Sunday, June 19, 2011

Monkey with Ziggy's cookies

We got up and got ready to go meet Ziggy at 7:30. Breakfast was another buffet. We saw monkeys on the roof while we were eating. There was a variety of bread, sausage, potatoes, an omelet /egg station and fruit. Ziggy was out at the truck waiting for us and he told us a monkey had just jumped into the truck, stole some left-over cookies from the day before and it was sitting up outside of someone's room opening the package to eat them. I was amazed by the fact that the monkeys know how to open a package of cookies! He said they were in a bag on the front seat and the monkey jumped in, took them out of the bag and took off.

Ziggy asked how our evening was – how was dinner, did we sleep well, etc...? I asked him how his evening was and I was curious about where he spent the night. He said there were some cottages nearby that all the staff stay at. He said they were OK but from what we gathered, these cottages were pretty basic accommodations. He pointed them out to us as we drove by them. He also pointed out the Frankfurt Zoological station which was also located nearby.

Ziggy took us out in a different direction and we saw some more hippos and baboons. There were a lot of other people out and about in similar trucks driving around. We didn't really see any other tourists on our drive up on Saturday but on Sunday we came to understand just how touristy safaris in Tanzania really are. We would drive around a bit, then when we would pass another safari truck, we would stop and Ziggy would roll down his window and the other guy would roll down his window and while the conversation was always in Swahili, we could tell this is how the conversation would go “hey – what's up?” (Mambo!) “Not much, its cool” (Poa). “See anything good down that way?” “Yeah, we saw a hippo/baboon/giraffe/etc.” or “Naw, nothing exciting down that way”. “OK – see ya later, have a good one” “Yeah, you too”.

The landscape was interesting – it was pretty open but there were clusters of trees – Amarila trees and acacia trees – there were some rivers and creeks – and some water holes and some swampy areas. It was a lot more varied than I expected.

Sometimes, if someone found something interesting, they would call each other and then we would race off to see whatever it is. This happened Sunday morning. We were driving around and then Ziggy got a call and tore off really fast down the road (which is an adventure all on its own). We came around a corner and there were 3 or 4 other trucks stopped there and what everyone was looking at was 3 female lions milling around in an area with some fallen trees. Suddenly, one of them jumped up on one of the trees, then another one did. The third one laid down in the grass. There were baboons nearby and one of them was trying to get from one tree to another one – the lions were eyeballing them all the while but in the end, they didn't do anything other than lay there. One of the lions was wearing a collar – we are guessing that is the work of the zoological organization there.

We sat and watched the lions for a while then we took off for more game driving. We drove around and saw some other animals – by now, we were getting used to seeing Thompson gazelle, zebras and wildebeest – ho hum! We drove up to another picnic/rest area and took a restroom break and saw some giraffe off in the distance. While there some of the other guides told Ziggy there was a leopard in the area. We took off in search of that and along the way we saw a group of elephants. We were able to drive up very close to them. One was a juvenile and it was rolling around in the mud while another one (we are assuming its mother) stood guard.

After a while, they wandered off and we drove off. We drove around some more and then Ziggy got another call and took off at top speed back toward the rest area we had been at earlier. There were lots and lots of safari trucks there – at least 30 – and probably about 100 people standing around looking through their binoculars at a tree – we found the leopard! It was sitting up in the tree. Everyone was very excited. After a while, the leopard jumped down and we couldn't see it through the grass. We wandered off and were ready to go when there was more excitement and the crowd started moving. We went back over to see what it was – and the leopard had gone INTO the restrooms were just in only about an hour before! Then it came back out and jumped up onto the roof of the restrooms! It was AMAZING how easily it jumped up onto the roof. At this point the crowd was going wild – and one of the guides started yelling at everyone to get back – we were getting too close and we could all see just how fast and how far that leopard could move. It took off again back toward the tree. Someone said that it had some cubs and it lost track of them and it was looking for them. It went back up into the tree, came back down, and was slinking around in the grass. It was hard to see after that and we finally headed out. I was totally freaked out by the fact that the leopard was in the restroom I was just in! I was much more cautious about going into the restrooms after that. It is a really good thing there was nobody in there when it went in.

