the wanderer
Monday, March 30, 2009
Mlima Yangu
From my diary... February 12th 2009
Sitting on the terrace watching the sunrise over Mount Kilimanjaro this morning, I am relishing this solitary viewing. The majestic mountain slowly unveils its silhouette as the snow-dappled peak glimmers blue.
A symphony of bird chatter welcomes it into the light, and the roosters crow unrepentantly, as if to announce to every other feathered creature that they are the true kings of this genesis jungle. It simply clarifies the word "cocky" for me this morning... While the rooster's crow is loud and distinctive, it still is no match for a lion's roar.
Soon, a plane flies slowly overhead and all quiets. This, surely, is the supreme bird.
The northern peak shines pink for a moment as the sun ascends, and a small band of clouds hovers mid-mountain like a protective dressing, guarding over the peak's majesty. I will be high above those clouds soon. I face the idea with little trepidation but much awe, and I wonder. What makes men want to climb mountains? What is there to be found up above? I do not know the answer, but I recognize the desire.
Perhaps we treat the ascension as a metaphor for everything else in our lives. This is the closest I can come to an explanation for now.
The sun has risen and the world is resurrected under the mountain's watchful eye. Down the street, children holler and sing as they make their way to school. The day's first dalla-dallas zoom by with dozens of passengers already on board, and the neighborhood's stray dogs give each other playful chase from field to field. Now the night watchman appears before me, interrupting my solitude, heralding the beginning of a new day.
Kili has awakened. ¶ 3/30/2009 03:50:00 AM 1 comments
Sitting on the terrace watching the sunrise over Mount Kilimanjaro this morning, I am relishing this solitary viewing. The majestic mountain slowly unveils its silhouette as the snow-dappled peak glimmers blue.
A symphony of bird chatter welcomes it into the light, and the roosters crow unrepentantly, as if to announce to every other feathered creature that they are the true kings of this genesis jungle. It simply clarifies the word "cocky" for me this morning... While the rooster's crow is loud and distinctive, it still is no match for a lion's roar.
Soon, a plane flies slowly overhead and all quiets. This, surely, is the supreme bird.
The northern peak shines pink for a moment as the sun ascends, and a small band of clouds hovers mid-mountain like a protective dressing, guarding over the peak's majesty. I will be high above those clouds soon. I face the idea with little trepidation but much awe, and I wonder. What makes men want to climb mountains? What is there to be found up above? I do not know the answer, but I recognize the desire.
Perhaps we treat the ascension as a metaphor for everything else in our lives. This is the closest I can come to an explanation for now.
The sun has risen and the world is resurrected under the mountain's watchful eye. Down the street, children holler and sing as they make their way to school. The day's first dalla-dallas zoom by with dozens of passengers already on board, and the neighborhood's stray dogs give each other playful chase from field to field. Now the night watchman appears before me, interrupting my solitude, heralding the beginning of a new day.
Kili has awakened. ¶ 3/30/2009 03:50:00 AM 1 comments
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The last few weeks...
Life in Moshi has slowed down again so I thought I would finally take the time to update this thing. The last few weeks have been busy with customers, friends visiting, French lessons, a funeral, and last but certainly not least, an unforgettable adventure on Kilimanjaro… I know a few people are frustrated with my lack of communication and I do apologize, but with no internet at home and less and less trips to the office for me lately, my email access has been minimal. It’s been refreshing for me to enjoy the day to day so much that I don’t even think about going online, but an update is due nonetheless.
I ended February with a solo trip to Tarangire National Park. It’s barely a 4 hour drive from Moshi and when my friends told me there were hundreds of elephants in the park at the time, I decided to make up for the disappointment of not seeing any elephants up close on my last trip. Little did I know just how many I would get to see on a 6 hour game drive!
We drove up on a Friday night and camped a few minutes outside of the park. It’s so pitch black out there at night that you can see the Milky Way, and it’s just breathtaking. In the morning the campsite’s cook made a lavish breakfast for 4000 shillings (about $3 US) after which we went on our way. Tarangire is known for its abundance of tsetse flies so our jeep was sprayed with what I’m guessing was DEET while we got our entry permit (I wish I could say it helped but I still got bit all day long – what a sting).
