We had been assisting a new, locally based nursery school (kids) at Muriet from funds we had managed to raise. The Muriet community had seen the need for a local nursery school as new government rules meant that new school entrants required some pre-school education.
On this day I took 4 rolls of polythene pipe and fittings for the water project I had promised the village and school. Gideon, one of the young village leaders was not there, but his mother - all older women are referred to as 'Bibi' - insisted we take tea with her.
As we left, Bibi gave Mags a chicken (chook), a special gift in recognition of what we were doing in the village. Mags was afraid to hold it - they are inclined to poo on you, so I carried it to the Maruti where I tied it's legs together for the ride home.
Time was against us as this was when we were changing our assignments and residence from Sanawari to Makumira. I knew I would not have time to prepare and eat the chook.
I told Mama Baraka the story and gave the chook to her, asking that she prepare it for her family, and maybe give me a little to taste, so I could tell Bibi in truth that her her chicken was tamu sana - very tasty!
Mama Baraka arrived with a small dish with some chicken and vegetables and sat to watch us eat it. She burst out laughing and blushed in the way Tanzanians do.
'Oh I wasn't going to tell you,' she said, 'but it is so funny! The chicken escaped and together with Olotu and Nai, I looked everywhere around the village for it! After one and a half hours, we found it at home, so we tied it's legs together while Olotu sharpened a knife.
'Well when he went to slaughter the chicken, one of his dogs had killed and eaten most of it!
So I had him kill one of my young layers and it is the one you are eating!'
Small things make a difference and as I have said before - Mama Baraka was one in a million! I truly as tamu sana!
There is another tale about a chook.
We had traveled with Mo and Jo to Loshoto but decided to stay a few nights at Soni Falls. We had arrived at lunch time and so after we had booked in, we asked if there was a chance we could have lunch there.
At that time we were their only customers, so they were not about to turn down any chance of making some money.
They gave us a choice of beef or chicken and we all chose chicken.
As we sat taking a beer before lunch, we heard the familiar squawk that comes when a chicken being slaughtered! We therefore knew lunch was a long long way off , so we called the young man and told him that we would have the chicken for our evening meal and asked him in the meantime if he could supply 'bites'. In no time he returned with samosa and half cake - no doubt he sent someone running to the village to buy them.
We enjoyed the chook later that evening!
Soni Falls is a great place to stay and I have a few tales about the place but here is something about bats.
The only indigenous mammal in NZ is a small bat, but we seldom see them but in Tanzania there are many different species and I enjoy watching them.
In the dining room at Soni Falls Hotel, there was a small hole in the window, and as we ate, a small bat would fly through that hole and circle the light above the table to catch a moth, then it would fly out, returning to partake in another. Fascinating that when you consider the fly by sonar.
By the way, the falls are worth the short walk.
On this day I took 4 rolls of polythene pipe and fittings for the water project I had promised the village and school. Gideon, one of the young village leaders was not there, but his mother - all older women are referred to as 'Bibi' - insisted we take tea with her.
As we left, Bibi gave Mags a chicken (chook), a special gift in recognition of what we were doing in the village. Mags was afraid to hold it - they are inclined to poo on you, so I carried it to the Maruti where I tied it's legs together for the ride home.
Time was against us as this was when we were changing our assignments and residence from Sanawari to Makumira. I knew I would not have time to prepare and eat the chook.
I told Mama Baraka the story and gave the chook to her, asking that she prepare it for her family, and maybe give me a little to taste, so I could tell Bibi in truth that her her chicken was tamu sana - very tasty!
Mama Baraka arrived with a small dish with some chicken and vegetables and sat to watch us eat it. She burst out laughing and blushed in the way Tanzanians do.
'Oh I wasn't going to tell you,' she said, 'but it is so funny! The chicken escaped and together with Olotu and Nai, I looked everywhere around the village for it! After one and a half hours, we found it at home, so we tied it's legs together while Olotu sharpened a knife.
'Well when he went to slaughter the chicken, one of his dogs had killed and eaten most of it!
So I had him kill one of my young layers and it is the one you are eating!'
Small things make a difference and as I have said before - Mama Baraka was one in a million! I truly as tamu sana!
There is another tale about a chook.
We had traveled with Mo and Jo to Loshoto but decided to stay a few nights at Soni Falls. We had arrived at lunch time and so after we had booked in, we asked if there was a chance we could have lunch there.
At that time we were their only customers, so they were not about to turn down any chance of making some money.
They gave us a choice of beef or chicken and we all chose chicken.
As we sat taking a beer before lunch, we heard the familiar squawk that comes when a chicken being slaughtered! We therefore knew lunch was a long long way off , so we called the young man and told him that we would have the chicken for our evening meal and asked him in the meantime if he could supply 'bites'. In no time he returned with samosa and half cake - no doubt he sent someone running to the village to buy them.
We enjoyed the chook later that evening!
Soni Falls is a great place to stay and I have a few tales about the place but here is something about bats.
The only indigenous mammal in NZ is a small bat, but we seldom see them but in Tanzania there are many different species and I enjoy watching them.
In the dining room at Soni Falls Hotel, there was a small hole in the window, and as we ate, a small bat would fly through that hole and circle the light above the table to catch a moth, then it would fly out, returning to partake in another. Fascinating that when you consider the fly by sonar.
By the way, the falls are worth the short walk.
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