Things I learned in Africa

1.  It’s nice to travel with a friend but go out alone sometime and you’ll be surprised at the people you meet.

2.  Leave work AT work.

3.  Don’t try to save everyone, you just cant and you’ll kill yourself trying.

4.  Don’t be afraid to open your heart, love can find you anywhere.

5.  Forgive

6.  Standing with mouth agape may attract flies, but for some things you cant help it.

7.  Being overcome with compassion isn’t the worst thing in the world.

9.  Its ok to cry

10.  Our definition of “roads” isn’t everybody else’s.

11.  AIDS is a chronic disease and people living with it look like you and me.

12.  Every thing in Africa defies the laws of gravity and physics….don’t ask me how.

13.  Jeremy and Camilla are really just nice people--brilliant--- but people.

14.  Try the local food, tis very tasty

15.  Speak the local language, even if just a few works the local people appreciate it.

16.  Watch out for Mzungu prices, they are 2x as high as local prices!

17.  Make friends with the local sellers, they still try to rip you off but they’re much nicer about it.

18.  Find out what accomodations are like BEFORE going somewhere --especially the Pare Mountains-- you may get an interesting surprise if you don’t.

19.  Take 1 day a week (at least) to rejuvenate, you’ll be a better helper for it.

20.  Its alright to disagree, but don’t go home with it.

Safari

Just a year ago who would believe that I would be on my way to Africa much less on my way to a 4 day safari, but here I am, on my way to Manyara Park, with planed stops at Ngorogoro Crater and Tarangerie State Parks where we will spend our 1st night in the Ngorogoro Lodge and our last 2 nights camping on the savannah.  I went on Safari with 2 of my 3 colleges, Amy and Marina, it was a nice get away from the weeks of  hard work we had been immersed in.  Our 1st stop was Manyara Park, given its name from a tree that greets you as you enter the park, used by the Massai people  in building their homes and animal pens.  It was a 2 hr trip getting from Moshi to the park and as soon as we got there I made a be line for the bathroom.  To my surprise when I went to wash my hands at the outdoor sink there was a monkey sitting in the tree just above my head watching me.

Its at this point that I realized I was in the wild of Africa that you so often see in books and I made haste back to our truck, as I wasn’t sure what else I may run into at the bathrooms.

As we got on our way, not even 3 feet into the park, we ran into a family of baboons playing, drinking and grooming each other.  Although we maybe grown women we were as delighted as kids to see this and the camera’s started clicking as we wanted to get ever picture we cud.

We couldn’t help yelling “over here!” “look at what this guy’s doing” “oh my god, this is amazing!”

Just as we stared tiring of the monkeys and baboons antics, we heard the crunch crunch of  bushes being moved aside and an elephant came sauntering out of the forest, right unto our path and stopped next to our truck.  She was so close we could have reached out and touched her!  We were told that there was a male still in the forest but he never came out for us to see.

Everywhere we turned there were animals to marvel at, impala’s sprinting with their fancy bounce across our path 1 by 1, an elegant giraffe eating the leaves from a tree with thorns so long they looked like sewing needles, and hippos basking in a pond, one of the few watering holes left in the park because this is dry season and a drought is on.  Driving along the plains with its dried stubby grass dotted with zebras and wildebeest we were surprised to learn that in Jan, after the rainy season, it is a lake and the barren lands are lush and green and teaming with more wild life than we were currently seeing.  

At the end of the day we drove to our lodge at the edge of the Ngorogoro Crater, another name that was heavily influenced by the Maasai’s, where we had beautiful views of the crater we were to visit the next day.  Because the crater is so high up it was freezing and we were happy to cozy up to the fireplace with a glass of wine and our coats. Let me tell you, don’t be fooled that because you’re in Africa its hot, we had many days/nights when it was down right cold and my colleges wud don their down jackets while I would snuggle into my wrap.

Day 2

The next morning we were up dressed and at breakfast by 6:30 to get an early start at 7am we went out onto  the balcony of the lodge to have an early morning view of the crater but  we were enveloped in such fog that everything looked eerie and we couldn’t see anything at all.

