Trip To Tanga

This one is a doozy- I went on a school trip to Tanga with the 6th and 7th years, and this is the story. If it looks too long, just hang in there, there are monkeys at the end!!!

I left for Tanga on a Monday morning at the lovely hour of 3:30am. I was expecting the regular schoolbus to pick me up outside the Kawishe house, but instead I was greeted by an enormous tour bus, sort of like the one my Papaw drives for Youngs in North Carolina, but from the '80s. I had the luxury of being the first person (besides the driver) on the bus, and so I had my pick of all the seats. I chose a single seat towards the front with precisely 5 1/2 inches of legroom, something I didn't think would be a problem because I was right next to the aisle.

We went to the school and picked up the kids; my bus was full of 7th year girls, none of whom I knew very well at that point. Then at around 7am we left for Tanga!

As soon as we crested the ridge to the west of Bagamoyo Road, as far as the eye could see were hills and valleys, spectacularly crisp and golden in the morning light, and reminding me of the hills and pastures back home- this was the Africa I had dreamt of seeing for so long (as much as I love being in Dar Es Salaam, I am simply not made for city life). There were massive Boabab trees, tiny colorful birds and butterflies, and the flat-topped Acacia trees, a picturesque African setting mixed with rugged civilization. Almost all of the houses from here to Tanga were constructed with hand-made red bricks and corrugated tin roofing.

We drove for several hours, and though I tried to stay awake so as not to miss any of the scenery, I fell asleep pretty abruptly, likely from a mixture of waking up at 3am and the fact that it was Monday. When I woke up a few hours later, we were pulling into a highway food stop, along with many other buses that were traveling on the same road.

Note: Very few people here use their own cars to travel long distances across the country, preferring instead to use the cheaper (and lo, more environmentally friendly!) public transit. These buses don't mess around, either; their main source of income is getting back and forth as quickly as possible, to maximize their passenger count. They race down the roads at speeds that would make a high school kid in a Ferrari blush, their suspensions straining and horns blaring.

Anyway, we arrived at the restaurant and had lunches of chips (really french fries, what we would call "chips", they call "crisps", as does apparently everyone else on the planet. They also eat their "chips" with fried eggs. Feel free to make your own judgements there) and soda, running into the first and last mzungus we would see on the trip and stuffing ourselves before setting off promptly for the next leg of our journey.

I fell asleep again pretty quickly once back on the bus, and when I woke up we were about to enter into a mountain range the likes of which I didn't know existed in Tanzania. I love the Blue Ridge Mountains, I do, but these were just stunning. We began our way through the mountains, on tiny winding roads that were straight up on one side, and just one slip of the tire to a plummeting, screaming death on the other. Remember my post earlier about traffic? This bus driver- bless his soul, I wanted to kiss his feet once we got off that mountain alive- drove as though there wasn't a five-billion mile drop off to one side. More than once I squealed in terror (I was on the left side of the bus and so I could see straight down to the ground below) and prompted funny looks from the girls on the bus. I tried so hard to sleep on this leg, I did, but as far as I was concerned, if I fell asleep, there would be no one to cheer the bus on and keep it from falling off the side of the mountain.

We finally arrived at the Irente Viewpoint, a cliffside at the top of one of the peaks that looked out over the savannah. We got there right at sunset, and there are no words to describe how beautiful the lookout was. The sun reflected off of the rivers and lakes, giving the earth the look of having golden veins flowing through its dark green and brown skin. The clouds were deep golden and blue, hovering in marshmallow clumps just over a mountain in the distance. I captured a few pictures, which show only a fraction of how beautiful it was there:

As you can see, this viewpoint is extremely high up- I would wager almost a mile, but I'm no great shakes at judging distances- and there are no fences. When I sat down to get this shot, the students all got a look on their faces like I'd just picked up a live snake, and started begging me to leave the edge. I held out enough for just a few photos, and then consented to be dragged back to safety by the children.

After Irente, we started the two-hour journey (back on the mountain roads for a bit, but now at night) to where we would be staying for the night. It was a boarding school, however, the children had gone home for the holidays, so there were extra beds for us. We were fed, bathed, and hit the sack- except there were not enough beds for all of the children. They ended up sleeping two to a mattress (twin size), and I don't think they slept too well (although that might have been more due to my bedtime story about the child-eating Booger that lived in the shack near our old cabin in the woods than their bedding situation).

We woke bright and early the next day, bathed, took tea, and drove another four hours to the tea factory in upper Lesotho, something I wasn't anticipating would be very interesting but turned out to be a gold mine for photography and obscure trivia, both of which happen to be hobbies of mine. Here are some tea factory pictures:

The tea factory was especially interesting for me, because until Africa, I really didn't have much experience with tea. I had the occasional hot cup at work or at home, but I never really went out of my way- I'm just not a "tea person". But here, it's ingrained into the culture. The sad thing is that none of the prime-grade tea stays in the country; it's exported to America and Europe and Japan, where it is bought for close to the price people pay for it here- accounting for currency ratios, that's next to nothing.

