Just to get all of it out of the way in the beginning – it’s hard to say that the whole robbery thing has been ‘resolved’ because we couldn’t recover any of our things and there was no insurance coverage on any of them through the program and the hotel is not liable. We have yet to get an official statement from Arcadia about the situation and overall we’re feeling like we just kind of have to accept it because nothing is going to change. I know that’s a virtue, but it’s pretty hard to accept that when you did nothing wrong and someone waltzed in and stole all of your valuables that somehow nobody gets any blame and nothing really gets fixed. After trying to play it cool for pretty much the entirety of two weeks I feel like maybe I just need to like punch a wall or something and just stop thinking about it.
On to much lighter things:
As many of you know, my family is here right now. Even Matt could make it! They got in last Friday night and early Saturday morning the four of us left for safari. Even through the jetlag and culture shock we had a really great time in Ngorogoro Crater on Saturday. I think the animal highlights were all of the lions that we saw: two right after a fresh zebra kill and two more basically just basking in the sun two feet from the side of the road. We stayed at a beautiful lodge on the crater rim, where on our walk back after dinner we encountered two Cape Buffalo who apparently are notorious for eating the lodge’s grass and drinking from their pool. Wouldn’t you?
After our day in the Crater we drove to Lake Eyasi, which in theory is not a very long drive. But in practice it is one of the more miserable drives that I have taken. The driving was slow, bumpy and dusty, but the road led to a wonderful camp where we stayed. The lake was pretty much dried up since they haven’t had a drop of rain in the region since April 15. Six months. No wonder it’s dusty. That afternoon we went on a so-called ‘cultural safari’ (I really don’t like that term – although it does kind of feel that way when you’re there). We went to the homes of two Datoga families, one of which was a blacksmith. We got to see their homes, Matt got to melt some metal, I got to grind some maize, and mama got to hold a wee little baby.
And then came the real adventure. Monday morning we woke up at 5:00 IN THE MORNING to go on a hunt with a group of Hazabe (Bushmen) hunters. The Hazabe are one of the last click-speaking tribes and they still practice hunting and gathering. Our guide says there are only about 700-800 Wahazabe left in all of Tanzania and for the most part they all still live this lifestyle. When we arrived the men and seemingly any boy who had gone through puberty were sitting around the fire smoking from their pipe (what they were smoking varied) and chatting. They then showed us their super-efficient way of starting a fire (which both Matt and dad attempted and for the most part succeeded at) and then showed us the different types of arrows that they used for hunting. We then followed them up a small mountain trying not to get our clothing stuck on the thorns known as Wait A Bits (because once you get caught on one you have to wait a bit to unhook them). Unfortunately, the hunters only shot a small bird. Although, when you think about it that’s almost more impressive because they hit it with an arrow. The find of the day by any account was the honey that they discovered in a tree. There wasn’t a hive, instead there was just a tree limb that they started chucking huge rocks at and once it broke there were gobs of honey inside. Being nice young boys they offered it around, but the bugs and dirt stuck in it weren’t very appealing so after a small taste we let them have the rest. And they gladly accepted. When we got back to camp but Matt and dad tried their luck at the bow and arrow. The arrow flew but no luck on hitting the target. I’m pretty sure with more practice, though, that they could definitely shoot a dik dik.
From Lake Eyasi we then traveled to Tarangire National Park, which was pretty cool. We saw so many elephants that they started to feel like squirrels running around (except slightly larger). The definite highlight for me was seeing a mother and baby leopard wandering through the savannah grasses. So cool. We saw pretty much every animal (including the Big 5) between Ngorogoro and Tarangire. Safari success. I went back a day early because unfortunately I have things to do here, but the whole family is now back in Arusha and planning a couple of interesting things for the next couple of days. We’ll see how all of that pans out and update later.
As for everything else… it’s good. We’re nearing the end of classes, with only three weeks left before finals and then a trip to Zanzibar. The next couple of weeks are going to be pretty crazy with papers to write, but fortunately for me they’re all about topics that I find really interesting. I will be writing a health paper about the effects of civil conflict on the transmission and treatment of HIV/AIDS, a research paper about the Lord Resistance Army and its spillover into Sudan and the DRC, and a paper about water projects and access to water in Arusha for my environmental class. They should be very interesting papers, albeit a lot of work.
I miss a lot of things from home, but I can list a couple of things that I don’t miss. One is snow in the middle of October. Another is partisan bickering and ridiculously unnecessary news coverage of that partisan bickering. Yet another is the pace. Nothing moves quickly here. Except tourists. It will be a strange adjustment returning to all of those things, but I like the perspective I think I’ve gained.
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