First Christmas in Tanzania. Pt2

Christmas eve and Mags much improved. As is becoming the norm, we get visitors who hold us up from doing as we intended. Qiute early Nai turned up with Veronica and Mary but we didn't have time to entertain their childish pranks.

We went into town to phone home. The Telephone Office was not as busy as I had expected and we quickly spoke to Milly who knew to ring us back (at their cost) so she did and after our talk, Milly rang Marion and she rang the next and so on - call out of Tanzania were expensive as were incoming calls but our rellies were prepared for that.

Back home Mags had baked peanut biscuits, banana cake - choc-iced, made salted peanuts and roasted the leg of mutton and prpared the veges for Christmas day.

Epilogue: Mags had bathed and while I was waiting for the water to heat form mine, we decided to drinkthe last of the brandy Mo had given us. I had taken just one sip when - 'Hodi, hodi!' came from the door. It was Baraka with his friend Daniel!

'Why are you asleep the night Jesus was born?' they asked us.

They had a cassete tape with them that they wanted us to play for them - it was Christmas songs, mostly in Swahili. Heri arrived next and Baraka ducked out to return with a plate of mandazi (fried rice cake). Mama B arrived and with Nai and Olotu, so our house was once more full!

The ukelele came out and Mama B's Hymn Book and the night passed with singing and laughter. Baraka & Daniel left, saying they would return - but they didn't, they had gone 'roaming.'

I made some chai and Mags put out some of her baking and we sat quietly chatting until midnight when we were left to finish our brandy.

Christmas Day: We had arranged for all the family to come at around 8:00am for tea and cake, and Big E arrived to appologise that he could not come - The town had run out of Safari Lager which he required for his Bar (Naabi Hills). He was going around other holels trying to acquire some. This took him the whole day and he returned from time to time to appologise. Apparently the brewery had given the workers the Friday off before Christmas causing a shortage and the cost per crate had been inflated by Tsh3000/-

Big E had a cup of coffee with us at about 11:30am and a late lunch - that was after we had nearly completed our. Josiah arrived with Mama N'gida all dressed in their finery and they partook in some food, but had to dash off elsewhere!

Back to our tea: In they came - Mama B, Baraka, Heri, Olotu, Nai and Helena, they brought with them some mandazi, half cake and a Thermos of tea.

We gave them some small gifts that Verna had wrapped and they were opened with delight and maybe some embarrassment because they had no gift for us. We told them it was out tradition and that their company was the greatest gift for us.

The tea and most of the cake was consumed save for some of the banana cake Mama B wanted to eat later. We sat and listened to the local radio. The reporter was visiting the hospital and interviewing patients who sent their messages out. Mama B & co laughed because often they were asked how they ended up in hospital - the reporter would politely reply, 'Pole sana.'

We enjoyed this time but finally they headed off to prepare lunch.

Mags cut up the pre-cooked leg of mutton while I cooked the spuds and carrots. She also prepared a 'fruit platter' with pineapple, water mellon, papaya and mango.

I tried to snatch a 'quiet time' but some kids called and we had to sing with them, sit and look serious.

We took the food to Mama B's table and she asked us to sit by where she was cooking. I think she was embarrassed that the 1:00pm meal was going to be more like 3:00! We expected that though and is something that must be accepted. They could not prepare things while they were with us and it is difficult to prepare previously without a fridge or ways to keep insects away. And she was cooking with a jiko (charcoal) so it was not easy for her.

Our first Christmas meal was ready and we sat together to eat pilau, roast chicken, chips, the green banana and meat stew (yum), and the food we had brought. We opened out bottle of wine and brought out a crate of soda for the kids. A very pleasant meal indeed!

Josiah and Mama N'gida called again - they had been to church - Mama B found enough food that had been left to offer them a big meal.

Later we sat under the big Casurina tree and talked, making a fuss of wee N'gida who had been born the day we arrived in Tanzania.

As evening fell, we moved to the concrete slab that was Mama B's porch and Mama Lightness, a friend and neighbor of Mama B joined us bringing with her a few bottles of beer. I noticed Bibi, Glory's sister sitting in a quiet corner eating some leftovers - she had been to hospital to visit a friend - she joined us later as we chatted.

When darkness was total, we said our thanks and wished all 'usiku mwema' - good night, and went home. The quiet night was punctuated by music from a Sanawari bar that had music turned up to 500 million decibels! But somehow it was in keeping.

As I lay on my bed, I realised how lucky we were missing nothing from New Zealand - except for the after lunch cricket match. Salaam.

First Christmas in Tanzania! Pt1

On day 129, 23 December, I wrote: 'Tis the Saturday before Christmas - 7:31pm and there is the sound of kids laughing and playing - more than usual - could it be the Chritmas Spirit?

It doesn't pay to plan too much here in Tanzania - the day became eventful!

Mags had been ill with a stomach bug but she ate some of the boiled potatoes and steamed veges that I had prepared for her. It gave her the strength to do some Christmas baking!

