I'm back in good ole' room number 1 at the Ilburo Safari Lodge. This is the only room I have ever stayed in here. I requested that I have this room again. It has become my home away from home when I am in Tanzania. Why change? It is the furthest one from the road, closest to the turkeys. Yes, I said turkeys. The former own of the lodge started his own little business. While there aren't as many as there used to be, they still make a bit of noise. I have come to be able to tune them out.
While I was in Kondoa last night I jotted down a bit of what was going on. Here is that entry:
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Kondoa has been a whirlwind!! There just isn’t enough time in the day on this trip.
Today I took photos of most of the remaining children at the Kondoa Integrity School for a grand total of 129 children. All of the children had two photos taken of them. For those of you who know me, I am quite proficient at changing eyes on one photo for another or some such “repair” issues. But I would say that at least half of them had three photos. That’s a lot of photos!!!
I’m happy with them and look forward to editing them to be able to give the photos not only to the sponsors, but to have them brought back to Kondoa so the children can have a school photo. That is one of the small privileges we have in America.
Our stay in Kondoa has been a comfortable one. The bed is good, there are warm showers, not hot, but warm and although the menu has not varied at all, the food has been good. Once again, variety in our diet is another small privilege we have in America.
I’m sure at this moment your asking yourself, “I wonder what they have been eating?” Well, I’m glad you asked.
Breakfast is a scrambled egg and a chapatti. The lunch and dinner menu is the same even though we eat at different restaurants. It includes rice, a delicious sauce that does vary a bit, beans, chips (french fries), and a variety of veggies. Oh, and I can’t forget the chicken. It is usually over done and I always wonder a bit about the size of the chickens in America because I have never seen a chicken here that could produce breasts like we have in stores. Come to think of it, I have never actually seen a chicken breast served here. Hmmm, what do they do with them?? Perhaps that is the choice cut and the staff gets them.
Right now it’s about 8:45pm. In about 15 minutes a party out in the streets of Kondoa should be starting. At least it has every other night we have been here. This is the month of Ramadan and let me tell you, it is a party atmosphere when the sun goes down. They do make quite a racket.
Even with all that, I have not had a night where I have not slept like a rock. I hear the party right outside my window for about 5-minutes and then I am out like a light. I’m not sure if it is because I feel at home here or I’m just really tired from the day’s work. Either way, I’m very happy!!!
The party outside is starting to grow. Voices are becoming louder, laughter fills the air and a call to prayer is going on.
Oh, the call to prayer!! I could never be a Muslim. The first call to prayer is at 4am!! No real need for an alarm clock here. Yikes!
Yesterday when I was tagging along with the women in the group, we went to the market. There are so many things going on there. Vegetables, fruit, beans, shoes and almost anything else you could want are displayed in the stalls.
As we were walking along, I asked if I could take some photos of a couple of children. This is really a way of allowing the adults see the photos I take and hopefully gain their trust and allow me to snap their photo as well.
It worked. I was able to take a couple of photos of a woman selling Chinese cabbage. She was such a good sport.
The other gals kind of got ahead of me and when I caught up to them, a man was talking Agnes, one of the teachers from our school. I knew what was happening and I was not going to give in. Even though I had taken some cute photos in the market I was willing to delete them rather than give into his demands.
It started out by him telling Agnes that it is regulation that he gets our signatures. She knew this was not true and so did I. As the conversation progressed, I told him that I would delete the photos but I was not going to sign anything.
Okay, this is where you need to know how to “read between the lines”. He wanted a bribe from us for taking photos in the market. There is no regulation. He saw white skin and wanted to make a buck. No hostility here, just the way it is.
When he saw that I was putting my foot down, he caved. I had the professional camera and I was the one he was targeting. All is well. He went along his we and so did we. I kept my photos.
Tomorrow there are six of us driving back to Arusha. I can’t say I am looking forward to the drive.
Funny thing about Africa is once someone knows you are going somewhere, one question inevitably comes up, “Do you have room for one more?” We have had to turn down a couple of people because our vehicle is already full.
And if you do have a seat available, somewhere along the way the next question is, “I have family along the way; can we stop so I can greet them?” That is no small task. In Africa you don’t just stop for a “couple” of minutes.
So, tomorrow I will post this for you to read, as well as some photos I have taken. I must say I’m pretty pleased with a couple of them. They are definitely keepers. Let me know what you think?
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As I said, I'm back in Arusha now and the internet is VERY slow. I have not been able to upload photos to my Flickr account so the photos I have here have a watermark on them. Please forgive me for doing this. Once I can upload to my Flickr, I will change the photos.
The following are all street photos.
Dr. Joe with his sponsored child and her father.
Elisha, Kondoa Integrity School Principle.
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