Road Trip

Early in the morning on Boxing Day, we 5 Parkers and our friend Jenny (the music teacher at Esther and Ben's school) set off on an exciting 2-day Road Trip in the Parker Mobile, headed for the Brackenhurst Conference in Nairobi.
It felt like setting off on an epic journey as we packed the car with holiday luggage, nappies, baby food, picnics, baby-bed, mossie nets, toys to keep little ones occupied- and of course, the smaller items such as hand-gel for those necessary road-side stops (and loo roll of course!!). Our route would not be taking us via any handy Costa Coffee or Motorway Service Stations or M+S Food shops, so everything we needed for the 2 days had to be packed and arranged before we hit the road.
In total, our reliable and excellent driver, Andrew, reports that we drove 1,600 km (1000 miles) on our round trip, up to Nairobi and back to Dodoma. It was a long ride, with 4 days in the car overall to drive up and return home, but we enjoyed it. The children travelled really well and it was fun to have Jenny with us for the journey up north. Here are some of the photos...

Boxing Day- and it is mid-morning: time to stop to feed Joel, make a cuppa and get some exercise by this pretty little lake:

 The children managed well in their car seats for most of the 4 days of driving:

 Some roads were in good condition and we whizzed along...

 ... stopping every now and then for pedestrians:

 Other roads were not so great- somewhat bumpy!

 And sometimes the road simply disappeared! Arriving here, we had to ask where the road had gone- and then followed an hour and a half of off-tar diversions...

 ...which was a bit of a bone-shaker of a ride, but fascinating for Ben, as he loved all the diggers and dumpers busy constructing a new tar road to link Dodoma to northern Tanzania:

 On Boxing Day, we arrived in Arusha after a 9 hour drive. We stayed in a Guest House situated on the same compound as the home of our MAF Arusha friends, so we enjoyed some tea/coffee with them in the evening, followed by a fabulous Norwegian-style breakfast (fresh bread, cheeses, cold meats- delicious!) with them at their home the next morning.
After our fab breakfast, we hopped back in the car and drove to a coffee plantation lodge in Arusha, to meet up for mid-morning coffee with our friends from St Michael's in London. It was wonderful to see Rena and Jon and their boys and the children had fun with a brief swim in the pool at the lodge- a good start for Esther and Ben, to burn off some energy before being contained in the car again for today's 6 hour journey across the border and up to Nairobi.

 A couple of hours later, we crossed into Kenya!

 There were some interesting sights on the road- just like Tanzania:

 We arrived in Narobi that evening and stayed in another Guest House, before heading off to the Brackenhurst Conference the following day...

Four days later, it was time to take up another Road Trip- but this time we were headed home to Dodoma.
On Sunday, we left Brackenhurst after the morning tea-break and drove away from Nairobi, out of Kenya and back to Tanzania:

 We were excited to have AMAZING views of Kilimanjaro for about an hour of the drive either side of the border. Andrew often flies near Kilimanjaro but tells me that it is rare to get a day when the cloud lifts enough to be able to see the summit so clearly. On the way up to Nairobi we had not even been able to see the mountain at all, never mind the summit, so we made the most of the beautifully clear day and enjoyed the views of Africa's highest mountain:

A short while later, the stunning views of Kilimanjaro were replaced by stunning views of Mount Meru.

  Since it is rainy season in Tanzania, we saw Tanzania at its best, with beautiful green scenery most of our trip- it was so refreshing to see such fantastic views and to enjoy the green while the grasses and bushes are still flourishing. There were plenty of other interesting sights and views to enjoy en-route, such as seeing the Masai in their coloured robes, or "shuka", buying and selling at the side of the roads:

 We even saw a baptism in a river on New Year's Day:

 There were frequent stops along the way and we were sometimes joined by the locals, whether that was curious children, friendly villagers- or wild donkeys!

 Joel did well to manage the long drives, but he also got his own little road stops to fill up on babyfood and milk, while we grabbed a moment to make tea- a refreshing change after munching sandwiches in the car while speeding along the highways, in order to save time!

 Joel's babyfood was not the only essential to pack into our car. I also travelled armed with a sewing kit, which proved very useful in Guest Houses along the way to repair gaping holes in mossie nets!

