the side, the boat spings a leak and the Captain’s bailing water while the first mate is trying to plug the hole.  It was comical even though it could have been dire.

fishing boats getting ready to go out on the waters

our boat with the waves breaking and splashing over the side

We kept an eye out for fins breaching the water hoping to see the whale sharks we were pursuing. I saw dorsal fins popping up and yelled to the Captain to turn in that direction.  We were all excited and he said “Today you get the prize for finding the whales sharks”, but it  was only dolphins, their heads bobbing up out of the waves, not jumping or flipping today just swimming like they had someplace they were hurrying off to, so we kept looking. We stayed out on the water for 5 hours searching for whale sharks with no luck. 

Not to be totally disappointed we jumped overboard and attempted to swim and snorkel out on the open waters and were fortunate enough to see some corals.  After only a few mins in Ian and I both climbed back on the boat, the water was too rough, it was knocking us around like a lone sock in a tumble dryer, and it was no fun.

Ian swimming in open water

waves crashing over Ian with the Captain swimming nearby 

So, we were disappointed, but as Ian says, “You don’t always get what you want,” and what we wanted were whale sharks. For a teen he’s very insightful.

close quarter's on the plane

Next day it’s time to head home and we find out the ferry is broken and MAYBE would be fixed and leaving the following morning. With no guarantees we decided to fly back to Dar-Es-Salaam on a tiny 12 seater plane, where you could reach out and touch the pilot, and make our way back home to our cozy lil house.  Our vacation was a bit more effort than it was worth, but it was still good to get down to the coast and dip our toes in the water. 

Swatting at flies

It’s the end of December and Ian and I are enjoying the peace and quite of Moshi with her usual inhabitants off on Christmas holidays. We had originally planned to have some time in South Africa, then we decided on Zambia, (which would have been ideal as I have contacts there that want me to check out an area for a homeopathic clinic), but as we talked more and more about it, it just seemed as though going anywhere was going to take too much effort.   After all we've just spent months being on the road.

We are also hot as hell.  Tanzania is moving into the hottest months of the year, Jan and Feb, and we’re getting lazier from the heat by the minute.  This is in total contrast to Congo where we were bundled up in our sweatshirts for the past month.

Ian chillaxing on a hot day

Everyday we try to sit in one spot and mentally ask the breeze to cool us, while we fan at the maddening amount of flies that seem to be taking over our compound.  Eventually we succumb to the heat and are less and less vigilant about the flies, it takes too much effort even to swat at the flies with the flyswatter,  so we are soon just sitting lazy with our computers on our laps, mind numbingly surfing the web, all work forgotten, waiting for the cool of night, which doesn't come.  Our dog Layla is no better.  She lays on the veranda all joy of chasing the chickens gone till late evening before they retire to their coop.

Layla too hot to chase the chickens

Since we leave our doors open all day because of the heat we were wondering what to do about the issue of the flies.  A friend of ours told us the strangest remedy.  Hang a bag of water above the doorway, it keeps the flies out, and it actually worked!!  Granted, this happened to be our entertainment for about an hour, watching to see how many flies would cross the threshold.  Of course there’s always the odd fly that doesn't know the rules and still comes in even with the bag hanging there, but we were at least able to take a break from swatting flies. 

our "stay out flies" remedy. A clear bag filled with water hanging in the doorway

Revved up Nairobi

I have to work, (homeopathy), in Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ian is on winter break, (well there is no winter here so technically maybe its not winter break), from school for 2 months so we're traveling East & Central Africa together.  On the way to Congo from Tanzania we have to pass through 3 other countries so we've decided to travel the continent by bus stopping along the way to check out Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda before finally spending a month in DRC.   We wake early on a Tues morning and hop on the 6am bus headed for Nairobi.  I've already called my friend Didi and alerted her we're coming to crash at her place for a few days.
Karibu!" (Welcome!), Didi tells us and we're headed off to Nairobi.

This is Ian's first trip by bus and border crossing by road is a bit different than by air. The bus pulls over and the conductor tells us we're at the border. We get off, head into the immigration office, essentially check out of Tanzania and Ian's looking around for the bus. I say to him, we have to walk across no man's land and into Kenya... Ian "What??!! We're walking to Kenya?!! African's have it tough they gotta walk border to border".. lol.. its only like a 2 minute walk to the other side.

We go through immigration on the Kenya side buy our 3 country visa (Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda), do the temp scan for Ebola, grab some local currency from the money changers hanging around the border and hop back on the bus.

Ian's and my taste are very different country wise, I want toned down and he wants revved up.. 2 travel companions, mother and son and yet we see things so different.















I've been to Nairobi before so it doesn't hold the same wonder for me but Ian is looking around as if its his first trip to NYC, "wow Mom, look the mall,  KFC!!Subway, we can get a sandwich!!" I'm starting to wonder if people around us are wondering if I'm depriving him of food.. and forget it when we get to Didi's and he realizes she has wifi, he doesn't want to continue on with this journey, he's in teen heaven right here.

KFC Nairobi

KFC Nairobi

We meet up with my friend Chris and he tells Ian about the financial advance that is Nairobi, and believe me, Nairobi is on the move, people there walk with purpose, they are going places.  Ian keeps asking, "mom, why don't you move to Nairobi?  I like it here!"  I pretend I don't hear him, Nairobi's too revved up for me.
We hang out at the mall, eat at KFC, (which is high end fast food here, so pretty pricey), and wonder around Nairobi for a couple of days, traveling like locals on the back of motorcycles.  Ian is now convinced that he's buying a motorcycle once he gets back to the USA.

traveling local in his new cap and sneakers

Ian and I walk to the second hand market and just like a local he buys a pair of sneakers and a baseball cap from a guy on the street.. remember those shoes I've been collecting over the past 2 summers?  Well Ian is participating by buying from the local second hand sellers here.

Ian buying a pair of sneakers and baseball cap from the guy on the streets

We head out for Uganda on the night bus, Ian LOVES Nairobi and wants to stay longer, I promise a few more days on the way back.
He loves it for the same reason I'm not a fan... its extremely revved up!!

Bye Nairobi and hello Uganda!