Tanzanian people are genuinely concerned when someone is sick and there had been a constant stream of well-wishers. Big E brought in a Catholic Priest who had been visiting in the area.

Mama Baraka's kids had been asking me all week if I would take them up to Glory's place to get a Christmas tree. Glory helped us in the nursery and was Big E's cousin.

It is long up the Sanawari road, actually climbing the slpoe of Mt Meru, and sometimes steep - a slow trip in the wee Maruti. We stopped just inside the gate and Glory's younger sister held my had and welcomed me in English. All of Glory's family were warm and friendly - the last to greet me was her father.

The house was dark and cool, and the man was sitting at the table supping tea. Baraka made sure I had a good seat - a respectful reflection of my status as mzee! The old man spoke to me in English and we chatted for a time.

Bibi, Glory's older sister (who I knew) came to greet me -oh yes, Bibi is Swahili for Grandmother - and while we chatted, Glory arrived with a bucket of water on her head, which was to be our tea. While the tea was being prepared, Bibi placed a shell necklace around my neck - zawadi - a gift from Glory. Glory then produced the family photo album and I browsed through the faces that looked back at me.

While we took tea, Glory fed her infant son, Loveluck - a chubby wee boy who later bounced on my knee as we talked.

It was time to choose the tree! The species choice was Cupressus lusitanica but the was much discussion about which particular one - Baraka, Heri, Nai, Glory, Bibi and Neema. Baraka climbed the tree and cut 4 likelt Chritmas trees - I had thought one, but the rest were for friends! With no rear door on the Maruti, the load was challenging and of course we had passengers on our decent.

After we had unloaded the trees the never lazy and ever reliable Olotu cleaned out the car. While this was going on, I checked on Mags to be sure she was ok, then I went into town to collect the mail and buy our Christmas meat. The leg of mutton weighed 4.5 kg and cost Tsh5000/-. Baraka had appeared by lunch time and he waited until I invited him to join me in a sandwich. Once he had gone, I washed all the clothes that had been storing up since Mags took crook. Washed them by hand in the baby's bath!

Mags went into the bedroom to lie down, and I made a brew and thought to rest and read a book - I had read 10 lines when Nai came in. Then along came Baraka. Then along came Heri. He cruched in between Baraka and I, then to my surprise, he put his finger in my ear to clean out some bogey he had spotted there!

Mags woke to the noise and when Mama B arrived with her Hymn Book, the ukelele was brought out and we had a carol singing session; at the end of which it was decided to decorate the Christmas Tree! Mama B gave money to Baraka to buy some shiney paper from the duka down the road - I suspect he might has used some to buy a sachet or two of Konyagi - meanwhile Heri sat the tree in a bucket by the family's back door.

We had some coloured paper, and Heri stuck some Christmas cards on with tape. Mags added a few lumps of cotton wool to look like snow! Baraka arrived back with not much to add but a happier disposition., so Heri found a roll of purple toiled paper and he strung that around the tree. I showed him how to make a butterfy from it and the tree became covered with those!

We remembered we had some balloons, which were inflated and added to the colour! All this time people were popping in to greet us all.

After a full day, we slept soundly.

Insects and Slugs

My interest in insects goes back to my childhood and for a Cub badge I did an assignment on pond life and drew many pond insects copying a book I had. Actually, I still have that book (albeit thumb-marked) and I have my assignment tucked away somewhere. Oh yes and I still like tadpoles & frogs!
As expected, I became interested in the insects I encountered in Tanzania and took note of them. Chameleons too! There is more to tell about insects, chameleons and frogs once we moved to Makumira; but first : Sanawari.

In New Zealand, cockroaches are around 1cm long and we never saw them at our home, so I was indeed surprised when one skittered across the floor in out house at Sanawari! The thing was as large as a mouse! At least 3cm long. I reached for my trusty fly-swat and was again surprised when it 'outran' me and it flew! I realised early on that big insects can fly in tropical areas because they do not burn up energy keeping warm. Of course the other thing about cockroaches is they they are dirty buggers! So when you see them, you kill them! Sometimes it is not that easy but there was a aerosol product called appropriately 'Doom' - made in Australia, which proved good to combat such pests; but the name made me cautious and I used it sparingly.

One day Baraka decided to burn the accumulated rubbish at the cow enclosure behind our house. It was mainly uneaten maize stalks/banana tree material and a good amount of cow droppings/urine. Well the stink! It lasted for days and the smoke wafted through the house!

We had been collecting beer cans to be used as irrigation containers/mini-reservoirs for our planting projects (somewhere we have a delightful photo of beer cans on a school desk with students listening to my explanation of their use - the pic could have a variety of captions!) Most of them came from a German missionary :-) They were stored in cartons and kept in a back room.

Baraka's fire dislodged the families of cockroaches and many of them sought asylum in out house and more particularly in those beer cans. Of course the could crawl in but they were unable to crawl out! They made their entrance in the night and we were woken by the incessant scratching of a million legs on aluminium! My only course of action was to toss the cartons of beer cans outside into the night!