So, back to elephants… As soon as we entered the gate we were greeted by a herd of 12, including two calves that were probably around 2 and 5 years old and an old mama whose tusks were so huge she must have been around 60. The marvelous thing about being a lone customer is having the privilege to stop the car for as long as you like – so we sat and watched them eat and cool off in the shade for a good 20 minutes until they decided to cross the road just 15 feet away from the car and head into a more forested area.
This would set up the best game drive I could possibly have imagined. I lost count midday after seeing about 60 elephants, but my guess is that the total was close to 80. I watched a herd bathe and roll around in mud, saw two young bulls play fight for a good 15 minutes, and admired the way a moving herd surrounds the youngest calves in the group and vigilantly protects them. The elephant is the only animal here with no predators in the animal kingdom. Its quiet eyes and gentle demeanor radiate wisdom and grace and a sense of self-assuredness that is mesmerizing beyond words.
Of course there was a lot more wildlife spotted on that day – warthogs, impalas, bushbucks and waterbucks, giraffes, cranes, vervet monkeys (one of which stole my sandwich right out of my hand at the picnic site), baboons, mongooses (shouldn’t it be mongeese?), dikdiks, a martial eagle (largest eagle in Africa with a wingspan of 6 feet), a snake hunting secretary bird, a lion, and even a lone leopard lounging in a tree. I was certainly lucky that day, but the elephants are still the highlight of that trip.
Dave arrived from Los Angeles a few days later, and my mom had a young couple from Quebec staying at the house at the same time. They had just returned from climbing Kili and had a few days left before they headed to Zanzibar, so we arranged for them to join Dave’s safari, and I wound up going along as well. Over the four days we were gone we visited Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Eyasi (where we went hunting with the Hadzabe, a tribe of nomadic, pot smoking bushmen, and visited a small tribe called the Datoga, whose women have facial tattoos and stretched ears, and shrieked with joy when they saw mine), and Tarangire National Park once again. The wildlife was terrific and the company was great. Aside from the incredible opportunity to visit with the Hadzabe and Datoga tribes, the biggest highlight of that trip was seeing 5 black rhinos (one was a baby) in Ngorongoro Crater. My friends in town who are safari guides still can’t believe how lucky we were to see that.
A few days later I joined Dave on a day trip to Arusha National park, just 40 minutes away from our house. He and our watchman Baraka really hit it off, and so Dave asked if he could come along with us. My mom gave him the day off and Baraka got to be a tourist for a day. It was great – Arusha NP is truly underrated – we even got to do a walking safari with an armed ranger. Being 20 feet away from warthogs and baboons is cool, but being 30 feet away from a herd of water buffalo without the protection of a Land Cruiser is something else altogether! Thankfully our ranger said he’s only ever had to fire his weapon once.
It was great having Dave in town, not only because he’s a good friend and a smart man who has traveled the world, but also because he’s the only person from home who has seen what it’s like to live here, and how happy and comfortable I am here personally. He arrived just as I was toying with the idea of postponing my return to LA indefinitely. I have more work than I can handle here, a great circle of friends, a beautiful place to live, and a culture I appreciate very much.
It’s tempting to stay but I have to go back, at least for a few weeks, to settle some financial matters. I’ll also have to come back to Moshi, as my students are now required to be able to speak good French by July if they’re going to keep this contract with the travel agency in France. I’ve been enjoying teaching them and could see this turning into a good career for me locally. My container is set to arrive in mid-April, so I have to be back to deal with that as well. To be honest, I think I could easily live here permanently, but ever since I decided to stick to my April 9th return date, I’ve felt nothing but excitement about going back to LA. Life there can be much more complicated at times, but I spent so many years working at making that city my home and it’s not something I’m prepared to give up on yet.
I have to meet with one of my students in a few minutes so I think that’s enough rambling for today. My update on Kilimanjaro will be up soon... It deserves an entry all its own.
In the meantime, here are some pictures.........
