Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks: Oct 12-17

After the midsemester break, the wanafunzi went on safari with our Tanzanian ecology professor. That's right, we get course credit for this! He did made us write a paper in the bush. Mine was handwritten, and probably had food stains and mud on it, but I got the job done. I wrote by the light of an LED headlamp, and could hear the hyenas walking through our campsite the whole time. I must admit that my concluding paragraph was a little bit rushed. Nothing makes you miss an air-conditioned, camera-monitored college computer lab like a group of aggressively territorial face-biting predators roaming through your camp to drink from puddles and eat up the puke left behind by ACM's occasional amoeba victims.

ACMers waiting to enter Lake Manyara National Park.

Zebras.
A troop of baboons. I think baboons should travel in platoons, but evidently scientists don't like to rhyme as much as I do.
Elephants. Tembo! Alternatively, Loxodonta africanus.
Twiga!
Buffalo and friends.
Arriving at Lake Manyara Hot Springs. The water was indeed hot, and smelled like sulfur. There are flamingos in the distance, near the shore, along with probably ten other bird species.
Giraffes necking. Contrary to popular belief, they're not canoodling. These are two males fighting. However, good necking will get you the ladies. Female giraffes tend to favor males who are successful in neck-to-neck combat.
On the way to Serengeti, we passed through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and stopped by the crater for a picture. Look at this guy!
Ngorongoro will get its own post later, so check out pride rock:
Hyena! Always cool to see, except when you're staring one down on the way to the choo in the middle of the night. Generally, hyenas are big wusses, but they've been known to injure or kill humans, and rabies is a legitimate concern if you sustain a bite. Regardless, no one wants to see their beady eyes in the night when nature is calling.
Got milk?
Egyptian Geese.
More Zebra. They form these small multifaceted groups to keep an eye on predators.

Speaking of predators, these lionesses did not have hunting on the mind that day. Fun fact: male lions don't hunt much if they can help it. The females are typically the ones going out to bring home the food.

A leopard chilling out in a tree. There were dozens upon dozens of safari vehicles in line to see this guy.

More zebra.

Our Serengeti campsite.

On the way to the hippo pool, our Ecology prof said something in rapid Swahili to our driver while we were stopped. Without explanation, he started careening down the road (dirt and gravel, mind you) at at least 80Km/H. We found this guy and some friends just as they were crossing the road. He didn't seem to like the attention, and took a few steps toward the car while trumpeting loudly. For a second, I thought I was going to need to change my shorts. But the picture is here, and so am I!

The legendary Serengeti Hippo Pool. Hippos spend the daytime in the water to stay cool. They suffer from photosensitivity problems, just like me! At night they come out and eat grass. We couldn't see that, because vehicles are not allowed to drive in Serengeti after dark. That's fine with me, because hippos are one of the most dangerous animals in the world. They're aggressively territorial, sensitive to their own vulnerability on land, and routinely capsize small boats and kill the occupants in human-populated areas.*

*(Fun fact: On land, hippos can run up to 18 mph, or 30 Km/h. That's faster than you!)

Hippos mark territory with their choo (poo). The pool smelled as such.
Hippo yawn.
Very old Maasai rock paintings.
A Serengeti kopje (pronounced KO-pee). These geological curiosities dot the plains in certain parts of the park, and provide ecological conditions supporting animal and plant species quite different from surrounding areas - including the incredibly adorable Rock Hyrax!
That's it for Serengeti/Manyara highlights! Next up: Tarangire field camp!

Wanafunzi on Vacation: October 2-10

During the weeklong midsemester break, we got the chance to see anything we wanted in Tanzania. So six of us plotted to return to Zanzibar for a quick weekend, then head up North to Lushoto, a town way up in the Usambara Mountains of Northeastern Tanzania.

We hopped on the on the Zanzibar ferry almost immediately after our Ecology midterm (well, we hopped on a dala-dala to Mwenge, then a crowded-hot-sweaty-butt in face-bus to Posta, walked to the seaport, then got on the ferry). We stayed in Stone Town for the night, but took off for a resort on the northern end of the island the next day. It was called Sunset Resort. The Sunset looked like this:

The following day, we went snorkeling with a dhow full of other tourists. It was my first time, and I found it to be quite fun after I stopped hyperventilating. The dhow is a "traditional sailing vessel," though ours was powered by a motor to save time. We stopped off of a private island about a half-mile from the Zanzibar shoreline. We weren't allowed to go near it, even the beach. Apparently, Jay-Z spent around one million USD to rent it once. A little patrol boat kept an eye on us the whole time.