I had bought some timber and manufactured a set of shelves - much like a bookcase - to stand such things as our tooth brushes, hand soap, shampoo on in our bathroom. One night I happened to go in there with a torch (because there was a power cut) and I spotted a cockroach nibbling on my toothbrush! Next morning I thought it appropriate to have a look at the space between the wall and the shelves, and not surprisingly, there was mama & baba cockroach together with a dozen or so kids! We realised they must have liked their diet of toothpaste and soap and any morsels of food stuck to the bristles of the toothbrushes! I had the 'Doom' can ready and it was Armageddon for that particular family! After that we kept our toothbrushes covered!

The Swahili name for snail is 'konokono' and it is the same word for slug.

Slugs were not welcome in the tree nursery. The did eat some of the foliage, but worse, they damaged some of the seed. Particularly Acacia seed, we would nip the end off the very hard seed coat to allow moisture into the embryo and encourage germination. These slugs would latch onto the damaged part of the seed and suck all the goodness out. These slugs were 10cm long and fat! I you get the slime on your clothes, it is almost impossible to wash it off.

Each morning I would go out to the nursery and kill the slugs! It was not only the big ones, the smaller ones were more numerous! And I had my allies! Siafu! Safari Ants!

Watching Safari Ants is an interesting pastime, reminding me of 'Star Wars'! They are organised and well structured in their behaviour! Again I will write more about them later.

I would kill maybe 40 small slugs each morning and 4, 5 0r 6 large ones. My method was to cut them in half with a sharp pocket knife! Then I would feed them to the Safari Ants! They were not always travelling through in their column, but always there were one or two 'scouting'. Place a piece of slug by one of the scouts, and she (yes a worker) would check it out and go to bring her mates back to cut up and carry their prey back to camp. It truly is fascinating at watch them break up even the large slugs and carry them away. This may involve a team effort to lift the larger pieces.

Siafu are very defensive and will bite! Once one managed to climb my leg and in the confines of my underpants began to defend itself! I was in the middle of an environmental seminar, so had to excuse myself and find some privacy before I could relieve the pain!

Sema Kweli

I will digress from the trip to Mwanza for now.

I have found our Sanawari house on Google Earth and it reminded me that being a suburb of Arusha, it was a noisy place; especially when you compare it to home in rural North Otago, New Zealand.


This is a picture of our house (or the section we lived in) the blue wall center left is the doorway. The widow by the vehicle is our bedroom window, and though it is hard to see there is a little veranda with a cane sofa, just to the left of the vehicle.

One night at about 11:00 pm we were woken by the loud ranting of a drunk man. It sounded awfully close, and he kept repeating the phrase 'Sema kweli' which means ' Is that true?' or 'Are you saying the truth?' or 'Really?'.
This means he would be having a conversation with himself! And actually he was very close, he was sitting on the cane sofa, on the veranda!
Well my first reaction was to chase him away, but Mags counselled me that it may not be safe and that the guy might be a friend of Big E's!

This, I could tell was not a beer-drunk fellow, he had be on something somewhat stronger! Probably the illegal brew piwa - made from bananas and with the ability to rot your boots and remove your eyebrows!
How Mama B did not hear him, I do not know, for her head was just below the window hidden by those bushes to the left of our door!

There was no way we could sleep with this noise going on - I guess out bloodstream was filled with Adrenalin! So I spent my time spying on him through the louvred windows.
Even though I was angry with this man there was mirth too. I feared that he would fall into the hole by the washbasin outlet, but he didn't.
He would walk - stumble around in the semi-dark (we did have a night light at the door) - all the time calling out 'Sema kweli!' in a tone that sounded like he was disgusted with something or other.
He fell off the sofa - more than once; he fell over that rail in front of the veranda, onto the flower bed flat on his back with his feet in the air! He cased the wandering dogs away - more than once. He walked into the Maruti (vehicle) more than once, each time waving his finger at if as if to admonish it - I could not her what he said.
Through the night, I threatened to remove him, but was always vetoed by Mags!

At first light - around 6:00 am I had had quite enough of the 'Sema kweli', and the guy had begun to time as he sat on the sofa. I opened the door and he gave me the respectful greeting, 'Shikamoo mzee.'
'Marahaba.' I replied as I reached for his shirt collar assisting him to his feet. He came along like a dog on a leash.
Out on the road, I asked him which direction was his home and he indicated. I pushed in the general direction with the sole of my foot, and he was gone! But the legend lived on, for I had not noticed the audience, and I suspect they approved of what I had done.

Mama B had not heard anything! Even when I sent the guy on his way! But more of the story emerged later.
This guy had wandered into the yard at about 9:00pm, very drunk so Baraka and Heri caught him and pushed him under the bougainvillea hedge, think he would sleep off his condition and for sure he would be stuck there until morning. Then they forgot about him!

We found his hat, and recognised it as belonging to the man who slaughters the cattle on the concrete slab on the Sanawari Road. Later he would always give me a wry smile, but he never bothered us again.