As we were to learn our driver/guide Bonny was very knowledgeable not only about the history of the parks but also about the animals and birds and could spot an animal from miles way!  As Marina became fond of saying, he has African eyes…lol 

Bonny informed us that Ngorogoro got its name from a Maasai business man who made cow bells and sold them to the people of the villages who lived in and around the crater, the ringing of the bells around the neck of the cows would make the sound Ngaruroro and this is how the crater eventually got its name.  When Bonny told us that story my understanding was that this was a long time ago before the crater became a national park and that the Maasai’s had since relocated, I mean come on, how crazy would it be to have Maasai’s living in a National Park, but when we looked up the very next second we were face to face with 2 Maasai men, walking their cows and goats down to the watering hole to drink alongside the gazelles and zebras!  I just sat there staring with my mouth wide open, (good thing there were no flies around), and thought, lions, I know there has to be lions around!!

We spent the day traversing the many trails in the park, our guide Bonny pointing out many things to us, feeding us tidbits of knowledge, like the heaviest flying bird is the Kori Bastard, when a warthog runs he keep his tail up and when they burrow into a hole they go in backwards, he would also point things out to us that we would not have been able to spot on our own in a million years , like the cheetah that was so blended in with the grass and rock that it was lying on sunning itself that it took us about 5 mins with Bonny constantly giving us directions as to where to look before we saw it.

Throughout the day in the crater we spotted many different animal, some we had not seen the day before, Thompson and Grant gazelles, jackals passing in and out among the animals, buffalo’s grazing, a family of crown cranes digging for seeds wildebeests and even a wildebeest carcass, I guess he became food in the circle of life.  

Just a year ago who would believe that I would be on my way to Africa much less on my way to a 4 day safari, but here I am, on my way to Manyara Park, with planed stops at Ngorogoro Crater and Tarangerie State Parks where we will spend our 1st night in the Ngorogoro Lodge and our last 2 nights camping on the savannah.  I went on Safari with 2 of my 3 colleges, Amy and Marina, it was a nice get away from the weeks of  hard work we had been immersed in.  Our 1st stop was Manyara Park, given its name from a tree that greets you as you enter the park, used by the Massai people  in building their homes and animal pens.  It was a 2 hr trip getting from Moshi to the park and as soon as we got there I made a be line for the bathroom.  To my surprise when I went to wash my hands at the outdoor sink there was a monkey sitting in the tree just above my head watching me.

When on safari, everyone wants to see the BIG CATS and we were not disappointed.  We came across a traffic jam in the a

Its at this point that I realized I was in the wild of Africa that you so often see in books and I made haste back to our truck, as I wasn’t sure what else I may run into at the bathrooms.

As we got on our way, not even 3 feet into the park, we ran into a family of baboons playing, drinking and grooming each other.  Although we maybe grown women we were as delighted as kids to see this and the camera’s started clicking as we wanted to get ever picture we cud.

We couldn’t help yelling “over here!” “look at what this guy’s doing” “oh my god, this is amazing!”

Just as we stared tiring of the monkeys and baboons antics, we heard the crunch crunch of  bushes being moved aside and an elephant came sauntering out of the forest, right unto our path and stopped next to our truck.  She was so close we could have reached out and touched her!  We were told that there was a male still in the forest but he never came out for us to see.

Everywhere we turned there were animals to marvel at, impala’s sprinting with their fancy bounce across our path 1 by 1, an elegant giraffe eating the leaves from a tree with thorns so long they looked like sewing needles, and hippos basking in a pond, one of the few watering holes left in the park because this is dry season and a drought is on.  Driving along the plains with its dried stubby grass dotted with zebras and wildebeest we were surprised to learn that in Jan, after the rainy season, it is a lake and the barren lands are lush and green and teaming with more wild life than we were currently seeing.  

At the end of the day we drove to our lodge at the edge of the Ngorogoro Crater, another name that was heavily influenced by the Maasai’s, where we had beautiful views of the crater we were to visit the next day.  Because the crater is so high up it was freezing and we were happy to cozy up to the fireplace with a glass of wine and our coats. Let me tell you, don’t be fooled that because you’re in Africa its hot, we had many days/nights when it was down right cold and my colleges wud don their down jackets while I would snuggle into my wrap.

Day 2

The next morning we were up dressed and at breakfast by 6:30 to get an early start at 7am we went out onto  the balcony of the lodge to have an early morning view of the crater but  we were enveloped in such fog that everything looked eerie and we couldn’t see anything at all.