 And finally, wherever we may roam, there are always reminders of my roots along the way, to keep me in mind of our family and friends in distant England!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Sometimes we are asked how we celebrate Christmas here in Dodoma. Well, it does not feel very "Christmassy" and this year, it seems like Christmas surprised us and suddenly arrived! There are no Carols playing in the shops, no decorations up in the streets, no mince pies or turkeys nor Christmas trees to be seen around town, no Carol singers...etc. One day in Tanzania is pretty much the same as any other day, as people go about their daily business. There is not much to mark a lead-up to Christmas. However, there are many of us from overseas who enjoy bringing a bit of our home cultures to the Christmas period in Tanzania, so there have been a few really lovely events over the past couple of weeks to mark this special time of year.

An informal Carol Service at the home of American friends, who live about a 10 minute walk from our home.We had delicious cakes and tea/ coffee to round off the nice Sunday morning: 

 A beautiful Carols by Cadlelight service at Dodoma Cathedral. I took Esther along and enjoyed all the traditional Carols and especially once the candles were lit- reminiscent of English Christmas times!

 The school nativity play: Esther and Ben joined with their classes to sing- Esther's class dressed as shepherds...

 ...and Ben's class dressed as kings (a prize to you if you can actully spot Ben, right at the very back of this photo!!):

 There was also the opportunity for the children to dress up again for a fun evening at a MAF friend's house this week, where the children were invited to a Birthday Party for Baby Jesus, with Pass the Parcel, a game of "Pin the Present on the Christmas Tree", some Carols to sing and cup-cakes to decorate. Even Joel got into the party mood, with his shepherd costume complete with toy lamb, next to big brother Shepherd Ben and big sister Angel Esther!

 We also enjoyed a special meal with Andrew's sister Claire and Esther's teacher, Miss Debbie, last Sunday, before they left Dodoma to celebrate Christmas back with Andrew's family in England:

 And we had a fun Christmas get-together in our garden last weekend for friends still in Dodoma this Christmas season:

So there have been lots of happy events where we had have had fun celebrating!

And wherever you may be, we would like to wish you a wonderful, "Happy Christmas!" from us over here in Tanzania!

As I was saying...

...rainy season brings out some fearsome nasties- and I don't mean Joel!!

 The terrifying intruder you see in my dustpan arrived, uninvited, in my kitchen at breakfast time this very wet Wednesday morning. He gave me the fright of my life! I screamed, grabbed the baby, slammed the kitchen door, herded the children outside and sprinted into the MAF compound!
I am so very grateful that we live on the MAF compound with many close neighbours to call on, since Andrew was away in northeren Tanzania and killing this dangerous visitor was no job for a panicking mother! "As it happened", our French neighbout Pierre was walking down the compound. He was very happy to help, even though I unceremoniously yelled his name as I shouted for assistance!

Pierre did a great job of killing the scorpion, using the sharp point of our large umbrella. Sometimes out here I feel very protected, as if we are certainly being looked after as many of you keep us in your prayers. I dread to think what might have happened if I had not spotted the scorpion before Joel and he investigated it, or before it climbed into a cupboard and hid, maybe stinging an unsuspecting person later when they put their hand inside... but thankfully, all's well that ends well!

Danger!

Imagine driving alone at night. It is not overly late, but the sun sets quickly in Africa and now it is dark. The road you are driving on has a single lane in each direction. You have been driving for over 6 hours, on the long road from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma. There are no street lights, no cats eyes in the centre of the road to help to direct your path. There is no central reservation.There is no pavement at the side of the road. Just bush- where the darkness stretches away and there is little to light your way except the headlights of your own car. It sometimes seems as if you are alone on the road, as you fly along at speeds of up to  120km/hour (about 75 miles an hour), anxious to arrive at your destination. However, other vehicles on the road periodly appear, seemingly out of nowhere, surprising you as they veer down on you suddenly out of the dark. Often, they overtake you and startle you with their lights- or perhaps frighten you with their lack of lights, as one of the headlights may be broken, giving a false illusion about the size of the transport bearing down on you.
This is how night driving can be in Tazania- on the tarred roads. It can be even more alarming off-tar. We are strongly advised against driving after dark, as it is simply putting oneself at risk. However, sometimes the demands of work and the need to get between destinations can mean that one might find oneself on the roads after night has fallen. We all know the risks- but they were brought home to us with a shock last week when a MAF colleague was ending his long journey from Dar to Dodoma in the dark hours. This was the
result of that journey on his car:

