Week 7- To Lake Tanganyika

We make it to by bus to Sumbawanga (great name isn’t it) in the early afternoon, a large town, where we explore the hustling streets and find a late lunch of typical Tanzanian fare- ugali, rice and chicken.  We eat heartily, then stop by the outdoor market to stock up on mangos, bread rolls, and a fresh avocado for tomorrows breakfast on the early morning bus heading north to Katavi National Park, our destination. 

We sleep well that night and step out of our comfortable Hotel Holland into the main bus station at 6:30am.  This Mbeya Express bus lacks the luster of yesterdays bus: it is banged up, old pleather seats, chipping paint, and the mechanic is already underneath working on the engine. Hmmm.  We only have a 3 hour bus ride on a dirt road, but another kind gentleman we talk to assures us that is could be an all day bus ride given the bus’s condition. Hmmm again. Well, no other options but to roll with it for the day.  

Everything is uneventful and the bus takes it slowly until mid-morning when we pull into a dusty village and the driver and attendants begin hammering on the underside of the bus again.  All passengers sit tight or mill around outside. Not so bad, in fact kinda fun for a bit. We meet some very smiley Tanzanians, some of which speak a bit of English, others which do not.  And again we become the spectacle of the primary (elementary) school kids across the road.  About 2 hours later, a motorcycle pulls up with a huge metal object, obviously a replacement part to the engine, and they begin hammering, again! 

We take this opportunity to change our course of action.  Another bus stops briefly to let off a few passengers. It is heading to a waterfront town near Kipili on Lake Tanganyika. Let’s do it! We jump on board and are treated to front row cushions next to the driver since the rest of the bus is full.

Another few hours and we pull into the village of Katangoro, still 8 km from the village of Kipili and a lodge we have heard about called the LakeShore Lodge.  This village street is even more sleepy, and the only folks around ask if we need to get to Lakeshore Lodge- obviously we match the stereo-type of its clientele.  They have motor-bikes ready and waiting for us (we had read in the lonely planet that one can walk or motor-bike the last bit of distance to the lodge).  Now parents/grandparents may want to skip this part: we put on one backpack each, the motorbike drivers puts on one of our bags on their front and we sandwich a kid each in the middle.  Two motorbikes, 6 people and 4 bags and we head down the last bumpy road of our week. 20,000 Tz shillings (10 USD) later and we have arrived at a paradise of villa-style bandas on the sandy shores of Lake Tanganyika.

Our South African host and lodge owner Louise, kindly orders us a large, cold water and gives us a tour of the grounds and shows us to our banda. The zen-landscape is simple but elegant, white walls, thatched roofs, open doors, bamboo window coverings and beach rock floors.  Everything invites your barefeet outside to the sandy beach and the gentle off shore breeze. The water is tropical turquoise blue and the beach sand loaded with freshwater shells to scavenge.  We can see

the Democratic Republic of Congo mountains across the lake in the distance, and islands in the foreground harboring other local villages.  We arrive just in time for watching the sunset while enjoying a Stoney Tangowizy, our new favorite ginger soda. As the stars emerge, dinner is served on tables next to the waters edge, decorated with solar-lit canning jar vases of pink bougainvillea flowers.

The next mornings we head out on kayaks to explore the islands with snorkel gear on deck. We have heard about Lake Tanganyika, its fishing communities, and its famous tagline, the 2^nd largest lake by water volume in the world due to its depths and length. It also supports some of the worlds only cichlid fish, the assorted colorful ones we know from freshwater aquariums. We see them in all shapes and sizes, big lips and bulging eyes, blue polka dots and yellow zebra stripes. Amelia masters the art of diving about 10 feet underwater to see them up close.  We are already excited about the reality of her SCUBA diving with us in the near future!

