Too much Mandazi

Hello from Arusha! Sorry it has been a few weeks since I posted last, but I have been pretty busy learning the ropes of living and volunteering in Africa. Let’s rewind to two weeks ago…

Welcome to Arusha, Tanzania! Laura and I get picked up at the airport by our volunteer organization, Tanzania Volunteer Experience (TVE) and embark on the nighttime journey to our volunteer house. I was a little nervous- the ride was crazy and bumpy and I was actually really sketched out when we arrived at the house. Simba House is in a back alley in an alley off the main road and I was not comfortable with it. I told myself countless times to just give it a few days before making any hasty decisions (such as buying a plane ticket home). So the weekend came and went and I hadn’t left the house resulting in me still being pretty uncomfortable with the whole volunteer living experience. Not good. But thanks to orientation, I learned more about the TVE organization and all the placements and a little bit about Tanzanian culture. After all the paperwork and logistics, a few of the staffers took us out to the main market area to get SIM cards, groceries, cash, and to help us get around on the local transportation.

("We are strong women, we can do it" is the motto the women live by!)

And on Monday, it began! I officially became a long-term volunteer at Positive Love! I really encourage you to check out the website since it explains the purpose and mission of this organization much better than I can!

http://www.positivelovetz.org/

I originally wanted to volunteer at an HIV/AIDS organization because that’s what I had studied and researched most heavily in university, and felt that by actually participating in a program alongside people with an HIV positive diagnosis, I would gain a more in depth knowledge of the disease and how people live with it. Because of the negative stigma toward HIV infected individuals in Eastern Africa, it can be hard to gain employment and provide for one’s household. So through organizations like Positive Love, women are taught useful business skills as well as learning to love who they are and appreciate their gifts. I have really loved working with the six women at Positive Love and feel that this experience will be one I will cherish for the rest of my life!

(Photo credit: Laura Powers- It's not all beads and bracelets, we also help cook and clean! Here I am washing dishes!)

During our time with the women, we are taught to make all sorts of odds and ends! I’ve made so many different kinds of bracelets it’s ridiculous! I feel that I could open my own friendship bracelet business after learning about all these different styles! My inner 12-year-old girl is really loving this! But the women also make necklaces, earrings, skirts, shirts, bags, scarves and shoes, and some household items like serving spoons and glasses! It’s really a never-ending array of goodies and it is SO HARD not to buy out the whole store!

(Laura teaching some of the women English grammar rules)

So we go to placement for 4 hours a day and then have the rest of the day to ourselves. If we don’t just come home and chill, we head out to town to hang out, check out the markets, or get food. There’s a small shopping complex near where we live and what the volunteers call Mzungu Square (mzungu means white person/ foreigner). This is a hub for the white people to go and get coffee, or groceries, and the best part… WIFI! The wifi at our house can be pretty unreliable, so having a place to access the Internet is always nice. There’s this really delicious gelato shop that is practically impossible to avoid, and there’s some nice Western restaurants. It’s also the main stop for public transportation. The dalla dallas are little busses that get crammed full of people! Probably the most uncomfortable I’ve ever felt here in Tanzania has been while riding the dallas. They really suck and the drivers are crazy! But whatever, you’ve got to deal with them if you ever want to leave the confines of our neighborhood.

So we head to Mzungu Square regularly after placement. We’ve also ventured farther into eastern Arusha and visited a really cool market area called the Masaai Market. Here you can get all sorts of Tanzanian goodies and souvenirs. The shop owners will heckle you and try to pull you into their shops, so it’s kind of annoying to deal with. I was able to get some pretty great deals on some things and it was fun to barter and chat with the shop owners. There’s also this cool coffee shop/bakery nearby the market called Fifi’s, that serves great frappes and delicious bacon pancakes! And Wraps is another place that you need to visit when here! It’s a food truck and walking by you’d never think to stop, but they have great burgers and chips for only $6! Score! Walking around town is helpful because we learn more about the area each time we venture outside our gated house and always find new places to go and hang out.

