Tanzania - Part Four - Lake Manyara & Arusha

 

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th

 

After a nice hot shower and a wonderful breakfast, we packed up and took some photos around the hotel before getting back in the jeep.  Driving back towards Arusha, I noticed out in the rural area that there were houses or barns made entirely out of sticks and twigs.

This morning we scheduled a walking tour of the Mto wa Mbu village with a local guide called Billy.  It was honestly really fascinating - we spent a good deal of time walking around a Banana Plantation learning about the various types of bananas.

Red bananas take 13 months to mature and are softer than other bananas - they're not sweet and you can't cook with them because of their consistency

Ash bananas take ten months to mature and are primarily used to make banana beer (which we did NOT taste).  You CAN eat them, but they make you very gassy or nauseous enough to vomit.  Their leaves are used to feed the village goats.

Yellow bananas (also called Cavendish bananas) are what we're used to - they take 9 months to mature

Sweet bananas are very small - short and stubby - the blacker the tree bark, the sweeter the fruit

Arrow bow bananas are best for cooking and are used to make banana soup

Green bananas are firm, starchy and sweet and are always eaten cooked and mashed or in a savory porridge because of their high starch content.

Who knew there were so many different types of banana?  It was weirdly interesting to hear him go on about them.  We also discovered that banana trees don't actually have branches - it's all layers of leaves - and that all farmers harvest bananas when they're green (except for the red bananas).

Billy also introduced us to the jackfruit tree (jackfruit can grow to be up to 100 pounds per fruit), the quinine tree (used for many medicines) and something called Soursop or "Sour Soup Fruit" which has a very sweet and creamy texture that resembles a cross between pineapple/strawberry and banana/coconut.  It has a dark leathery green skin, but when you cut it open it reveals a snow-white fibrous and juicy fruit.

As we were walking, there was a local girl that seemed to be following us - possibly interested in strangers/foreigners?  I mentioned to Billy that she was absolutely beautiful and asked if she would allow us to take a photo for our scrapbook.  He translated and she got the biggest grin on her face - she was really shy, but allowed me to snap a quick pic.

We continued through the village and Billy explained that he was from the Makonde tribe, which originally emigrated from Mozambique.  They were known for making homes of mud and stick, and some poorer members of the tribe still build them this way.

Members of the tribe often take on a trade, so Billy took us to an area where they do hand wood carving sculptures and the local craftsman (Geoffrey) explained to us that it takes approximately four years of apprenticeship to become a woodcarver.  He showed us the different types of wood that he used and the benefits of each (ebony wood is the strongest), then gave us an opportunity to browse through their "store" which was filled with some absolutely beautiful things.  (We bought a salt & pepper shaker to support them.)

Next, we walked to the local art community where Monge introduced us to the three type of painting styles that they taught (all of which use oil paint).  The first was palette knife painting, which reminds me very much of Van Gogh with the texture and thickness of the paint.  The second is realistic fine art, and the third is called Tinga Tinga which is a traditional Tanzanian style recognizable for its bold colors and simplified forms.

He also explained that the artists often followed the color guidelines of the Maasai tribe - women are represented in blue, men are embodied in red, old men are painted in dark red, unmarried women are rendered in green, and widows are depicted in black.

Finally, Billy walked us through the local street market - many of the stalls were selling bananas, so he bought a few for us to taste - Damian and both liked the red bananas best, though the sweet bananas were also quite tasty.  He also managed to find us a Soursop fruit which was unlike anything else I've ever tasted - it was really, really good - just as he described.

Two of the most interesting things we saw at the market -  1) many vendors sold dirt, which is often consumed by women because of their high mineral content.  2) we saw alot of Tamarind.  Billy explained that it's a fruit famous for it's flavor dimension, which is based on a combination of sweet and sour (think a combination of brown sugar and lime juice).  It's very popular for it's health benefits, which includes acting as a laxative (high fiber & potassium content), heart health (high antioxidants) and blood sugar management.  

At this point Billy also pointed out that it has great anti-aging benefits, then added, "It's too late for you guys, but...." and then giggled at his own joke.

