First Night in Karatu!!!
July 4th
After breakfast we had our kiswahili lesson. Our instructor was awesome and was so patient with me and all of us. Unlike people elsewhere, Tanzanians will be offended if you don't try to speak in Swahili. Many of them know English, but they like to see that you're trying.
We had a little while to move into our little Tanzanian home before dinner. At dinner we met Adam and Summer. They're two young teachers that just graduated from UT Austin. Apparently the only Americans in the area are Longhorns. ;) They'd been there for about three weeks and left a few days after us. They were helpful in helping us get adjusted.
(Written Evening of July 5th)
I'm so ready for bed, but I need to make sure I write down everything before I forget. It was an awesome day even though I'm writing about it a bit late.
I woke in Arusha up before the sun and just listened to the rain drizzle on the cottage. At this point it still hadn't hit that we were in Africa. I took a nice stroll and sat outside before breakfast. It was all just so peaceful and lush even though we were in the middle of the city!
There was also a trampoline and playscape so of course I had to explore those ;)
But yeah, a very calm morning with a lovely breakfast including fresh butter and bread. There was also this yummy crepe like cinnamon pancake that was DELICIOUS! I also had some coffee even though I wouldn't normally, but I had to try it. It was so smooth and fresh! It's a bit chilly in the mornings so it was nice to warm up with.
After breakfast we had our kiswahili lesson. Our instructor was awesome and was so patient with me and all of us. Unlike people elsewhere, Tanzanians will be offended if you don't try to speak in Swahili. Many of them know English, but they like to see that you're trying.
Then we started our trek to Karatu, but we got to make some stops in the city. First we stopped just in a more central area of the city to get a wifi chip for emergencies, and we needed shillings for tips and shopping. While sitting in the Urth Expeditions safari car it's pretty obvious we're tourists. I mean we're looking around like crazy, we're very white, and we're sitting in a Safari car. There were men and women coming up to our windows selling belts, shoes, bracelets, maps and so many more things.
After that we went to the cultural center. There's wood carvings, jewelry, traditional knives, and so many souvenirs to buy! I picked up a few things and we spent a bunch of time looking at all the shops. Then we headed over to a restaurant right outside this huge five-story museum. We ordered our food, and we went inside. There's not enough time in the day to see everything that's in there! Paintings, pictures, statues, traditional masks and so much more line the walls. It was spectacular!
We spent a lot of time there, so we only had 10 minutes at our next stop before we headed off to Karatu. Shanga is where they sell goods like handblown glass, scarfs and other handmade items. The employees are the ones that make most of the items sold, and many of them are blind, deaf or handicapped in some way. Their saying is, "Kindness is a language blind people see and deaf people hear." We only had a few minutes, but it was cool to walk through and smile at the people.
There's also a coffee lodge and gift shop right there where we got to take a peak in.
Then we hit the road! Most of the drive was on the one Tanzanian highway, so it was pretty smooth! The amount of corn we passed was unreal! There's hills and cows and markets and homes; there's so much that if you look away for a second you'll miss something. At some point we had to take a bush break; it wasn't 'embarrassing,' but it was memorable.
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| I didn't mean to get a picture this cool! The young man with his face painted has just went through the circumcision ceremony and is on the road to manhood. (Everyone was trying to get a picture and missed as Shaffie was explaining. I just wanted a picture of the cows.) |
The road goes past Lake Manyara and overlooks the national park, so as we came up the hill we stopped to take pictures. This is where we saw our first Baobab tree.
After that it was straight through to Karatu. Once we turned off the highway it was a short but very bumpy ride to Kiretono.
We had a little while to move into our little Tanzanian home before dinner. At dinner we met Adam and Summer. They're two young teachers that just graduated from UT Austin. Apparently the only Americans in the area are Longhorns. ;) They'd been there for about three weeks and left a few days after us. They were helpful in helping us get adjusted.
During dinner was the first time it all felt real; yes I am in Tanzania and I am so happy. We finished the meal, went back to our house, and headed to bed with after a quick itinerary check.
This was a bit difficult to remember 24 hours after, so I hope I didn't forget anything. Even though it was the 4th of July, no one was shooting off fireworks! Couldn't figure out why.
Much love,
Kami