Thankfully, the driver was unhurt, although rather shaken. Not too far outside of Dodoma, a lorry coming from the opposite direction blinded his vision with it bright lights shining. Unable to see the road ahead, he had a nasty shock when he realised, too late, that directly ahead of him on his side of the road a different truck had broken down and was immobile in the darkness- right ahead. It was impossible to see it until he was right on top of it- there were no lights or warnings to let other motorists know that a large vehicle was blocking his half of the main road! He was able to pull swiftly to the right to avoid hitting it head on, but not to avoid catching it on the left hand side of  his car as he swerved past.
It has given us all an unpleasant reminder of the dangers on the road in a developing country. Since our colleague had to return to Dar a few days later, Andrew accompanied him on the long drive home- in the above car, which does still work, despite appearances, but obviously needs some work! Andrew then stayed overnight in Dar and returned on a MAF flight the next day- an option I felt happier about!

I also had a nasty shock last Thursday afternoon. A motorbike suddenly pulled out right in front of my vehicle as I was driving Joel and Ben in the MAF school bus on our way to pick up the other MAF children from school. I had to screech to a halt, bus horn blaring, as the motorcylist drifted right in front of my windscreen- without any indicating on his part. He had not even turned his head to see if a car might be coming down the road, but just suddenly came out right in front of me. I was thankful that we were both travelling fairly slowly and I was able to stop centimentres from his motorbike.
However, I was very upset when his passenger jumped off the back of the bike- a young lady, without a helmet (although her neglectful driver had his helmet on!)- but what shocked me was that, in her arms, she was carrying a tiny baby swaddled in a pink blanket! Of course, the baby did not have a helmet either. I felt sick with relief that I had not hit that mother and baby- but also felt angry that a baby should be put at such risk. Here in Tanzania, we often see mums riding casually on the back of motorbikes or bicycle-"taxis", cradling a baby in their arms or with the baby tied onto their backs. Shockingly dangerous.
I was so upset by this incident, but kept driving, as an uproar ensued in the street behind me. We are advised never to stop in an accident- but rather go straight to the police if anything serious happens- as the risk to the foreign driver from the locals, whether deserved or not, does not bear thinking about, as vigilante action could ensue... I am just so very grateful that no-one was hurt and that I was able to safely get my 2 small boys and myself away from the scene of the event. Also, I am indebted to the good friend who then drove the MAF bus and all the children safely back to their homes, as I was too shaken to drive once I had reached the school. (Actually, it made quite a nice change to be in the back of the bus with the children, rather than in the driver's seat!!)

Quite apart from the very real dangers on the roads of Tanzania, rainy season has brought out some other dangers that we need to be aware of...

 As for Ben, he is delighted with the rain and even more so with the less dangerous creatures who emerge from their hiding places when the rain flushes them out of their homes. I sent him to school last week with a nice little lunch of home-made hotdog and biscuits, but I got a bit of a fright (much to Ben's delight!) when I opened his lunch box to wash it once he was home, and found a creepy millipede had replaced the tasty food!!

 And Esther has a less dangerous, but nevertheless annoying, infestation in her room this week, with scores of nasty black flies crawling all over the insides of her windows. We can't work out where these disgusting insects are gaining entry, but it's not what you want in your bedroom, especially now that Esther is on her long school holidays and likes to play with her toys in her room!
Here is a sample of the ones I claimed victory over and swept up yesterday morning, after zapping them with some potent poison- but there were just as many this afternoon, so it looks like I may have a bit of a battle on my hands this Christmas week, with some of nature's less desirable creatures...



Party Time!

 Guess who turned 4 on Tanzania's National Day of Independence?? Since Friday was a public holiday, everyone had the day off school, so Ben was able to celebrate his special day at home with a party, in the morning. Great timing for a birthday when you live in Tanzania!

There were games in the garden...

 ...and time to play outside, although it was ever, ever so hot on Friday morning.

There were also some lively games in the cooler interior of our home:

...and plenty of time for a party lunch! 

 Ben had a wonderful day and enjoyed many special gifts and had fun with his pals from school/ MAF in the morning...but the best gift of all had to be the RAIN, which finally fell on Friday afternoon!

 A VERY happy Ben could, at long last, wear his rain coat and wellies! A great present for a birthday boy who has been desperate for weeks for the opportunity to play outside in the rain! His little brother was not so sure what to think- this was his first experience of rain since he left the UK at 11 weeks old- but his sister was as delighted as Ben and great fun was had by all!

 The party mood did not end on Friday though! Yesterday, Esther and Ben also had fun at the end-of-year Sunday School Christmas party. The building where Dodoma's cathedral Sunday School is located may be less than salubrious (and not exactly free from the rather unpleasant smell of overflowing drains since the rains arrived) ...

