Tanzania – Wiki Kumi na Moja

A dancer from the Upendo performance group.

I was woken up early on Tuesday (the 16th – 2 months pre-departure!) by first a call and then a visit from the car rental company who didn’t really ‘get’ our communication about picking Ivan up at Tilapia and delivering him to the airport, but we managed to get everything straightened out. After a very hectic weekend hosting Ivan, Alison and I took some much-needed time to reorganize ourselves at home in preparation for a busy week ahead. I was able to pass on lots of contact information to Ivan before his flight, including for the Deputy Minister of Community Development, Gender and Children, a representative from Heifer International, and some sources in Dar that would be able to provide some pertinent research studies of relevance to Ivan’s survey of Tanzania. Alison and I later made a second attempt to get answers out of the officers at Immigration regarding our visas but didn’t have much success (again!). We then split up – Alison to the travel agency to try and arrange details of her trips with her mom in December, and me to the bank and to the safari company to finish paying for my trip. After two attempts to find a working internet connection, we finally had success and were able to get some work done online before our Swahili lesson. We have had a new student join our class – a new friend of ours, Manuela, from Germany. We think it’s a bit unfair that her degree is in African Studies and she has 2 years of Swahili behind her… but hopefully that will just force us to study a bit harder. After class, we grocery shopped, decided against a swim due to a poorly timed rain shower, and enjoyed a home-cooked dinner at Claire’s place.

On Wednesday (the 17th), Alison and I prepared a quick English lesson and took a round-about route to Mabatini due to some massive road-work being done in the area… the road is completely un-passable in spots by vehicle, and even motorcycles must be re-routed into and along storefronts. The kitchen was bustling with cooking and customers, so we just left the worksheets with the mamas and got to work helping to prepare the yogurt. In the early afternoon, we drove to the airport to pick up the faculty – Dr. Gregor Reid (my supervisor, a microbiologist), his daughter Jennifer, Dr. Isaac Luginaah (a health geography prof), his Ph.D. student Mary-Anne (also a Kenyan nun), and Mr. Douglas Keddy (who works for both the VP Research and the VP Communication at UWO). We dropped them off at the Hotel Tilapia before heading out with Gregor and Jennifer to Forever Angels to spend some time with the children. After swinging by our apartment to show off our humble home, we returned to Tilapia for dinner with Chairman Batenga of the Mwanza Chamber of Commerce. The dinner had been rearranged due to Maimuna’s travel plans, as the faculty was originally supposed to meet with her to discuss Kivulini’s involvement with the project. Mr. Batenga has continued to show support and interest in the project, and managed to arrange a meeting for us with the under-Secretary to the Regional Commissioner (RC) for the following morning. After dinner, we sat around with the faculty drafting a letter of support to provide to the RC’s office in the morning. One of the most exciting details of the faculty’s arrival was that they brought gifts and supplies from home – from Missy, Jackie and my mom… very exciting to get a little taste of home!

Dr. Reid sharing a smile with Tuliza at Forever Angels.

