This Boabab looks like it has an eye!
Last weekend in Moshi we didn’t end up doing anything we planned on, but we still enjoyed it! We left Saturday morning with the plan of meeting the Moshi people at Maji Moto (means Hot Water), a hot springs in between Arusha and Moshi. Unfortunately, there were some communication issues and we ended up just going all the way to Moshi while they lounged at the hot springs, having too much fun to answer their phones to give us directions (GGGRrrrrrrr!!) It turned out alright though, because it turns out Moshi is great for fabric shopping! Colorful printed bags are only 4,000 Tsh there (~$2.50), and you can get nice khangas (printed with border and a figurative message) and kitenges (4m big piece of printed fabr ic, no words) easily for 8,000 Tsh (~$5). I got a khanga for my mom that translates to “Mom is number one without competition.” Hope she’ll like it! All my new material also came in handy that night, when I needed a blanket for sleeping on a couch. Like I said in my last post, khangas are perfect for everything!
After a slow weekend, this week has been super busy! Wednesday was a Tanzanian holy day, “Nane Nane,” which literally means “Eight Eight” for August the 8th. There’s also Saba Saba, Seven Seven, in July! Basically it’s some sort of celebration of farmers or harvesting or something? And there’s a huge fairgrounds set up where people sell strange infomercial-like farmers equipment, but also have science-fair setups from technical colleges around Tanzania. Anyways, the 8/8 celebration goes on from Saturday to Wednesday (Wednesday was the 8th), so we decided to go see what it was all about after work on Tuesday. And after thaaat, we went to see Batman! Great day. Then, since nobody works on Nane Nane, we had Wednesday off work. It was Charlotte’s birthday, and we decided to make up for our missed hot springs experience and hire a driver to take us to Maji Moto for the day. Such a good decision! The trip was 45 min on the main road to the town of Boma Ng’ombe (Cow House), where we turned off onto a bumpy dirt path for the next hour and fifteen. The dusty fields and sleepy villages we passed through were really interesting to see—exactly what you think of when you think of “the real Africa.” People riding rusty bikes loaded down with water buckets, children leading huge herds of goats down the roads, thatched-roof huts, etc. My favorite were the old, scarred baobab trees. They don’t look real! Remind me of the “Tree of Life” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
After a slow weekend, this week has been super busy! Wednesday was a Tanzanian holy day, “Nane Nane,” which literally means “Eight Eight” for August the 8th. There’s also Saba Saba, Seven Seven, in July! Basically it’s some sort of celebration of farmers or harvesting or something? And there’s a huge fairgrounds set up where people sell strange infomercial-like farmers equipment, but also have science-fair setups from technical colleges around Tanzania. Anyways, the 8/8 celebration goes on from Saturday to Wednesday (Wednesday was the 8th), so we decided to go see what it was all about after work on Tuesday. And after thaaat, we went to see Batman! Great day. Then, since nobody works on Nane Nane, we had Wednesday off work. It was Charlotte’s birthday, and we decided to make up for our missed hot springs experience and hire a driver to take us to Maji Moto for the day. Such a good decision! The trip was 45 min on the main road to the town of Boma Ng’ombe (Cow House), where we turned off onto a bumpy dirt path for the next hour and fifteen. The dusty fields and sleepy villages we passed through were really interesting to see—exactly what you think of when you think of “the real Africa.” People riding rusty bikes loaded down with water buckets, children leading huge herds of goats down the roads, thatched-roof huts, etc. My favorite were the old, scarred baobab trees. They don’t look real! Remind me of the “Tree of Life” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
When we arrived, it happened suddenly. You know in Lion King where Timon and Pumba have this awesome oasis hangout in the middle of dry, dry desert? Yeah, like that. Sheltered by tall, leafy trees in the middle of a flat grassland is the most beautiful (big) pool of perfectly clear, blue flowing water. Literally paradise. It wasn’t quite hot, but just the perfect temperature to swim in. And deep enough to really swim, but not enough to hide any lurking creatures. Ah! So nice. The current was really strong though, so staying in place without a log or something was a pretty good workout. The funniest thing happened because of it—there was this Indian family there, and a fat middle-aged man as floating in an inner tube. Apparently he couldn’t swim, and suddenly we see him scrambling in a section of overhanging palm fronds. He had been swept backwards in his little inner tube and gotten stuck in the plants! Laura had to go pull him out. After that they tied ropes around themselves so they wouldn’t drift away. I think our day at Maji Moto Chemka may have been one of my favorite experiences here, it was just that perfect. Plus I always love water! :)