The road North

I hadn’t been looking forward to the ten-hour bus journey to Arusha in the north of the country, but in fact it was pretty comfortable. As one of the country’s main arterial routes, the road is sealed the whole way, although virtually all of it single carriageway. 

It was my first time outside of Dar es Salaam, and the rural landscape was a dramatic contrast. In the villages were tiny churches and mosques, and houses made of mud with thatched roofs, or made of concrete with corrugated iron roofs. Many of the shops were small wooden shacks (one had a sign ‘International Hair Cuts’). It was great to see a different side to Tanzania, particularly as the majority of the population live in rural areas.

As we reached the northern towns, it felt like we were entering a different country. The air is fresh and crisp, and the countryside lush and cultivated. Many of the buildings are painted in pastel shades of blue, pink, or green, and there is a neatness and cleanness, compared to the city. Not sure why, but for some reason it made me think of Britain in the 1960s.

We are going on a camping trip to the northern national parks, and meet the rest of our group (sixteen of us in all) at a campsite called Snake - yes, Snake - Park. Luckily I didn’t see any snakes.

Next morning we head out in our jeeps, passing by the edge of the Great Rift Valley on the way. It’s the rainy season (although fortunately not raining at the moment) and so the rolling hills are green, with cattle and goats grazing, and crops growing from the rich red soil.  Now and then baboons or zebras stroll across the road.

The sealed road ends and the dirt track begins as we enter the Ngorongoro conservation area. We pass through forests and stop for a picnic, surrounded by Marabou storks, huge birds with a 3m wingspan.

As we leave the forest area, and head for the grassy plains with their grazing herds, it could almost be Scotland:

Well, almost, except for the Maasai, in their distinctive red and purple robes.  And except for the Maasai settlements, round mud houses with straw roofs, set out in a circle.

  

And then there’s the zebra herds grazing alongside the Maasai's cattle.

From then we pass through a vast flat, dry plain, meeting gazelles and ostriches on the way, and later spying a leopard and some hyenas.  The sheer scale of the place is amazing, like something out of a fantasy world.

We camp at an unfenced campsite (animals could wander through at any time), and settle down to sleep on the Serengeti.

The daily grind...

The office I’m based in is pretty modern – everyone has computers, there’s  internet access most of the day, air conditioning, a water cooler, plus there’s a generator to deal with the (very frequent) power cuts. Other offices in the city which don’t have a generator might only have electricity some days in the week. Outside of the city, you might get no electricity at all. I honestly can’t remember the last time I experienced a power cut at home in Scotland.

The charity manager is an expat, there’s an English volunteer, and the rest of the staff are Tanzanian. Part of my role was to train the administrator, but when I got there I discovered that she had stopped working at the organisation a few days before I arrived!

The city centre banks are generally quite modern, both inside and out, almost like UK banks.  At one bank the queue for the tellers was about fifty people long, although somehow we managed to go straight to the manager’s office.

Just near the office are some small cafes, artists’ stalls, and a row of shops, including a small supermarket. Some days I bring in something to eat, others I get something from the supermarket, and other days I go to one of the cafes. Food at the cafes is quite cheap, and your food comes on a single dish divided up into different sections for rice, sauce, vegetables (such as spinach or cabbage), and meat/chicken/beans, along with a spoon to eat it all with.  Rice and beans (wali maharage) is probably one of the most common dishes you find. Chips (chipsi – this Swahili is easy!) are also popular, and in particular chipsi mayai – a chip omelette. I’m not yet convinced, but I’ll give it a try some time.

Sometimes a fruit seller comes to the office and we buy bananas, pears, or mangoes. The mangoes especially are delicious and I realise I’ve never actually eaten a fully ripe mango before now.