(The group with the tribe)

Last weekend, one of the volunteers here organized an outing to a Masaai village. The Masaai people are the largest tribal group in Tanzania and are recognized by their intricate beadwork and their jumping. Yes, jumping. In many of their songs and dances, men and women alike will jump up and down as part of the dance. Also, the Masaai warriors have their own form of jumping and use it to scare of animals like lions and hyenas. It was so amazing to see their village and how they live without any modern comforts. They’ve stuck with their traditional ways and have resisted development even as the world around them grows. We were allowed to put on their necklaces and blankets and were taught a few songs, how they herd their animals, how to make fires with only sticks and manure, and learned about the day to day life of the Masaai. This was such an amazing cultural experience and I loved getting to witness firsthand the traditions and heritage of the tribal peoples.

(Photo credit: Laura Powers- Me with the women and kids of the tribe)

I’m feeling much more comfortable with the area and with volunteer life, so I think I’ll stick with my 3 month commitment, especially since Laura and I have hit the ground running at our volunteer placement and have some big plans to share with you all!

There is an unfinished building on the lot and I asked the directors what they wanted to do with it or what it was for. They said that they wanted to open a shop for the Positive Love products. A shop would be really helpful to keep the workshop un-cluttered and would provide the ladies with business management skills by run their own shop. So after discussing amongst ourselves, we decided that since we are here for 3 months, we should really try and finish this building so the director’s and ladies dream of having a shop could be realized. After proposing our ideas to the Directors, we were able to get price estimates and fundraise the money to get the project started! We now have a finished foundation and 4 walls, a ceiling, and glass in the windows! We, as volunteers are providing our labor, instead of paying someone to do it, and will start prepping the building to be painted within a few weeks! Hopefully we can get it all painted and furnished before we leave, but if not, we’ve started this project and whoever comes after us to volunteer can continue working on it!

(The building we hope to make into a shop!)

We have some other ideas for Positive Love, including selling in the States and marketing to tourists here in Arusha. So we’ve got lots to do in 3 months, and we are already two weeks in! My how time flies! And it’s not all just work! We’ve got vacations planned, outings and adventures galore, and Compassion visits to do! So it’ll be lots of busy days from here on out, and I can’t wait to share all my experiences with you!

P.S. Mandazi is a fried ball of deliciousness and is addicting. If I come home fat, it’s because I’m eating too much mandazi!

When Nature Calls

When in Africa, you have to go on a safari. No question about it. That’s also conveniently the first thing people think of when you say you’re going to Africa. They think of the vast savannah, lions roaming next to elephants, zebras, and giraffes like in the Disney movie, The Lion King. Well in reality, it’s pretty much just like that!

(The lion that almost ate us!)

We went on a 5 day Safari to Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, the Ngorogoro Conservation area and Crater, and Tarangire National Park. It was all I could’ve hoped for an so much more! We had the amazing opportunity to watch animals in their natural habitat, eating, running, loving, and just going about their lives despite the obnoxious 4x4 Jeeps driving everywhere.

We started Day 1 of our safari at Lake Manyara: Home of the tree climbing lions. This was my least favorite park, but a good one to start at. We were weaned into Jeep life with this park and realized just what kind of things we would be experiencing while on safari. Right away monkeys and baboons, and birds of all sorts surrounded us! The monkeys are brave creatures and one even jumped in our jeep in attempt to steal our lunches! Thankfully someone came and banged on the windows to make it leave, but we were all flabbergasted! There’s really no other word to describe it! After that encounter we set off and the diversity of wildlife began to unfold! Looking back, this would be the one park I wouldn’t mind skipping because it kinda feels like you’re in a zoo. The animals are practically enclosed because it’s such a small park and feels like you’re enclosed, stuck between the mountains and a lake. Despite this, it was still cool and it a very nice park.

(Thanks Kandoo)

Day 2 and 3 were my favorites because we were in none other than the Serengeti! I feel like I walked right into a movie! First thing we see- three huge male lions! Just lounging in the shade of a tree, they seemed very relaxed and didn’t seem to mind our presence. I thought that if this is how our day begins, then what wonders await us?! After that, we saw 40+ more lions, lionesses, cubs, lions eating, lions growling, lions doing it on a rock, and even a near lion hunt! If you haven’t figured, I love lions, so I was thrilled to see so many! Along the way we also saw 2 separate leopards lounging in trees. The first one was a bit nervous at our being there under his tree so he climbed high to hide, but the second was so relaxed and just continued to sprawl on his perch. We also lucked out and saw 4 cheetahs! Two of them were eating something recently killed and the others were just peacefully lying in the grass. We also saw some Servals (smaller cats but similar to cheetahs) catching prey and carrying it off. You’d think that because some cats have spots, that they would be easy to pick out, but that is not so! They camouflage themselves so well since their fur matches their surrounding so perfectly. I count myself lucky that we saw all the big cats in one day, as many people miss one or the other.