As we were to learn our driver/guide Bonny was very knowledgeable not only about the history of the parks but also about the animals and birds and could spot an animal from miles way!  As Marina became fond of saying, he has African eyes…lol 

Bonny informed us that Ngorogoro got its name from a Maasai business man who made cow bells and sold them to the people of the villages who lived in and around the crater, the ringing of the bells around the neck of the cows would make the sound Ngaruroro and this is how the crater eventually got its name.  When Bonny told us that story my understanding was that this was a long time ago before the crater became a national park and that the Maasai’s had since relocated, I mean come on, how crazy would it be to have Maasai’s living in a National Park, but when we looked up the very next second we were face to face with 2 Maasai men, walking their cows and goats down to the watering hole to drink alongside the gazelles and zebras!  I just sat there staring with my mouth wide open, (good thing there were no flies around), and thought, lions, I know there has to be lions around!!

We spent the day traversing the many trails in the park, our guide Bonny pointing out many things to us, feeding us tidbits of knowledge, like the heaviest flying bird is the Kori Bastard, when a warthog runs he keep his tail up and when they burrow into a hole they go in backwards, he would also point things out to us that we would not have been able to spot on our own in a million years , like the cheetah that was so blended in with the grass and rock that it was lying on sunning itself that it took us about 5 mins with Bonny constantly giving us directions as to where to look before we saw it.

Throughout the day in the crater we spotted many different animal, some we had not seen the day before, Thompson and Grant gazelles, jackals passing in and out among the animals, buffalo’s grazing, a family of crown cranes digging for seeds wildebeests and even a wildebeest carcass, I guess he became food in the circle of life.  

When on safari, everyone wants to see the BIG CATS and we were not disappointed.  We came across a traffic jam in the afternoon, and were told that there was a lioness out there.  She was so completely blended into the backdrop that we almost missed her.  If it wasn’t for her movements we would not have seen where she was laying in the crevice among the grass, he coat was so closely matched.

We left Ngorongoro, very happily satisfied with the animals that we saw thinking after the lodge and the crater that it couldn’t get any better than that, ooohhhh, we were so wrong!

Day 3.

We drove on to our next stop, camping just outside Tarengire State Park.  When we left Ngorongoro we decided to do a bit of shopping at the souvenir shops getting all the stuff that you wonder what the hell were you thinking when you get them home.  We were late getting to our camp site along a bumpy dusty road, but truthfully, it was like many other roads that we had traveled during our month’s stay, except there was absolutely no lights anywhere around, we were being  driven  deeper and deeper into the forest, making twist and turns that had me wondering if we were lost as there were no sign post to guide us and at times I wasn’t even sure if we were still on the “road.” Ever so often the headlights on the truck would go off, plunging us in complete darkness, and Marina, having much confidence in our driver would say, its ok, Bonny can still see, I guess she must have been right because we got to the campsite in 1 piece.

We walked in, and were greated by our private staff, 2 Maasai’s who were to guard us, our night and walking safari guide Chris, our waiter Nathalia, and our chef, whose name I didn’t catch.  We were taken to our respective tents to wash up and get ready for dinner and as usual it was unbelievable.  The tent was made of green mesh that when you blew out the lamp you could see thru and there was a huge king size bed made of polished wood, in the middle of the room with royal blue satin sheets and a beautiful navy print cover that was so soft that I wanted to skip dinner just to snuggle into it.  A bed fit for the queen that I am J  Draped over the bed, was a mosquito netting so huge,  you had to get out of bed to pull it back, it was like a scene out of a movie.

Our meal was by lamp light, sitting under a thatched roof hut with the sides open to the savannah, hearing the animals out in the dark, eating off china with knifes and forks was just surreal!  We were served a 1st course of soup, and rice and veggies with what Amy said was the best  roasted pork she had had in a long time, although our waiter made a joke that it was warthog, at least I think it was a joke….haha!

I sat there thinking that this juxtaposition of eating off fine china while sitting out in the wild was something that just could not be topped…but I was so wrong!

Day 4.

While in this country every experience I’ve had I’ve said, this is the best experience, this cant be beat but every time, something comes along to beat it.  When I saw Kili for the 1st time with its white capped peak hovering above the clouds I said this cant be beat, when we climbed the Pare Mountain I saw the views of the valleys on either side, I was sure there couldn’t be anything more lovely, at the 1st state park seeing the animals roaming free and how majestic they were I felt this was it, and at the crater with its fog and Massai watering his cattle at the same watering hole as the gazelles and zebra I thought there was nothing more amazing  but waking to a family of elephants at 4am silhouetted right outside my tent so close I could touch them, munching on the grass and the leaves of the trees, listening to them chewing I knew nothing could get better than that.  I laid there wishing I had someone to share this moment with while zebras barked in the background and eventually  being lulled back to sleep by the chewing of the elephants.

