Last Day in Africa


Some of the previous day's small animals and birds: 

 Dik-diks
These dwarf mongoose are so cool...they burrow holes into the high termite mounds and stick their heads out to check out what's going on. We also saw them walking single file near the camp's dining area.
 can't remember all the bird names..beautiful
storks

Our second day/night at Sanctuary Swala was much better, minus the many bugs that bit me. I brought two kinds of repellant and began to think they were aphrodisiacs for the mosquitoes. Yes, we sleep under nets all night, but hey, what if one gets in and stuck there all night? I’m a freaking buffet for it. And how about getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom? I tried so hard not to, but was up every night.
The snotty people from Abercrombie and Kent tours left and the new groups, one of 6 from New Zealand, were much friendlier. I’m not here to make friends, but isn’t it rude to walk right past someone without even a nod, especially when you’re out in the middle of Tanzania?
 Entranceway to the camp.
 Our second morning, having a leisurely breakfast, the camp elephants showed up. This old guy has huge tusks.
 Hard to see, but there's a baby elephant out there.

The interior of the dining room, though mostly people eat outside and not under this roof


 The snottiness did continue with the managers, however. Oh, they were very friendly to us, almost overly, but she (mostly we saw Bianca) never made eye contact with Adam and acted as if he wasn’t there. We have now talked about this a lot…I was given a survey at the end of our stay, and asked Adam if he’d be okay if I wrote that we felt very welcome, but our guide was obviously less welcomed and we noticed. I said it made us comfortable. I didn’t belabor the point and Adam and Matthew both agreed with what I wrote. Skip ahead a day—she complained to their home office about Adam’s ‘rudeness,’ and they called Zubeda. who works in the office, and told her. We’re incensed by this—he was never rude to them and knew they’d already been told he expected to dine with us for every meal. We plan on writing to Abercrombie and Kent’s home office and letting them know how we feel. It won’t change years of learned behavior, but something needs to be said…especially since she lied about him. He says he’s faced this before and later Zubeda told us about the guides’ camp and lodge rooms…they share and they’re not clean or well cared for. He has to share, even if a guide is dirty—lice, bed bugs, etc. She said he’s been known to carry a sleeping bag and sleep in his truck if it’s really bad. 
We had no idea. And we asked about where he was sleeping in each place. 
At lunch back at the camp, we saw some giraffes in the distance, which makes for a unique dining experience again. We spent the afternoon relaxing in our room. Matthew tried reading sitting on our porch, but he said it was very distracting with all the impala and monkeys around. Different from having Farwell sleep on his chest as he’s reading on the couch.
 Before dinner we talked to the Kiwis at the bar, and they told us they’d gone on a night game drive. They came across an elephant who was having a bad day and charged them for no reason. The driver/guide said to hold on, and they took off in a flash. It was pretty scary at the time, but later when they returned and saw the same elephant, he was fine and ignored them. Probably was being attacked by those shitty tsetse flies. 


 The genet was there again, which was fun. Dinner outside looks lovely, but it’s a bug-fest, and not so enjoyable. We asked to sit under the overhang rather than on the edge of the deck because that table was covered in little bugs, but they followed us. Food is very good—have I mentioned all meals have a starter, then a delicious soup, main course, then dessert and sometimes an optional cheese plate? I can only hope all that bumping and grinding worked as ‘exercise.’ Zubeda swears I look the same as I did before we started. Well, the pants still fit…