(Cheetahs digging in)

In addition to cats, we saw antelope of every kind, elephants galore and giraffes walking in front of our jeep, zebras a plenty, and buffalo and wildebeest roaming free. We also went to a hippo pond and watched these lumbering creatures for the better part of an hour! They are disgusting and smelly creatures, but also really fascinating! At one point this huge hippo stood up and pooped right on his neighbor! But he didn’t just poop- as he released his bowels he swished his stubby tail from side to side, flinging his poop in all directions! It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen and so we all are cracking up laughing in the jeep when all of a sudden the hippos join in our laughter with their own! It was hilariously fantastic! After 2 long days in the Serengeti, soaking up sun, getting coated in dust, and sleeping in “luxury tents” surrounded by hyenas at night with Masai warriors protecting us, we felt we had really experienced all the wonders of the savannah.

Our 4^th day on the safari, we went to the Ngorogoro Crater. This is a huge conservation area were the Masai people are free to lives their traditional lives, raising families and livestock on the outskirts of the crater. They are not allowed to live in the crater but can graze their cattle there. The crater itself is a snow globe filled with forests, lakes, marshes, animals, and jeeps. There are so many habitats and all are occupied by different animals- all coexisting within. We saw a lioness hauling a zebra back to her cubs, hyenas fighting over scraps, birds of all sorts picking out food from the lakes, and hippos and elephants relaxing in the wet and tall grass.  The most elusive and impressive animal to see on the Ngorogoro Crater is the Black Rhino. There are only a handful of these guys left in the world and the crater boasts a population of about 15- the highest concentration anywhere! As we were leaving the crater, looking down from above, we spotted 2 rhinos on the hillside below. After a long day of seeing everything else but the Black Rhino, we lucked out and rounded off the day by seeing these endangered animals.

(The view from the top of the crater. Those 2 black dots are rhinos... Good luck finding them!)

(To the tune of 12 Days of Christmas) On the fifth day of the safari, our great guide Felix gave to us, a lot of elephants! Haha Tarangire National Park is home to the highest population of elephants in Africa supposedly, and I’d believe it! They were everywhere we went! As were the huge Boabab trees that Rafiki made famous in the Lion King as the Tree of Life. This whole park was pretty lush despite the dryness of the season. When the rains come, it transforms into marshes, swamps, and green forests where life thrives. This a really nice park to end with as we saw every animal we’d seen previously and it was much more interesting than Manyara. We only spent a few hours here because the Powers had to get to the airport and Laura and I were being picked up to go to our placement house in Arusha. But it was time well spent and overall, I wouldn’t change a single thing about the safari!

Africa is not only the cradle of civilization but also the home to such a massive diversity of creatures of all shapes and sizes. It was so neat to be able to experience these animals in their natural habitats, not stressed out by small enclosures or worried about being hunted. It is an experience I’ll cherish forever as an animal lover and one worth sharing to bring awareness to poaching and harm some of these animals endure. This giant continent is a mystery to most travelers and it isn’t until you go there that you really start to appreciate its splendor in all of its forms. I’m excited to live and work in such a diverse place and to learn about the many cultures, traditions, and peoples that occupy Tanzania.

(Wildebeest left, right, and all around!)

The Roof of Africa

I’m back! So I hiked the tallest mountain in Africa and the world’s largest freestanding mountain: Mount Kilimanjaro. It was the ultimate test of endurance and will, and one of the hardest things I have ever done but I wouldn’t change the experience for anything. We had a great team of guides, cooks, and porters and they really helped us feel welcome and comfortable on the mountain. During the climb I kept a journal, so I will be writing this post in diary form and am not changing much, so these are my thoughts and ramblings as they happen! (I did not change the “Altitude” parts from meters into feet, because I’m too lazy to do that, but if you’re interested, there’s this awesome site called Google that’ll convert it for you! If you’re like me- just know the final elevation is over 19,000 feet.)