I woke the next morning to a family of zebra’s (after a while you start to say, oh, its just a zebra as they are so common place you start to take for granted they are around), having breakfast on the short grass of the plains, I opened my tent doors, lifted my mosquito net got back in bed under my warm blankets to soak up the beauty of  a view like no other, feasting my eyes on miles of savanna and trying to take in that I was a part of all this, that’s when the hyena ran by and I jumped up to close the flaps on my tent!

The bathroom was totally outdoor, a half circle of sticks and plaster that encircled my toilet and the same for my shower.  The toilet faced the savanna, and by the way there is no door, so while sitting there you have no choice but to look out on zebras, ostrich running by, hyenas, and any other animal and birds that happens to pass by.  My Maasai guide came to fill my shower bag with hot water for my morning shower, and let me just say, you haven’t lived till you’ve showered standing out on the plains of Africa surrounded by animals and bird song.

Headed out on our last day of Safari to Tarengire National Park not 20ft from our camp site we came across  a small herd of elephants, Bonny our guide told us that elephants were responsible for spreading the seeds of the baobab trees from South Africa all the way to Tanzania as they eat the fruit and “drop” the seeds along the way during the migration.  The baobab trees were tall and round, we say 1 with a hole in the trunk so big our jeep could have fit nicely inside with room to spare and we still would not have taken up half the tree. 

Our night safari sounded very exciting and we were lucky enough to see  an ardvark, chased it with our truck, bush baby, an African hare and a spring hare, who gets its name from the spring it has in its step, it hops along like a mini kangaroo, and zebras, but throughout it all my favorite part of the night safari was the sky, being able to drive along looking up at the moon, the stars and the milky way. Everything so clear and unpolluted by lights, it really makes you feel  how small our little blue ball is in the vastness of the universe.

I really enjoyed my time out on the savannah with my colleagues, my time spent listening to the night sounds, looking up at the stars and being at one with nature, but most of all I enjoyed being lulled to sleep by the munching of the elephants and  being able to be at peace with myself.

fternoon, and were told that there was a lioness out there.  She was so completely blended into the backdrop that we almost missed her.  If it wasn’t for her movements we would not have seen where she was laying in the crevice among the grass, he coat was so closely matched.

We left Ngorongoro, very happily satisfied with the animals that we saw thinking after the lodge and the crater that it couldn’t get any better than that, ooohhhh, we were so wrong!

Day 3.

We drove on to our next stop, camping just outside Tarengire State Park.  When we left Ngorongoro we decided to do a bit of shopping at the souvenir shops getting all the stuff that you wonder what the hell were you thinking when you get them home.  We were late getting to our camp site along a bumpy dusty road, but truthfully, it was like many other roads that we had traveled during our month’s stay, except there was absolutely no lights anywhere around, we were being  driven  deeper and deeper into the forest, making twist and turns that had me wondering if we were lost as there were no sign post to guide us and at times I wasn’t even sure if we were still on the “road.” Ever so often the headlights on the truck would go off, plunging us in complete darkness, and Marina, having much confidence in our driver would say, its ok, Bonny can still see, I guess she must have been right because we got to the campsite in 1 piece.

We walked in, and were greated by our private staff, 2 Maasai’s who were to guard us, our night and walking safari guide Chris, our waiter Nathalia, and our chef, whose name I didn’t catch.  We were taken to our respective tents to wash up and get ready for dinner and as usual it was unbelievable.  The tent was made of green mesh that when you blew out the lamp you could see thru and there was a huge king size bed made of polished wood, in the middle of the room with royal blue satin sheets and a beautiful navy print cover that was so soft that I wanted to skip dinner just to snuggle into it.  A bed fit for the queen that I am J  Draped over the bed, was a mosquito netting so huge,  you had to get out of bed to pull it back, it was like a scene out of a movie.

Our meal was by lamp light, sitting under a thatched roof hut with the sides open to the savannah, hearing the animals out in the dark, eating off china with knifes and forks was just surreal!  We were served a 1st course of soup, and rice and veggies with what Amy said was the best  roasted pork she had had in a long time, although our waiter made a joke that it was warthog, at least I think it was a joke….haha!

I sat there thinking that this juxtaposition of eating off fine china while sitting out in the wild was something that just could not be topped…but I was so wrong!

Day 4.

