Zanzibar

Monday was yet another national holiday here, so we decided to enjoy the low season (and rates) of Zanzibar. What easy access we have to one of the more exotic sounding places...the Arusha airport is about 2 miles away and there's a one hour direct flight to Zanzibar. Amazingly easy, well it was until our taxi broke down on the way to our hotel, but that let us sit with some village kids until a new ride arrived. Our hotel was perfect for a quick weekend get-away. We spent almost all of the time in the pool where even Anderson could stand (although it turns out he much preferred to swim). We did walk to a turtle reserve up the beach a little ways and we did go on a sunset boat ride (on one of the old dhow boats). We'll have to save the cultural excursions for next time (spice tours, tours of Stonetown, etc). Ash did get pretty sick the last day, so that did put a bit of a damper on an already overcast and rainy day, but Matt caught some jelly fish for her to look at while Anderson and Tierney played in the ocean (I was not too excited about swimming with the jellyfish). The hotel also had two little kittens that kept the kids entertained for hours.

We left with an Anderson and came back with a fish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B21GpwTx7lE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou4Kf11wY68

Tierney playing in the ocean (where we caught the jellyfish):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1qSGok_hsU

Bye, bye Mr. Rooster

After having the rooster for almost two weeks, we decided he'd served his purpose and settled the hens to the best of his ability and decided to have him for dinner. Surprisingly, all of the kids asked that we wait until after school so that they could be here to watch. So, when they got home from school they stopped and grabbed Cleophus and Mama Jackie before they even said hi to me. We all went out back to find Birch blocking the chicken coop. Apparently he decided that he didn't want to rooster to die. It was a bit emotional for a while, but then he decided he'd be the big boy and help the process. The kids all lined up in a row to watch. We let them know that there would be blood and they didn't have to watch, but they all stayed. I went around the corner to hide which Mamma Jackie found rather entertaining: "don't Mama's do this in the US? Here that's the mama's job". Cleo slit it's neck and drained it (kids still all watching) and then Mama Jackie boiled water to de-feather (still all watching). I was amazed that they were so interested and that not one of them seemed grossed out by the whole process. He was then chopped into pieces and grilled as part of dinner. I did not have any, but both Joey and Matt said that it was really tough meat and really not that good. Poor guy. The next morning we had no 4 am wake-up and we also got our first egg...coincidence??? Today 3 more eggs - yeah!

Ashlyn's end of quarter display

Who knew she was such the artist?

Kenya

We spent the first 10 days of the kids' school break traveling to Kenya. In hindsight it was probably too much to stay in five different places over 10 days, but there was so much to see it would have been hard to cut something out. Our first night we stayed in a roadside hotel that was mediocre, at best, but they had kiddie and horseback rides, so that sort of made up for it. The next day we crossed the equator (several times actually) and headed to Ol Pejeta where we were supposed to camp. But, after an afternoon downpour the campsite was inches underwater. Luckily Matt knew several people that worked their and their "donor house" was available, so we were able to stay at a staffed house overlooking a hippo water hole. We really scored here - much better than camping in the rain. We saw lots of animals at Ol Pejeta and had some much needed relaxing after 2 days in the car. From Ol Pejeta we headed to 10,200 feet at the base of Mt. Kenya to stay at Rutundu.









Rutundu was a small volcano and lake with 2 guest cabins and a staff cabin way up in the mountains. It was beautiful, but we were not expecting a 3 hour drive straight up on very bumpy roads to get there (broken shock to prove it). We kept thinking that we weren't going to stop for lunch because it had to be 'just over that hill'. We were wrong and gave up and finally had a peanut butter sandwich in the car. When we got there I was a little taken aback because they put our gear on a trolley/lever/pulley thing to get it across a huge gorge. I had no idea how we were supposed to get across, but it turns out that there was a bridge that was a short hike down. It reminded me a lot of Leadville, but even more remote. There was no electricity and the 'fridge' was some shelves outside that you could access from a door in the kitchen. We spent 2 days and 3 nights hiking and fishing in the surrounding areas. Unfortunately half of the group was sick (Cole seemed to have the worst of it); Ashlyn and Birch both caught a rainbow trout which was cleaned and cooked for us right away. We did a big hike with everyone on the first day up Runtundu where we saw lava tubes and beautiful views and flowers. The kids liked throwing rocks into the first giant lava tube because you never heard the rocks land. The second, much smaller tube, you could stick your hand in to and feel the cold air coming up (like a small cave).