By day three, we were setting to head back on the bus northward, but a stomach bug that resembles travelers diarrhea sets in for both Kim and Steve, and we end up spending a few more days convalescing on the waters edge.  Kids are joyous at this turn of events!  Good food, games and books, wonderful people, Tanzanian fisherman, 3 dogs, 2 cats, bunnies, chickens, ducks, and great birding. We spend many hours watching the resident black kites, pied kingfishers, little bee-eaters, a pair of African pied wagtails, hatchling bulbuls, scarlet chested sunbirds, and Paradise flycatchers, just to name a few. Plus the added magic of the beach with ocean-like waters- we may never leave!

Note: we still have not left Lakeshore Lodge and it is day 9!  We became addicted to sand, freshwater waves, great food, friendly hosts/staff, and our cabana on the shore.  We have healed our minds, bodies, and souls and set ourselves up for a 2nd half of our African adventure.  We even reveled in all the hysteria of Game 7 of the World Series- Go Cubbies Go!!- thanks to MLB.com phone app.  Steve was up at 4am local time and, headphones on, joined around inning 3.  He whooped a bit and woke the family at 7am when the game hit extra innings, and we all listened and cheered as the sun rose over the lake and the Cubbies were crowned champions!  Apologies, Indians fans...

Tomorrow we depart by bus, heading towards Kitavi National Park and a safari for Emmet's #9 birthday on Saturday!!!

More next week, love to all!

Kim, Steve, Amelia, Emmett

Week 5-6- Heading West...

The patterns of life in the Kilombero Valley of Africa follow the equatorial sun that rises around 6:30am and sets around 6:30pm.  Daily activities take place mainly in the morning and evening hours, with plenty of leisure in the heat of the day. Our 5^th and 6^th weeks of volunteer field time with the Kilombero Valley Ornithological Center (KVOC), are no exception.  

Celebrating our 14th anniversary, Tanzanian-style!

homeschooling morning around KVOC

Mondays in our local town of Kitchengani, our team of volunteers visit the local primary and secondary schools, this time to share lessons on the phases of water and the water cycle.  Most students chuckle when we relate stories of frozen water (ice/snow) at home, while we enjoy their comments about the importance of water- “Water is Life” said a few kids.  Through our translators, we try to relate the idea that evapo-transpiration from trees is an essential part of the water cycle, and that, while valuable for firewood and charcoal, the rapidly disappearing forests of the area are keys to a healthy ecosystem.  

sunset over the Kilombero River

Tuesdays we load up our Mitsubishi standard bed pick up truck with all camping gear and 11 passengers (5 inside and 6 outside!) to travel to the Iluma Game Reserve. This time we camp along the Kilombero River while surveying the dense evergreen forest for birds and mammals and recent signs of human disturbance.  Our camp has easy access to the hippo and crocodile inhabited river, so we follow guidelines of our Tanzanian staff and deliberate scanning upstream and downstream before quickly dipping buckets for water (read: NO SWIMMING!). The river is teaming with birds which we survey in the morning hours from the high banks.  Our forest surveys turn up signs of monkeys and baboons, bush pig, and duiker (a small ungulate). We also find in the dense under growth of the forest large colonies of cane rats (we think), tracks and scat of hyena, water and slender mongoose, and suspiciously, wild cat tracks near the fishing village.   

leaf camouflaged preying mantis

group photo with KVOC staff and volunteers

While absolutely loving all these experiences, as a family we decide it is time to move on from our volunteer time with KVOC and, 2 weeks early, to start the next phase of our Tanzanian adventures. We consolidate our belongings down to 4 day backpacks, one per person. We say a teary goodbye to Angel, Ema, Mr Kimboga, Moushaka, Saysay, the other international volunteers, and Sebastian, our amazing host over the past 6 weeks, and off we go!