 Last day leaving Tarangire, we saw all the large animals we didn’t see the day before! A huge herd of elephants with several babies along the road, so we stopped to shoot more pictures and enjoy them. Then passed another huge group of giraffes, buffalos in the distance, and even one lone wildebeest and several zebras. It was a great last ride on our way out. Adam talked about the villages as we passed and the corn and sunflowers being grown. Then we stopped to change vehicles in a parking lot in Arusha. One of his drivers was there to greet us and help with the transfer, and Zubeda was there waiting to walk us to a nearby restaurant. Adam was buying us lunch there—African fare and other things (espresso milkshakes!). She did a little debrief with us while we ate. Adam came in later. In that way, she could ask questions and possibly get answers we wouldn’t give in front of him. We have no complaints. We realize he gets very excited and carried away with having his clients see everything and get the best experience. If we had known, we might have sat him down early on and said we need shorter drives everyday. We didn’t realize how hard this would be on our bodies, particularly with intestinal problems.
 They drove us to the Diluti Lodge where we spent the night. Adam planned on spending part of the next day with us, but our flight wasn’t leaving until 9 pm, so that meant we had no place to land and change/relax beforehand, so he booked a day pass at the lodge (and paid for it himself, though we offered). We were able to leave everything in our room all day and return to change and refresh before heading the airport.
 We had a great last day, although Adam was 1.5 hours late to get us. He got stuck at a school making arrangements for us to visit. 
 Our first stop, however, was to Adam’s home. His wife and son were outside to greet us along with 2 girls who are his wife’s relatives and live there as well. Carolyn had prepared coffee for us and had refreshments—bananas and peanuts, though we were both full from breakfast. The coffee in Tanzania is great—full, rich, dark, and strong. His son Steve was there, but his 4-year old daughter was in school. He speaks English very well and hope to learn computer programming in an American college. He talked about Seattle, but also Harvard. We discussed Stanford too, explaining where we live in relation to the university and how expensive our area has gotten thanks to the technology industry. He was a delight to talk to. Carolyn speaks a little English, but seems to understand it well. She asked if we have children, and her eyes grew large when Matthew said his son is 45…same age as Adam. We only saw the living room — wish I had asked to see the kitchen — and they have a good sized TV and a large sound system. We learned Adam is into music and plays the drums. The set was behind the couch. He likes loud reggae and jazz. Not sure I ever mentioned he’s Rastafarian. We never saw him without his tall hat. Adam presented us with gifts—a shirt for Matthew and a customary cloth set for me—one for a skirt and the other for the top. We in turn gave them bags of candies we’d brought with us (thank you, Ron & Tori) in lemon and cinnamon. We had 2 bags along on the safari, and Adam liked them and they helped his voice. I was glad we brought extra bags to give. I also gifted Adam the cotton infinity scarf I’d dyed and been wearing. He had admired it one night and asked if I brought more with me to sell. He wanted to have one, so I left mine with him.
 From there, we drove a few blocks to the school. Most of the kids are off on break, but one group of 11 and 12 year olds is there. We brought a case of pencils and erasers for them, and we were able to spend time with the math teacher, who later showed us around. We asked many questions about their school and the typical day. I asked about salary—seems it’s the same as the States in many ways. He has to budget to the penny (shilling) every month. 
 The students are divided by age and ability, so grades might vary in age slightly. The school is private, not government run—500 students and about 200 board there. They come from all over the country and from some other countries as well. As we walked by the window of the classroom where all 50 students from both grades were, they suddenly got very quiet. We walked in with the teacher, they all stood up and said good afternoon, and he introduced us. He explained I used to teach for 35 years. He asked Matthew if he had anything to say, and he told them he started school when he was about 5 and finished when he was 32. Now he’s an archaeologist for the last 40 years. Then the teacher asked them, how old was he when he started, and in unison, they all said 5, then he asked about 3 more questions they answered in unison from what Matthew had said. It was amazing! He told them we’d brought presents, and they all said thank you together. They wear uniforms, eat meals in one room together along with the teachers, and have a sports field so every Friday after lunch, they play whatever games they want for the rest of the day. They also have clubs for art, music, etc. that meet after school. The building looks old and dilapidated, but what’s important is the education that goes on inside.


 Preparing the meal over an open fire with huge pots
 bread machine and slicer


                                                    Computer lab--one of two


 Adam’s son went there and he got a good foundation.
Then we drove a few more blocks to Adam’s office. It’s in a weird area—he admits it isn’t the best or nicest, but it’s cheap and was a good place from where to start. He hopes to move the business eventually. Zubeda was there working, but with plans to stop and join us for most of the rest of the day, so the 4 of us went next door to what she and Adam have started—Skilled Hands. They have a small room with 4 women learning to sew and make things to sell. I had filled my duffel bag with 3 large packs of different colors of thread, sewing needles, seam rippers, and about 20-24 pairs of small scissors. It was awesome to see the women were already making use of the scissors at each station. They wanted to give me an apron, but we had to admit it would get little use, so Matthew got one instead. They’re piecing materials together because they often get scraps or leftovers from places. Adam hopes to expand this venture to include other skills for women to become more independent.



Lunch back at the espresso milkshake place, which is close to the Maasai market, where we want to spend some time. We ended up spending the rest of our time there instead of hitting the bi-weekly market in Arusha we’d planned on seeing. But we had such a good time with Zubeda helping us bargain. We found some fun items there—a shirt for Matthew, table coverings which could be used for wraps or decoration too, and maybe a purple dress and a little boy’s outfit…made out of Maasai cloth. They tried to sell me jewelry, but Zubeda explained I make my own…and they didn’t believe her, so she asked me to get out my phone and show a picture of one of my pieces, which got passed around the market. They oohed over a large blue Kumihimo necklace. I almost always bring something to work on, but my space was so limited, I decided not to bother. So sorry I didn’t have it with me.



 Adam and Zubeda dropped us at the lodge around 4:15, he left to drop her off to get back into town and the office, and then returned to drive us to the airport. 
 I am almost always happy to return home at the end of a trip, and this was no exception. However, the people we met made it bittersweet to leave. I never felt threatened or scared, even in the city with lots of people around. We also know to be careful because every big city has its problems. Adam took good care of us and always made sure we felt safe.
 I think you go to Africa the first time because of the animal lure, but you want to return because of the wonderful people. 




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