The next night, we stayed at a place called Jambiani, which literally means "place of Arab knives." I didn't see any while we were there, but the sunrise looked this:

Jambiani had great pilau (spiced rice, usually with meat, potatoes, sometimes raisins and other stuff). The establishment we stayed with shares the beach with the local residents, so after sunrise we watched the fishermen come and ready their boats as the tide came in.

After booking it back across the ocean to Dar Es Salaam, we spent a night with our host families before waking up at 4:30 AM to board the bus to Lushoto. The Ubungo bus terminal is extremely confusing for those who have never experienced it before. Buses depart from Ubungo for destinations all over Tanzania. The station is basically a large parade ground with hundreds of buses packed in bumper-to-bumper and side-to-side. Fortunately, the minibus driver we hired to take us to the station took the time to help us find us find the half a dozen or so buses going to Lushoto. He spoke no English, but his Swahili was particularly clear, and I think he recognized how screwed we were, given that it was still dark out, we were totally lost, and the six of us were already huffing a lot of diesel fumes.

When the bus finally left, we had been watching a bootleg, poorly subtitled showing of the American film classic "10,000 BC" on the mounted TV. The diesel fumes helped. We had a safe ride, though we saw a crashed bus on the way, and Brendan became an exceptionally unfortunate victim of the East African norm of picking one's nose in public. The finale of the ride was a harrowing 90 minutes up into the Usambara Mountains to get to Lushoto.

On our way to a viewpoint after arrival, Brendan and Scott played with some watoto. The kids were fun, but a couple threatened to start hurling rocks when they found out we didn't have zawadi (gifts).
The view from the viewpoint.

Our friend's camera hand was a little shaky, but we were having a good time.

Some the villages are quite high up.

There are lots of chameleons in the Usambaras. The locals are aware that wazungu have a bizarre fascination with them, and often pointed them out to us.

A view of Mombo, the junction for traffic heading off the main road into the mountains.

The picture says it all.

Thomas, an "unauthorised guide" whom we picked up while wandering through a village. He turned out to be great. He knew some excellent hiking trails, and spoke pretty good English. Afterwards, he took us to his house to meet his mom, who was very nice, as most Tanzanian moms are.

In Lushoto we stayed at Irente Farm, a self-sufficient organic farm started by the Lutherans (they're everywhere, right?). They make excellent cheese (which is generally difficult to come by in Tanzania), delicious coffee, and homemade bread and granola. Possibly the best food I've had in Tanzania to date. Also, the chicken curry was incredible.

Lushoto.

We went hiking with a local guide, and brought a picnic lunch from the farm. Quark, swiss cheese, mango chutney, and raspberry jam. I miss it.

Farmland near Soni, a short bus ride from Lushoto.

Sorry for all the food pics, but another hiking guide, Ali, made us guacamole from local veggies when we climbing a place called Growing Rock.

Ali spots a chameleon.

And has a great hat.

Lushoto is currently my favorite location in Tanzania. However, the national parks are not to be overlooked by any means. So they're up next!

Tutawaongea kesho... labda

Return from the Bush

Pole sana! I have not blogged for quite some time. This is due to the difficulty of mobilizing certain resources in “da boosh.” To make up it up to you, I will blog lots in the coming weeks. Since I last wrote, I’ve embarked upon the following adventures:

• Return trip to Zanzibar and excursion to the Usambara Mountains (Oct 2-10)
• Field Instruction in Ecology with UDSM faculty, in Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks. (Oct 12 – Oct 17) Also, trips to Tarangire National Park (Oct 21-22) and Ngorongoro Crater (November 15-17)
• Ethnographic Interviewing in a rural community near Tarangire National Park (Oct 17- Nov 13)
• Archeology Field Instruction with UDSM faculty, at Laetoli, Olduvai Gorge, and Lake Eyasi (November 17-20)

I will try and blog about each of these this week, when I am not hung up on one of the numerous tests and exams that are rapidly coming my way. Tanzanian universities inherited the British higher ed system, so my exams are worth 60% of my grade, and our professors mark to kill. But until later, the field was great, the wanafunzi wa ACM have safely arrived in Dar, and we are attempting to re-acclimate to life in the civilized world :)

Baadaye