¶ 3/29/2009 08:09:00 AM 1 comments
I ended February with a solo trip to Tarangire National Park. It’s barely a 4 hour drive from Moshi and when my friends told me there were hundreds of elephants in the park at the time, I decided to make up for the disappointment of not seeing any elephants up close on my last trip. Little did I know just how many I would get to see on a 6 hour game drive!
We drove up on a Friday night and camped a few minutes outside of the park. It’s so pitch black out there at night that you can see the Milky Way, and it’s just breathtaking. In the morning the campsite’s cook made a lavish breakfast for 4000 shillings (about $3 US) after which we went on our way. Tarangire is known for its abundance of tsetse flies so our jeep was sprayed with what I’m guessing was DEET while we got our entry permit (I wish I could say it helped but I still got bit all day long – what a sting).
So, back to elephants… As soon as we entered the gate we were greeted by a herd of 12, including two calves that were probably around 2 and 5 years old and an old mama whose tusks were so huge she must have been around 60. The marvelous thing about being a lone customer is having the privilege to stop the car for as long as you like – so we sat and watched them eat and cool off in the shade for a good 20 minutes until they decided to cross the road just 15 feet away from the car and head into a more forested area.
This would set up the best game drive I could possibly have imagined. I lost count midday after seeing about 60 elephants, but my guess is that the total was close to 80. I watched a herd bathe and roll around in mud, saw two young bulls play fight for a good 15 minutes, and admired the way a moving herd surrounds the youngest calves in the group and vigilantly protects them. The elephant is the only animal here with no predators in the animal kingdom. Its quiet eyes and gentle demeanor radiate wisdom and grace and a sense of self-assuredness that is mesmerizing beyond words.
Of course there was a lot more wildlife spotted on that day – warthogs, impalas, bushbucks and waterbucks, giraffes, cranes, vervet monkeys (one of which stole my sandwich right out of my hand at the picnic site), baboons, mongooses (shouldn’t it be mongeese?), dikdiks, a martial eagle (largest eagle in Africa with a wingspan of 6 feet), a snake hunting secretary bird, a lion, and even a lone leopard lounging in a tree. I was certainly lucky that day, but the elephants are still the highlight of that trip.
Dave arrived from Los Angeles a few days later, and my mom had a young couple from Quebec staying at the house at the same time. They had just returned from climbing Kili and had a few days left before they headed to Zanzibar, so we arranged for them to join Dave’s safari, and I wound up going along as well. Over the four days we were gone we visited Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Eyasi (where we went hunting with the Hadzabe, a tribe of nomadic, pot smoking bushmen, and visited a small tribe called the Datoga, whose women have facial tattoos and stretched ears, and shrieked with joy when they saw mine), and Tarangire National Park once again. The wildlife was terrific and the company was great. Aside from the incredible opportunity to visit with the Hadzabe and Datoga tribes, the biggest highlight of that trip was seeing 5 black rhinos (one was a baby) in Ngorongoro Crater. My friends in town who are safari guides still can’t believe how lucky we were to see that.
A few days later I joined Dave on a day trip to Arusha National park, just 40 minutes away from our house. He and our watchman Baraka really hit it off, and so Dave asked if he could come along with us. My mom gave him the day off and Baraka got to be a tourist for a day. It was great – Arusha NP is truly underrated – we even got to do a walking safari with an armed ranger. Being 20 feet away from warthogs and baboons is cool, but being 30 feet away from a herd of water buffalo without the protection of a Land Cruiser is something else altogether! Thankfully our ranger said he’s only ever had to fire his weapon once.
It was great having Dave in town, not only because he’s a good friend and a smart man who has traveled the world, but also because he’s the only person from home who has seen what it’s like to live here, and how happy and comfortable I am here personally. He arrived just as I was toying with the idea of postponing my return to LA indefinitely. I have more work than I can handle here, a great circle of friends, a beautiful place to live, and a culture I appreciate very much.
It’s tempting to stay but I have to go back, at least for a few weeks, to settle some financial matters. I’ll also have to come back to Moshi, as my students are now required to be able to speak good French by July if they’re going to keep this contract with the travel agency in France. I’ve been enjoying teaching them and could see this turning into a good career for me locally. My container is set to arrive in mid-April, so I have to be back to deal with that as well. To be honest, I think I could easily live here permanently, but ever since I decided to stick to my April 9th return date, I’ve felt nothing but excitement about going back to LA. Life there can be much more complicated at times, but I spent so many years working at making that city my home and it’s not something I’m prepared to give up on yet.
