Tanz(insane)ia

Hamjambo! I’m back from my two weeks of Tanzanian adventures. That’s right Mom—I wasn’t forced into an arranged marriage with my rural homestay brother, never to be seen again (not to say that there wasn’t a little chemistry between Humphrey and me).  This component was by far my favorite thus far.  Here’s why:

We arrived at Dorobo Safari Tours headquarters the first day, which is just outside of Arusha.  Our two incredibly handsome tour guides, Mika and Joshua, greeted us.  I would classify Mika as the dreaded mountain man type who loves to rock climb and run barefoot through the woods (obviously his favorite book is Born to Run, which I might add, I totally predicted).  Joshua, on the other hand, was more of the funny, sensitive cutie—total charmer but sadly not Jewish and not from the North American continent.

Joshua (right) and Mika (left)

The day before we departed for our safari, we played soccer with a local secondary school.  Keep in mind I haven’t played soccer since way back in middle school.  That being said, when am I going to play a game of soccer in Tanzania ever again?  Everything was going great during the first half.  Our team was winning, there was a crowd of locals watching us, and I managed to hold down the fort on my side of the field.  Obviously I got cocky once I realized I wasn’t completely sucking and that’s when things went downhill.  The ball was headed my way and I made a grand photo-worthy gesture to kick the ball downfield.  Well, I missed the ball entirely and instead directly kicked the ground.  I may or may not have broken my nubb in the process.  I’ve never broken a toe before, so I don’t quite know how that would feel…more specifically half a toe.  Either way, there’s no official way to heal a broken toe other than to let it heal itself…so I suppose that’s what I did.

After a couple of days in Arusha, we left for Tarangire National Park to spend two days on safari. YAY TOURISM! Along the way we came across a number of wild animals.  Most notable were two lions resting under a tree.  At first we were just excited to see the kings of the jungle in person.  However, as time passed we realized that a herd of zebras was heading to a waterhole just beyond the tree.  I know what you’re thinking. Wow Emma, you saw two lions wait patiently under a tree as a herd of unsuspecting zebras went to drink some water, and then the lions proceeded to pounce on the lone zebra at the back of the pack and tear it to shreds, completely dismantling it and immediately becoming the coolest, most primitive thing you’ve ever seen in your entire life! Wrong! Unfortunately the lions were young, inexperienced hunters who came across as lazy when they made a poor attempt to attack the pack of zebras.  All of the zebras easily escaped and lived to see another day as the lions went back to their comfy spot under the shaded tree.

And now for a section I like to call “Animals of the Savannah: They’re Just Like Us”

They Lazily Roll Around

They Can’t Wait for Snack Time

They Love to Splash Around

They Go to the Bathroom

They’re Always Procreating

After two long days of safari, I’m pretty sure I can identify every single bird known to man thanks to the expert bird watchers leading our tour.  Simon, my Maasai bestie, could literally identify any bird on our game drive with a quick check into his binoculars.

What’s that? A Lilac-Breasted European Roller? Psh, yeah, I knew that.

Simon also sported a Washington Nationals shirt for a few days.  When I excitedly yelled “SIMON! YOU’RE A NATS FAN?!”, he looked at me with the most puzzled of expressions. “Simon, you like the Nationals?” “What?” “They’re from Washington, D.C.” “Huh?” “BASEBALL!” “Oh, yes!”

…he’s never seen a baseball game in his entire life. A student on one of their previous tours gave him the shirt as a gift.  Peter, another staff member and safari truck driver extraordinaire also rocked a Nats tee. He too had no idea what the logo on his shirt signified.

Simon (left) and Peter (right)

While most people were drooling over our tour guides, I grew very fond of the rest of the staff on our trip.  Not only did Simon and I become buds, but I had an entire crew of bros comprised of Peter, our esteemed driver, Loma, chef-of-the-year, and Gideon, assistant to chef-of-the-year. When I told them my name was Emma, they misinterpreted my name as Neema, which apparently means prosperity in Kiswahili.  It really wasn’t a problem. In fact, I was quite flattered.  What got me a bit TO’d was when our professor, Sinnary, thought it would be funny to pretend to misinterpret my name as Nyama! Nyama is Kiswahili for meat.  Not to worry, Sinnary gained his own nickname as well.

