Nants Ingonyama Bagithi, Baba

These are the opening lines to the “Circle of Life” from the Lion King. Did you know this actually means, “Here comes a lion, father”? And that it’s actually in Zulu as opposed to Kiswahili (even though the Lion King takes place in the Serengeti in Tanzania where Kiswahili is spoken)?

Or maybe I’m the only one who was never obsessed enough with the Lion King to look these things up when I was seven.

Anyway, we’re back from safari and I’m now almost embarrassed for how reluctant I was to go when the trip was first planned at the beginning of the summer. I initially thought that the day safari my family had taken in Zimbabwe in ’99 was enough to last me a lifetime. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wrong.

I’ll just start right in:

Tarangire:

After stopping by Shoprite—an expat’s dream of a grocery store and the beginning place for every safari company, apparently—for our water, we began the 3-hour drive to Tarangire National Park. Our tent was set up for us at the campsite (an enclosure in the savannah surrounded by a rather barbaric-looking wall of rocks) near a particularly ferocious pile of some sort of termite-looking insect which we were assured would, “go down into the ground at night,” we were on our way.

Almost as soon as we began betting on what would be our first animal to see, we began seeing elephants and wildebeests. We were all so excited, heads eagerly popping out of the top of the safari Land Rover, cameras poised in preparation for all of the awesome shots we were about to get.

So the way a safari works is you basically just drive through the park and stop along the way to take pictures. Okay, duh, I know, but you can have your guide stop for as long as you like while you take scores of shots of the same herd of zebra in succession. You also have a personal cook who makes you breakfast, lunch, and dinner, which is great.

Call me ridiculous, but I found it so odd that all of these different types of animals lived in such harmony with one another. I never would have expected zebra to share grazing space and live so symbiotically with the wildebeest, for example. Perhaps we have something to learn from them (#clichésallday).

Highlights:

Feasting Lion: One of the things we noticed on safari is that the more jeeps stopped in one place has an exact correlation to how cool the sight is. For instance, during our first experience with halted jeeps we got to see a male lion eating a zebra. Considering seeing lions is not very common in Tarangire, we were incredibly lucky to see such a sight, even though it was rather far away.

Zebra: We must have seen hundreds of them on the first day. They’re really fascinating creatures. I never got tired of seeing their strangely-striped coats. I also had this odd fixation on wanting to ride one.

Lunch: It was our first Wali-Kuku-less meal in quite some time, so it was particularly pleasant.

The Park: This was my second favorite of the parks. Tarangire is mainly savannah, and the terrain is absolutely gorgeous. Zebra, giraffe, and elephants are in abundance here. Watch out for tsetse flies. They cause African Sleeping Sickness. This was the only park in which we encountered an enormous amount of them.

Manyara

Lake Manyara National Park is near a town aptly named Mto wa Mbu—River of Mosquitoes, though we were assured they did not carry malaria in this region. This park is particularly famous for its bird population. Almost entirely forested, it was quite a surprise that Manyara was so different from Tarangire. I wasn’t quite sure what I had expected, but I didn’t expect such vast terrain differences between the two places.

Highlights:

Okay, here I have to admit that I was very bad during this trip, and slept almost the entire way through.

I know. Please feel free to gasp and tisk as needed. The thing about Manyara is that it offered a lot of the same animals as Tarangire. After a particularly restless night—I’ve found that I can sleep anywhere but tents—and an entire day of safari-ing the day before—and maybe a tsetse fly bite or two—I just couldn’t manage to keep myself awake.

I will admit that the lake was quite a beautiful sight and it gave us our first flamingo and hippo sightings!

While in the Manyara area, however, you can pay to visit a Maasai village, which we did, although that excursion deserves a blog post all its own…

The Park: Most guide books will tell you that you do not want to end your safari with Lake Manyara National Park. While the park promises tree lions, it is rather difficult to see any animals, as the trees provide them with much more cover with which to hide from the scary, freakish safari jeeps. If you can’t visit one anywhere else, the Maasai village visit would definitely make it worth it, though.

Ngorongoro Crater

After two days of straight driving and animal watching, I was entirely unconvinced that the third and final day was going to be any better than the previous two. Most people we had heard from said that Ngorongoro was their favorite of the parks, but I couldn’t quite comprehend what that meant since, up until then, they had all been rather similar.  I had even less hope when we arrived at the park at around 8:30 am and the entrance was almost entirely obscured by fog. And when I say fog, I mean the kind where you can’t see a foot in front of your face. After driving for about 20 minutes our guide stopped briefly at the “Viewpoint” which we couldn’t see. Because of the fog.

