After breakfast we met Aggrey, the guide Ute had arranged to take us to visit and make a donation to the village of Jogoy.  

We took a short drive on narrow rutted roads past gardens and homes and were dropped off at the office of the village chairman.  In his office we made introductions and discussed the day’s plans with Aggrey as our translator.  Then the headmistress of the primary school, the headmaster of the secondary school, and three village women came to introduce themselves.  The headmaster also spoke English.

Then, as they had arranged, Joe and I each planted a tree in front of the village office and many photos were taken.

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Next we walked through town to the primary school and met all the teachers.  Tons of young uniformed children crowded around the periphery. Jane planted a tree in front of the school, and then we toured the classrooms.  There was no electricity and the classrooms were very basic and some had crumbling walls and floors. Typically a single teacher has 70-90 students in their class.  It was the last day of school so the classrooms were empty, but all the students were on hand to pick up their final report cards.

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Next we visited the much nicer secondary school with better buildings, electricity, some computers and a new laboratory. A dozen older boys and girls were in the computer lab and asked us many questions in good English.

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Returning to the village office, the village women brought us a tasty Tanzanian lunch.  There were two types of ugali, beans, greens, eggplant, tomatoes, papaya, oranges, avocado and bananas.  We were starved and ate plate after plate.  

After eating, the girls went to play outside, Joe was talking to the headmaster and the women turned on some music and began dancing with me.  I responded with some dancing and soon Rahema had me in her dancing embrace!

Joe and I made a $100 donation to the schools to build more desks which was very much appreciated. The villagers gave us gifts of two toy balls for the girls, and a kanga (large rectangle of fabric).

Then they gave us (the girls) a chance to try cutting back weeds with a slasher tool they use.  It is like a long machete with a bent end that you swing like a golf club to cut back brush and weeds.

The people of Jogoy were incredibly friendly.  They helped us a lot with our Swahili. After many goodbyes and pictures, we began our walk back to Irente Farm.  

We visited an amazing viewpoint atop a cliff looking down on a wide flat valley. We took a short cut along narrow foot paths that skirted homes and gardens.  

Aggrey spotted a chameleon and the girls got to hold it.

We spent the couple hours before dinner hanging around Irente Farm.  The girls found some vines they could swing from and then tied them together to make a swing.Dinner was great again.

 

Jane and I both were awake and wandering the apartment at 4 AM.  Joe had gone to sleep with Ruby who had trouble getting to sleep.  Jane came to sleep with me, and thankfully we fell back asleep around 5 AM.  Joe woke us when to my shock it was 11:30 AM! Soon after waking, the girls were climbing the nearby trees and ooh and ahhing over various flowers and bugs.

Having arrived at night I could only appreciate the amazing stars.  Upon opening our door we found our apartment perched above a tidy garden overlooking a beautiful forested valley.  We made our way down to the restaurant to meet our host, Ute, and find a delicious breakfast waiting, even at noon.  Everything was locally produced on the farm or purchased from nearby. Fresh fruit, yogurt, sourdough bread, butter, herbal cream cheese and exotic jams.  Best of all was the french press of coffee.

After a slow start we decided to take the short walk to a viewpoint.  It was just over 1 km down a dirt road passing many basic homes, gardens, a few little shops and a school.  We saw many Tanzanians, especially young children along the way.  We greeted them all in our best Swahili and they were very friendly.  We went as far as where the road took a sharp turn and there was a spectacular view steeply down to a valley far below, and of sheer rocky cliffs.  From there we doubled back and returned to Irente Farm.

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After a little down time, we took another walk, down a narrow path and emerged at Irente Farm’s cow shed and jam factory.  Again we saw many friendly people and the ubiquitous motorbikes with young men.  There were also some amazingly huge trees.  One, when Jane approached, a score of large dark butterflies emerged from a crevice.  It was a surprise.  I thought they were bats!

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We then lounged around the restaurant and apartment until dinner.  All twenty or so guests gathered around a few tables and helped ourselves to an abundant buffet of Tanzanian food.  Everything was tasty and foreign and vegetarian except the coconut curry beef.

We were all well rested. Jane, Mom, and I went exploring. Then we had an amazing breakfast even though it was already lunch time. After that, I climbed very high in a tree. I was taking pictures of a big patch of aloevera flowers when, a beautiful teal Amani Sunbird with a green belly darted out. It turned out there were about seven of them. I watched them for quite a while.