While in this country every experience I’ve had I’ve said, this is the best experience, this cant be beat but every time, something comes along to beat it.  When I saw Kili for the 1st time with its white capped peak hovering above the clouds I said this cant be beat, when we climbed the Pare Mountain I saw the views of the valleys on either side, I was sure there couldn’t be anything more lovely, at the 1st state park seeing the animals roaming free and how majestic they were I felt this was it, and at the crater with its fog and Massai watering his cattle at the same watering hole as the gazelles and zebra I thought there was nothing more amazing  but waking to a family of elephants at 4am silhouetted right outside my tent so close I could touch them, munching on the grass and the leaves of the trees, listening to them chewing I knew nothing could get better than that.  I laid there wishing I had someone to share this moment with while zebras barked in the background and eventually  being lulled back to sleep by the chewing of the elephants.

I woke the next morning to a family of zebra’s (after a while you start to say, oh, its just a zebra as they are so common place you start to take for granted they are around), having breakfast on the short grass of the plains, I opened my tent doors, lifted my mosquito net got back in bed under my warm blankets to soak up the beauty of  a view like no other, feasting my eyes on miles of savanna and trying to take in that I was a part of all this, that’s when the hyena ran by and I jumped up to close the flaps on my tent!

The bathroom was totally outdoor, a half circle of sticks and plaster that encircled my toilet and the same for my shower.  The toilet faced the savanna, and by the way there is no door, so while sitting there you have no choice but to look out on zebras, ostrich running by, hyenas, and any other animal and birds that happens to pass by.  My Maasai guide came to fill my shower bag with hot water for my morning shower, and let me just say, you haven’t lived till you’ve showered standing out on the plains of Africa surrounded by animals and bird song.

Headed out on our last day of Safari to Tarengire National Park not 20ft from our camp site we came across  a small herd of elephants, Bonny our guide told us that elephants were responsible for spreading the seeds of the baobab trees from South Africa all the way to Tanzania as they eat the fruit and “drop” the seeds along the way during the migration.  The baobab trees were tall and round, we say 1 with a hole in the trunk so big our jeep could have fit nicely inside with room to spare and we still would not have taken up half the tree. 

Our night safari sounded very exciting and we were lucky enough to see  an ardvark, chased it with our truck, bush baby, an African hare and a spring hare, who gets its name from the spring it has in its step, it hops along like a mini kangaroo, and zebras, but throughout it all my favorite part of the night safari was the sky, being able to drive along looking up at the moon, the stars and the milky way. Everything so clear and unpolluted by lights, it really makes you feel  how small our little blue ball is in the vastness of the universe.

I really enjoyed my time out on the savannah with my colleagues, my time spent listening to the night sounds, looking up at the stars and being at one with nature, but most of all I enjoyed being lulled to sleep by the munching of the elephants and  being able to be at peace with myself.

The First Sign Of Kilimanjaro

This is a bit late but hey, I'm now on African time!

I decided to do the last leg of my journey by bus.

I don’t know what I was thinking as its an 8 hour bus ride from Dar to the foot of Kilimanjaro.

I was up, dressed and headed to the bus station by 5 am.

Although I had negotiated the price of $15,000, and no, I have not put in too many zeros, once in the taxi the driver said $20,000 and he would help me in with my bags, find me the ticket office and help me on to the bus, since the bus station promised it would be a mad house I agreed.

We get to the bus station he starts to park and the front of his car somehow falls into a drain, four guys come to help him push it out and all the time the New Yorker in me is kicking in with anxiety that I‘ll miss my bus.I grab my bag, determined to find the bus on my own, slip him $15,000 yell “sorry I have to go, I don’t want to miss my bus“ and sttart walking away when a “porter” comes up and grabs my bag and throws it on a cart. By now the driver is chasing after me yelling “you only gave me 15,000“, I yell back, “I know, you promised to help me with my bags, find me the bus and the ticket booth but you didn’t” he starts yelling at me, “you are cheating me!“ I said “Caribu, (this means Welcome in Swahili) this is how I’ve felt since I arrived in your country!” And I hurried to catch my bus.

