Evelyn

I couldn't resist posting this picture of Evelyn, our newest granddaughter, at the age of 4 months. Apparently she hasn't just put her finger in a light socket - her hair always looks like this!

A Walk in the Usambaras

A few weeks ago, our friends Mike and Karen, intrepid travelers both, braved a few misgivings to come and visit us here in Tanzania. We had great fun with them, but the highlight for me was the walking trip we did to the Usambara Mountains in north eastern Tanzania. Unfortunately Lars had to stay home and work, but I decided I could face down the innumerable police checkpoints and other obstacles in the road on the 6 hour drive up to Lushoto, which was our starting point in the Usambaras.

In the company of Samuel, our cheerful guide, we set off on January 12 through fields, forests and small villages for our 3-day hike. In his knapsack he carried our food for lunch - an avocado, a tomato, some carrots and cucumbers and a hunk of fresh bread. Delicious!

We climbed over hills (up to 2000 metres) and through dense rainforest, through fields of wildflowers and tidy, terraced farmers' fields,  through plantations of eucalyptus trees and farmyards, convents and straggling villages. It was cool, and the sun shone most of the time, except when we were walking through the clouds in the higher regions. Altogether an idyllic walk.

The road to Lushoto

We saw verbena, helioptope, ageratum, lilies and many other garden plants growing wild!

This is a mvuli tree - the same tree from which our dining room table at home is made. 

The Usambaras contain some of the most intensively farmed agricultural land in Tanzania, thanks to the discovery of terracing with elephant grass as a means of preventing erosion.

We discovered some friends along the route - the one on the left is the Usambara chameleon, which is unique to the region.

Everywhere we went, the cry "Wazungu, wazungu" (foreigner, foreigner) seemed to echo through the valleys and hills, and it seemed there were children everywhere - climbing trees, in the fields, eating the ripening plums, hiding in the bushes. Sometimes the outcry was so far away, we couldn't imagine how they could even see us!

The wonders of digital cameras!

It was necessary for us to take a local bus the first day (this is the bus stop), as the distance to the convent where we were staying was a little too much. We got on the most top-heavy looking, rickety, crowded bus you can imagine and proceeded to have one of my most terrifying experiences - looking down about 10 feet to the narrow, muddy, slippery road, and then another 1000 feet to great boulders. To my relief, after an incredible bump in which we almost hit the roof, literally, the transmission broke (or something) and we stopped. Samuel managed to hail another, slightly better bus, which we got on - quite a feat since they were almost the only vehicles on the road at all! 



When we finally arrived at Rangwi, some nuns met us off the bus,  took us to their convent and soothed our frayed nerves with a few cold beers. We spent a very pleasant, although dark, evening there. The electricity  doesn't extend much past Lushoto, and most of these villages are without power.  In spite of this, the nuns served us one of the best meals I have had in Tanzania.

Note the sign which says 59 km to Lushoto (and only one more day to get back).  As we flat out refused to take a bus again, this presented a bit of a problem for Samuel...

We visited this small pottery workshop where these beautiful pots, which look like they have been turned on a wheel, were made just using this plastic bucket. Instead of the pot being turned, the girl ran around the pot very quickly, while shaping it. Amazing!

This is the village of Mtae, where we spent our last night. It was high in the clouds, strung along a ridge with quite sheer drops behind some of the houses. Even Mike and Karen admitted that the guesthouse here was  probably one of the most rudimentary accommodations they have ever experienced - however at $2 a night, we couldn't say we were overcharged - and we were so exhausted, we slept just fine.

Just in case  you need help interpreting Tanzanian English, this is a furniture shop.

Next morning, it was cold starting out! We were in the clouds.

Some examples of typical houses in the area - this is one of the first times I have seen decorated houses. The round one is a traditional style and is fast being replaced by rectangular ones.

Samuel's solution to the problem of getting us back the 59 km (by road) was to lead us cross country, up and down hills, leaving at 7:00 am and not stopping for breakfast until 11:00 and then walking fast until about 4:00 when he engaged this taxi (?) to take us the remaining 15 km.  He accomplished all this by dint of telling us the next village was "just 5 minutes". The taxi made it about 5 minutes down the road before with a sudden loud noise and sound of metal scraping, it too came to a stop. Note the foot underneath. Luckily Mike had his Swiss army knife to cut a piece of rope with which to tie up the muffler (or whatever)! By  this time Karen and I were hysterical.

Another five minutes down the road we encountered this....which is what we were sure would have happened to any bus we happened to take, and made us very happy we didn't. 

And so we made it back to Lushoto by dark, exceedingly footsore, but happy and very proud of ourselves. We still haven't been able to calculate how far we walked the last day, but I think it must have been at least 30 km (well, maybe).  Altogether a wonderful experience - beautiful country, beautiful people and lots of adventures!


My camera battery only lasted the first day, so most of these pictures are Mike and Karen's. Thanks.