Four months. That is how long I have been in Tanzania, and yet I still find new things surprising me everyday. Today, Julius and I took 10 villagers from Idodi village to Ruaha National Park. Despite living with in an hour of the park gate all of their lives, not a single one of the villagers had ever set foot in the park before today.
At the park gate we passed out cameras and Julius demonstrated the basic functions. On, off, zoom, and how to view pictures. The villagers love having their own camera to take as many pictures of themselves and of the animals as possible. Every so often the pictures are off-kilter and a finger is peeking over the edge, but I am always impressed at how quickly they learn to operate the cameras. They almost always ask to take a picture with the accompanying mzungu (traveler in Swhaili), and the men love to hold my hand
even if I am a whole head taller than them. Although, today I did not get any marriage proposals.
As Julius talked about the history of the park in Swahili, I decided to apply sunscreen for the day. The ladies on the trip laughed heartily at me. They thought I was putting on lotion. One brave woman approached me, borrowed my sunscreen, and lathered herself up in the oily stuff. They laughed even harder when Julius explained to them it wasn’t lotion, but protection for my pale skin from the sun. She woman covered in sunscreen said she didn’t mind. She just wanted to use the white goopey stuff like the mzungu.
As we drove through the lush, green landscape we saw warthogs, zebras, impala, dik dik, kudu, and black back jackals. Elephants splashes in mud holes, trumpeted, and a few mated as they slowly meandered through the tall grasses in search of drinking water. The villagers fell silent at the trumpeting. Even I felt some anxiety at the proximity of such big, towering creatures. Hippos laughed a deep, hearty laugh to each other from their respective sides of the river, and the villagers ooh and ahh at the sound. Some giraffes
glanced questioningly at us then returned to slurping leaves off of acacias with their long, black tongues. Others ambled away from the road with their necks always gracefully swaying to and fro. The villagers like giraffes because they are polite. Lions lazily rested in the shade as they panted off the days excess heat. One female always with her head up, alert, and eyes roaming for the pride’s next meal. Overall, the day was a good, exciting day, and the villagers were all merrily laughing and joking with one another and Julius as
we drove them home that evening.
Back at camp night had descended and a thunderstorm rumbled and flashed in the distance. So I pulled a pad out of the tent and laid out under the stars faced with the wonderful dilemma: do I watch the many pristine stars over head or the pink and purple flashes of the storm on the horizon? I decided to alternate between both, and after awhile, a full moon blossomed over the tops of the acacia trees giving me one more thing to enjoy. I laid there for maybe an hour or more content with the warm breeze on my face. So, tonight I will go to sleep a little more in love with Tanzania because of it’s people, wildlife, and beautiful landscape. I can’t believe I only have one more month of this adventure left before my time in Tanzania comes to an end.
Jackie
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