As we drove Northeast back the way we arrived last Sunday, the realization of how remote and accepting we had become to the simplest forms of lifestyle were apparent. The houses that last Sunday when we passed them seemed primitive, now seemed new and modern compared to the dwellings of the Singida area. They had concrete walls all painted one color and aluminum roofs, compared to the rustic run down concrete and wood patched homes of Singida.
As we stopped at the entrance to the national park we all went to the bathroom and to have stalls again with a flushing toilet seemed like such a treat again for all of us. Our perspectives had definitely been broadened to appreciate the little luxuries our every day life offers.
A bit about our experience at Tarangire- it is one of many national animal preserves in Tanzania. It is 2850 square kilometers and imagine slightly hilly terrain, the Tarangire river running though the canyons, and brown tall grass everywhere sprinkled with trees like- the famous African Baobab, Ebony tree (trunks are black inside and used for carvings), Acacia (not related to Chardonnay as far as I know), Strangular fig tree (baobab strangled by a ficus), and my personal favorite, the sausage tree that looks like it has Bratwursts hanging from it.
Everyone comes to see the animals in Africa and we were no exception. We were so excited.
When going on safari's there is the goal to see the "big five":
- Lion (Simba), Cape buffalo (mbogo), Elephant (Tembo), Leopard (Chui), and Rhino (kifaru)
And then additionally they add the cheetah (Duma) as the "pretty six".
According to our guide, Dominic, "You will be lucky if you see a lion and extremely lucky if you see a leopard". Let's say we felt lucky:)
We saw 5 lions, 1 leopard, several herds of elephants, impalas (both in families and as bachelor groups), dikdik's (full grown look like mini impalas), countless zebras and wildebeests (who like to hang out together for the zebras good eyes and wildebeests sharp sense of smell to detect predators), water bucks, warthogs, giraffe's, towny eagle, suburb starling (most popular bird in Tanz), red hornbill's, secretary birds, vultures, baboons, green monkey, and many giant ostriches.
The sleeping VERY mature male lion we saw just barely 20 feet from our truck sleeping on his back with paws in the air was an absolute highlight. The other was a herd of elephants we watched for quite a while cross the river, drink water and then go to a watering hole and cool themselves off. The younger ones rolled around in the muddy water completely covering themselves and only left because the matriarch decided it was time to move onto another nearby bathing spot. It was so surreal to see all these animals in their natural habitat. They were meant to have room to travel and be one with nature. It was so peaceful and calm and we were just observers to their world. Because this park was established in 1970, the animals are use to the safari trucks and just ignore us. If you have ever watched Planet Earth or National Geographic footage of animals in Africa- exactly the same. Everything was stunning.
As we left the preserve, we passed on its outskirts the local Maasi tribe villages where families live in compounds that are build in a circle of huts and then further sounded by a palisadee fence (made from tall sticks). The round huts are made from sticks stacked next to each other and then rubbed over with a mud made from cow dung and dirt as the insulation). Strange juxtaposition when you compare to the huge tourism industry passing by them by every day.
I highly suggest visiting the preserves if you you come to Africa.
With that said, I can't imagine coming here just for the animals. Doing what we did with the teachers carries so much more weight to the experience of being here. I wouldn't have felt fulfilled.
Around 6:30pm, we arrived at our new hotel in Arusha where we will spend the next week teaching teachers from several schools a similar curriculum. Arusha is a main city and our hotel feels like the Ritz compared to where we were at before. Let me be clear, it isn't the Ritz. We still don't have warm shower water. When we arrived several weddings and special events were going on and people were dressed in modern colorful and very beautiful outfits. They had BMW SUV's decorated for the bride and groom. It was culture shock as we rejoined modern civilization and frankly, I was a bit sad to leave the rural simpleness.
What I really appreciated from our last place in Singida was that we were all vulnerable to the humbling experiences and we bonded over them all - bringing us immediately closer as a teaching team.
Over dinner we talked about how we need to preserve that community feeling through our next week.
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