We drove around some more and then headed back to the lodge for lunch. We had lunch (another buffet) and we hung around there for a few hours then Ziggy came back for us at 4:00 and we went on another game drive until 6:00. On this drive, we saw a cheetah! We were driving around, not really seeing too much and he spotted it in the grass. We have no idea how he was able to see it but he did. He pulled up pretty close to it – which made us both nervous as we thought about how easily that leopard jumped up onto the roof of the restrooms earlier in the day – it seemed like this cheetah would be able to jump into the truck. We watched it for a bit and then it took off. We drove around some more and then headed back to the lodge for the evening. It was pretty much the same routine only it was raining pretty hard so we couldn't go up to the viewing platform. We sat at the bar where we met a couple from the DC-area! Small world. They told us they are JAG lawyers and on vacation doing a safari. They were doing the opposite route from us – we started in the Serengeti and ending in Ngorongoro crater, they started at the crater and were ending in Serengeti. Afterward they were going to Zanzibar.

We tried to get to bed earlier Sunday evening because Ziggy wanted to pick us up at 6:30 in the morning on Monday for an early game drive before breakfast and then after that we were going to head out to Ngorongoro crater.

Friday June 18, 2011

Jason did not have to go in to work today so we set up a ride to the Bujora Cultural Center. The cultural center was created by a Catholic missionary who set up a church in the area in the 1960s. He wanted to ensure that the Sukuma culture and history were available to the Sukuma people. The Sukuma are the majority ethnic group in the Mwanza area. The cultural center is 16 kilometers outside of Mwanza so we had Fiona, the hotel manager arrange a taxi for us. Jason's co-worker, Prosper also went along with us. He is from Uganda so we weren't sure if he would be interested in joining us – we figured it might be like us traveling to Mexico and going to a museum about Canada while we were there. But he was interested so he also went along.

The center was interesting but what was more interesting to me was the ride there. I finally got out of the hotel and saw the “real” Mwanza. My impression of Mwanza is that it is an interesting city. Lots of half-built buildings, many run-down buildings and lots and lots of garbage out on the side of the road. It made me wonder – does the Tea Party REALLY not want a central government? Because, I think if we didn't have all of the government services that we currently have – and don't even think about – like regular trash pick-up and litter laws, building codes and traffic laws (let alone signs and signals) – our country might look a lot like Tanzania! Without government oversight and repercussions for actions like littering, the few of us who do care about things like fairly clean and safe streets simply cannot control the masses who don't. I mean, think about how much litter there is on the sides of the road as it is with the laws – without the laws, you have Mwanza.

There were people everywhere. Walking along with things on their head (how do they do that?) - and riding bikes piled up with an unbelievable amount of items – some of the things we saw on bikes were piles of corn, chicken coops and big plastic jugs for water. Everything was very dusty and run down. Traffic is insane – there are two lanes and there did not seem to be any traffic rules. It was all very interesting to look at and take in.

But I digress, back to the cultural center. The taxi that was arranged by the hotel was a jalopy. Not a problem, except when we arrived, after we got out of the car, the driver lifted the hood. Prosper said “why do they always have an old car?”. It made us a bit nervous when we realized that none of us had the number to the hotel – so if the car did break down, we weren't quite sure how we might handle that – so, we just went to the information center where we were met by a nice man who collected our admission fee and began the tour of the center. There were two other young women there to take the tour.

The cultural center consisted of a number of buildings each with different artifacts related to the Sukuma people. There was a traditional house, traditional tools, drums, etc.


Traditional Sukuma house












He also explained the different Sukuma tribes and showed us some of the items the King of each tribe uses – headdress, chair, etc.















We also had a tour of the church – which was very interesting because it is still a functioning Catholic church. In fact, when we were there, a number of children were in the church taking a class of some sort. The most interesting thing about the church was how the pastor there mixed both the traditional and catholic rituals into the layout and structure of the church.

The tour ended in a building that had artifacts related to the Sukuma's dancing rituals. The building had a net outside hanging from the rafters. It wasn't exactly clear to us what the net was for but there were a number of mummified bats in it. When we got inside, we noticed there were a number of live bats hanging from the ceiling. It was a bit concerning to us but our guide didn't seem to notice or care. For an additional fee, we could have taken a look at a live python – but none of us really wanted to spend the extra money so we declined the offer. Jason wandered out a back door and almost saw the python for free – but our guide caught him just in time.

After the tour we drove back to the hotel and had a nice late lunch. After that, we went for a swim in the pool and then went back up to our room to get ready for our safari.