On Thursday morning (the 18th), I left with the driver to tell the women in Mabatini the day’s itinerary, while Alison printed and photocopied some documents for the day. We then travelled together to Tilapia and played rock-paper-scissors to see who would join the faculty for the visit at the RC’s office (in an attempt to keep the numbers low so that the meeting would be more productive). I lost, and capitalized on the hour I had at Tilapia to make the most of their (relatively) high-speed internet to get some emails out! The faculty returned without Alison, who remained at the office to help compose a letter for the RC’s office to pass on to Ivan with further information about the Mwanza Region. I escorted all of the visitors to Mabatini for a visit to the kitchen and a meeting with the mamas. The faculty were able to pass on details to the mamas about a new UWO/World Bank initiative in Kenya, about new options for packaging (which has been a major challenge at the kitchen over the years), and our hopes to eventually move the mamas to a bigger location. They also focused on the details that need to be straightened out to ensure that the mamas obtain a financially sustainable project on their own… definitely something that has been the main focus of my trip since I arrived! It was great to hear fresh ideas and promises of continued support from the faculty, but I found myself hoping that all parties wouldn’t get too caught up in the excitement of the moment because a lot of the ideas will take a while to implement… all positive steps forward for the project, however, whenever they come to fruition. From Mabatini, we walked to the Orange Tree Hotel nearby to watch a drama group affiliated with the organization “Upendo” (love) perform an awareness-raising production about HIV/AIDS. The recurring themes were infidelity, violence against women, and dishonesty. It was informative but sad to see that these are such major issues in Tanzanian society. From the play, we returned to Tilapia where we had a quick working lunch before Gregor and Ruben were due at NIMR for a meeting regarding Ruben’s study, while Doug and I went into town to finalize all the details of our safari. When we got back to the hotel, Alison had finally returned from the RC’s office after completing the letter and getting the appropriate signatures on it – poor girl, what a bad game of rock-paper-scissors to win! We watched a rainbow grow over the lake before having dinner with Simon and Dr. Joseph Mwanga from NIMR. Alison and I started night one of bunking together in my bed in to prepare for hosting our (temporary) fourth roommate – Doug!

Ruben, Doug, Isaac, Jennifer, Gregor and Mama Joyce sampling yogurt in Mabatini.

We met the faculty in Mabatini on Friday morning (the 19th) to continue our discussion with the mamas – this time we covered the management of bank accounts, the separation of yogurt preparation from other baking in the kitchen (i.e. mandizi buns and chapati). I was also able to give the mamas a gift from my mom – lots and lots of reading glasses to help them with their English lessons. It was wonderful to see their faces light up when they could see clearly – it makes me understand how fulfilled Bre will be as an optometrist, giving the gift of sight! I have many pairs to deliver still, so pictures will follow. From Mabatini, we had the faculty check out of Tilapia and drove onwards to the airport to see off Gregor, Jennifer and Mary-Anne (Isaac couldn’t get a flight out pre-weekend, unfortunately). It was sad to see them go – it had been really nice to host so many Canadians and to receive such great support from WHE’s home front. Alison stopped by the RC office quickly to finish up the previous day’s work before we travelled to Forever Angels to deliver their weekly ration of yogurt and to introduce Doug to the kids. On Friday evening, we ate with Dr. Mwanga from NIMR again at Tilapia, this time with Isaac’s friend Nico who is a Roman Catholic priest in Mwanza now. The two went to boarding school together in Ghana… what a small world! I came home to the apartment with Doug, packed and tucked myself into bed to prepare for an early up and a great adventure.

Twigas in the Serengeti

On Saturday morning (the 20th), Doug and I woke up early and joined our driver (Francis, a friend of Danny’s) and cook (Isaac) to drive to the Serengeti. It was nice to see Doug’s reaction to the surroundings as we left the city behind and ventured into the more rural areas… I have definitely started to take the sights and sounds of Africa for granted! We arrived at the gate to the park at the same time as Claire and some of the staff from CRS… great timing, allowing us to wish each other “safari njema” (have a good trip). As soon as we drove through the gates, the animals started to appear… the ‘usual’ assortment of baboons, Vervet monkeys, zebra, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelles, impala and wildebeest, and then my first twiga (giraffe)!! I’ve been so looking forward to seeing a twiga since my arrival in Tanzania. From there, we were treated to amazing sights one after the other – a herd of 20+ elephants crossing in front of us, a massive herd of zebra and wildebeest surrounding a lone hippopotamus on land, crocodiles peeking out at us from the Grumeti River, lions laying in wait for their meals not 2 feet from the vehicle, etc. Around a particularly lush area of the Grumeti, Francis told us that the area was quite good for spotting predators, and he was absolutely right. We found an ever-elusive leopard resting in a tree and were patient enough to wait for him to get up, crawl down the tree, and wander off through the grass. After seeing a herd of hundreds and hundreds of Thompson’s gazelle feeding in the grassland, we came across a cheetah with a freshly caught gazelle. We watched her eat the whole animal, all the while fending off vultures who wanted a piece of her kill. Moving on, we found a lioness relaxing by a water hole. To our amazement, we watched a gazelle stumble (literally, I think he must have been sick) across the road and down to the water hole to drink. The lioness got down on her haunches and waited quietly before pouncing and killing the gazelle before our eyes. A male lion and a few other females came to join in the meal, not before a tense standoff between a group of giant water buffalo and the male lion, both trying to stake their claim to the area.