As we drove farther and farther and the fog burned away in the wake of the rising sun and we could finally see the crater my mouth dropped open just wide enough for me to put my foot in.

I have never seen anything so beautiful anywhere in my entire life.

Despite the altitude-induced cold and the blowing wind, we rode the rest of the way down standing out of the top of the jeep so as not to miss a second of the beauty. I can’t even begin to describe it, but I’ll give it a shot.

The park is surrounded by mountains on all sides with an exceptionally interesting cloud cover that hugs the top of the mountains and looks ready to roll over the side. The terrain was an incredible mix of rain forest, savannah, and lakes that provided the most beautiful colors and the most diverse mix of animals we had seen thus far.

Highlights: We got to see all the best animals up close at Ngorngoro

Flamingos: You can spot their brightly-feathered bodies from kilometers away. What starts out as a reddish haze in the distance is only more spectacular up close.

Hippos: Are such odd creatures. So fat and cute yet so dangerous. You never really want to see these from too close up.

Lions: Our second massive safari jeep pileup resulted in yet another lion sighting, but this time the lions were only a few feet away. There was a lioness and a lion and though the lion was sleeping, we all just stood there watching in awe. Once the lion woke up (and tried to mount the lioness until she attacked him) you could hear the cameras clicking like mad, overpowered only by the collective groan as he knelt down and went back to sleep.

The Park: I’ve never had such an overwhelming revelation of the beauty of creation before. This park was by far my favorite, and the only one I don’t think I could ever tire of seeing. Seeing Ngorongoro easily overtook my disappointment at not getting to see the famous Serengeti. Leaving the park, we all stood up and watched the retreating terrain as we climbed higher and higher out of the crater. Silently, we reflected on the inexplicable beauty of what we had just seen and each confirmed that we would have to come back again to see this.

Tips for Safari-goers:

·      Bring binoculars.

·      Bring a zoom lens, extra batteries, and your camera charger (there are outlets in the jeep)

·      Don’t wear white

·      Don’t wear shorts (you’ll look like an idiot)

·      Don’t wear safari gear (see above)

·      Don’t eat in the car (it will attract animals)

·      Don’t make loud noises when you are stopped near elephants (they will attack you)

·      You can, in fact, take showers at the camp sites (although a Wet Ones bath may work just as well)

·      The tea, hot chocolate, coffee, and popcorn they give you when you sit down to dinner is, indeed, free (although soda and alcoholic drinks are not)

·      Wear a hat or cover your hair (trust me)

I will reiterate the guidebooks here and tell you not to end with Manyara. I’d say if you’re going, you might want to start from there. That way, things will only get better. Or, you might just skip it all together and just do the Tarangire-Ngorongoro-Serengeti circuit. But whatever floats your boat.

Now, I know that all any safari-goer really wants is to see a lion (don’t try to deny it, it’s true), but if you ever have the chance to go on a safari, just do it. There’s nothing like waiting with bated breath as you wait for a herd of elephants to cross the road. Nothing like watching a group of zebras riding off into the sunset. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing like watching sleeping lions or hunting lions or eating lions, but the raw magnificence of the untainted terrain is really something I think everyone should experience in their lifetime.

Best of Both Worlds

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, we’re all having an incredible time doing this internship with APHFTA. The fact that I’m having such a good time is utterly laughable now because, as those of you who are close to me know, I spent an entire anxiety-ridden semester worrying about the internship—the lack of concrete details, living situations, project creation, etc. I’d been warned by past Sandbox interns that there was a severe lack of organization and details before arrival in Tanzania—and sometimes even for a while afterward—but that it would be an incredible, one-of-a-kind work experience that would be unforgettable.

For me, what makes this experience so unique is the way it so gracefully maneuvers the delicate balance between independence and supervision and work and travel. We spent our first few weeks under the tutelage of our “boss” a former Harvard student who graduated in 2010 and designed the program we’ve been teaching to the doctors, nurses, and receptionists. Since he is only a few years older than we are, it very much has the feel of a typical Harvard student-run organization—where we are expected to make a lot of decisions on our own and get the job done with little assistance from older, more experienced people such as professors or teaching fellows—but with the backing of an entire national organization to help us when we are in need.