Eclipse Wednesday Night

We watched the eclipse last night - we had a great view and it was really pretty. Very red because of all the volcanoes. One recently erupted in Eritrea. We took these pictures with our new camera/video camera.

We also took a picture of the lake at night. It is really pretty.

Not Much Going On

Not much has been going on here. Monday evening we walked down the road to another hotel for dinner. The road is dirt and there is a lot of mucky water and garbage on the sides of the road. There are also an awful lot of half-built buildings around here. I wonder what the deal is with that. Dinner was pretty good - we all had Indian food. We sat outside which wasn't the best idea. Bugs kept flying into our meals. We saw some cats, I looked them up, they are African wild cats. They look like regular house cats but they have different markings.

When we ordered our drinks at dinner, Jason and I ordered a bottle of water to share. The water came and the guy poured us each a glass and I took a couple of drinks. Then, a few minutes later when the server came back to take our order, Jason asked if we could have another water. I asked why and he pointed out to me that the label on the water seemed to be pasted over another label and on the side someone had hand-written 1.5 liters. The picture is kind of blurry but if you look closely, you can see the hand-written 1.5 liters. I'm glad he noticed this but was worried because I already drank some of it. Everyone at the table assured me it was probably boiled water in a re-used bottle. We're not sure why they brought us that instead of the regular brand of water we've come to expect. I seem to be OK though. I need to be more diligent about checking the water.

Jason has been busy working he was up until midnight last night working on some issue they are having with the database. I think he got it worked out. The internet connection here is very good but we've both been having problems uploading some things.

Jason said that in town he saw these huge storks digging through the garbage. He said there were also people digging through the garbage and the storks were as big as the people - it was freaky. He looked it up online to show me - they are called Marabou Storks.

Because I've been hanging around the hotel all day, I'm getting to know the people who work here. I already told you about Fiona, the manager. There is also Bonifant - he works in the restaurant and he taught us how to say "What's up?" in Swahili (Mambo) and the response which is "I'm cool" (Poa). Fatuma cleans the room each day and there is one other woman I talk to every day in the restaurant and I can't think of her name at the moment...

This morning at breakfast one of the guests started playing piano and the young woman (I wish I could remember her name!) sang a song - that was really nice.

Here are some pictures of the area outside of our hotel room. You can see the guard tower in the background of this one. It is very green around the hotel. On both sides there are gardens and people work in them almost all day. I asked who the people were and if the gardens were for the hotel. Bonifant told me that the people who work in the gardens are villagers and they sell the vegetables at the market every day.

There also seems to be a lot of farm animals around here. There is a rooster (maybe multiple roosters, I'm not sure) that does his little rooster call all day long. There also seems to be a sheep or goat or something nearby that bleats all day long - bleaat...bleaat...bleaat.

I think there are literally millions of different frogs around here - at night you can hear all sorts of croaking. It is far from quiet.





Nothing much else going on. Today is another work day. It looks like it is going to be another beautiful day too. It is in the 60's right now and breezy. There have been passing thunder showers every afternoon.

Jason might be finished working tomorrow. If that is the case then I'm going to see if we can arrange to go to the Bujora Cultural Center on Friday.

I'll post again if anything interesting happens before our Safari which begins on Saturday.

Saturday to Monday: Kilimanjaro to Mwanza

Well, here we are. It is Monday – I can't believe we left on Friday and we are just now getting settled. I'll start with an overview of the flight here and then talk about Kilimanjaro and Mwanza.I'm warning you now - this is a super long post.

Our flight was not good. I don't like KLM. First of all, we checked in online but when we got to the airport, it turned out that KLM does not have a kiosk to print boarding passes. What is up with that? So, we ended up having to wait in line for half an hour just to get our boarding passes.

Then, on top of that, I read online that KLM is really bad about losing luggage and we didn't want to hassle with checking luggage so we decided to just do carry on for this trip. Little did we know that KLM not only has a size restriction for carry-on (just like all other airlines) but they also have a weight restriction. Who knew?? So, our luggage was too heavy (it was not that heavy) and they made us check it. No other airlines have a weight restriction for carry on – I know for Japan Airlines and British Airlines, if you can lift it, you can bring it – I don't understand the weight limit with KLM – it is going on the plane either way, right?

