|
|
|
Border of Kenya-Tanzani Thursday, December 21, 2000 (The first day of summer here) Six o’clock was wake-up time in our room. There was a beautiful buffet breakfast on The Terrace with lots of fruit and omelets made-to-order. First thing I started out with was fruit – the thought of that being a mistake did cross my mind. I just trust that in the hotels and with our tour company that they will take proper precautions in food preparation so that we don’t get sick! It’s a matter of good advertisement for them. We were told that we needed to be at the Border of Kenya-Tanzania by 10:30 a.m. in order to transfer to Ranger Safari. We weren’t even out of town when the other van broke down. After a couple of false starts in the traffic we had to turn around and go back to the headquarters and swap out vehicles. The only stop on the way to the border was a pit & shopping stop at a curio market close to the border where we got our Kenya departure cards. We would later stop on the other side to fill in arrival cards! Andrew got his Tanzania visa at the border with no problem. We had tried to get that in Nairobi yesterday so there wouldn’t be seven of us waiting for him … little did we know that we would have all the time in the world at the border! Ranger Safari didn’t show up to get us until 3:00 o’clock. There was a miss-communication between the two companies. We didn’t know what the problem was at the time. We sat in the car after being SWAMPED by Maasai women trying to sell us trinkets. We were told to shut our doors and windows and not encourage them. That was next to impossible. We ended up getting some bracelets and offering a few bucks to get pictures taken with them. They were all covered in bead jewelry… necklaces and earrings in particular. After awhile they wandered off from the car in search of more active buyers. Andrew, Rusty and I found it hard to just sit in the vehicle so we got out and walked some. At first it seemed like everyone was watching us very closely. After a bit, we just sat down on the curb to rest and chat. Andrew was using the Swahili he knew to keep the women going. He had them believing he’d been teaching in Nakuru for two years. He told them their prices were outrageous! . It wasn’t long before they just gave up on selling anything and joined us on the curb to chat. They were surprised that I was Andrew’s mother. Their eyes told me they were sad for me that I only had one child. It was quite interesting talking with them and it gave us much more insight into their culture. We realized they knew more English than they let on in some cases. We were trying to get their names and some of them had real common American names!!!… We realized they were pulling our leg… It was just easier for them. I called “Marie” on it asking for her real name. She looked at me sideways and smiled and poked my arm. I think some had told the Hazels in their car the same name. From then on we called all the Maasai women “Marie”. We asked how old some of them were and they really don’t know …they don’t have a way to measure. I think they are not as old as they look but the climate ages them. Some of the younger Maasai could tell us their age. We had sat out on the curb for hours it seemed… with no lunch remember… Laurie and Linda got sufficiently bored in the car and joined us. We went walking down through the area exploring. Folks all along the way were either asking for stuff or trying to sell us something. The Hazels had given away a huge package of pens and the word had spread down the main street! We took a side road that went down to a little inn. Several folks followed along with us awhile. One older Maasai woman had some American coins she didn’t understand and wanted to get rid of. I counted them and it was one dollar. I traded her a one-dollar bill and she was elated. I guess she valued that much more. One woman had a large Australia coin and wanted to trade it. Andrew knew it was only worth pennies but she thought because of its size that he was telling her a story. She ended up keeping it. They seemed to do pretty well with English and with Andrew’s Swahili and his sense of humor he kept them going! One Maasai woman walked all the way with me until the gate of the inn property where she sat and waited for our return. I imagine that she’d been told not to go beyond that point or “knew” not to. Our eyes caught a couple of ostrich at the end of the road and we went to investigate. One of them thought we got a little too close and corrected us before continuing on her grazing. We were walking back when a vehicle stopped for us. Ranger Safari had arrived moments after we had wandered off and this was the search party looking for us! All the women had asked when we were coming back through. They will be waiting for us! About 3:00 p.m. we were finally on the road to Arusha…. Our Ranger Safari guides were quite upset with the miss-communication and they thought we would be upset with them. It really ended up being an immersion into the culture and a highlight on the trip. They soon learned that we were a set of “happy campers” and they need not worry about us. The terrain seemed to change quickly as we drove along. We saw more and more people along the roads into town. Many of them were carrying their loads on their heads… whether it was bunches of bananas, five gallon buckets of water or sacks of charcoal or coffee beans. The dresses were all the colors of the rainbow and many different types. They often wear their very best! It wasn’t unusual to see men or women in suits walking along the road. We arrived at the Mountain Inn around 5:00 and they fixed us some sandwiches