From Rutundu we drove a little further to Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (big TNC project site). We spend 3 nights at a house there. The house was simple and meals were provided, but we were able to bring in our own food and cook for the kids ourselves. From the pool we watched elephants, giraffe, impalas, and mischievous little vervet monkeys (who stole bananas and apples from us). One highlight of the game drive here was a giant family of elephants (15-16) ranging in ages to even the smallest babies. We just parked and watched them all cross the road around us and then saw them again later in a long line crossing a large plain - very impressive. Joey and David heard a rhino right outside their door while they were sleeping (Joey thought it might be something trying to get into their coolers)!

On the way home we spent a night in Nairobi and Joey and I got to go to the city market and do a little shopping and then we got to watch American movies on tv in the hotel - it felt very luxurious.

We were happy to return home and find that Mama Jackie had left us a lasagna and homemade bread for us - very nice when there really isn't such a thing as pizza delivery after a long trip. The kids are still off until Tuesday, so they will have some good relaxing time before school starts up again.

This trip required a lot of logistical planning. We needed different insurance for the car in Kenya, needed copies of the car's title (all in someone elses name since we haven't changed that and that it turns out they never asked us for), lots of food coordination, camping prep, and just dealing with Nairobi traffic. At one point there was a water main break and you get down a road to find everyone turning around. I wondered aloud why someone didn't turn us around sooner and Matt commented that would have required someone to be in charge. As David passed us we asked him if he knew how to get to the hotel after the diversion he says "I know where I'm going, I just don't know how to get there".

You can check out the rest of the pics here: http://tandapictures.shutterfly.com/1965

Now that we are back in Arusha, Matt took the opportunity of the kids being out of school to take them to pick out their own chickens. We are now the proud owners of 9 hens and one rooster. We were hoping to not have to buy a rooster (and I was thinking that again at 4 am this morning), but apparently we need him for a couple of weeks to make sure the hens settle in okay. After that he will have served his purpose and he'll probably become a good meal for us all (assuming mama jackie knows how to handle that).

Our sea shipment finally arrived!

Of course our shipment came the day after Matt had to be out of town for over a week. The upside to that is that I got to decide where everything went! With about 8 men unloading the truck and putting stuff wherever I told them, plus Mama Jackie (nanny), Elizabeth (house-girl) and Cleophus (gardener/day guard), I had plenty of help. We did seem to be overwhelmed with boxes for several days, but we slowly chipped away at it and now have most unpacked. It's great to have our own things again and not just 'make due'.

The girls had their 'share-time' at school this week. It's sort of a mini-performance where they get to show us all of the things that they've learned during this unit. Ashlyn's was 'media mania', so she was learning about art and expression. Their class made puppets on sticks and danced to different music to show different emotions. Tierney's class learned about endangered animals - she was a mountain gorilla and had to say (on-stage) "I see people setting traps all around me". For such shy kids, they didn't seem to have much trouble getting on-stage and showing us their stuff.

This week our very sweet askari (guard that comes over-night), Julius, brought each of the children (our 3 plus Birch and Cole) their own plant. He speaks very little english, but when he came to work he asked for each child and then he took them each individually to dig a hole and plant their own. It was an amazingly generous offer from someone who only makes $100/month and has 4 kids of his own. Very sweet. It's understandable why the children like him so much.

Anderson is still surprising me with the things that he is eating. He'll eat a plate of sauteed greens with carrots and onions and a samosa. He even asks for several servings of the greens. Amazing!

So, on my list of things that have to get done this week is to go buy additional cell phone minutes and also more electricity. This is very much a cash society. Everything is pre-pay. You buy minutes for your cell phone and when you run out you are abruptly cut off from your call. You can buy the scratch off cards everywhere, but it's a different mindset (and I'm also now very conscious of keeping calls to the point - I am spending a ton less with this method than I was with the 'plans' in the US). Electricity is the same way - you go to the electric company and give them your meter # and however much $ you want and they give you code to manually punch in to your meter to get that amount of credit. Similar with internet, but we haven't yet paid the fee - that also has to be done this week. All in cash, of course. It takes a little planning when you don't have a local bank account and can only withdraw a certain amount per day. I'm getting better at it though (I'll miss my REI dividend dollars, but I love seeing the credit card bills now). I guess the gas is the same. Our cooking is done with a big gas canister (similar to ones for an outdoor grill, but a little bigger) that's just hooked up (inside) next to the oven. I wonder how long one of those will last. I'm sure it will run out just as I'm baking a huge meal.

