Usambara Mountains and Tanga (Beach)

We just got back from a week on the road. First we went to the Usambara Mountains and spent two nights just outside of Lushota at Muller’s Mountain Lodge. It was very cool and wet there, but the mountains were beautiful and lush. We got to go on a cool, easy hike to a waterfall where we stopped and had lunch. Our guide was great and made sticks for the girls that they could use as ‘slashers’ to break our trail. He showed them how to whip the stick to clear the leaves out of our path. We also got to see a couple of very cool chameleons.

Matt and the kids all bundled up at Muller’s Mountain Lodge

We still aren’t used to 7:30 or later dinners, so this is the snack that they could give us for the kids. I have no idea what it was, but they sure seemed to like it.

Bike parked near the start of our hike

Hillside farming in the lush mountains

Tin roof of house made from old oil cans (very resourceful)

Very cool, very spiky leaf we saw a lot on our hike

Waterfall lunch stop

Chameleon found by local kids

Tierney was very curious, but not so sure when he opened his mouth and hissed at her

Local kids were watching us watch the chameleon

Hike across a long log

Our cabin (?) at Muller’s

Gorgeous views

After the Usambaras we continued east all the way to the coast. A friend of ours from Arusha parents run a lodge at the coast, so that is where we stayed (Peponi Resort). When we got there it was cloudy and we were a little disappointed since we really were really (REALLY) looking for some hot and sunny weather. It did get much sunnier and warmer as the week went on, so we were all happy. It took us a few days to get into a rhythm, but finally got it all figured out…a nice mix and hand-off of working and relaxing. We had a great banda with a separate room for the kids – we ate all meals at the resort and the food was good. We were finally able to eat lots of seafood which was a great change for us. The kids had a blast exploring the beach, making sandcastles and going for a boat ride (and beginner snorkel). We got to see some men shimmy up the coconut trees and cut the coconuts down (done about every 3 months, so they don’t start falling on patrons heads). We heard bush baby screams at night and saw vervet monkey’s playing around Peponi. I even saw some striped mongoose stealing some garbage from the compost pile. I think we’ll definitely be heading back to the beach sometime. We also met a group of 3 students from University of Virginia and ended up spending a lot of time with them over the 5 days we were there. Two of them ended up staying with us in Arusha for a few days. Matt left for a week long trip the day after we got home and Emily was a champ at helping with the kids and they loved her. They were sad that she had to leave today (she was headed to work for a month at Lewa in Kenya – big TNC project and where we went on our spring break…small world).

Someone is sure happy to be at the beach (she wasn’t the only one)

Trying to fit in a little work before breakfast

Swimming makes you tired.

Heading out to the boat for the trip to sand island

Anderson fell asleep on the ride out and was asleep for ~5 minutes when a wave crashed over the side directly onto him…poor kid was shocked and then said “that was funny”.

Tierney’s first ocean snorkel (she loved it and got to see starfish and sea urchins)

Sand Island

Poor crab (next 3 pics)

T and Matt out snorkeling

Someone has to steer the boat

View from our banda

This is the sandcastle that made it through the night. The men raking the beach in the morning said “mzuri sana” (very nice)

He’s jumpin’ whether or not we’re ready

Low tide adventures looking for shells and crabs

Fresh orange bought roadside on the way home – yummy! (<$1.50 for a giant! bag ..probably 30+ oranges)

View of snowcapped Kili on the way home

One month down, one month to go (until school starts again).

ocean view perspective

It’s been six months since we left wintery Boston and flew with the family to Arusha. We’ve had 6 months of new school, new friends, new teachers, new wildlife, new food, new mosquito nets, new language, new pets, new insects… pretty much everything new. I am sitting under coconut trees in a hammock looking out at the west Indian ocean feeling relaxed and thinking about how well the kids and Lisa have adapted to life here. It has been better than expected. Right now the 3 kids are playing with 2 Slovenian boys who speak no English – and remarkably, they seem to understand each other – or they are ok with the fact that they cannot understand each other. Either way, I love seeing the girls become more secure in themselves and able to make friends more easily. The painfully shy days are slowly disappearing. And Anderson knows just about as much Kiswahili as he does English – and he is far from shy.

We are finding our rhythm here: more friends, more laughter, more certainty about the necessities in life (food, supplies etc) - but the new experiences are still everywhere. As I was laying in bed snuggling with Ashlyn this morning I heard a mongoose scurry across the coconut palm woven roof. Minutes later the Muslim call to prayers wafted through the pre-dawn quiet. Ashlyn sat up in bed and said, Daddy! who’s crying? My description of Islam, praying 5 times a day and how Allah is another name for God sent Ashlyn back to sleep.