Friday, August 19: Day 1

Londorossi Gate to Mti Mkubwa Camp

Altitude: 2360m to 2895m

Distance: 6 km, Time: 3-4 hours

Habitat: Mountain forest

After staying at the wonderful Stella Maris hotel for 2 nights, which is a charitable hotel that runs a primary school next door, Laura and I met up with her family at the Kilimanjaro airport. Then we packed. Stuffing our duffel bags to bulging with all sorts of gear, clothes, odds and ends, we embarked on the 4-hour drive to the starting point of our trek in a van with our 3 guides, and 21 porters.

Hiking was SLOW going today. Regardless of the late start, we still traversed 6 km through the forests to our camp for the night. I felt like I had to monitor my speed because it was almost uncomfortably slow, the reason being it’ll give us more time to acclimate and keep everyone healthy. (Which I understand the importance of now!) If we keep up this pace, we will reach the summit no problem! The temp was reasonable, a little hot, and I sweat buckets anyways, but whatever, a great start to a great journey! We got to our camp around 5:30 pm and got ready for a great dinner of soup, meat, rice, and veggies! Much to my surprise, they provided us with water for washing! I wasn’t expecting to be clean all week! So a quick slash here and there, and bam! Good as new! And guess what?! WE HAVE A TOILET TENT! Say what?! Yeah there’s a little port-a-potty toilet in a tent! No “in the woods” pooping for me! So to say the least, I was pretty thrilled about the camping arrangements!

Saturday, August 20: Day 2

Mti Mkubwa Camp to Shira 1 Camp

Altitude: 2895m to 3500m

Distance: 7 km, Time: 3-4 hours

Habitat: Moorland

Today was the first real test of our endurance and strength. We woke up at 6:30 am, got ready, packed our bags, and were ready for breakfast at 7 am! Mmm, porridge. Not a huge fan but I’m hungry enough that I’ll eat anything. It was a bit difficult today because we gained 2000 ft pretty quickly with some very steep up’s and very few down’s. Once again, it was slow going, but I appreciate that our guide, Richard, sets a steady pace. Going slower helps to conserve energy and with as much up we did, we needed all the energy we had! I’m still confident that I’ll be able to make it to the top! My brother Josh has little faith in me, so I have to prove him wrong and prove to myself that I can do this! It’s more of a mental game than a physical one I think just because it’s long days, exhausting work, and 24/7 time with your group.

Rolling into our camp for the night, we get our first view of the mountain in the distance! Holy cow it’s beautiful and really far away! I’ll be standing on top of that in just 5 days! I mean, WOW! We arrived at lunchtime, so relaxed and ate lunch and then just hung out for the rest of the evening! We played lots of UNO and Smart Ass and had a great time! Later: One of the coolest things I’ve seen is the moon rising up above Kilimanjaro. The clouds have all gone and the stars are coming out, and it’s beautiful! SO MANY STARS!

Sunday, August 21: Day 3

Shira 1 Camp to Moir Hut

Altitude: 3500m to 4200m

Distance: 7 km, Time: 3-4 hours

Habitat: Moorland

Brrr! It’s getting colder at nights and I’m going to have to put on more layers! Our tents were frosty this morning and we could see our breath! I had a pretty restless night and in the morning realized why… Darn Aunt Flo came to say screw you. Literally one of the worst things I had envisioned happening on this trip. Good thing I came prepared. Ladies, always be prepared! Regardless, it was pretty miserable. Today was more of a gentle incline which I was thankful for, but I still ached with cramps the whole way up. We took more breaks which was great but that didn’t stop me from crying in pain because I couldn’t just roll up in fetal position and die a slow death. I popped in my headphones and just focused on myself for the better part of the day. It was a really pretty hike and it’s cool to see all the different vegetation! Today the mountain loomed closer and closer and I’m surprised at how big it really is. Until you’re standing at the base looking up, you just don’t realize what you’ve gotten yourself into.

