Random Holiday
Apparently there are two random holidays in Tanzania. They are based on the lunar cycle and connected to the Muslim faith. Wednesday happened to be one of those days. The crazy thing with these two holidays is you don't know until just a day or two in advance when they are happening! So, we found out on Tuesday that we were not coming to school on Wednesday! Happy Ede.
Safari and Corruption
Since we didn't have school on Wednesday, Lisa, Jane and I went on a safari. We hopped in with our friends Beth & Deo (you might remember them from their wedding a couple weeks back) and drove to Mtu wa Mbu (River of Mosquitos). We were going to ride mountain bikes into a park and look at animals and then swim in a swimming pool. Great plan!
We headed out on our mountain bikes with our guide ready for animals. We rode for about ½ hours until we could see our destination in the distance. It was a lake that was supposed to be loaded with animals. We could even see some wildebeest in the distance! All of a sudden three park rangers roared up in their pickup and stopped by us. They were friendly enough to us, but called our guide over for questioning. Soon the conversation became more heated and animated. Pretty quick our guide came back, clearly angry, and said the park rangers had informed him he didn't have the proper paperwork to take us on the safari. Our guide then went on to say that this was a lie. His theory was that the park rangers had been hired by the other bike safari company in town to run our guide out of business!
We didn't know what to believe but we knew we weren't getting in to the park. We headed back for town WITH THE PARK RANGERS DRIVING BEHIND US AS IF THEY WERE HERDING US…LIKE CATTLE! About 2/3 of the way back, our guide stopped to fix his chain. He started yelling at the park rangers again. This time, the park rangers got out and actually shoved our guide! Later we found out that he had refused to offer them a bribe. We finally returned to the pool and started swimming until the entire mess could be sorted out.
Our friend Deo acted on our behalf (and the bike company) to go down to the police station and find out some details. He returned to tell us that our company did have the correct paperwork! We got some of our money refunded and just laid in the pool the rest of the afternoon. Who knows what the whole story truly is in this case. But, I think there is a strong argument that we saw blatant corruption in front of our eyes. Nevertheless, it was a great day with Beth and Deo and Jane.
Camping in Kolo
Yesterday we departed at 6 AM for an area south of us called Kolo. There were supposedly 20,000 year old rock paintings that Dr. Leakey had discovered. We found the paintings in several locations scattered amongst these rock outcroppings. It was really interesting…but it didn't take long before our group had seen enough and we returned to our campsite. We set up camp by a dry river bed…just the teachers from Orkeeswa. It was fun to eat hot dogs and marshmallows and play the guitar and sing bad country music!
Gardening with Maasai Mamas and Papas
On Friday, I was greeted with 20 parents of our students. I had them help break ground on our school garden, which I've been helping to organize. I've done a lot of strange jobs in my life, but this one ranks right up there! I was out there in my "professional dress" – a polo shirt and pants, swinging a big hoe listening to the Maasai mamas and papas chatter away! It was great! Plus, we got most of the garden ready to make terraces when the Form 2 students return! Even though I was exhausted, it was a great end to the week.
Camping in Kolo
Yesterday we departed at 6 AM for an area south of us called Kolo. There were supposedly 20,000 year old rock paintings that Dr. Leakey had discovered. We found the paintings in several locations scattered amongst these rock outcroppings. It was really interesting…but it didn't take long before our group had seen enough and we returned to our campsite. We set up camp by a dry river bed…just the teachers from Orkeeswa. It was fun to eat hot dogs and marshmallows and play the guitar and sing bad country music!
Gardening with Maasai Mamas and Papas
On Friday, I was greeted with 20 parents of our students. I had them help break ground on our school garden, which I've been helping to organize. I've done a lot of strange jobs in my life, but this one ranks right up there! I was out there in my "professional dress" – a polo shirt and pants, swinging a big hoe listening to the Maasai mamas and papas chatter away! It was great! Plus, we got most of the garden ready to make terraces when the Form 2 students return! Even though I was exhausted, it was a great end to the week.
I LOVE reading about your adventures. Thank you for sharing. Part of me wants to be there and part not. Maybe that's why I appreciate your blogs soooo much!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Well, just read the post, very interesting! But riding bikes into the Serengeti? Are you crazy? I remember stopping our land cruiser near a small hillside, as we looked through the tall grass, we began to see a pride of lions, nesting all around the hillside, maybe 15 or more. Just glad I was in the cruiser... couldn't imagine being on a bike!
ReplyDeleteOne last thing, our son Jimmy rode his bike alone from Singida to Arusha. He told us that he didn't even think twice until he passed a few Maasai who were carrying spears... It took him a few days... he slept in a sleeping bag along side the road... and didn't even have a pocket knife.
Thanks for your post... may God be with you.