 ...but this most certainly did not detract from the fun to be had by all - and the delight at receiving a special Christmas gift!



Exciting Times!

It is getting near to Christmas- so on Saturday, we decided that it was time to get the Parker Family Christmas tree out, dust it down and get it ready for decorating!

The Christmas tree is not the only exciting object to make its appearance in our Dodoma home last week. The ladies at the MAF Compound in Dodoma also got very excited last Thursday when a vegetable seller turned up at our gates with some rare-to-Dodoma broccoli! This may not seem very exciting if you don't live in Dodoma, but to us, it is a scarce treat, as the dry climate of Dodoma is not conducive to growing broccoli. As I have mentioned before, it is the small things which become unexpectedly exciting when you find yourself far from the ususal home comforts! Ben got caught up in the jolly mood among the Housewives of MAF and posed with the much-valued vegetable!

 But the happy mood did not stop there- on Friday, our regular fruit and veg seller, Mama Kevin, appeared with bunches of rhubarb nestled amongst the more regular goodies of mangoes and pineapples:

Rhubarb is also a rare delicacy in Dodoma and provides a new variety to the food we generally have available to us here. Since variety is the spice of life, I just had to splash out and buy some! We will have 3 MAF guests coming for dinner on Thursday evening this week and I can already picture the rhubarb crumble I will make... a taste of my English childhood in far-off Africa!

Meanwhile, Ben surprised us with bringing a very exciting new pet to live with us, freshly made at Nursery School and now resident in the Parker home... Triceratops The Dinosaur made his appearance on Friday lunch time, as Ben dragged him through our gate and proudly presented him to his rather taken-aback Mum! Although I had seen this amazing work-in-progress at Nursery last week, I thought Ben's teacher was joking when she said he would be coming home with Ben ( Ben had been one of the main artisans of this fabulous creation). However, it seems Miss Marion was not joking, so here is our newest addition:

 Ben informs me that the dinosaur will eat me if I don't treat him nicely, but apparently he has taken a liking to Joel, so it was safe for the boys to sit outside with him for a photo shoot:

 Now he is living in Ben's bedroom, so we just exercise a bit of caution when we go in there- I wouldn't want to upset such a fierce-looking creature! Evidently, loud noises do not disturb him too much, as we didn't hear so much as a growl when the volume in our home climbed excessively last Friday evening, when more excitement arrived in the shape of parcels from England!

MAF @ Morogoro

We returned yesterday from a MAF Tanzania International Staff weekend away. It was a great opportunity to get away somewhere new, to meet up with our MAF friends who are based in Dar es Salaam and to generally recharge our over-heated "batteries" in this hot season here in Tanzania!
Morogoro is half way between Dodoma and Dar- about a 4 hour road trip from either direction, so it was an ideal middle-way meeting point for our weekend away.

A few photos...

Just the sight of those towering, lush, green hills right outside our family bedroom provided much-needed mental relief, after months of  staying in flat, dry-as-a-bone, brown Dodoma! It was a treat for my eyes and I felt myself relax as I enjoyed the different landscape and the colour green!

 It was good to have time to ctach up as a team and also to have meetings together in the airy meeting hall. We had a South African couple from Pretoria who came on the weekend as pastoral support and to lead our meetings.

 The Young MAFers also had fun, with a kid's programme running in the mornings to keep them busy...

 ...and the pool to cool them all down during the hot afternoons! Ben was delighted that he can swim again, after a week of not being allowed to get his chin or under his neck wet after his little accident. The superglue has done amazing work and his chin is now healed, easily surviving an afternoon immersed in the swimming pool!

 Although Joel did not go swimming, he did not miss out, as his little MAF friend next door, baby Grace, kindly lent him her inflatable travel-bath! Cute...

 Meals were fantastic- and as on any weekend break like this, there is always the added bonus of not having to shop for food, cook food or wash up any dishes :-) We gave a big Thank You to the kitchen staff before we left, to show our appreciation.

 After lunch on Sunday, it was time to head home. For the first couple of hours, we soaked up all the greenery we could lay our eyes on as the Tanzanian bush whizzed past our car window... but we knew we were back in the Dodoma Region when the countryside returned to the familiar flat, dusty landscape of our African home:

Back home, we are thankful for a great weekend away - and we wait hopefully every day for grey skies to bring much-needed rain to water the thristy land of Dodoma. Apparently, there was some rain when we were away in Morogoro this weekend, but don't tell Ben- he has been waiting for weeks for the opporutunity to play outside in rain- he has stacked his wellies, raincoat and umbrella as close to the front door as possible! He would be so very disappointed to miss the rare chance to get wet and muddy - and so we hope that there is lots more rain to be sent our way before Tanzania's rainy season is over!