Although early, the market was a madhouse full of excitement and ppl hustling and bustling around. Some People were looking for their buses, others were trying to grab your bags and take you to the bus they were touting for, while some were higglers selling a variety of goodies to eat on the bus, while still others were selling at the market close by and just as everywhere some people were there begging. It was easy to get caught up in the excitement of things and I was really looking forward to the beginnings of my bus ride. At about 6:30 am the bus finally left the station and it was such a contrast to go from the hustle and bustle of the town to the quite of the countryside. It reminded me of the lazy Sunday drives we would take when I was a little girl into the country to go see my grandma, houses scattered here and there, with clusters of little communities in between. The houses were made of sticks with sun backed brick walls and thatched roofs, or bricks with a thin layer of mud, white washed and painted a bright color with tin or thatched roofs, and some were just plain old mud huts with straw roofs.

The rhythm of the bus eventually lulled me to sleep and I woke up about an hr later when the bus suddenly pulled to a stop. Everybody got off the bus and I was wondering if we were going thru a check point or something when I looked out the window and realized we were having a pee break African style! Everybody bent down peeing in the bushes! I decided to wait for the rest stop but when we got there it wasn’t much better. You went into a stall, that had a hole in the floor and the goal is to squat, aim and pee in the hole, I looked around for toilet paper only after I was done and was confronted with a hose which I politely declined to use as I wasn’t sure exactly how to use it. Sadly to say, after another couple of hours on the road and another bottle of water when the next roadside pee break came up I was out there with the rest of the people watering my lil section of bushes….hakuna mattata as we say here in Africa

My first sight of Kilamanjaro was awe inspiring.

We had been going thru the mountain ranges for a while and I kept wondering if I had somehow missed Kili, But we came around a bend and I looked up and for an instant wasn’t sure what I was looking at, it took my brain a minute to determine if I was just seeing clouds or what, that’s when I knew instantly what I was looking at, I was seeing the snow covered peak of Kililmanjaro. It was so majestic and beautiful it literally took my breath away. I sat there for a moment with camera in hand just looking before fumbling around to try to take a picture. It was in this moment that I felt the 8hr bus ride was well worth it!

There has been so many first on this trip for me but by far this was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen.

My Time Here In Africa

So far my trip here has really been great, a real eye opener for me.

The people have been very friendly and laugh quite often when we try to talk to them in English. When we are out and the "Muzungus" (white people) that I’m with try to ask questions they always look to me to translate, they can't believe that I am a black person and can't speak Swahili.

Over the weekend we visited the Pare Mountains and was told by 1 person that I am the 1st black outsider to visit their area. I think I was laughed at most in this region for not being able to speak Swahili.

The women here pride themselves on being strong. They work the fields, fetch the water in rural areas, cook the meals and care for the family so they really need to be. When we visited the Pare Mountain's and took a 6 hour hike up the mountain, we didn’t reach the top and our guide commented that we would have been divorced for being lazy weak women. We saw so many women walking for miles with banana’s and other goods on their heads going to the market to sell.

The color of the women’s kangas (the pieces of cloth worn wrapped around the body) are as colorful as their attitudes. They wear beautiful pinks, blues, yellows, greens and reds. The Kanga’s are worn mostly by married women and depending on how its tied by unmarried girls as well. It’s not only colorful and fashionable but is used as a sling to carry the babies on Mommies back. The Massi wear purple and black or red and black in a checkered pattern, they are the warriors in this area and most of the gaurds around are Massi warriors. Our guard, Joseph, is a Massi warrior and we feel secure just knowing he is around.

One of the things I find most interesting about the clothes worn here is the foot wear. Old used tires are refashioned and made into sandals. Some are just black while others are painted and designed, they are made in many different styles and some have the threading quite visible on them but lots of ppl wear them and it doesn’t seem to be a bother. I wonder if Good Year knows what is happening with their old tires.

The land here competes with the colors of the women’s Kanga and is a bright rich red, the color of bricks. As it is the dry season its very dusty and a thin layer of dust constantly hangs in the air. When we get home everyday we are covered in a fine layer of dust, it gets in your, nose, in your ears, parts covered and uncovered. You shower and dry yourself and the towel is stained red with the left over dust from your body, I don’t know if I’ve been really “clean” since I got here. Although the land is such a bright red I suspect it is not very fertile. PPL are always complaining that they are hungry. There has not been a day that has gone by in clinic that we haven’t heard ppl complaining that they are hungry. This seems to be the biggest complaint of ppl here. Mostly I see Jeremy or Camilla reach into their pockets and give money for food, money for hospital bills, money to pay someone’s milk bill. Now we are getting into the habit as well as it’s hard to just sit there, listening to ppl who are happy to get even 1 meal a day, knowing you have eaten a big breakfast and will be going home to a nice dinner prepared by a house keeper, while walking away from someone who has said that all they have eaten is cornmeal mush (ogali) for the past several months. Although ppl here are hungry, it’s Ramadan and they still uphold the tradition of fasting all day long. I don’t know if I were hungry if I could be on a self imposed fast for 30 days because of religious reasons.