I have to meet with one of my students in a few minutes so I think that’s enough rambling for today. My update on Kilimanjaro will be up soon... It deserves an entry all its own.
In the meantime, here are some pictures.........
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Kilimanjaro
¶ 2/24/2009 02:39:00 AM 0 comments
I don't have time to post much right now but I just have to share this photo of Kili that I took this morning. It's been a bit rainy since the last picture I posted so the summit has been slightly whiter, but last night it POURED - we could see lightning all over the Marangu side of the mountain, and thunder rattled our windows. I awoke this morning to what the mountain looked like 50 years ago... I showed this to my mom's partner, who hadn't seen it this morning, and he couldn't believe his eyes.
¶ 2/24/2009 02:39:00 AM 0 comments
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Karibu Tanzania!
I know I’m terribly late with my first post from Tanzania… What can I say, this first week has been busy, we’ve been without power everyday for most of the day since Thursday, and I’m also just having too much of a good time to want to sit in front of a computer screen and type the hours away.
Moshi so far is very much different than it was 3 years ago, in a good way. The familiarity of a second visit to this part of the world is certainly appreciated, but the overall vibe has changed for the better. Where my mom was then just beginning to put roots down and build up her business, she’s now fully entwined in the fabric of Moshi. A walk around town isn’t complete without at least 2 or 3 people coming up to her to say “Shikamoo Bibi!”. This is a very polite greeting reserved for respected elders. I forgot the extent to which I enjoy how deferential Swahili speakers are – it reminds me very much of Japan.
Getting to know my mom’s (relatively) new business partners and employees has been an absolute pleasure. Mr. Sadiki, the senior partner, Haji, a partner, driver and guide, as well as drivers/mountain guides Nassib, Azizi, and CP, and her Maasai night watchman Baraka… All I can say about them is that they all seem levelheaded, smart, caring and motivated. All but Mr. Sadiki are young (23-30 or so), but as much as they enjoy having a good time, they live to work and love what they do.
Azizi and Nassib are already making good progress in French through our day-to-day banter. Serious lessons don’t begin for another week or two, when the low season hits. It started raining 4 days ago, for about 2 hours every afternoon, although yesterday and today we enjoyed the sun, with only a smidgeon of clouds here and there. Soon it’ll be pouring rain for most of the day. We’ll be cooped up in the house for a few weeks then, and it’ll be French immersion time for the guys. I enjoy teaching them and am only now realizing the valuable tricks I’ve learned from the dozen or more language teachers I’ve had over the last 10 years. I may just be able to pull this off smoothly.
Meanwhile my Swahili is coming back to me rather quickly, which is a bit of a surprise given the lack of practice I’ve had since last time I was here. I’ve been waking up around 6-7 every day so that gives me a good hour or two of quiet time to study before anyone else is up. Waking up at that hour also gives me the luxury of watching the sunrise over Kilimanjaro every morning, sitting quietly on the terrace with a cup of hot tea as the clouds glide in to cover up the mountain for the rest of the day. It’s amazing how alive a mountain can seem when you watch the snow covered summit completely transform itself from one day to the next.
Moshi so far is very much different than it was 3 years ago, in a good way. The familiarity of a second visit to this part of the world is certainly appreciated, but the overall vibe has changed for the better. Where my mom was then just beginning to put roots down and build up her business, she’s now fully entwined in the fabric of Moshi. A walk around town isn’t complete without at least 2 or 3 people coming up to her to say “Shikamoo Bibi!”. This is a very polite greeting reserved for respected elders. I forgot the extent to which I enjoy how deferential Swahili speakers are – it reminds me very much of Japan.
Getting to know my mom’s (relatively) new business partners and employees has been an absolute pleasure. Mr. Sadiki, the senior partner, Haji, a partner, driver and guide, as well as drivers/mountain guides Nassib, Azizi, and CP, and her Maasai night watchman Baraka… All I can say about them is that they all seem levelheaded, smart, caring and motivated. All but Mr. Sadiki are young (23-30 or so), but as much as they enjoy having a good time, they live to work and love what they do.
