Tanzania's Southern Highlands

After Mikume (see blog entry below), we headed off down south for the Highlands of Tanzania. I was very excited about our holiday there, as it is at 6000 feet altitude- hence too high -and too cold- for mosquitoes, a variety of nasty Tanzanian bugs and even certain snakes!

I can't even begin to describe the relief that comes from being in a mosquito-free environment. Malaria is a constant worry out here, especially when one has small children, so I felt a heady sense of freedom from that nagging concern which is a part of my everyday life in Tanzania. The beds in our chalets had no mosquito nets and such a little fact seemed to make life so much easier! It seemed so simple to climb in and out of bed and to be able to reach my children to wish them goodnight, without having to grapple with a stubborn net around their beds!

I was also really looking forward to seeing greenery again! We are well into dry season here in Dodoma and it seems everything takes on the same dusty brown, sandy colour- buildings, roads, countryside, even the surfaces in my house- so it was a real treat for the eyes to see beautiful expanses of green; also, restful for the eyes to see full lakes, dams and streams after months without rain and bone dry riverbeds.

The cooler air and fresh breeze were another welcome aspect of our holiday in the Highlands- a lovely contrast to Dodoma, where the temperatures are rising as the hottest season arrives.

We stayed on a beautiful farm, with sweeping views. Here, Ben adorns the view from our chalet:

There were plenty of animals to keep the children amused. They even experienced their first ever horse rides! A proud moment, to see such Esther + Ben, despite being so little, sitting up so high on horses and thoroughly enjoying their ride:

There were also lambs to bottle-feed and cuddle:

For Andrew, some fun with fly-fishing at one of the farm's dams:

We enjoyed many walks across the farm to visit the pigs, see the trout in the fishery (this is the only place in Tanzania cool enough for trout), discover the amazing 2 acres of vegetables and fruit (including strawberries!!) growing in the specially made vegetable garden and watch the calves out in the fields with their mothers. It was nice to have the freedom to wander over such a large area of countryside.

We also learnt about coffee growing, as the farm has a coffee plantation. We visited the coffee bean pickers at work and saw how they picked the red beans. They told us all about the drying process and how 2 outer layers must be peeled off each bean -1 before it is ready to be dried and 1 before it is roasted. Finally, it will be ready for your coffee cup! Esther examines the coffee beans as they dry out in the sun:

There was even a very green croquet lawn, hidden within a beautifully tended garden! We had a fun game of croquet, although Ben decided he didn't like this game at all: I can hardly blame him when the mallet is bigger than he is!

In the evenings, the children ate early and then went to bed in our chalet. Once safely tucked up, a Masaai guard kept watch outside the chalet door, while Mum and Dad (also carrying the baby-monitor machine, just in case!!) went to eat in the farm lodge next to the chalet, for civilised evening dinners with our host and other guests. No cooking, cleaning or shopping for me- what a treat!! A truly wonderful holiday! :-)

A Drive on the Wild Side

Happy Travellers off on our big drive!

We have just returned from our family holiday. We had a wonderful time away from the work, heat and dust of Dodoma. Since travelling to our holiday destination involved an 11 hour road trip, door to door, we decided to break the journey and spend 2 nights at a guest house near to Mikumi National Park, giving us a day inbetween to explore the game reserve.

A few photo highlights from our visit to Mikumi National Park:

A lioness with a recent kill of buffalo, moving her dead prey into the shade of the tree...
... and after eating her fill, resting happily without taking any interest in us nearby:

We startled this group of giraffes as we came around a bend- what an amazing sight as they gracefully loped away:
We found a few more giraffe, as well as other animals, happy to pose for the camera in various places around the park:

African friends

Ben has been making friends this week with some of the Tanzanian wildlife. Unfortunately for Ben, but perhaps fortunately for the bugs, they had already died before Ben got close enough to examine and touch them! This fact did not dampen Ben's enthusiasm and he is proud to show off his interesting creatures, including this large beetle and the 2 moths:

What a nasty shock we had yesterday when Ben fell, fully clothed, into the nearby swimming pool, rapidly disappearing head-down, feet up, straight to the bottom of the water! Three of us mums sprang into action and our neighbour hauled him out, feet first, fortunately none the worse except for the shock and a mouthful of water! There were lots of tears (not just Ben, but his shaken mummy as well!) but all is well and hopefully he and his sister have learnt a valuable lesson about never playing too close to water!

On a happier note, Esther and Ben enjoyed another birthday party this week, heading to a friend's 4th birthday party on Wednesday, with the theme of Prince and Princesses! Esther wore a dress from material she had chosen herself on our trip to town a while ago and a Tanzanian friend made the dress for her at home- a great skill, of which I am in awe, as I can only just about sew a button on, but could never make such a pretty dress!