Perhaps the biggest lesson of all – for all ages – is that life here is not predictable and we do not have control over many things. Sometimes they have honey nut cheerios at the store, and some weeks they don’t; sometimes the police pull you over for no reason and sometimes they let you pass the roadblock; sometimes internet works well enough to make a skype video call, sometimes it takes 5 minutes to pull down the NY Times homepage, and sometimes it just doesn’t work at all. That uncertainty and unpredictability is what makes life here so interesting. We are learning to roll with the punches and not let the little things disturb us. It requires both changing our expectation and learning how to adapt to the unplanned circumstance. I believe this lesson, above everything else we experience here, will be the greatest thing we take away.

Habari gani and swahili counting

Jambo, jambo bwana. Habari gani? Mzuri sana.

Moja, mbili, tatu, nne, tano, sita, saba, nane, tisa, kumi!

Father's Day Camping - Lake Natron and Ol Doinyo Longai

For Father's Day weekend we decided to head to northern Tanzania to Lake Natron and Ol Doinyo Longai area. It was our family, the Banks family and Paul and Fini (of 'pet' zebra fame). Lake Natron is a highly alkaline lake ('they' say it can be as harsh as ammonia when the water level is low) and it's the only breeding ground for the lesser flamingo. Ol Doinyo Longai is a volcano that has erupted as recently as 2008. Both were gorgeous.

Since it's been so cold in Arusha, I had the kids pack lots of fleece and warm pj's, etc, but it turns out that this area is hot and dry still. I can't remember camping (sleeping) in weather this warm since my NY days. We all slept in t-shirts on top of our bags. The drive was long - Matt estimated 4 hours before we left, so I translated from Africa/Matt time into an estimated reality time and came up with 7 hours. Matt says that he wins since it was only 6 hrs and 15 min. It was father's day, so I guess his rules prevail. Sort of like The Price is Right since I overbid. It was a gorgeous drive, but it was very windy, dry, and dusty the entire way. A big change from our cool weather here.

We found a campsite that was near the hike in to the waterfall. The first night was very crowded and noisy at all hours from the hikers that left in the middle of the night to hike Ol Doinyo Longai. The 2nd night (Sunday) was much quieter and almost empty. It was very nice to be near the river, so the kids could play and we could all cool off. The kids all made bow and arrows, we did a great hike (and swim!) in the waterfall, we saw the flamingos of Lake Natron and had sundowners overlooking the lake and Ol Doinyo Longai. The kids found old flamingo eggs buried in the mud and Anderson managed to fall/slide into a big puddle and get covered in filthy, sticky mud. We did have a couple of tire punctures along the way (David on the way out and Paul on the way back and then David woke up to another flat this morning).

Ashy wants to tell all the animals we saw: baboons, zebra, giraffe, kori bustard (large bird), wildebeest, gazelle, cows, sheep, and flamingos. (There were also a ton of other cool birds which are very noisy starting at about 6 am).

Random bus that we passed that I actually managed to get a pic of.

First flat with maasai woman and baby watching

Almost to our campsite (I really wish I got a pic of the 'bathroom' there)

Start of waterfall hike. At the beginning we were still trying to not get too wet.

Then we realized that we were going to get very wet.
(we never would have done a hike like this in the US with the kids)

Birch and Tierney were often in the lead with our maasai guide. T even gave up on staying dry after while and let her fancy father's day skirt get all wet.

Ashy being helped into the water where it was a bit slippery

We made it! There is a whole canyon of waterfalls beyond that turn, but the camera didn't make it that far.

Swimming and playing under and around waterfall

Much needed father's day nap after the hike

Bow and arrow practice

Anderson playing in the 'sprinkler'

Awwwww.

Another beautiful sundowner spot.

with views of Lake Natron

"Beer is so yummy for me"

We had to kick out the baboons to get this view of Ol Doinyo Longai

Whose idea was it to let the kids ride on the roof rack on the way home?

(Fini in case you were really wondering)

They were giggling the whole way.

Where are the kids?