Introducing Jamba, the Sudanese diva. [Translation: Jamba=Fart] I’m so mature ;)

After leaving Tarangire, we headed to the Nou Forest to meet up with the Iraqw tribe, a community of pastoralists whose ancestors migrated to Tanzania from Ethiopia. We spent one day hiking to a waterfall and another visiting the Madunga Village where the Iraqw people live.  Their homes were made of sticks and held together by cow dung.  Each home was segmented off into separate rooms for humans and livestock.  Cows and goats needed to stay inside the home at night in order to avoid being eaten by wandering hyenas.  While we had an opportunity to interview the Iraqw about their culture, it was difficult because they speak their own unique language and very little Kiswahili.  Translating their answers to our questions was a bit of a quandary.

After leaving the Nou Forest, we headed to the Yaeda Valley to live amongst the Hadzabe, one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer communities in the entire world.  These people took “living off the land” to a whole new level.  Their homes are made from materials found around their camps, and they move their camps periodically in order to be near the best resources.  The women are in charge of digging for tubers (root vegetables) and gathering berries.  The men are responsible for hunting and harvesting honey.  Everything edible is prepared on the spot.  We went out digging for tubers one morning and started a fire right then and there to cook them up.  The entire village came along with us to reap the benefits of the harvest.  Everyone shares the food gathered by members of the community, no matter how young or old, big or small, male or female.  It was as close to an egalitarian society as I have ever witnessed or read about, and truly groundbreaking in my opinion.

Digging for tubers 

Chloe and Megan with a tuber 

Berries 

Chopping down beehives to gather honey 

Starting a fire to cook the tubers 

More fire-making

We had the chance to make arrows and go out hunting the following day.  My friends Abby, Julia, and I went out with Moshi (the best hunter in his tribe) to catch a giraffe.  Turns out killing (let alone finding) a giraffe is quite the challenge. We were lucky enough to catch a mongoose and hyrax. I had the honor of carrying the hyrax back to camp…after lugging it around for the duration of our 5-hour hunt.  While I did my best to hold it by its feet, as far away from my body as possible, at one point it swung a bit too close to my leg and smeared some of its postmortem blood across my thigh. It was not one of the most pleasurable moments of my life, but it was worth it once everyone saw me walking into camp with meat, thinking that I had killed it. JOKES! Moshi totally did all of the work.  Abby, Julia, and I chilled on a rock overlooking the incredible view while Moshi ran off and caught the bastard.  When he carried it back with two arrows stuck in it, we thought it was dead.  Then he placed it on the rock and it started running toward us.  Moshi proceeded to slam its head against the rock to kill it.  The entire process really induced my appetite, to say the least.

Moshi seeking out his prey 

Enjoying the view with Julia and Abby, waiting for Moshi to return with the goods 

Nothing like a good cig after a successful hunt

Other highlights included climbing a baobab tree (think rock climbing meets The Lion King) and dancing with the Hadzabe around a campfire.  The Hadzabe were compensated by our tour company in tobacco, salt, and marijuana.  That’s right, they were paid in weed…and they loved it.  They would smoke it all day if they could.  In fact, Mika had to ration it out to them each day because otherwise they would smoke the entire two-week supply in one sitting.  As Joshua put it, who wouldn’t love the Hadzabe?  They get high and hunt for the first part of the day, then spend the latter portion of the day getting high and socializing with each other.

Climbing the baobab tree

If it weren’t for all the bug bites continuously coating my body, I think I could be very content living with the Hadzabe for a while.  As a proud feminist, women have it good in their community.  They have just as much, if not more, power than their male counterparts because they produce 80% of the food that their entire village consumes. I loved the hunting. I loved the dancing. I loved their outlook on life.  They have everything they could ever need and don’t really care that the rest of the world lives a very different lifestyle from the one they do.

I absolutely loved Tanzania but it’s nice to be back in Nairobi sleeping in my own bed and taking a warm shower.  Heck, it’s just nice to bathe and not have to sleep in a tent.  I might do it for the Hadzabe though.

We’re in Nairobi taking classes for the next two weeks and then we’re off to Amboseli to hang out with the Maasai.  It’s incredible to think that I’m already halfway through this life changing experience. Maybe I’ll just never leave…

Tutaonana Baadaye!

P.S. Perhaps I skipped over a minor detail and forgot to mention the Kenyan Presidential election that occurred while we were away. Uhuru Kenyatta scored the win after some confusion over lost ballots and inaccurate counting.  Now Raila Odinga is appealing to the courts for a recount in order to salvage any chance he has of claiming the title. Hopefully he can maintain a peaceful approach and not rally his fans the way he did in the last election.  I’ll do my best to keep you posted. That being said, I feel very safe and Kenyans are hoping to maintain a peaceful atmosphere leading up to the presidential inauguration.