Azizi and Nassib are already making good progress in French through our day-to-day banter. Serious lessons don’t begin for another week or two, when the low season hits. It started raining 4 days ago, for about 2 hours every afternoon, although yesterday and today we enjoyed the sun, with only a smidgeon of clouds here and there. Soon it’ll be pouring rain for most of the day. We’ll be cooped up in the house for a few weeks then, and it’ll be French immersion time for the guys. I enjoy teaching them and am only now realizing the valuable tricks I’ve learned from the dozen or more language teachers I’ve had over the last 10 years. I may just be able to pull this off smoothly.
Meanwhile my Swahili is coming back to me rather quickly, which is a bit of a surprise given the lack of practice I’ve had since last time I was here. I’ve been waking up around 6-7 every day so that gives me a good hour or two of quiet time to study before anyone else is up. Waking up at that hour also gives me the luxury of watching the sunrise over Kilimanjaro every morning, sitting quietly on the terrace with a cup of hot tea as the clouds glide in to cover up the mountain for the rest of the day. It’s amazing how alive a mountain can seem when you watch the snow covered summit completely transform itself from one day to the next.
Here you can see part of my mom's house, and upstairs the terrace, just outside my bedroom, where I get to kick back and enjoy the view.
I was pleasantly surprised last week to receive an email from an old friend asking if she could come and climb Kili with me. After a few back and forth emails it’s now set in stone, so I’ll be climbing a month later than I had originally thought I would, but I’ll be with one of my favorite girls, who I haven’t seen since I went to Milan last February. This means March will be busy, with my friend Dave coming out from LA to go on safari the first week of March, and the two of us tattooed Canadians embarking on a climbing adventure the third week. I didn’t know what to expect when I booked this trip, but it’s amazing so far and getting better by the day.
My mother’s house is an oasis. I haven’t felt this relaxed and happily easygoing in a while. There are people here all day long, until about 8pm when it starts to quiet down. Being a solitary person by nature, it was a bit of an adjustment for me, but I do enjoy the simplicity of having people drop by to say hi because they couldn’t reach either of us on our cell phones, or even spending the night in one of the spare rooms or guesthouses just because it’s late and we’ve got the room. It seems somewhat old fashioned but really it’s just so simple and normal. It can make Los Angeles seem cold and intimidating in a way. I can’t even remember the last time I dropped by someone’s house without calling first, even in the middle of the day.
My mom’s office is about a mile away from home, and we’ve been there every day since I got here. Mostly we’ve been trying to get two 11 person safaris and one 2 person mountain climb (all within the same week) to go smoothly, but there are always a million bumps along the way. I got to drive a Land Cruiser on the left side of the road for the first time on Sunday. It wasn’t as weird as I expected, and I think with a bit more practice I’ll be confident enough to drive around the quieter parts of town shortly.
I also got talked into going out last Friday with a bunch of my mom’s employees and their friends. Not being much of a club going person I was reluctant at first but eventually just decided to go with it and see what would happen… Seeing as I was with a handful of rather protective guys I was reassured and comfortable, and wound up having such a great time. I can’t remember the last time I danced all night.
There’s so much more to say about the last few days but I’ll keep the rest for the next post. Lots of laugh-till-your-face-hurts silliness, “Lost in Translation” type confusion, new food adventures, and plans for next week which include a solo safari for me to Tarangire National Park and maybe Lake Manyara, and a business trip to Mombasa for my mom.
More to come soon...
¶ 2/19/2009 11:24:00 AM 0 comments
My mother’s house is an oasis. I haven’t felt this relaxed and happily easygoing in a while. There are people here all day long, until about 8pm when it starts to quiet down. Being a solitary person by nature, it was a bit of an adjustment for me, but I do enjoy the simplicity of having people drop by to say hi because they couldn’t reach either of us on our cell phones, or even spending the night in one of the spare rooms or guesthouses just because it’s late and we’ve got the room. It seems somewhat old fashioned but really it’s just so simple and normal. It can make Los Angeles seem cold and intimidating in a way. I can’t even remember the last time I dropped by someone’s house without calling first, even in the middle of the day.