Then, it turned out that the seats we picked when we booked our tickets were irrelevant and they didn't seat us together. I asked why they gave the option to chose your seats if they didn't honor those and the woman at the check-in counter told us they only have you do that for a head-count – but they don't actually assign the seats until you check in. But, since we didn't know this, we didn't think we needed to chose seats when we checked in online since we had already chosen our seats when we booked. She said that they needed to fix that on the website and make it clear that the seats you chose when you book don't matter because they aren't assigned until you check in. She was able to seat us together but we were in the middle of the middle row – annoying!

I am going to write a letter to KLM about this because, between the bag situation and the seat situation, I'm never flying KLM again! We have never had these problems flying internationally before. If we had known we were going to have to check our bags anyway, we would have packed a lot differently! For one, we would have packed more sunscreen and bug repellent – but since you can only take a small amount of liquids in carry-on luggage, we don't have a lot of these types of items.

Then, on top of all of this, there was an incredibly stinky person on our flight. Everyone in our area was miserable. I asked if we could be moved but the flight was full. The flight attendant was aware of the problem but there really wasn't much that could be done – its not like they could re-seat everyone in our area. I realize it is an awkward situation and not much could be done about it but, that didn't make it stink less. So, our flight to Amsterdam wasn't that great. Stuck in the middle of the middle with a stinky person.

Oh yeah, and our flight was delayed because of a thunderstorm. They announced that because of the route they were going to take, we were not allowed to depart – even though other planes were departing and flying around the storm. They announced that they requested an alternate route that would allow us to take off but it was denied. So, to save fuel, they turned off the engines – which made the stinky situation almost unbearable. We were not the only people in our area who were covering our noses with our sleeves, books, magazines, etc. So, we finally took off about an hour or so late. Then, when we got to Amsterdam, there were a lot people on our flight who were stressed out because they had connections they were going to miss – so there was a bit of rudeness in getting off the plane. I can't blame people for being upset about missing their flights though. Especially considering the baggage situation. We were worried we would miss our connection and then our bags would not make it with us, etc...it is stressful.

The flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro was much better. We had better seats and it did not smell bad. We figured out who the stinky person was when we got off the plane and we were pretty happy to see they didn't transfer to our next flight.

At the gate for our next flight, we ran into one of Jason's co-workers who flew from Houston. She was on the same flight and stayed at the same hotel in Kilimanjaro as us.

I managed to get a decent amount of sleep and I drank a lot of water on both flights so, by the time we arrived in Kilimanjaro on Saturday evening, I was feeling pretty good. Jason got some sleep too – but not quite as much as I did.

Arriving in Kilimanjaro was interesting. We arrived around 8:00 pm and it was pitch dark outside – usually, you know when you are getting ready to land because you can see the lights of the city outside – but there were no lights outside on our arrival – there were not even any lights at the airport – few and far between were the lights lining the runway but that was it and we didn't see those until we landed - so it was a bit of a surprise when we landed. Of course we knew we were landing because they had us buckle up, etc...but the lack of lights was very odd.

The airport was very small – and when we got off the plane it smelled like campfires outside. We made it through immigration just fine and and went to claim our bags. It took a while for our bags to come along and this made us nervous because we were worried that the delay might affect our luggage arriving. It all worked out though.

Jason's work made arrangements for us to be picked up and the guy was there with a sign and that went well. The airport hotel was very close by. The drive was interesting, we drove down this road with fences with barbed wire at the top along both sides. It was really dark outside and there were random people walking along the road. We didn't really figure out where they were going since it seemed like there was only the airport and the hotel out there and not all of them were walking toward the hotel.

There was a fence around the area where the hotel was and a person standing at a gate to let the van in. The hotel was really great! It is actually called a lodge and the rooms are individual huts located throughout the grounds which are like a huge botanical garden. I loved it! There were men wearing traditional Masai clothing all around to take our bags and lead us to our room. I thought that was a little cheesy – the outfits, that is – I'm pretty sure that was for the tourists.

It was a tiny bit concerning how the guy opened our door for us. He opened the door rather slowly and peered in before stepping in and turning on the lights for us and putting our suitcases in the room for us. We weren't sure if he was checking for people, or animals, or ???

