Life in Africa X

This Maasai house is located at Engorora on the road into the marram pit. The iron roof is made form drums and cans, even old second hand roofing iron. Some form of iron roofing is more permanent than thatching, but ceiling board cannot be used because dust gathering in the roof cavity causes the ceiling board to collapse. The big disadvantage of iron roofing is that it radiates heat during the day and cold at night.

This door has been made out of a beaten 44 gallon drum. I acquired a good number of 'Misitu ni Uhai'  [Forests are Life] stickers and gave them out from time to time. This lad liked the sticker as a door decoration. He kept the throw-away backing of the sticker 'because it was white and clean'.

A toy car made out of a plastic container has been much amusement for this Maasai boy at Engorora.

Even though there are few resources, people are very creative and are able to make all sorts of unexpected things.

One example is the use of a stone for a hammer when there is no hammer available. Efficiently used too!

A fireball lily growing on the slopes of Mt. Meru. I had never seen these flowers in my days as a nurseryman. Growing on the mountain would indicate that they do not particularly need tropical conditions.

I would not be surprise for people tell me that they have them in their garden.

Mount Meru from Joshia's house. I guess this is where 'Footsteps' came in because I have left footsteps around the total base of this mountain. Not only footsteps but trees as well.

It is a volcanic cone and I often wonder about the steam coming from the ground that was taken to see. It all suddenly appeared and I have heard nothing about it since.

This is a red ocre source used by the Maasai for beautification - and mainly of the Moran. While the area has been mined for a number of years, much of the scouring is due to erosion.

On the road into our home at Sanawari there was a small compound with two houses. One house was owned by my friend who repaired and hired bicycles and the other is where Mama Boki and young Boki lived. There was a Baba Boki, but I never met him. He was a safari driver and away working at times when it was likely that I would meet him. Boki would arrive at the tap with a small bucket and ask me to lift it to her head. She visited Nai often as well.

Top right is Nai who can't resist a smile. Very often Tanzanians have a serious look when posing for a photograph, other time they will make a show of posing.

I thought it cool that Nai brought some of her school mates to the Sanawari nursery to see what we were doing.

I have mentioned Roger several times - here he is dressed up for a wedding.

Roger and his mother faced many difficult times and was sent away at a young age to a boarding school - mainly for his protection.

He is a fine looking young lad and was always polite and respectful.

During my last visit there, I took books that had belonged to his late father for him.

Young men carry all sorts of loads on their bicycles and here is a load of plastic bucket being transported, probably to the Kikatiti market. This guy will make just a little cash for his efforts.

Have no doubt this is hard work, these bikes have no gears and he has to brave the other traffic on the road. Buses being by far the most dangerous.

If you happen to be a passenger on a bus, it can be daunting when the street vendors rush up to sell you things - and sometimes they do pressure you.

Again they make no huge profits and often there are more vendors than there are passengers.

It all adds to the vibrancy of Africa, but these people work hard to put food on the table. The analogy is wrong but the meaning is there.

 On a hill on the way to Lushoto, there is an old German monastery and farm that is still owned by an order of German Monks. We visited there and we were really impressed how these people had st themselves up. This pic is of the chapel and beautiful flower gardens. 

They milk a number of cows in a large, clean shed. The cows are the largest I have seen anywhere - at testament to their breeding programme. 

They have a vineyard and make wine - probably the worst I have ever tasted! I bought one case of white and one of red - both were lemons! They also grow macadamia nuts, and sell them in sealed vacuum packed bags. They also employ a lot of local people training them at the same time.