When you are traveling anywhere, but particularly someplace unlike your home, you learn a lot. A lot about the place you are going, a lot about culture, and a lot about yourself. This weekend, Collin, Gudila, and I went south of Tanga 50km (about 35 miles) to a village called Pangani. The Pangani River runs from Mt. Kilimanjaro down to the Indian Ocean. We took a Daladala (small bus/ 15 passenger van) to Pangani, leaving from the “Bus Stand” in Tanga—which is quite a busy place full of buses and vans going in all different directions. There is only one paved road going out of Tanga. That road is not the road to Pangani. Thus the 35 mile trip took about two hours. Travelling in Tanzania has left me pining for the roads of Tulsa (which is saying a lot, I know). Once we (finally) reached Pangani, we went to the “Tourism Office” and booked a river boat ride in hopes of seeing crocodiles and hippopotamuses (don’t hold your breath).
We ate lunch at a nice little restaurant in Pangani and then went to the river to meet our guide and boat captain. While we were waiting, we had a lovely cultural exchange of our own, much like the Native Americans trading with the Pilgrims, except we taught Gudila about Lady Gaga, and Gudila taught us (or tried her hardest anyway) to carry things on our heads. We have a ways to go on that. We’ll keep you posted on our progress.
After we boarded the boat, we floated down the river looking at the Mangrove trees that line nearly the entire river. We discovered that our guide is a bird lover, which is apparently a common thing amongst guides. Four years ago, when I went on a Safari here while on a mission trip, our guide was a bird lover. We would all rush to one side of the bus at her ecstatic summons to find a guinea, “Black Neck-ed Dove”, or a “Long-Tailed Fiscal Shrike!” (when you say the word “shrike” you have to end louder and higher pitched than you began or you aren’t saying it correctly). All the while, elephants and giraffes were wandering past on the other side of the bus. When she finally spotted a possible lion/rock, she and the bus driver got out to throw rocks at it to see if it would move, leaving us to wonder what we would do if the lion/rock did decide to move. It didn’t.
Ok, back to the story. We never saw a hippo (which, if you know me, you know if a very sad thing indeed), or a crocodile, but we did see a couple of egrets, a Mangrove Kingfisher, and an eagle that looked suspiciously like a Bald Eagle, but that’s not what he called it. We floated past boats coming from the Coconut Plantations (Pangani’s #1 commodity), lots of different Mangrove trees, and beautiful Palm trees. Finally, we came to a village, about an hour and a half up the Pangani River where we pulled up to the shore to go into the village. Obviously the boat couldn’t pull all the way on dry land, so while I was wondering how I was going to get out without getting my shoes soaking wet, a man on shore (several inches shorter than myself) rolled up his pants. I thought “WOW! He must be REALLY strong to pull this big boat onto the shore!” That is not why he was there. Suddenly our guide swung from the boat onto this man’s shoulders/back. The short man with the rolled-up pants was there to carry us…CARRY US…to shore….Yeah, that’s what I said too. All I could think while I climbed onto his shoulders/back was “It’s a shame this is the last thing this man will see.” But we made it safely to shore. Lucky for all of us, Collin was ashore already and could capture the moment for posterity.
Now here is my favorite part of the whole trip. Going into the village that looked like it has remained untouched for centuries (even though I know it is a regular stop on this tour) we got to see a man climb a Coconut tree and harvest the coconuts. It was amazing. After I learn how to carry water on my head, I want to learn how to climb a Coconut tree. The people in the village were so kind and welcoming. We loved getting to see the village and how they truly make their living (coconut harvesting). We took the coconuts and also some roasted corn for our trip back to Pangani. The coconuts were 3 months old, and thus were soft in the center (kind of like coconut Jello). If I liked coconuts…it would have been delicious. But I did manage to drink most of the “coconut water” and eat half of my soft coconut. The coconuts that we get in the U.S. are 4 months old, which is why they are hard. So now you know. 4-Hers can put that on their “Things I Learned” page in their record books.
After we returned to Pangani we caught a Daladala out of town to where we were staying. Gudila stayed on the daladala and went back to Tanga. Collin and I stayed at a place called “Peponi Beach” and arrived just in time to not see the sunset. But the sunrise this morning made up for it. Today we went out on a Dhow (traditional sail boat)to go snorkeling, with 4 wonderful people from Holland. We had a great time and got to see some beautiful fish, some sea stars, and sea urchins (really not a fan of seeing those in the same water that I am in). One man said that he even saw a barracuda…which is about the time I headed back to the boat. Despite our best sunscreen efforts, if they sold us at KFC, we would definitely fall under the “extra crispy” category. Aloe Vera, here we come.
This week we are hoping to visit some 4H Clubs and finish up some of the paper work we have started. This week Collin and I re-designed a 4H Tanzania brochure for promotion. I also had a phone meeting with the other U.S. delegates to the “Take a Lead” Conference which will be held here in August. 4-H and other youth organizations from all over Africa, North America, and Europe will have delegates here. It will be a wonderful learning experience and I am so excited to be one of the delegates this year!
I will definitely let everyone know when we are visiting clubs and I’m sure that will bring plenty of new stories and pictures! Pictures from this trip: coming soon to a Facebook near you….
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