for snacks etc since we had not had lunch. They didn’t want to spoil our dinner appetites. None of us ever turned anything down so we ate both times!! This Inn reminded me so much of Costa Rica. It had a very tropical flavor to it. Banana plants and coffee beans were planted all down the road on the way to this property. Our rooms were individual round buildings with thatched (made from banana leaves) roofs. The buildings were stone with ivy growing all over them. The bathroom area was a rectangular section with an entranceway into the bedroom and sitting room in the round part. It was quaint and simple. A mosquito netting went all the way around the section of the room with the two beds. The gardens were gorgeous. Rus and I had walked around to see the plants and the birds. There are some Golden Palm Weaver nests in the reeds in the little stream that runs through in front of the cabins and we saw Red-Billed Fire finch. The rooms are along the edge of the overlook down the hill and to the lake. One of the guards stopped us as we were walking around and asked if we’d like to walk to the lake. Dick and Shirley were not with us at the time but the rest of us said yes. We followed him where they had appeared to be no path. We went by their water purification plant and them climbed up the embankment. We passed a young boy herding his cattle and goats home. We walked as far as it seemed appropriate, as it was getting dark. It was great to be out in the fresh air and walking. It was interesting seeing how their little houses and yards were just lining the hill. There were always the animals in the yard close to the house. It was a fun excursion! They tell us that we are at the beginning of the peak season. We are finding that it is quite nice. We have not found it to be crowded anywhere. When we returned they had a lovely dinner prepared for us. There was the salad and dessert bar again which was beautifully done and labeled to help us. We are finding everyone to be most accommodating. We pulled our mosquito net around and slept with the windows open. It was a little damp but pleasant temperature. Slept well.
|
Leaving Narobi Thursday, December 21, 2000 Up at 3:30 AM wide awake. We laid in bed and talked till 4:00 AM when Dick got up and showered. Everyone was dressed and ready to go by 7:00 AM. It was raining this morning. It’s the 1st day of summer since we are below the equator. It’s in the 70’s, pleasant weather so far. Had breakfast on the Terrace of the hotel. It was enjoyable just sitting out front watching the rain while we ate. There are a few decorations since Christmas is in 4 days. The Christmas tree had miniature natives, baskets, and leopard covered bulbs on it. Two vans picked us up at hotel to transport us to the Tanzanian border. Our van broke down before leaving town. The African Adventure begins.
Finally made it to their shop and swapped vans. Finally continued our trip to the border. It is about a 2 ½ hour ride. The scenery changed after about an hour we got into an area with more vegetation and trees. Its called Masai land since it is the Masai people who live in this region. These tribes of people are still found in the rural areas living a relatively nomadic life, tending their herds of cattle and goats and dressed in traditional style. Most men were dressed in red cloth draped around them. You can see mountains in the distance. You can also see for miles. There were a few villages scattered along the road and very few small towns. We also saw small herds of cattle and goats with men and young boys watching over them. We learned a couple of words. JUMBO means hello. ASSANTE means Thank You and ASSANTE SANA means Thank You Very Much. MAJI means water. Dick has not shaved since we left Dallas. He is getting a pretty good growth. Tusker is the popular beer. About 5 miles from the border you can see outline of Kilimanjaro. Today is cloudy so you can’t see the mountain.
Arrived at the border around 10:30AM. There was no sign of the Safari Company from Arusha, Tanzania (Ranger Safaris) to pick us up. Sat at the border without any lunch till 3:00PM when Ranger safaris showed up. Laurie and Linda did a walk about town with Rusty and crew. We had to send a search party looking for them so we could regroup for the rest of our journey. Ombeni Kivulenge was our guide. He told us to call him Ben. Afata was the name of Rusty’s guide. Became apparent there was a cross up regarding time we were to be met at the border. Both companies had different times the meeting at the border was to happen. While at the border we were mobbed by Masai women selling trinkets and wanting to get paid to have their pictures taken. Gave away or was literally stripped of a box of pens in seconds. Dick paid $15.00 to have his picture taken with the Masai ladies with their large ear lobes and exotic ear rings. In return ended up with a lot of bracelets along with the picture. We had two large four wheel drive Land Rovers for the safari. It was a 2 hour trip to Arusha, which has an elevation of 4,000 feet. Bill Clinton visited just 2 months ago. Drove to the Mountain village lodge. It is situated in a coffee plantation. Since we did not have lunch, Ranger Safaris provided for some soup and sandwiches. We had arrived at about 5:00PM. After eating all but Shirley and Dick walked down to Lake Duluti and also climbed a nearby hill for a view. A guard from the lodge escorted them. It was our first time to see coffee plants close up. They got back at dark. Each group of 2 had their own thatched roof hut equipped with twin beds with a large mosquito net. Had dinner and went to bed.
The Hazels
|
||||||
|
|
|