At home, I have been continuing my Swahili language studies. A very helpful lady called Margaret comes each week to sit with me and go over grammar, vocabulary or help me with my conversation skills. This week, we had a go at translating a local newspaper- a very difficult task for me, as spoken Swahili is much easier than the more formal written language. Ben lent us his moral support, tucking into biscuits as Margaret and I got to grips with some very political articles in the lead-up to next month's General Election:
Andrew, meanwhile, has been out and about flying doctors and medical teams into rural areas and making friends with villagers and children, drawn by curiosity to get a good look at the plane and the foreign pilot and delighted to pose for his camera:

A multitude of Ministers

Quite a sight greeted us recently as we drove into town one Sunday morning, on our way to the cathedral. We were running late (as usual!!) but instead of rushing, we were delayed by this incredibly long procession of church ministers:

I have never seen so many ministers all at once! The procession lasted most of the way through town, with some great singing as they meandered through the main streets. There was a national Lutheran meeting of pastors here in Dodoma for a few days, so they were on their way to their Sunday morning meeting at Dodoma's main Lutheran church, opposite the Anglican cathedral. It was quite an event for the usually quieter city of Dodoma!

Liz's meat bucket: an essential item in my Dodoma kitchen!

I often miss the convenience of shopping in the UK. Take, for example, the purchase of a piece of meat. In England, I'd pop over to the butcher to choose a clean piece of ready-prepared meat, from a wide selection, or pick up some clean, fresh, packaged meat at the supermarket.

Here in Dodoma, we wait until someone is killing an animal and then order vast quantities of raw meat straight off the pig or cow, which will then be frozen to ensure we have a good supply to last us. The animal won't actually be killed until every bit of its body has been spoken for and payment guaranteed, so the delivery date can vary.

There is also the option to go to one of the small local butcher shops in town, but so far on my visits, the butcher had run out of beef or pork fillets. The lack of fridges is also something to get used to, as meat hangs free-style around the small room.

If I were braver, I could arrange a visit to the meat market to pick out the meat I'd like, but it takes some expertise to select the good cuts -and a strong stomach to not be put off by the blood and gore and smells of freshly slaughtered beasts! So I leave this task to a kind Tanzanian lady, Elizabeti, who offers to buy meat for the less resilient of us westerners!

So when Elizabeti is going to the meat market, she comes and tells us, I put in my orders for fillet or chopped up pieces of beef or pork (or goat, if I wanted- but I've not been brave enough yet!!) and I give her my meat bucket to return the fresh meat to me once she has purchased it.

The meat returns:

Then I like to check that all is clean and hygienic, so I rinse all the meat with Milton, just to make sure, while washing out the rather blood-swilling bucket- I might get a little carried away sometimes with the use of soapy fairy liquid, trying to make sure everything is super-clean after all that raw meat!!

Then I rinse off the swimming-pool odour of Milton and chop the meat into handy freezer-bag size portions, with some moral support from Ben (who is NOT snacking here on raw meat!! I think it was a piece of apple!!):

Finally, the meat is ready for the freezer! Apparently, freezing pork for 3 months is a good way to kill off any worms, so the pork goes in for a good long while before I will defrost it for cooking.

This all takes a little longer than I was used to! My meal planning also has to be a lot more organised, as any meat dishes must first take into account the time to defrost the piece of meat I will need...

Dustbins and Dust

On Tuesday mornings in Lancashire, England, Ben used to love watching the dustbin lorry come past, with flashing lights, lots of beeping and revving of engines, collecting all the rubbish and later the recycling materials.

Here in Tanzania, there are no such things as wheelie bins, recycling boxes or lorries to collect all the rubbish. Instead , rubbish is burnt in little pits dug into the ground. Not very environmentally friendly, perhaps, but the rubbish has to go somewhere.

We collect out rubbish in a tight-lidded plastic bin and when it is full, it is taken down to the nearest rubbish pit, which is situated in the car park of our MAF compound.

Little helpers lend a hand with transporting the rubbish:

Our MAF rubbish pit smoulders away, disposing of the day's unwanted goods:

Whilst on the subject of the environment, we are really noticing the dryness of Dodoma. This is the first time we have ever lived anywhere so dry and dusty. Rain has not fallen here since March/ early April (I can't even remember!) and is not expected again until November. At MAF, we are fortunate to have a local water tank and so far, there are no water shortages:

However, as we cycle into town, the dust and sand is piling up. It gets harder to cycle through the patches of thick dust off the tarred roads. Out of town, the river beds are as dry as bones:

The dominant colour in Dodoma is a dusty browny-grey, as dust settles on the roads, the buildings, and pathways and as many trees become wintry in their appearance with few leaves to be seen. Meanwhile, inside my home, the surfaces seem forever dusty, despite my best efforts with a wet cloth and Jane's help in polishing the wooden tables!

A touch of British culture in Tanzania...

Last week, a little piece of British culture made its way into my living room here on the MAF Dodoma compound...