Matt's been in Kenya all week for the TNC Africa team retreat (I think it's just a drinking fest for a week - I'm supposed to feel bad for him that he comes home tired...yeah, right), but he'll be home on Tuesday. Still much easier than losing him for 3 weeks at a time, but we'll be glad to have him back.

Happy 70th Grammy Webb!

Happy 70th Birthday Webb/Grammy/Mom!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0sU1x7Vu30

And special from Ashy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFzpIIxzCxE

Noloholo and Loibor Siret

This weekend we went 'camping' at the camp for African People and Wildlife run by Laly and Charles (aka Buddy). I say 'camping' because I guess technically we were "in the bush", but I slept in a king bed, used a flush toilet, and took a shower, so it's hardly roughing it. They are a community based conservation group that does a lot of work in the nearby village of Loibor Siret which we were also lucky enough to visit. The drive was long - I think longer than we anticipated. After about 20 minutes on the road outside of Arusha we took a left and were on dirt roads (and calling some of it a road is a bit of a stretch) for the next 4 1/2 hours. We barely saw a handful of other cars the entire drive. We passed through several small villages each more remote than the previous until we finally passed through Loibor Siret and then to the camp at Noloholo. It was gorgeous sitting at the top of a hill with the park boundary to Tarangire just in the distance. At night we could hear all sorts of wildlife (hyenas, bush babies, frogs...). Each family had a big tent and a little 2-3 person tent. I was lucky enough to get the king bed which I shared with Anderson and Matt slept in the tent with the girls. Between our tent and the Bank's tent there was a nice pit toilet and just past our tent was a shower which the maasai filled with warm water when we wanted to shower. We were also give hot water in the morning to wash with in a makeshift sink (which I now want for all camping trips).

Saturday we had a relaxed breakfast and then Laly and Buddy took us into Loibor Siret to show us (mostly David and Matt) some of their community projects. Matt and David met with a group maasai from town while we just hung out. I think the kids enjoyed the ride down there in the back of Buddy's truck as much as the rest of the visit. The local children followed us around and were just as shy as ours were to them. Anderson was fascinated by the animals (baby cows and goats mostly) - they didn't stand a chance. One of the women from town, Mama Juma, was very outgoing and kept trying to hold the kids which as you can imagine didn't really go very well. Cole did the best and gave her a giant hug. I have several photos of Anderson trying to squirm out of her arms before Matt finally got one of him smiling. Apparently momma juma (??sp?) is a very progressive Maasai woman and is very outspoken (was even shushed by the others during the meetings). She is even 'divorced'. I have a feeling that I'd like her a lot.

Later on Saturday Buddy drove us even further into the middle of nowhere and we climbed to the top of this ridge. It was a gorgeous overlook on both sides. We heard elephants trumpeting below and eventually spotted them with the binoculars. We drove back to camp in the dark and stopped next a water hole and listened to the deafening croak of the frogs - really amazing. We also so a serval cat run across the road into the bushes.

Ashlyn fell in love with Laly and was actually crying when we got back on the paved road because she wanted to go back. I love it when she attaches to someone like that.

Sunday was a long day again in the car, but the kids were exhausted from the weekend and slept a lot. When they weren't sleeping they were counting maasai bomas or trying to spot wildlife. We did get to see a dung beetle doing it's thing and rolling poop into a perfect circle - kept the kids entertained for a while. short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2smhWdgZBug

(all the pics are in a separate post and I think you have to open it up to read captions...or they are here: http://tandapictures.shutterfly.com/1900 )

In regular life news, Tierney is about to lose her first tooth. It is very loose and she's carrying her tooth fairy pillow everywhere just in case it falls out (yes, it really is that close). You can see the adult tooth coming in behind it which she just thinks is so great. Any idea what the tooth fairy brings these days? Tierney tells us that there are two tooth fairies for every country in case two kids lose their tooth at the same time. "He's not like Santa ya know?" I wonder if one of the Tanzanian tooth fairies brings the same things that the American ones do (one boy, one girl in case you were wondering)

We are hearing that our shipment may be here by week's end which would be good because Matt and David are off to Kenya next week and I don't want to have to deal with it's arrival by myself.

The best news is that my sister got to hear her baby's heartbeat for the first time last week (due on my birthday, too - how cool is that?). Nothing I do here can compete with that. Congrats to Joanna and Mike!