"Up there"

Flamingos of Lake Natron

Ol Doinyo Longai (ash at the top, not snow)

T, me and Anders (showing off his flamingo egg)

T and Ol Doinyo Longai

Cole, Tierney and Ash

Gorgeous view of Lake NatronOur guide

Sunset view

The camping gang (minus Anderson who was very mad at me because I wouldn't let him play with the maasai arrow tipped arrows...our campmade ones were really just sticks)

Maasai bomas with Ol Doinyo Longai....

this is just after the rainy season - they probably won't see rain again for 5 more months

A very harsh life.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Matt's 40th birthday celebration

After almost 2 weeks "in the bush", Matt made it home in time to celebrate his 40th birthday. (Sounded like an amazing trip in Northern Kenya, so maybe I can get him to document it). Thanks to Joey (watching the kids) we were able to get out for a 2 hour mountain bike ride right from our house. We had no route/direction in mind, so we just started riding. We started out riding through some small village areas where it seemed as if everyone was dressed and on their way to church. The children always yell 'mzungu' or 'wazungu' (basically white person/people) as we ride by...not in a derogatory sense either. About half of the time this is followed by "give me money", but often they are just happy to wave and say "hello. how are you? I am fine" (all said quickly in succession). They are so cute. We rode through some beautifully green rolling hills and through a dried river bed. It's so nice to be able to go for a mountain bike ride right from the house. Yet another reason we are so happy to have chosen a house on the far west side of town. We ended the day with a good 'ol fashion American bbq with friends at the house. Pulled bbq chicken sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw and chocolate cake...of course with beer, wine and a Tanzanian attempt at mango margaritas. Overall a very successful day. Happy 40th, Matt! I love you.

And because they are so cute:

Samuel (new gardener) and Mama Jackie trying their best to teach me Kiswahili noun classes and verb conjugation - ugh!

Baby Chicks!

We finally have some chicks! After 3 weeks of waiting, the eggs started hatching this morning. They were still hatching after school, so the kids got to see at least one coming out of it's shell. Really fun. They were so excited. Unfortunately, 2 were trampled by their surrogate mom, but we still had 3 eggs that were unhatched when we last checked before dinner. 13 baby chicks in all so far. Anderson is the most aggressive in getting them, but not the most gentle holding them. Tierney is the exact opposite. Ash is curious and will only hold them for a short time, but loves being in the coop with them to watch it all. A very fun day (I think I was as excited to get the kids home from school as they were when I told them what was waiting). They are all mostly a butter yellow - a few have black spot and one is all black (Ash wants to know if it will grow up to be a penguin). In about a month, we'll know which ones are the boys and then we should have another couple of months to decide what to do about the noisy roosters (sell, slaughter, etc). I don't know who is having more fun with all of this. Now hopefully, the hens will start laying eggs again. (The eggs with the chicks we marked with an 'x', so we knew which to take for eating and which ones to leave).
[Next morning update: 16 chicks in total - wow!]

A couple of weeks ago we had another wild animal visitor to the Broyle/Banks compound. We think it was a striped polecate/zorilla (thanks to Tio Mike with his research on that one). The dogs caught it and the gardener rescued it (at least temporarily). Apparently they are fairly common, but infrequently spotted since they are nocturnal. That was a fun afternoon for the kids, too.

I realize I haven't blogged about my mom's visit yet. It was an amazing trip and I think she thought so, too. I think it's so fun to watch others take in the sights here. I remember my first trip and it's fun to get that feeling back through other people. We did two big safaris: Kambi ya tembo and Karatu/Ngorongoro Crater. We went to Kambi ya Tembo for a one night. A luxury tented camp on the north side of Kilimanjaro. We woke up to views of snowcapped Kili watching giraffe from the porch of our tents. I was also surprised by the amount of wildlife we were able to see on the game drive: giraffe (lots and lots), wildebeest, zebra, ostrich, dikdik, but no elephant despite the camp's name (Tembo is swahili for elephant). But we were lucky enough to come home with zebra, wildebeest, and even an elephant skull which are now on the front patio acting as giant doggy chew toys. We have to figure out a way to get these (legally?) back to the US. We also had a very friendly maasai guide who came around with us (traditionally dressed). The kids took to him right away and it was very interesting to watch the younger maasai children that we came across bow in respect to him as he touched their head.

For Mom's big 65th birthday weekend, we went to Ngorongoro Farm House for a couple of nights and made a stop at Lake Manyara National Park on the way and the actual birthday in the Ngorongoro Crater. Amazing. Lake Manyara was beautiful. We saw a lot of wildlife with some amazing close-up of elephants as well as amazing views of giraffe with the lake and mountains in the background. Ngorongoro is just amazing and we were able to see several lions as well as just hang out in the middle of a herd of wildebeest as we watched the head male try to keep his flock in line. We ate lunch next to a hippo's water hole where several (6 or 7) kept popping in and out of the water.

The girls last day of school is Friday - and, while the are very excited, I am wondering what we are going to do to fill up the next two months in a chilly, Arusha winter. One trip to the Usambara mountains and Pangani beach is already planned. I'm sure we can fit in something else, too.

Matt has been out in the field for almost 2 weeks and we're excited to have him home tomorrow night just in time to celebrate his 40th birthday on Sunday. We'll have some friends over to help us celebrate. Happy 40th birthday Matt and Elizabeth.