Backyard Safari: Tanzania’s Lesser Wildlife

Tanzania’s Agama lizard dominated the CCS compound occasionally adding a splash of color to the grey walls of our buildings. However whenever we stared at their pretty colors they would quickly realize that they had unwanted observers and scurry away into a dark corner.

Just one of many insects that are quite a bit larger in Africa. The locusts were quiet tame and friendly. Somewhat dumb, this particular one spent the better part of an hour flying into windows and walls. He was nice enough to take a minute break from his activity to pose for a picture.

Again most insects we find in the western world can be found in Africa just as a much larger version. Here was a brightly colored moth that showed us his camo skin one evening. In the background is a human finger for scale.

A rare and wonderful sight in Tanzania is the chameleon. Not necessarily rare because it is few in number but because it is a master of deception. Slow moving but with a quick eye the chameleon will take less than a minute to change to the color of its backdrop.

Which brings us to the last but not least. The “Dik dik”, the smallest member of the antelope family on the planet the dik dik is a very cute animal and they actually let us get as close as a meter at the Arumeru River lodge. They can also be seen on Safari.

Goodbye Magereza! Goodbye Eliroi!

My last week at both of my placement school Magereza and Eliroi before joining my dad in Arusha to prep for Kilimanjaro.

Class B at Eliroi which I taught the alphabet for my last day. O is for Octopus!

The beautiful ladies of Eliroi.

All the handsome gents. After my goodbyes were said and pictures taken I said one more final goodbye to some very sad faces of the children who had changed my life and would never know how grateful I was. However, I couldn’t leave CCS without saying goodbye to the kids at my other program as well.

Although I started teaching later in my stay at Magereza than I did at Eliroi it would be safe to say that I developed just as much of a bond with them. A beautiful school filled with beautiful children, who despite the lack of resources make the best of their education.

Unfortunately I forgot to charge my camera on my last day and it died after my first couple photos.

Gracie striking a pose.

Kilimanjaro Coffee Plantation Tour

Our safari guide company Pristine Tours, offers a complimentary coffee plantation tour when one purchases a safari. Needless to say, we jumped at the opportunity to get a closer look into the inner workings of one of the largest coffee exporting countries in the world. We travelled, off-road, to the steep slopes of Marangu, where endless amounts of coffee trees grow in the shade of towering banana trees.

When we arrived at the farm (which belonged to our guide Oscar) empty coffee mugs awaited us tempting us to participate in the long process that would eventually fill our cups with something deliciously fresh. 

Oscar lead us to one of his coffee trees and picked a few berries, ranging in color from green to red. He explained the red means that the berry is ripe where as green does not. He also explained that the coffee bean has 3 shells or skins.

He explained that to test ripeness the first shell, when red, should have a very sweet taste. Nate was more than happy to participate in Oscars taste test. When harvested in bulk the berries are fed into a rotating grinder which cracks the shells and sorts the seeds.

The second shell of the coffee bean is then revealed. Because the bean is still wet from the berry skin the seeds are left to soak in water for 2 days.

After being dried in the sun the beans and their leftover shells are ready for the next stage.

The dried beans are poured into large mortar and pestle. The next part is quiet a bit of work as one person grinds the beans to crack the second shell the others in the group clap and sing a local Chagga song. “Twanga, Twanga Marc twanga, twanga mara moja, mbili tatu nne, tano sita saba, nane tisa kumi"

All the singing and grinding caught the attention of Oscars nephew.

              

Eager to join in, Oscar grabbed another (slightly smaller) mortar and pestle and then it was the little ones turn. Twanga!

After a good workout, the shells were mostly cracked and the green beans finally revealed. Oscar was happy to show us that our work was not finished. He picked up a bean and let each of us inspect the paper thin and yet resistant third and last shell.

Disregarding the last shell for now, Oscar poured the beans into a large pot, and began to cook. He told us that the heat would make the last shell separate from the beans and we would be left with the final product.

After 25 minutes of cooking (and salivating due to the intoxicating aroma) the now dark roasted beans were poured out to cool off. Oscar then proceeded to grind a couple handfuls in yet another mortar and pestle as water boiled on the fire.

Ten minutes later we all sat down, enjoying the freshest cup of joe ever, after a lot of hard but rewarding work.

Camping at the Hot Springs

In search of a calmer more relaxing weekend we decided to take a drive to the hot springs. While only a short physical distance from Moshi, the dirt road (resembling more of a evaporated river bed) makes the journey approximately 2 hours. The long drive, however, was very manageable when we were met with the amazing scenery of the hot springs.

The crystal clear teal waters of the hot springs. Its very secluded so we were not the only swimmers. The small spring was populated by turtles, large catfish, and even some smaller monkeys.

It was to tempting not to climb the trees over hanging the spring.

Surprisingly we discovered a rope swing made by previous visitors. Again we had too much fun. . .

Our campsite next to the springs under the cover of the large african trees.

African Landcsapes

Some breathtaking landscapes, I couldn’t go without taking a photo. . .

Kilimanjaro:

Selfie on the way back from Arusha.

Sunset over Mt. Meru

Beautiful sky

Zanzibar Part Three: A little bit of this, A little bit of that. . .

In addition to our cultural experiences on Zanzibar we decided to relax on some of its pristine beaches as well. From Stone Town we travelled the one hour trip to secluded Nungwi, on the northern tip of the island, for its renowned white beaches and crystal clear water.

Just a couple of relaxing shots from the beach :)

Surprisingly Zanzibar only has a few worthwhile beaches due to tides. 

Nungwi is among the most well-known.

A short five minute walk brought us to the town center which turns out to be not much at all consisting of just one supermarket and couple of small shops.

Some seascapes with Zanzibarian Dhows the local ship. The ship has a mast but the boom is on top of the sail rather than on the bottom. Regardless, they are still really elegant even though the actual ship looks like its made from driftwood.

The oceanview restaurant we chose for our easter night dinner.

A couple of very manly drinks to suit the occasion while we watched the sunset over the ocean.

Unbeknownst to me, before arriving, Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, was born on Zanzibar. There is a wonderful restaurant located in Stone town in his name. The food is delicious and the view as always is amazing and it was definitely a must see location on our trip.

We decided to go there for dinner on our last night in town. The fajitas turned out to be stellar. . . who knew I would find delicious fajitas in Africa.

The next morning we took the first ferry out in order to make our connection in Dar es Salaam and watched the sunrise over Zanzibar as we ferried away. A trip well spent.