A cheetah scaring away a pack of vultures, who were trying to move in on her kill.

We drove through the Serengeti on to Ngorongoro Crater through breathtaking Maasailand. We watched the arid landscape develop into misty mountains, speckled with Maasai kraals (homesteads) and groups of cattle with their Maasai herders, draped in their traditional brilliant red and blue blankets… the whole landscape was more beautiful than I could ever hope to describe accurately. We arrived at our campsite on the crater’s rim and had to bundle up – it’s “Canada” cold up there, and I have realized how much my body has acclimatized to Sub-Saharan Africa… I was really shivering! The view was amazing… nestled right in what is considered to be the cradle of civilization.

A leopard climbing down from its tree perch in the Serengeti.

On Sunday morning (the 21st) we woke up very early to start on our half-day game drive through the crater. There will be no way for me to describe the beauty of the crater in the morning light – blue/purple hills frame the golden grassland surrounding a blue alkaline lake, and misty clouds seem to pour in over the crater’s edge. The crater’s wildlife is abundant – we came across zebra, gazelle, flamingo, and hippos grazing together right away. We saw hippos mating in hippo pool, home to more than 60 of the massive creatures. Two lion couples sat together nearby, majestically surveying their domain. A lone bull elephant strolled through the area, embodying grace, wisdom and power at once. We completed the “Big Five” safari animals when we came across the very-endangered black rhino feeding a distance away from the car. Our experience in the crater was truly an unforgettable one… a real feast for the senses. We lunched at the campsite and then drove back into the Serengeti, running into herds of giraffe, mating lions, 5 lion cubs napping on their own, and a few herds of elephant. We settled in at our new campsite and watched as the sunset saturated the African sky with colour. I am blown away by this continent every day.

On Monday morning, I forced Doug to get up with me at 5.45am to watch a spectacular sunrise over the plains. We embarked on our final day of game drives, taking lots of pictures of the more “typical” animals that we hadn’t paid enough attention to on the first couple of days. After watching a pair of lionesses and their cubs stalk a herd of zebra, we educated ourselves about the ecology of the area at the visitor’s centre before driving out the Serengeti’s Western Corridor. Francis was determined to get me a good shot of a crocodile, so we drove alongside the Grumeti River for a while, crossing a rope bridge just as a massive croc swam by underneath. Before stopping for lunch, we saw many herds of elephant trekking towards the river, and were amazed to see them advancing towards our picnic area a little while later. We positioned ourselves in the car (with no one else around, thankfully) and watched as over 150 elephant (including some very special babies!) slowly walked past us en route to the river. This was by far the highlight of the trip for me, and was nothing short of magical. After driving down to the river to watch them feed, we set off for home. On our way out of the park, we found a family of giraffe a lot like the Horgans – two parents and three babies who all took off at a gallop when we arrived. Beautiful!

A mama tembo leading her baby to water.

I know that my paltry words have not done my safari justice, but can promise everyone at home that I have more than enough pictures to share! We were extremely lucky to have seen everything that we did… Doug and I both agree that the trip far surpassed our expectations. I came across a quote by Bernhard Grzimek (one of the early champions for conservation in Tanzania) at the visitor’s centre that I thought was very suitable to sum up my safari experience: “But when, fifty years from now, a lion walks into the red dawn and roars resoundingly, it will quicken their hearts whether they are Africans or Europeans, or whether they speak English, German, Russian or Swahili. They will stand in quiet awe as, for the first time in their lives, they watch twenty thousand zebras wander across the endless plains.”

A lion cub napping near the plains.