Then, we went on a walk to a viewpoint. On the way, we met a girl who was trying to sell us some type of fruit or maybe vegetable. I found a chunk of sugar cane that I later skinned and ate. It was delicious! After that, we went to milk cows, but we then figured out we weren’t allowed to. We decided to keep walking and came to a giant tree. Mom wanted to take a picture of Jane and I standing next to it. Jane ran up to it and out of the tree came about twenty big, black, butterflies.

The adventure began before we even left Austin when the security scanner found Jane’s long lost pocket knife hiding in a side pocket of her backpack.  A souvenir from California, Jane was desperate that the knife be saved, while Joe was stressed we’d miss our chance to eat before boarding. Mommy was escorted with the dangerous weapon from the secured area, paid $16 to ship the knife home, went through security a second time, and we still had time to eat before boarding.

In Chicago we were meet by Qatar Airways representatives who (eventually) escorted us and other passengers through a gauntlet of passageways, and a bus trip across the runways, to a chaotic gate teeming with travelers from the world over.  The routing on our one checked bag was corrected (hopefully) and we finally boarded the huge plane. We had a complete middle row.

Jane was immediately overjoyed at the luxury!  We each had a pillow, blanket, and a case containing an eye mask, toothbrush, toothpaste, and socks.  A large screen offered a huge library of movies and TV shows.  When the attractive attendants passed out wet wipes, Jane declared this was the best plane ever and a wonderful place to spend her birthday.

We slept little during the 13 hour flight.  A horrible chorus of crying babies and toddlers never abated.  The flight ended on a high note after the long wretched night when the crew sang happy birthday to Jane and produced a dinner menu transformed into a birthday card and an overflowing dessert plate.

We disembarked into the huge, uncrowded and ultra modern Doha airport.  Many travelers wore the hijab and we saw some men dressed as sheikhs.  Not a beer or glass of wine could be found and we were mindful not to eat or drink in public until after sundown it being Ramadan. After checking into the nice Airport hotel, we enjoyed a swim in a luxurious lap pool and dinner. Exhausted, we fell asleep easily. Jane slept solidly through the night, but Ruby, Joe and I were up from 1:30 AM onward for the most part.

The next morning the gate for our final flight to Kilimanjaro was only steps away from the hotel. After a five hour flight we landed at the small airport with a fantastic view of Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Here met our guide Said Salim http://www.usambaraadventures.com and his driver Barikituma (spelling?).

I expected a long drive to arrive at Irente Farm at 8 PM, but we did not arrive until 10:15 PM.  Said was great company for the long drive. He is from the Usambara mountain region and speaks Kisamba as well as Swahili, English and other languages.  It was amazing to look out the window of our van as we drove across northern Tanzania. Beautiful Mt. Kilimanjaro was out our window for the first while.

Later amazing baobab trees appeared.  All along the way were many Tanzanians along the road, maasai in shukas herding animals, and women in kangas carrying packages on their heads. We stopped at a modest cafe for a dinner of chips, eggs, and chicken. The last part of the drive was in darkness. We were stopped by police several times at checkpoints, but it was not a problem. Finally we turned off the main road and snaked upward for the last hour on steep windy dark roads, then on to a rough dirt road, arriving at Irente Farm where the night watchman let us into our amazing apartment.

Getting to Tanzania is taking forever. First we flew on a three hour flight from Austin to Chicago. But, even before that, we had a run in at security. Jane had lost her pocket knife in her bag and of course security detected it. So, we ended up mailing it back home. Then we flew on a thirteen hour plane ride from Chicago to Doha, Qatar. We had to spend the night on the plane and I only got four hours of sleep.

In the morning, (since it was her birthday,) the flight attendant served Jane a whole bunch of desserts. They even sang her happy birthday!

After our flight we stayed at the Airport Hotel. There was a very long and warm pool. It was AWESOME!

We stayed the night at the hotel and went to bed at 1:00 p.m. Austin time. My sleep at the hotel was even worse, at about three hours. In the morning we woke up and got ready for the plane ride from Doha to Kilimanjaro. Over the course of plane rides, I’ve watched six movies and started a seventh. After we got off the plane we walked over to a building. On the way we saw two big crows with white bellies. They were amazing! In the building, since the doors were open, there were a bunch of moths and katydids. After that, we met our guide and started the long ride to Lushoto in the Usambara mountains. During the ride we saw baobab trees which are super fat.

Anyway, by the time we came to the farm it was 10:15 p.m. I fell asleep at about midnight and woke up at 11:30 in the morning.

Our next adventure will be the biggest one yet!  A 75 day trip to Tanzania!  We leave Monday June 6th.

Trekking in the Usambara Mountains

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Tanzanian Beaches

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Safari!

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