After lunch and some relaxation time, our guides, Richard, Elias, and Baraka took us on an acclimatization hike. We had to hike up another 500 or more feet, hang out for half and hour, and then come down. Hike high, sleep low. I’m still feeling pretty good at this point- a little headache which was gone by dinner, an upset stomach which was fixed after a visit to the toilet tent, and my period which was relieved a bit by Midol, but over all, no real issues with the elevation or tired muscles! I’m feeling good about making it to the top as our guides have said that the worst part is over! It still seems daunting, but this trek really is about the journey and not the destination (even though it’ll be freakin’ amazing to make it to the summit!).

Monday, August 22: Day 4

Moir Hut to Pofu Camp

Altitude: 4200m to 4020m

Distance: 12 km, Time: 7-8 hours

Habitat: Semi desert

SCREW THIS! I went and hid behind a rock for a solid 10 minutes today crouched in fetal position and crying from pain. Can we just take everything out so I’ll never have to deal with this stuff again?! Walking helps a bit, but when we are just sitting, I really feel the pain. Anyways… so we started out the day like any other, health check, porridge, and time to start hiking! Today was the best hiking day by far because the views were spectacular! We did a lot of up’s and downs, but it was never very steep and it was nice to just loll along at a relaxed pace. We climbed over boulders and leaped over streams, we got caught in the clouds and shuffled along dusty trails. It was also considerably colder- I actually put on my fleece over my t-shirt! Wyoming girl for the win! But for real, tomorrow I’ll have to pack another layer in my day bag! At dinner, Michael Powers did the math, and as the crow flies, we are only 6km from the summit, but in human terms, that’s 3 days, 20km, and almost 2000m up to go…

So we are high up, but not high enough yet. Sitting in Pofu camp, we are rewarded with a sea of clouds, which we are now above. Watching them come in and swirl around is unreal and all I want to do is dive right into the fluffy masses and go swimming! Best campsite thus far!

Tuesday, August 23: Day 5

Pofu Camp to Third Cave

Altitude: 4020m to 3960m

Distance: 7 km, Time: 6 hours

Habitat: Semi desert

6 hours climbing time? LIES! We were finally allowed to sleep in an extra 30 minutes today and we didn’t actually start hiking until 9:30ish. We arrived to our next camp exhausted, dusty, beaten down, and #overit a whole… 2 HOURS LATER! Haha jk it was such a fast hike we didn’t actually believe we were done when we got to the camp! It was a breeze to trek across the distance and we even went down a bit in elevation! We’ve been hanging between 13-14,000 ft for the past few days to help our bodies acclimate so we are ready for the final push to the summit, and it was nice to have this extra day to relax. So it was a pretty standard day- porridge, soup, uno. I think we played UNO for 4 hours this afternoon, and we even taught our waiter Lenny, toilet tent guy Johnny, and guide Baraka how to play! We went from 3 players to 7, then back down again, with others joining off and on. We took naps, climbing around on some rocks for fun, and watched it hail! It hailed for at least 2 hours and everything was coated in white! It was pretty cool!

Wednesday, August 24: Day 6

Third Cave to School Hut Base Camp

Altitude: 3960m to 4750m

Distance: 6 km, Time: 5 hours

Habitat: Alpine Desert

I feel like I’m on Mars. We started our highest ascent yet to the Base Camp for the Northern Circuit and I really feel like I’m on Mars! It’s so barren- rocks, dirt, the odd plant here and there, and nothing but the continual trudge up, up, up. The most interesting part of our hike was seeing some animals, Elan- an elk sized antelope thing with huge horns! Our guide Richard has been up the mountain over 200 times and has never seen them before, so he was pretty excited for us all to see them! The base camp is 1000m higher than we’ve ever been and boy howdy am I feeling it! The elevation started to get to me and gave me a throbbing headache that wasn’t staunched by food or water. In fact, I totally lost my appetite come lunchtime and took a total of one sip of soup. We got to camp a bit before lunch, and I slept. After lunch, I slept. Then threw up. Then slept. At dinner I ate a small portion of plain noodles (all I could force down). And then slept again.

Tonight is summit night. We are woken up at 10:30 pm for a light meal (which I had none of) and to prepare for the final push up the mountain. So this is it. The final test to see if I can make it up. I tell myself I can do it! I tell myself that the hardest part is already over! I tell myself I’m ready!