After the tea factory, we drove back to the hostel (another three hours) for lunch, and then on our way out of the mountains we stopped at some waterfalls that shall remain nameless because I can't spell it:

After the waterfalls, we started out to Tanga town, leaving the mountains entirely. At this point, I was extremely, stubbornly cranky. I had been sick all that day from what I assumed was food poisoning from improperly cooked food, and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before because there were no mosquito nets and I had to be careful to keep the tiny sheet covering me completely, even though it was swelteringly hot. To top that off, my iPod was dying and I didn't think I could stand another minute of the whiny-voiced singer that was playing at obscenely high volume on the bus speakers. I hate to sound like Debbie Downer, or maybe a Frowny Fran, but the rest of the trip was the ultimate test for my sanity. That night we arrived at another boarding school in Tanga town, where once again there weren't enough beds and this time there were twice the mosquitoes, and no nets.

I was rooming with two girls my age who worked at the school, both with newborn babies. They spoke little English, but added to my Kiswahili and ridiculous hand gestures, we were able to have a good conversation about their families and mine, and how absolutely adorable their babies were. Most babies here sleep through the night quietly in the bed with their mothers, under a mosquito net. I was on the top bunk, right over the mother with the youngest baby, less than two weeks old (babies here are notorious for not crying as much as white babies- I'd be interested to see the study on that).

That night I was miserably sick, getting up every few minutes to go empty my stomach outside. I woke up that morning even crankier than the day before, and hungry- I stopped eating the food on the trip once I realized it was making me sick. However, I was excited for one thing, the part of the trip that had drawn me to go in the first place- the Amboni Caves.

Amboni Caves (according to Wikipedia) are the most extensive caves in East Africa, covering an area of 234 kilometers. They are most famous in America for the "Popo Flight"- "Popo" meaning "bat" in Kiswahili- where all the bats fly out of the cave at once. There are also many legends surrounding the caves, the most notorious being one about two WWII ex-Army soldiers who went in with their dog and never returned, although the dog, identified by ID tags, showed up months later outside another cave, 400km away at Mt. Kilimanjaro. There are also many local superstitions about gods and spirits inhabiting the caves, and they are actively used for local religious purposes, as I discovered when we arrived there and some locals were sacrificing a goat in front of the cave entrance.

Unfortunately, despite gritting my teeth and telling myself I was fine, I was too sick to go inside the caves, and spent the next hour or so switching between being curled in various positions on the benches outside the cave, and feeling good enough to take some pictures. The kids even stole my camera and took some of their own while I was comatose. I saw some blue monkeys and a monitor lizard:

...And was even treated with a trip to the MOST TERRIFYING BATHROOM I HAVE EVER BEEN IN.

This bathroom was literally a mud-and-leaf shack over a hole in the ground, within which probably lived the Booger's cousin. It was the desperation of my situation that drove me to what are possibly the least dignified moments of my life, trying to balance over this dirt hole in the ground while training my flashlight (it was pitch black inside, also) on a spider I had only seen in the Harry Potter films and didn't know actually existed:

Okay, it's not actually a spider, it's called a "Tailless Whip Scorpion" which is much, much scarier. It was about the size of my hand, and those thicker legs on the front are actually pincers. I was thinking of you guys when I took this picture, because I knew no one would believe me if I didn't get a photo of it.

Overall, the Amboni Caves trip was pleasant despite my organ malfunctions, and when we arrived back in Tanga town a while later I was feeling much better and was able to visit some of the shops with the kids in the main marketplace, where they sell live chickens and turkeys and all manner of fruits, vegetables, meats, and crafts. I got several white-person-esque souvenirs and was ready to head back to Dar to sleep.

It took us eight hours on a long, dark, bumpy road to get back to Dar. We passed all manner of pedestrians walking on the impossibly rural road, usually women carrying water on their heads. I sometimes spotted gleaming eyes from the side of the road, probably belonging to a dog or wild pig, but I sort of hoped it was a lion or rhinoceros or something cool. I slept as much as I could, rationing my iPod battery by taking my waking hours teaching the girls songs and playing games.

We arrived back at Mlimani City Mall around midnight, and before any teachers could go home we had to wait for all of the children's parents to pick them up for the holidays. When I arrived home, I think I slept for about eighteen hours. I would like to go back to the caves someday and go through them, but I will bring a box lunch next time.

I want to thank you all for being so patient with my blog! I especially want to thank my parents, who have been my rock throughout this whole trip for better or worse. It's been hard at times but the love of a parent knows no bounds and I have never been more grateful- the encouragement and affection that have come from my Mom and Dad are worthy of medals.

Also my grandparents, my beloved Nana and Papaw, for showing me unconditional love and patience always, and for their letters (both electronic and old-fashioned!) which I love and read over and over.

My BFF Evie, of course. Thanks for letting me use up my week's minutes with you :) You'll hear from me soon!

My brother, for being one of the fastest kids west of Kenya, and for looking so handsome at his prom with his beautiful gal!

The Youngs, my favorite neighbors and family :) It was so good to talk to all of you- only a couple months left til I'm home and can see you in person!!

The Schenkels, for continuing to be a fabulous family #2.

And of course, my ever-wonderful friend Richard, for supplying reading material. You are a lifesaver- one of the Asheville stickers you sent last time is on my computer!

Thanks to the ends of the earth for the Kawishes, and for John & Pepy.

Tip of the hat to my favorite chinwagging neighbor and his stateside lady!

If I haven't mentioned you here, please know all support means the world to me and I can't write enough how much I appreciate and love your words of wisdom and encouragement. Another blog coming up soon about my trip to Bagamoyo!

Nimependa wewe,

Kwa heri!

Emily