My mom’s office is about a mile away from home, and we’ve been there every day since I got here. Mostly we’ve been trying to get two 11 person safaris and one 2 person mountain climb (all within the same week) to go smoothly, but there are always a million bumps along the way. I got to drive a Land Cruiser on the left side of the road for the first time on Sunday. It wasn’t as weird as I expected, and I think with a bit more practice I’ll be confident enough to drive around the quieter parts of town shortly.
I also got talked into going out last Friday with a bunch of my mom’s employees and their friends. Not being much of a club going person I was reluctant at first but eventually just decided to go with it and see what would happen… Seeing as I was with a handful of rather protective guys I was reassured and comfortable, and wound up having such a great time. I can’t remember the last time I danced all night.
There’s so much more to say about the last few days but I’ll keep the rest for the next post. Lots of laugh-till-your-face-hurts silliness, “Lost in Translation” type confusion, new food adventures, and plans for next week which include a solo safari for me to Tarangire National Park and maybe Lake Manyara, and a business trip to Mombasa for my mom.
More to come soon...
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Leaving......
I've been too busy to update this, but I promise more regular updates while I'm gone. The pace will slow down shortly. I did postpone my departure by 4 days so I could get loose ends tied. Looks like I'm good to go at this point.
My Hep shots made me sick as a dog for about 2 days, so I had a 103 fever. Supposedly happens to 1 in 25 people, lucky me...
Oh wow, I'm leaving in 6 hours. It's been bittersweet, saying goodbye to people and places that only recently have begun to feel like home. It's mostly good though - you need that jumpstart once in a while I suppose. There are a few people I will long for terribly while I'm away... Hopefully they will email me every now and then. ¶ 2/08/2009 01:59:00 AM 1 comments
My Hep shots made me sick as a dog for about 2 days, so I had a 103 fever. Supposedly happens to 1 in 25 people, lucky me...
Oh wow, I'm leaving in 6 hours. It's been bittersweet, saying goodbye to people and places that only recently have begun to feel like home. It's mostly good though - you need that jumpstart once in a while I suppose. There are a few people I will long for terribly while I'm away... Hopefully they will email me every now and then. ¶ 2/08/2009 01:59:00 AM 1 comments
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Thinking...
So I spoke to my doc today - apparently I never got the last shots for Hep A and B. I have to go back and get them when I get my malaria meds. They made me feel awful so I'm not looking forward to it.
Things at home are awkward. Trying to get everything organized into storage before I leave, and I've realized I have way too many possessions. I'm trying to sell some things on eBay and giving some other things away. Just organizing all my finances before I leave is a headache enough! I miss living with very little, so I think I'll leave, and come back, happier than ever. ¶ 1/21/2009 05:19:00 PM 1 comments
Things at home are awkward. Trying to get everything organized into storage before I leave, and I've realized I have way too many possessions. I'm trying to sell some things on eBay and giving some other things away. Just organizing all my finances before I leave is a headache enough! I miss living with very little, so I think I'll leave, and come back, happier than ever. ¶ 1/21/2009 05:19:00 PM 1 comments
Thursday, January 08, 2009
New Beginnings
I'm going back in less than a month now. So I thought I'd revive this old blog.
At this point I'm going back because my mom lives there full time and needs me to teach French to her employees - but I'm also going because the job market here is so bad and I just need to get away for a while. I'm husband-less now and will be homeless and car-less when I get back, which in LA is less than desirable. So no rush...
My tickets is for 2 months. Feb 4th to April 1st. Let's see if I stick to that shall we? My money's on "probably not". ¶ 1/08/2009 07:14:00 AM 0 comments
At this point I'm going back because my mom lives there full time and needs me to teach French to her employees - but I'm also going because the job market here is so bad and I just need to get away for a while. I'm husband-less now and will be homeless and car-less when I get back, which in LA is less than desirable. So no rush...
My tickets is for 2 months. Feb 4th to April 1st. Let's see if I stick to that shall we? My money's on "probably not". ¶ 1/08/2009 07:14:00 AM 0 comments