To celebrate my first birthday in Tanzania, I thought that it might be nice to bring something traditional from England to our multi-national community here- and decided an English Afternoon Tea was just the thing for the ladies here! Seeing as Andrew was away for the 2 nights either side of my birthday, flying medical staff for a hospital in the north of the country, I invited ladies only to come and celebrate with me (while all the energetic children were sent outside to play and eat popcorn!). We got together on the Thursday afternoon, representing 6 nationalities between us.
To be true to the old English Afternoon Tea traditions, I made cucumber sandwiches to accompany home-made scones, with strawberry jam I found in the local "duka" (the label on the jar says 65% sugar, so not much room for fruit, but at least it looked like strawberry jam!) and I whipped up a packet of "Dream Topping" (from my English container supplies) to stand in as cream.
We had tea and biscuits as well and a loaf of Tea-Bread from an old Lake District recipe my Mum had given me.

However, for me, the "icing on the cake" came when a fruit and veg seller turned up at our gate, selling, of all things, wonderful fresh strawberries! They are grown in the hilly and more rainy area of Morogoro- a 3 hour drive away. I was so excited to have fresh strawberries on my birthday! I bought 2 bowl-fulls and was able to decorate my cake with big, fat, juicy strawberries- how much more English could my Afternoon Tea be??

Time to cut the cake, with a bit of help from Ben... :-)

Buses, school and sickness...

Since Esther started in Reception class last Monday, she has settled in nicely. She is thrilled to climb aboard the 7:20 MAF school mini-bus to be driven in style to school (although maybe not always so glad to be woken at 6:30 each day!!).

MAF parents take turns on a rota to take/collect the children. I drive 3 times a week, to pick up Nursery/Reception children, who finish their day at 12pm. I had to overcome my fear of driving new vehicles! After a couple of lessons with a patient Andrew and Julie-Anne at MAF, I now feel fairly at ease driving the MAF mini-bus:

The children are always glad to board the bus, homeward bound for lunch, running enthusiastically (with the bleating of nearby goats to add an African flavour to their happy chatter):

On the back seat:

On the topic of school, Andrew's sister Claire has now arrived in Dodoma to take up her new post as Year 4 teacher at the junior section of Esther's school. It a relief that she is finally here, after an upsetting start to life in Tanzania...

All began as an idyllic holiday with her Aussie friend and travel companion, Keva, on Zanzibar; but then a nasty bout of what has since been diagnosed as amoebic dysentery meant that Claire was very ill for several days, involving an unpleasant night-visit to Stonetown hospital, plus time spent at a more reassuring clinic in Dar es Salaam. Her actual bus journey to Dodoma was delayed until she was well enough to travel.

Eventually, Claire accepted a lift in a car from an Italian priest. It seemed a better travel option than the hair-raisingly fast bus- at least the car could stop suddenly if Claire needed to! We expected her late Saturday afternoon in Dodoma.

There was no space in the car for Keva and the luggage. So Keva travelled alone on the bus, with all the luggage. We expected her late in the evening.

As it happened, Keva arrived safely for dinner on Saturday evening, with all the bags, but there was no sign of Claire... Adding adventure to calamity, Claire's journey was significantly interrupted by a rather dramatic puncture, just as the afternoon was coming to an end:

Claire spent at least 2 hours by the side of the road, right into the black of an African night, with lots of interest from the local villagers. They set up a vigil with Claire and her fellow car passengers after they broke down- even lighting a fire for them once night fell!

The puncture was finally repaired.... and Claire arrived at our Dodoma home in the wee small hours of Sunday morning!

Here is proof that she is finally- and safely- here, recovering from her illness, teaching at school -and pictured here settling into her new Dodoma home near to the school:

So, what DID we do in these holidays?

After 5 weeks of school holidays, Esther starts a new academic year tomorrow- and is VERY excited!! Not so sure about how I feel though, since I have to get her up and ready for the 7:20am daily departure for school!! It's an early start, but at least she finishes her school day at 12pm.

She has also thoroughly enjoyed her holidays, along with Ben. 5 weeks ago I was wondering how on earth we would fill every day without the laid-on entertainment available to us in England, or the beach we had so close in South Africa. However, I need not have worried. The weeks have flown by, packed with busy activities, fun and children everywhere, including 2 new little MAF friends who have delighted my children with their arrival on our MAF compound. Here are a few highlights to show you:

Taking scooters and Ben's little pedal-less bike to St John's University, where a friend is a lecturer, so that the children could speed around on one of the few paved pedestrian surfaces of Dodoma. A little unorthodox maybe, but the students didn't seem to mind and the children had great fun (and were worn out afterwards, sleeping like a dream that night!!)

Time for a quick juice and biscuits break...

A couple of walks around Dodoma's reservoir, with school friends and their mums, enjoying the views and the exercise (although the water level is shrinking as dry season persists):

A shopping trip into town for The Girls (and their mums!), to buy a kanga for Esther and a school bag for her little friend, rounded up with a trip to a local cafe for chai and a doughnut:

There was always trusty play-dough to fall back on, which was given to the children in a party bag after a 6th birthday party they attended last week (what a great idea for a party bag!!):

And there were a couple of informal picnics with school pals and their mums, just to get us all out into the fresh air... So all in all, a great 5 weeks for the children, a whirlwind for me, and all a bit baffling for Andrew, who said he couldn't keep up with it all and finds his MAF work schedule far more reassuring!!