Last week when we split off into our two teams (one to Mbulu and the other to Tanga), I was in the Tanga group under the supervision of an APHFTA coordinator who sort of became our Tanzanian mother, and to whom we also referred as Madam President. She was absolutely incredible. She always made sure we were safe and taken care of, and always did her best to make sure we got to do whatever we wanted. My teammates and I were convinced that her mobile phone doubled as a genie. As soon as we mentioned that we wanted to see something such as Amboni caves or go on a camel safari, within five minutes of whipping out her phone, she had procured us an incredible deal, usually less than half the price of the ones we found on our own. Staying with her gave us the confidence to be able to maneuver various Tanzanian cities and towns on our own, and—perhaps most importantly—she instilled in us the iron fist and stone face needed to be a good haggler. Time after time at the market in Tanga we'd run back to her thinking we'd gotten a good deal, only for her to go back with us and have them cut the price by another TZS 5000 and sometimes more.

Right now, however, we’re on our own. Our boss has gone to India for a two-week vacation, our supervisor has gone back to her hometown in Moshi, and we’re able to continue doing what we’re doing with complete competence. It’s fun to see each day pass as we get more and more familiar with the town we are in. We walk a lot more these days, now that we feel comfortable enough with the town to not need the safety of taxis. We try different restaurants (although Sweet Bite will always be our second home—after Hotel Flamingo). We have conversations with strangers using what Kiswahili we know and learning more in the process. We buy fruit on the streets and engage with school children passing by. I'd like to think that we are truly experiencing Tanzania.

Each night when we gather into one of our hotel rooms to hangout or watch a movie, the conversation usually touches on how lucky we are to be here, and what an experience we’re getting. We’re getting the best of a summer of travel as well as work experience. The combination of these two things is relatively hard to come by in an undergraduate summer experience. We have already spent quite a bit of time in 3 different cities, and have 4 left. Rather than staying in one town doing repetitive jobs as many of our friends are doing back home and even internationally, we get to see and experience so much of Tanzania as we work. I often wonder incredulously how I got lucky enough to be able to see such beautiful towns and cities while also teaching and learning so much.

We’re really getting to know places and people and I truly believe that this is a blessing. We’re growing in independence and street smarts and people skills and so many other things and yet this summer experience is such a gift to us.

And even with all of this we are given time to ourselves. By the time this posts I’ll be on a three-day safari to the Ngorongoro, Manyara, and Tarangire parks, and later in the summer we are taking a weekend trip to Zanzibar.

I’m wondering if it’s ever going to be possible to top this…

Maini, Nyama, na Samaki, Oh my!

The food that we’ve been eating in Tanzania thus far is definitely different from that of the states, but not so much of a culture shock for those of us who hail from other Sub-Saharan African countries. The food is really quite similar. I actually welcomed the more traditional restaurants because they remind me more of the fare I have when I’m in the good old StillH20 out (Mid-) West. While you can still get your typical fried chicken and French fries—or, chips na kuku—you can also get a healthy helping of ugali (or fufu, or whatever your country calls it) with a good sized portion of mbogamboga (greens, not unlike njama jama) and roast (tomato-based beef stew) to go with it.

Before arriving, I was incredibly concerned about the availability and nutritional value of food. Especially since a certain semi-trustworthy source of mine (*cough*, *cough* Mom) insisted that all Tanzanian food was horribly cooked and irrevocably under-spiced. I was expecting nothing more than a bowl of ugali and boiled, stringy beef. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is a plethora of choices of not only traditional Tanzanian food, but also many types of international cuisine.

Classic Food Options:

Traditional Tanzanian Restaurants.

At places like these you’re looking at no more than TZS 5000 (about $3.15, even on a day with bad exchange rates) for an (typically) enormous amount of food. You get to choose from Ugali (corn fufu), wali (white rice), pilau (a seasoned rice) chapatti (kind of like a savory, thin pancake), or chips (French fries. Again, duh) to go with your side of beans or meats: kuku (chicken), maini (liver), nyama (meat, this refers mostly to cow), samaki (fish), na kadhalika (and so on—name a meat, they’ve usually got it). You usually end up with quite a few sides including salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, and sometimes red onions), cabbage, or some sort of yellow, soupy liquid with an odd-looking vegetable I have yet to identify.

All of these restaurants have the food pre-cooked and waiting—which is fantastic when you get back from an 8-hour bus ride during which you did not move except to protect your head from swinging suitcases and large buttocks and bosoms—and depending on what you order, they won’t give you any silverware.

At these restaurants my favorite meal tends to be mishikaki (seriously delicious kabobs) with ugali and mbogamboga. While I’ll admit that I have not yet encountered a Tanzanian cook that can hold an industrial-sized candle to my mom’s and aunts’ cooking, I’ll have to admit it’s all pretty good.

