holidays part 2

It may have been due to the amazing hospitality, gorgeous house and tasty food but as soon as we arrived in Arusha, we felt completely at home and strangely enough the conversation often came to the discussion of Arusha being a place to live in the future. We were lucky enough to stay with old family friends, Annie who has been based in Tanzania for many years now, and Gideon her Tanzanian husband who is a doctor and runs his own (very impressive) clinic. Arusha’s climate is perfect if you don’t like it too hot and humid, we were there in the hottest time of year and still sleeping with a duvet, whilst during the day we were still able to obtain a tan! Days started with a laid back breakfast out on the veranda, with local Tanzanian coffee and fresh fruits..yes it was luxury! My mum had ventured from Scotland to – creating the first meeting between husband Jose and mother (I think it went well), so we spent our days wandering the markets or exploring town. It was her first time in Africa, so it was fun showing her the ways of life there, and trying different foods etc.

We spent one day on safari in Tarangire National Park, with an excellent loud Tanzanian guide called Willie. We didn’t venture to the more touristy safari parks to avoid being stuck in queues behind other jeeps, and so were not expecting to see any big cats, and I was even beginning to think we would be lucky to se anything – the way people were talking. The Park was absolutely beautiful, and there were not many people around. About only 1 minute into the drive…I spotted our first animal of the day – a zebra, and from then on it was animals galore. I couldn’t believe it – they were everywhere! We saw giraffes just a few feet from the road, we watched a herd of elephants crossing the road around us – including a 1 week old very curious little elephant, we saw baboons, waterbuck, impalas, ostrich, warthog and more! Just before lunch we had headed towards a marshland where there was lots of water, and the view was spectacular. There were a herd of elephants a kilometre or so away and willie suggested we go along for a couple of miles just in case any other animals had come to drink. We got to the elephants who were creating a bit of a stir, so stopped the jeep and suddenly willie announced – ‘ladies and gentleman, I promised you and know I have delivered…..a lion!’ at which point Jose jumped down inside the car and hid behind me!! The lioness was lolling high up in a tree, observing the elephants from afar. She looked so thirsty and was probably desperate to get to the water but the rowdy elephants were a danger to her. This was definitely the highlight of the trip – and once Jose had assessed the situation, he also found it to be amazing. We were also very lucky to see a family of wild dogs – which are very rare to see, in fact our Tanzanian friends had not seen one in their 20 years of regular safaris! They were right by the road, and resting under some bushes. Two of them were very small, and playing like puppies. It was hard to believe that these animals kill in one of the most verocious ways, they looked so cuddly!

Another day was spent riding camels – a project that our friend Annie had set up. The camels had been left some time ago by a ? South African who needed to leave in a hurry, and so these camels had been looked after by a group of Masai. We trecked for half a day and then had a lovely lunch at the camp. It is possible to camp there or even take the camels for a 7 day hike! My bum was sore after 2 hours! The camels were very funny to look at and they all had their own little personalities, one being very noisy and grumpy, stopping to eat all the time and drooling stinking saliva everywhere. Jose’s camel was very docile and was snuggling under my arm while we walked and he was always the first to do as he was told! Mine was pregnant.

After the camels we were privileged to visit a Masai boma. I was a bit shocked by it all, and probably didn’t appreciate the good points of the visit as much as I could of as I found it hard to look past all the childrens dirty faces with flys in their eyes and the young boy with a huge hydrocephalus who had only seeked out a traditional medicinalist. We saw their tiny houses with bed in the kitchen area, and chickens too so the smoke was unbearable even for us being in their for 2 minutes. In the centre of the camp was the animal pen, with thorns around the edges to prevent lions entering. We had a chat to some of the women and children and they could not understand how a black man – Jose could not speak Swahili, and then found it hilarious that we could possibly be married as we were different colours. They kept just pointing at both our skins – it was very funny and they were all very sweet with gorgeous kids. We were later to meet several masai, trying to make a living in the high season in Zanzibar…total different way of life.

The international tribunal for Rwanda is in Arusha, and has been ongoing for 7 years now. While we were there we heard that 3 of the big shots were having their final judgement, so although not a normal holiday activity we thought it would be interesting to witness. After a confusion with the UN security about Jose and I wearing flipflops and therefore not allowed in followed by mother and Annie having polite words we got to the viewing room. I don’t think I have ever been in a court before, we all had to put on headsets and choose our choice of language. The document containing all the evidence was 4000 pages long so they did a quick summary in about half an hour. The incidents and events they talked about were absolutely chilling and the accused sat there straight faced all the way through. 2 of them were given 3 life sentences each, and the other was proved not guilty. These men were part of those who planned and ordered the genocide, not the ones who actually did the killings. Those people are being tried in Rwanda and are in local Rwandan jails. These big men, as they are being tried by the UN, need to be kept under certain level of condition and therefore get to choose which country they serve their sentences.. It was a very interesting piece of history to witness, even if it made me feel sick inside hearing it. On the bus back from Tanzania we watched a film called Something inApril about Rwanda and it actually mentions Bagasora – the man we saw. For those of you who haven’t seen it watch that and Hotel Rwanda.

Gideon was brought up in Western kiliminjaro and so we were lucky enough to go and stay in their tiny little ‘weekend’ house at the bottom of this great landmark. Jose and I were camping,so after setting the tent up, we had a lovely meal of rice and coconut beans, and a few G and T’s as the sun set behind the mountain. We slept early, enjoyed camping and got up to see the sunrise and an amazing view of Kili. Jose was amazed by it, as we all were, and took loads of pics, I went back to bed and slept more. The next day we headed up the hill to the edge of the National Park, and again got stunning views.

I could talk more and more about this Arusha experience, even just the food – from traditional roast meat (the best chicken I think I have ever had), to Ethiopian to full Christmas dinner etc etc…life was good! Then it was time to move on.. We said our goodbyes and boarded a coach for the bustling and humid city Dar Es Salaam.