Our room was basic but just fine. There was a nasty looking worm in the toilet – squirming around in the water – not sure where that came from! There were mosquito nets around the bed and of course, when we opened them to let them down, the end I opened had a gigantic, prehistoric looking cockroach hanging in one of the folds. Why does that always happen to me?? Of course I screamed bloody murder. I can't help it – it just comes out! I tried to run outside but that was scary too – there were so many plants and insects out there and it was so dark so, I was torn so I ran back in and just stood by the door ready to bolt if needed.

At first, Jason thought he would be able to just transfer the roach to a piece of paper and throw it outside, but suddenly, it jumped/flew?? and was on the ground so I started screaming “step on it, step on it!!!” because I did not want that thing running under the bed. It was one of those really big ones – like those palo verde roaches that live in Phoenix. Jason stomped on it and it made a big squishy mess on the floor and his shoe. Gross. He got a better look at it than I did – and he said it looked like a roach but it was gray with striations on it kind of like a rolly polly.

I took a picture of it on the net. It isn't the best picture because I quickly took it and ran for my life.

Once we dealt with that and made sure there were no other gigantic insects in the room, we went to the bar to have a beer. The bar was really nice. It was outside and there were comfortable benches to sit on. We drank our beer and then found our way back to our hut/room. As we were fumbling with the lock to get back into the room, we could hear something rustling around up above our head and we kind of freaked out – we weren't sure if it was an animal or a very large insect so that was fun, trying to hurry up and get the door open and get in. The next morning we discovered there were quite a few of those big hairy carpenter bees living up there – maybe that is what we heard. Not sure.

We actually slept pretty well Saturday night. The next morning we got up and went to breakfast. It was good – lots of bread, these thin pancake things – I can't remember what they are called – but they are a local food – they are a cross between a crepe and a pancake and they cooked up eggs to order. Typical breakfast. Eating breakfast was interesting though because there were SO MANY birds that were so unusual.

They have these crows – they are huge – like the ones in Japan, only these have white chests – so they look like penguins. There were these other birds that were pretty big – not quite as big as the crows and they are gray and have this big crest on their head. If you have any doubt that birds are descendants of dinosaurs, just take a look at this bird. We asked what it is called and were told they are called “go away” birds because their call sounds like they are saying “go away! go away!”. There were also these birds are called superb starlings – and they are superb! They are a metallic blue color with an orange chest (like a robin). All of the birds – especially the starlings – were pretty aggressive about trying to steal our food.

Here are some pictures of the go-away birds:

Superb Starling - we were inside so you can't really see the colors.

After breakfast we wandered around the grounds of the hotel – it was so nice – like a big botanical garden. Lots of plants and birds also flies, gigantic bumblebees, wasps and termites. It reminded me of Arizona – there were lots of cactus plants and those spiky plants that look like aloe vera plants but I don't think they are. There were also these trees with these gigantic pods hanging from them – they were huge – bigger than bananas. The only disappointment was that it was too hazy to see Mt. Kilimanjaro. We did see it on the flight out though.

Our room at the Kilimanjaro Airport Lodge

The grounds of Kilimanjaro Airport Lodge

Kilimanjaro Airport Lodge swimming pool

View of the grounds from the pool

Waiting for our ride to the airport at the bar - we drank a Fanta - delicious - made with real sugar and local fruit - not high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring.

Our flight to Mwanza was at noon so, we couldn't stay too long at that airport lodge. The flight was fine – it was on a rather small plane and I don't do so well on small planes – that is the only mode of transportation that gives me motion sickness so, I had to focus really hard on not losing my breakfast on the flight. It was interesting though – we saw a lot of desert and we did fly by Mt. Kilimanjaro – we took some pictures but there were a lot of clouds and haze so, even though we flew right by it we still didn't get the best look.

It was only about an hour long flight and then we arrived in Mwanza – which was an even smaller airport. We landed and had to hike up to the main building – then the luggage situation was interesting. No luggage belt, we just stood there as they unloaded it from – not luggage trucks – but carts that these guys had to pull all the way up from the plane through the dirt – which was hard work – for the guys, not us getting the luggage – though there was a lot of crowding.

The restrooms were a lot like the train station restrooms in Japan – squat toilets – I was glad I had 3 year of experience with those.

We soon found the rest of Jason's group and headed to our hotel here in Mwanza. The ride to the hotel was of course, interesting. Mwanza looks just like the African towns you see in the movies. Lots of run-down, shacks with Coca-Cola painted on them (what is the deal with Coca-Cola everywhere?). Lots of people walking down the sides of the road with things on their heads.