Ups and Downs in Dodoma

The past couple of weeks have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride, with some happy things to keep us smiling and also some challenges.

On the plus side:

* Some post and parcels have finally being getting through, after a bit of a "postal drought"- we are still missing some items from the UK, but it is exciting when others are making it through :-)

 * Joel was well enough 2 Fridays ago to join his little buddies at our Dodoma Mums + Tots group on Friday mornings. Joel and his friends (and their mums!) have lots of fun catching up on the latest news!

 * On the home front, it's the little things which get me excited- like learning how to make my own museli for breakfast! If we can find museli in the shops in town, there are 2 factors to put me off: one is the exorbitant price and the other factor is the resident weevils inside the packets! So when new MAF friend, Michelle, was visiting from Dar es Salaam, she gave me a great recipe for our Dodoma breakfast. It may seem like a little thing, but it has certainly brightened up my early morning starts!

* Ben has discovered a new pastime- which is maybe only to be expected with a pilot as his Dad! Paper aeroplanes are all the rage in the Parker household at the moment- with enough planes flying around the place to make a mini-Heathrow! I am not sure how long this pastime will be tolerated indoors- picking my way over paper planes all over the lounge floor it starting to wear a little! This activity may have to be reassigned to an outdoors one...

* And finally- I never knew quite how much I liked Marmite until this nice, large jar arrived in our home last week! We have had 5 months of fruitlessly searching for Marmite on the shelves of Dodoma's food stores. I have even put in requests for Marmite to be put aside for us, should it perchance arrive one day at the local shops. Michelle from Dar, on hearing of our plight, kindly sent us this jar from Dar es Salaam, via travelling MAF staff. I have never eaten so much Marmite on toast! It's amazing how much you appreciate a taste of home when you've been denied it for a while :-)

 The challenges:
There have been little annoyances to sort out at home, such as this Ant Invasion at our back door a couple of Saturdays ago:

 And then there have been more health issues... Since I posted the photo of Joel looking well and happy, he became unwell again. This time, there were high fevers and some apparent discomfort in his stomach. Our 1st visit to the clinic revealed some pus cells in a stool sample, but the doctor wasn't sure if maybe he had a sore throat as well and so prescribed an antibiotic to treat a potential chest infection, "just in case he has a sore throat"- and this without ever looking inside his throat! I did not feel I should use them, so these antibiotics are still sitting in my cupboard!
Meanwhile, Esther was off school with a nasty cough and sore throat, so the doctor prescribed antibiotics in pill-form... which sounded easy enough, but it took us an hour and a half and seven visits to different phamacies before we found what we needed!
Over the next few days, Joel's fever got worse. It was difficult to know what was wrong and therefore how to treat him. Andrew was away in Mbeya last Tuesday when Joel's fever reached 39.8'C at midnight- and I felt the now-familiar panic settle over me. What should I do? Who should I ask for help? Where could I go? There are no straightforward answers to these questions in Dodoma.
I was extremely grateful when Andrew turned up earlier than expected on Wednesday, instead of Thursday and we were able to get a urine sample from Joel to the laboratory in town. The lab staff said that the presence of more pus cells indicated an infection needing a certain kind of antibiotic- which Andrew found easily this time! Since starting his antibiotics ( his 3rd course since August!!), Joel is doing much better.
Ben clearly did not want to miss out on the action though- and last Thursday, he came crashing off our swing and landed heavily on the tough concrete ground, splitting open the skin under his chin with the hard impact! Thankfully, Andrew was home to help clean up the blood and cleanse the wound (making it easier for me with my queasy reaction to open wounds!) and German nurse, Andrea, was available to come fairly soon to assess the damage. Andrea had some amazing medical "superglue" to stitch Ben back together! A less painful option than stitches and Ben recovered soon enough, with some help from a handy packet of "Jellybabies"!

 Now I think I shall go and have a cup of tea to have a  bit of a rest after all this busy-ness at home- and maybe a piece ot toast...with Marmite!!

Look Who's Feeling Better

We are thankful that Joel is now much healthier and happier! There's nothing like a bit of local avocado for lunch to cheer you up...