We have been very fortunate to have 1 of our clinics associated with the hospital. On our way there the 1st morning, all us volunteers excited that we were going to see cases and work in the hospital with the feeling that the work of homeopathy is being taken a bit more seriously here, our car broke down. As Westerner’s we got very anxious that here we were on the side of the road, people waiting to see us at the hospital and we were going to be late, when Jeremy set us straight with Hakkuna Mattata, this is Africa, we are on African time. Jeremy phoned a friend, arranged for us to get a ride to clinic and paid someone to watch the car for the day till it could be bought to the shop. As we moved farther away from town the roads became dirt roads and we were jostled and bounced about the van, as we were to learn in the coming weeks, unless we were on a main road most were unpaved and driving on the left becomes a suggestion more than a rule.

For some of the outlying clinics there is a clinic coordinator that sets things up in advance for us. They get the ppl, help to spread the word about what we are doing and when we will be there. When we show up we never know who or how many will be there but there are always ppl lined up outside the door waiting to be seen. So far the most that we have seen in 1 day has been 13 ppl and by the end of the day we are all fried. They most uplifting thing has been seeing ppl who come back for a follow-up visit. They comeback to the clinic and their symptoms have been alleviated, their CD4 count has gone up and since they are also being seen and tested allopathically as well, homeopathy bridges nicely with allopathic medicine in this setting. Coming from the west where homeopathy is viewed as just medicine for acute illness its good to see how nicely homeopathy is able to take care of disease we would not otherwise have a chance to use it with in the west. We have 1 severe case that is in the hospital that we have been fortunate to see, his name is Geoffrey and he cant be anymore than 25yrs old. He is in a hospital that has been without power for 3 weeks, the backup generator is broken, no medicine and all refrigerated samples are now of no use. Both him and his wife are positive and when we 1st went to see him laying in his hospital bed the 1st day of clinic he was in a severe cryptococcal meningitis coma. His rt eye was rolled back in his head, he couldn’t speak and was non responsive. We were sure he wouldn’t make it thru the night and there was nothing the hospital could do for him. After talking to his father who was keeping vigil at his bed side, and observing Geoffrey we got enough information and Jeremy felt confident in prescribing Apis. Almost immediately Geoffrey started moaning and his breathing changed. We waited and re-dosed him in 5 mins when he seemed to relapse and told his father to watch him and continue dosing every 10mins and check back with us in 1 hr. That was a very sleepless night for me, seeing him in that position made me really question weather or not AIDS was just too big to treat, what were the life’s of ppl with this disease worth, wasn’t it just better to let them die out and start afresh? But when you look into their eyes, you see that they are human beings that possess such a strong will to live and a spirit to match that all you can do is break down crying and try to help as best you can.

So far my trip here has really been great, a real eye opener for me.

The ppl have been very friendly and laugh quite often when we try to talk to them in English. When we are out and the muzungus (white ppl) that I’m with try to ask questions they always look to me to translate, they cant believe that I am a black person and cant speak Swahili.

Over the weekend we visited the Pare Mts and was told by 1 person that I am the 1st black outsider to visit their area. I think I was laugh at most in this region for not being able to speak Swahili.

The women here pride themselves on being strong. They work th fields, fetch the water in rural areas, cook the meals and care for the family so they really need to be. When we visited the Pare Mt’s and took a 6hr hike up the mountain, we didn’t reach the top and our guide commented that we would have been divorced for being lazy weak women. We saw so many women walking for miles with banana’s and other goods on their heads going to the market to sell.

The color of the women’s kangas (the pieces of cloth worn wrapped around the body) are as colorful as their attitudes. They wear beautiful pinks, blues, yellows, greens and reds. The Kanga’s are worn mostly by married women and depending on how its tied by unmarried girls as well. It’s not only colorful and fashionable but is used as a sling to carry the babies on Mommies back. The Massi wear purple and black or red and black in a checkered pattern, they are the warriors in this area and most of the gaurds around are Massi warriors. Our guard, Joseph, is a Massi warrior and we feel secure just knowing he is around.