There was a market of some sort set up on the side of the road for a bit – with lots of clothes and shoes laying out on the ground for sale. Lots of slips and nightgowns hanging up – if you need a slip or a nightgown, this seems to be the place. The main road was paved but traffic seems to be a free-for-all. There are no speed limits so what they do to regulate the speed is put speed bumps along the road so, the drivers speed, then slow down to go over the bump – and then speed again.

The hotel is kind of away from the city center down a road with not much going on so, if we want to go see the town, we will need to take a cab. The hotel is right on Lake Victoria - a couple hundred yards from the water. The hotel is pretty nice. Our room is big and everything is quite new – so new in fact that they are still building part of the hotel! There is a nice pool and a small garden area.

Our balcony overlooking Lake Victoria

Our balcony overlooking the pool

The view of Lake Victoria from our room

There is a fence with barbed wire at the top surrounding the grounds – and there is a guard tower – not sure what that is all about. I'll try to get a picture of that - there are always people around though and I don't want to look like a weird tourist taking a picture of that.

There is a Mosque nearby and the call to prayer that plays on the loudspeaker throughout the evening is interesting. They sure do pray a lot. There are quite a few people from India here in Mwanza and I read that you can get the best Indian food outside of India here. Hopefully we'll get a chance to see that for ourselves this week.

On the lake we can see some small boats and there are lots and lots of these gigantic birds flying around – they look like hawks – their wingspans have to be at least 5 feet. They are really big. There are also those penguin-looking crows around here as well as seagulls, geese and lots of uniquely colored little birds. There are lots of these little birds that look like sparrows but they are black and white.

We also keep seeing some kind of animal wandering around the grounds. It is gray and the size of a house cat – but it doesn't quite look like a cat – maybe it is some type of cat – it has a shorter tail than a cat and it doesn't have cat ears. I don't know if we are seeing the same animal or if there are multiple ones.

There was a thunderstorm yesterday evening and today it looks like it might rain as well. It is sunny but there are some big dark clouds in the sky. The weather is gorgeous – it is in the 70s-80s and there is a cool breeze.

This must be fly capital of the world. I'm sitting outside on our balcony right now and it isn't a problem but, eating is a challenge because the flies really start to swarm around the food. That is annoying. Last night was an experience – I guess because of the rain, there were millions – and I mean millions of these insects flying around and there were a lot in our room – lots and lots and lots – and our room didn't come with a mosquito net so, we killed as many as we could ourselves -then around 8:30 or so, a guy came by with some spray – he was going from room to room and spraying bug spray – which helped a bit – it did kill a lot of them – but there were still quite a few that survived.

We couldn't figure out how they were getting in. We put on DEET before bed and tried to sleep under the covers but it got hot. Plus, we are really jet-lagged so, we both woke up around midnight and then could not fall back asleep. We were wide awake. So we got up, watched some TV and tried to go back to sleep around 3:00. We finally fell back asleep but then the alarm went off at 6:00 because Jason had to go to work. There was quite a bit of sunlight shining through the door this morning so, we're guessing that is where the insects were getting in last night.

There were billions of those bugs all over the ground outside this morning and Jason's co-workers said they all had nets in their rooms. So, I went down to see if we could be moved to a room with a net and I met the manager of the hotel. She is really great! Her name is Fiona and she is from Ireland. She has been living here with her husband who works for Caterpillar for about 3 ½ years now.

She was very accommodating and since the hotel is completely full, they are installing posts and nets on our bed right now. She told me that all those insects we saw last night swarming around were not mosquitoes but are lake flies – they are tiny little bugs that only live for 24 hours – that is why there are so many dead ones on the ground this morning. She said there are mosquitoes as well, just not millions of them like the lake flies - and that is why she is putting the nets on our bed today – but not to panic when we see all of those things swarming around at night.

We are pretty settled in. I'm sitting outside on the balcony as they are installing the posts on our bed for the nets. The guys working in there turned on the TV and are doing a bit chatting, sitting around, but they seem to be making progress.

Everyone here is very friendly and polite. We've been making an effort to learn and speak some Swahili – not everyone speaks English well or at all – but we've been able to communicate fairly effectively.

Here is the bed with the new posts and nets.

If you made it through this novel, thanks for reading. I'll post again soon!

Heading to Tanzania

This is where we'll be on Sunday:


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