With our village tour at an end, we climbed back into the jeep and headed to Lake Manyara for our last game drive of the trip.  This is a national park that's famous for being evergreen, as it has lots of streams both above and underground.  It's the greenest and quietest national park in Tanzania - and the ONLY one where you get to see Blue Monkeys and Tree Climbing Lions.

We spotted blue monkeys almost immediately after entering the park - including BABY MONKEYS.  OMG.  Baby monkeys are freaking adorable!

We also saw water buck, lots of baboons, vultures, bushback antelope (another of the 75 species of antelope in Tanzania).  The Bushback antelope are rarely sighted according to Amani, but we saw tons and tons of them throughout the day.

Stopped for lunch at a picnic site overlooking a good portion of the park and spent some time watching a large troop of baboons in a field - there must have been hundreds of them and tons of little babies.  

Interesting fact about Baboons - Baboons have swollen bright pink genitals when they are in heat that somewhat resemble protruding intestines.  It's pretty awful looking, but lets the males know when they are ready to mate.

At the same spot, which was right on the lakeshore, we also got to see a baby Hippo with her mother.

Interesting facts about Hippos - Baby hippos can nurse underwater.  Mama hippos have to hide all male babies from the father, as the alpha hippo will likely attempt to kill them.

After pausing for about 30 minutes, we decided to carry on only to discover that once again the jeep wouldn't start.  Amani managed to fiddle under the hood for a bit and we were soon heading along.  We found a large elephant herd with some BRAND NEW babies - Amani thought one of them only looked to be a few days old.  We saw gray heron, yellow billed stork, giraffes, impala, monitor lizards, and squacko heron (very weird looking).

At this point it was time to turn around and head to Arusha, where we were dropped at our hotel for the evening - the Gran Melia.  We took a photo and said goodbye to Amani, tipping him generously for an incredible week.

We convinced the restaurant manager to allow us to eat dinner in our room and we slept like the dead.

Random fact about Giraffes: Giraffes are mute.  They make no noises at all and are one of only a few animals that have color vision.  Also, they're the national animal of Tanzania.

 

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th

Having completed the safari, we TRULY enjoyed the opportunity to sleep in for a change – although the tummy issues of the last few days haven't subsided much.  I’ll spare the details – but the evening / day went like this:

Sleep, toilet, sleep, toilet, toilet, sleep, toilet, toilet, repeat.  NO CLUE what I ate or drank that hit me so hard but I’m glad we decided against an outing today.  As much as I truly wish I could stay longer, I’m ready to go home.

Damian took an afternoon nap and I explored the luxurious hotel and had lunch at the pool bar.

By early afternoon, it was time to head to the Kilimanjaro Airport to fly back to Madagascar. Tuma picked us up as requested by our tour operator, but his car has NO air conditioning and the window was broken so it was impossible to roll it down for air.  Also, he hits the brakes like Vin Diesel in the Fast & the Furious, which made my FINALLY calm stomach go all wonky again.

When we arrived and checked in, it took over an hour to get through immigration - we picked the absolute wrong line as some poor Asian man was stuck at the front of the line unable to pass through.  I didn't understand a word that was being said, but I could tell it was absolutely brutal - and the rest of his party had already passed through into the terminal so he was left there in limbo on his own.  

Eventually, we made it to the front and breezed through (although the Asian guy was still standing in limbo trying to convince immigration to let him through) then headed to the lounge until it was time to board our flight.  The lounge had the oddest "ketchup" I have ever seen (not a fan) and was blaring music really, really loud - probably to keep you from falling asleep - but at least it wasn't Sade for a change.

We were upgraded to Business Class simply because I forgot to cancel it after the last flight.  We were both so tired and ready to be home - it's been AMAZING - but it's enough.

On the flight, I was sitting in the middle and the guy next to me at the window was blaring weird videos on speaker for the entire flight.  Didn't seem to bother anybody else, so I didn't say anything - but it was STRANGE.

In Nairobi we spent a few hours in the Pride of Africa lounge waiting to board the next leg - being at the front allowed us to disembark quickly and thankfully make it through immigration in Madagascar in a hurry.  Then we took a taxi to the hotel and enjoyed an amazing night of sleep.

Random facts:  This is the first time in my life I have had to take anti-diarrhea meds.  When they say only use bottled water to brush your teeth and clean your toothbrush – THIS IS WHY.