--EXPATS ONLY* BELOW THIS LINE--

Chinese Restaurants

Considering I’ve never seen an Asian-looking person cooking at any of these restaurants, they do have a reasonable semblance of Chinese food. Prices range around TZS 10000 and up. In comparison to the mediocrity I’ve encountered thus far, I'd  prefer the Kong any day.

Indian Restaurants

Tanzania has a surprisingly large Indian population. I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Indian food here. It tends to be very authentic with prices hovering around TZS 12000

“American”/European Restaurants

Restaurants like these have all of the things an expat could dream of: salads (with real lettuce), grilled chicken breasts, pizza, hamburgers, you name it. These places tend to be significantly pricier, and for the cost, quantity, and quality that you’re receiving, just downright not worth it. Prices are about TZS 15000 and up. Places like these have waiters that will seat you; speak to you in English; give you placemats, knives, forks, spoons, and napkins; and give you a bill in a nice leather folder.

I saw a menu today that had a “Grilled Chicken Breast” for TZS 19500. After thinking about the 3 plates of food I received from Sweet Bite (a local Tanzanian restaurant) that afternoon for TZS 3500, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself. I can’t imagine why one would want to eat at one of these places.

I suppose I’m particularly critical because I feel that I came to Tanzania to experience Tanzania, not an Americanized or Europeanized version of it.

And as we have been told constantly, everything tastes better when you’re eating with your hands, anyway.

*Okay, okay—I am over-exaggerating a bit here. I’m sure that some Tanzanians eat at these sorts of places, too, it’s just that I have yet to see one…

City Report: Tanga

So we’ve been in the town of Tanga (which means “farm” in Kiswahili) for five days now. Thus far, we’ve really enjoyed Tanga. We’ve completed two days of training, visited Hamboni Caves and Galanos hot springs, deployed the desktops and netbooks, been to the market, purchased ebony statuettes, visited a dairy farm, eaten a Tanzanian-style buffet (including cow tongue and intestines)—basically, we’ve done it all. It’s a very small city close to the sea, rather warm during the daytime, and it’s very quiet. Most people ride bikes so the streets aren’t very congested. All-in-all a nice place to bring up your kids!

Food:

Jahuri Garden (aka Fruit Plate Garden): it has an awesome fast food place with delicious (and cheap) Tanzanian-style fast food (grilled chicken, plantains, chips—French fries, duh—various types of kabobs,

Notice: While sea food is surprisingly hard to find, they Mkonge hotel makes a mean pork and chips, though don’t go there if you’re too hungry because the wait time might kill you—but it’s well worth it!

Markets: All of them are great. They have a small fabric market as well as one for fruit and souvenirs. They have a few stands that sell beautiful handmade, beaded sandals and personalized bracelets.

Warning: While Tanga seems to be a great place to stay, the mosquitos there carry the virus that causes elephantitis. In particular, the genital kind. Please don’t google image this.

So…

What exactly am I doing here?

Well, I’m a Sandbox intern with the Association of Private Health Facilities in Tanzania, or APHFTA. They call us Sandbox interns because they believe that this internship provides us with an opportunity to create our own experience and use our own imaginations and skills to the best of our ability. Our set goal is to launch a new program targeted and improving ante- and post-natal care to APFHTA’s partnering clinics that will replace the current paper-based record keeping system. After 2-3 days of training, we give each clinic either a netbook or a desktop computer to begin the new process. In addition to this we have the option to create our own project that will assist APHFTA in some way. This year we’re working on a documentary and implementing a newsletter into the APHFTA system.

I’ve been through one full training session so far, and it’s so very interesting. Our pupils—the doctors, nurses, and receptionists—vary immensely in their computer skills. Some are completely adept at using computers and need only to be taken to the login page to begin figuring out how to work, while others have never used a computer before, and have to be taught the most basic of basics—from how to turn on a computer, to how to scroll and click using a track pad. One thing that’s common among all of our wanafunzi is that they’re all incredibly excited to be there. They all want to learn, and they are all incredibly excited about the new system and what it will mean for their clinics and for themselves. After our first training sessions a few people said a few words in thanks. They were so thankful and appreciative that it brought tears to my eyes.

There are not many things you can do in your typical international, “global health” type internship. We get to see things and do things that some American college or grad students would beg for the opportunity to do. And the fact that we get to teach and make a difference in these people lives, and see immediate and lasting results (usually the clinics begin using the system and teaching the program to other works immediately), is such a unique experience. It’s one that I already know I’ll look back on with appreciation and pride.

It’s only been one week for me, but I’m so ready for more.