We had an amazingly relaxing weekend at Noloholo (near the village of Loibor Siret). Well, let me rephrase that…the kids and I got to relax while Matt helped facilitate a workshop for the members of the local village. The drive down took us about half the time as it did when we went last year: improved roads and lack of rain make all the difference.
On Saturday, the kids and I went on a game drive along the eastern boundary of Tarangire National Park. We saw buffalo, ostrich, impala, kudu, oryx, zebra, and one very large grasshopper. We also had amazing views looking into the National Park.
It’s a different experience being able to go for game drives where few others go…hard to even see the road. You know the kids have been here awhile when they can comment on the ostriches and how there was four females, but only three males (they usually are with their mate). The guide that we had for the day spoke very little English, probably equivalent to my swahili proficiency….that is until we put Abba Gold on. Nothing unites like Abba. There’s something special about witnessing a native Tanzanian sing Dancing Queen.
After lunch and naps we snuck in to watch the last minutes of the workshop. The Maasai mamas were more interested in the kids than gathering for the group photo. One of them gave Tierney the cross necklace that she was wearing.
Hanging out with dad by the kitchen.
We went for sundowners to quite possibly one of the most gorgeous places to watch the sunset in all of Tanzania. Below we watched the elephant, zebra, oryx, and ostriches. Stunning.
Quiet time in the tent and coloring while looking toward Tarangire.
On the drive home we saw the largest herd of ostrich that we’d ever seen. 50 by our count. We thought it was all females, but it could be a juvenile herd where the males hadn’t yet changed to a darker color. Very cool.
From what I understand the workshop was very successful and the attendees even called a village meeting the next day to talk about it because they were so excited about the process. If you think organizing workshops/conferences in the US is difficult, you should see the things that have to be thought of here. Matt’s power point presentation had to be translated into kiswahili which was an accomplishment in itself, but they then needed another translator for the Maasai language (I think all spoke swahili pretty well, but with technical terms it was better to have someone that could really explain it in Maa). There were handouts of the presentation, but there’s probably a good portion of the group that can’t read. There was a good cross-section of villagers which helps identify all of the issues, but the young warriors are not allowed to eat meat in front of the women, so they had to find a different place to go eat lunch. Not the typical problems that we have in the US. It was fun to sneak in and watch for a little bit.
Asanteni to Buddy and Laly for hosting us.