I lied to myself.

Thursday, August 25: Day 7

School Hut Base Camp to Uhuru Peak to Mweka Camp

Altitude: 4750m to 5895m to 3100m

Distance: 18 km, Time: 10-14 hours

Habitat: Stone scree and ice-camped summit to alpine desert

We wake up, me still sporting a pounding headache and start our ascent in the wee hours of morning. Fine, I can operate being tired. IM SO TIRED! And the guides lied! We were walking straight up, literally. You look up the mountain in the dark and all you see is a line of dots directly above you, groups of people all doing the same thing as you- trying to make it to the top. It was so steep and so difficult. There’s a marker, Hans Meyer cave, about a fourth of the way up, and I had thrown up 2 times before getting to this point. Drink some water, try to eat, keep the energy levels up, but the exhaustion didn’t really hit me until now. Trying to stand up and keep moving is getting harder and harder and I’ve gone numb to all feeling. The only thoughts in my head are “Keep moving. One step. Two step. Another.”

Our summit porter and aspiring guide, Emmanuel took my day bag from me at this point because he recognized that I was really hurting. Ok. Keep moving. We continue going up, we still have 6 hours before we reach Gillman’s Point at the top of the caldera. From there, it’s just a loop around the rim to Uhuru Peak. Ok. I can do this. I throw up. Not once, not twice, but three more times before making it to Gillman’s. Ever time I wretched off the hill, I nearly toppled over and if it hadn’t been for Emmanuel and Baraka sticking at my side holding me up, I might have. Emmanuel would give me water to clean myself and drink, and tissues to blow my nose. They both told me it was normal and kept encouraging me to keep moving. So I did. I kept moving forward because at this point, there’s no point in going back down. I didn’t want to give up. I couldn’t. I had to prove it to myself that I could do this.

We finally make it to Gillman’s point, take a quick photo, I vomit into the crater, and we keep moving. This brings my vomit total to 7 times. Hooray, let’s put it in the Guinness Book of World Records. After Gillman’s point is where the mental part of the trek begins. Everyone is so exhausted and ready to quit that it takes everything you have to stand back up and continue the uphill battle to the ultimate prize, Uhuru Peak. After 8 hours climbing straight up, the last thing I wanted to do was climb the final 2 hours to the peak. But Emmanuel pulled me up and we were off. At the last hill to the peak, looking up, I didn’t think I could do it. Emmanuel grabbed my hand and literally dragged me up that last hill to the peak.

We made it! Awesome. Nothing special, just a sign saying “Congratulations”. I couldn’t really enjoy it, but I smiled for the obligatory photos and cheered with everyone else. Can we go down yet? Yes?! THANK GOD! We made it to Uhuru Peak at 8:10am and then started the long haul down. On the way, there were a few people getting emergency help and I count my blessings that I didn’t need any medical assistance. I made it to the roof of Africa! The highest peak on the continent! What a feeling of accomplishment when I was actually able to feel again! On the way down, everything improved. My headache went away, I was able to eat and drink freely again, and felt a burst of energy surging! Maybe I was just so deliriously happy, but man oh man we flew down that mountain!

Finally rolling into Mweka Camp, all I could think was “halle-freakin-lujah”!

Friday, August 26: Day 8

Mweka Camp to Mweka Gate

Altitude: 3100m to 1800m

Distance: 10 km, Time: 3-4 hours

Habitat: Forest

Well this is it. I’m sore, hungry, fatigued, and generally ready to be done. But I made it to Uhuru Peak! And am still alive! Descending as fast as we did was really hard on my knees and I was really hurting towards the end. Finishing was unreal. The time had flown by so quickly and it was hard to believe that summit night actually happened. We collected our bags, said goodbye to our amazing porters, and went out to lunch with our three amazing guides, Richard, Elias, and Baraka, and our phenomenal chef, Reggie.

Climbing Kilimanjaro has been one of my biggest accomplishments thus far and has been such an incredible experience to share with my best friend Laura and the Powers family. I’m still in awe of what I overcame to make it to the top and how mentally strong I discovered myself to be. I wanted to give up more than once but I couldn’t let myself do that! I made it, and I couldn’t have done it with out the Kandoo crew helping me along every part of the way!