Sebastian and Moushaka generously help arrange our first class (sleeping berth) ticket on the TanZam (Tanzania-Zambia) train for us from Ifakara to Mbeya, a city in the southeastern part of the country near to Lake Tanganyika and the Zambia/Malawi border.  We arrive at the dusty and nearly deserted train station, and soon learn that there are no 1^st or 2^nd class tickets available (they were filled in the first half of the train’s travels from Dar Es Salaam), but they have ‘Super Sleeper’ seats available for us (aka 2^nd class tickets).  We end up waiting at the station for 10 hours, yes 10 hours, as we have heard that the timing is unpredictable for arrivals and departures. During this time however, the station fills with hundreds of Tanzanians cajoling around the site, selling and consuming cashews and sodas, talking on phones in overly loud voices, sleeping on the cement steps, and entertaining the younger children.  We mizungos (white people), of course, are quite a spectacle on the sidelines and surely provide entertainment and spectacle.

 

A view of the countryside

An English speaking train attendant helps us board our train, and we quickly find our 'SuperSleeper'berth is actually four (2x2) large, straight backed, rigid, turquoise blue, plastic seats facing each other with a small table in between. This is, ironically, quite a step up from 3rd class bench seats.  Just another Tanzanian translation issue, we guess, as we start to appreciate economy class airplane seating!  Most Tanzanian passengers either sleep on the floor with their children and wraps tangled for warmth, or have their heads bent over the table in an awkward-looking position. The florescent lights never turn off and pop music is playing loud and clear.  Amelia and Emmet settle in first as the train rhythmically starts down the tracks. Kim and Steve smile at one another as one can only do in these situations. As slumber sets in, Kim dreams of a beast that lives under the carriage of the train car which groans and uses profanity on occasion with the bumpy sections of the track.  

Pastoral villages along the way

children run over and wave as the train passes

The rest of the train ride is uneventful- we play a few great rounds of Rumi 500, Hearts, and Palace, and stroll the train cars to stretch our bodies. Arriving in Mbeya, we are greeted by English-speaking-Tanzanian, James Bond (he says that is his name).  He ends up being a warm and delightful guide for us over the next few days.  We settle into our Indian run and Tanzanian staffed hotel, and salivate over our Indian and Chinese cuisine that evening at the hotel restaurant (supposedly the best restaurant in town). Our room has running water, a flushing toilet, and hot showers- more than we’ve had in almost a month!  

We stroll around the city streets to find a common theme: dusty roads, broken down sidewalks; shoe shining and clothing vendors; smells of bar-b-que and diesel; tenders selling meat sticks, bbq bananas, fried rice cakes and bread rolls; and colorful fruit and vegetable markets. It is beautiful and intimidating all at the same time.  Like usual, there are people everywhere- some tend to their business; most seem to be waiting for something to happen.  Such is life in Africa.  Saturday afternoon we find the Mbeya soccer stadium and fork out $1.50 each for tickets to a 1st division Tanzanian futbol match.  Sunday afternoon we hear drums and horns from the direction of the stadium so we walk down to an exciting Tanzanian Premier League match- Mbao City v. Tanzanian Prisons- final score 1 to 1 (better than 0-0, right?!).

The hike up to the crater's rim with James Bond

We spend the next day with James Bond hiking to the rim of Ngozi Crater, a legendary crater lake set among the mountains of the Mbeya region.  We see black and white colobus monkeys and otherwise just enjoy the hiking trail, the lush foliage, wild banana trees, and spectacular views of the blue waters below.  James tells us stories of the legendary serpent that created these waters, and the spirits of the tribes that fought over a water well long ago.  

In getting to know James Bond, we learn of his aspirations to start his own tour company (he currently works for Gazelle Travels). And as part of a small trade for our tour cost, we take a few photos and create a website for him to give him a head-start towards his success.  It took a few hours of time that evening, and a lot of smiles and thank yous from James.  We hope him the best of luck in his entrepreneurship!!!

 

 

 

 

Ontop Ngozi Crater's Rim

Today is travel day- onward to Katavi National Park and Kipili Village on Lake Tanganyika!  We jump on a 6am bus, heading west to the Malawi border then north towards our destination(s).  It is nice not having any time frame or commitments, so we can stay and go where we please for a while.  We’ll write more in the coming week!

 

Love and hugs to everyone,

Steve, Kim, Amelia, and Emmet