One of the things I find most interesting about the clothes worn here is the foot wear. Old used tires are refashioned and made into sandals. Some are just black while others are painted and designed, they are made in many different styles and some have the threading quite visible on them but lots of people wear them and it doesn't seem to be a bother.

The land here competes with the colors of the women’s Kanga and is a bright rich red, the color of bricks. As it is the dry season its very dusty and a thin layer of dust constantly hangs in the air. When we get home everyday we are covered in a fine layer of dust, it gets in your, nose, in your ears, parts covered and uncovered. You shower and dry yourself and the towel is stained red with the left over dust from your body, I don’t know if I’ve been really “clean” since I got here. Although the land is such a bright red I suspect it is not very fertile. People are always complaining that they are hungry. There has not been a day that has gone by in clinic that we haven’t heard people complaining that they are hungry. This seems to be the biggest complaint of people here. Mostly I see Jeremy or Camilla reach into their pockets and give money for food, money for hospital bills, money to pay someone’s milk bill. Now we are getting into the habit as well as it’s hard to just sit there, listening to people who are happy to get even one meal a day, knowing you have eaten a big breakfast and will be going home to a nice dinner prepared by a house keeper, while walking away from someone who has said that all they have eaten is cornmeal mush (ogali) for the past several months. Although people here are hungry, it’s Ramadan and they still uphold the tradition of fasting all day long. I don’t know if I were hungry if I could be on a self imposed fast for 30 days because of religious reasons.

We have been very fortunate to have one of our clinics associated with the hospital. On our way there the first morning, all us volunteers excited that we were going to see cases and work in the hospital with the feeling that the work of homeopathy is being taken a bit more seriously here, our car broke down. As Westerner’s we got very anxious that here we were on the side of the road, people waiting to see us at the hospital and we were going to be late, when Jeremy set us straight with Hakkuna Mattata, this is Africa, we are on African time. Jeremy phoned a friend, arranged for us to get a ride to clinic and paid someone to watch the car for the day until it could be brought to the shop. As we moved farther away from town the roads became dirt roads and we were jostled and bounced about the van, as we were to learn in the coming weeks, unless we were on a main road most were unpaved and driving on the left becomes a suggestion more than a rule.

For some of the outlying clinics there is a clinic coordinator that sets things up in advance for us. They get the people, help to spread the word about what we are doing and when we will be there. When we show up we never know who or how many will be there but there are always people lined up outside the door waiting to be seen. So far the most that we have seen in one day has been 13 people and by the end of the day we are all fried. They most uplifting thing has been seeing people who come back for a follow-up visit. They comeback to the clinic and their symptoms have been alleviated, their CD4 count has gone up and since they are also being seen and tested allopathically as well, homeopathy bridges nicely with allopathic medicine in this setting. Coming from the West where homeopathy is viewed as just medicine for acute illness its good to see how nicely homeopathy is able to take care of disease we would not otherwise have a chance to use it with in the west. We have one severe case that is in the hospital that we have been fortunate to see, his name is Geoffrey and he can't be anymore than 25 years old. He is in a hospital that has been without power for three weeks, the backup generator is broken, no medicine, and all refrigerated samples are now of no use. Both him and his wife are positive and when we first went to see him laying in his hospital bed the first day of clinic he was in a severe cryptococcal meningitis coma. His right eye was rolled back in his head, he couldn’t speak and was non responsive. We were sure he wouldn’t make it thru the night and there was nothing the hospital could do for him. After talking to his father who was keeping vigil at his bed side, and observing Geoffrey we got enough information and Jeremy felt confident in prescribing Apis. Almost immediately Geoffrey started moaning and his breathing changed. We waited and re-dosed him in 5 minuets when he seemed to relapse, we told his father to watch him and continue dosing every 10 minuets and check back with us in 1 hour. That was a very sleepless night for me, seeing him in that position made me really question weather or not AIDS was just too big to treat, what were the life’s of people with this disease worth, wasn’t it just better to let them die out and start fresh? But when you look into their eyes, you see that they are human beings that possess such a strong will to live and a spirit to match that all you can do is break down crying and try to help as best you can.

We have 2 more weeks here and every morning I wake up wondering what the day holds; how many people will we help today, how much money will we give to hungry widows and their children, how many aunts are will we see with children who have been orphaned by this disease, how many grandmothers who are old but still proud of how strong they are will come to us for back and waist pains because they have been working the fields for 50-60 years with no breaks. We wait, we watch, we wonder, we help and in the end it’s Hakkuna Matata….no worries.