Date: 2005-02-20
To: Baboons and Cheerleaders, Part 1
Miles today: 0.0

Well, this weekend is for me! When I came to Africa, I had big plans to spend my weekends doing the normal tourist stuff. However, that was before I realized that a simple trip into town to buy mangos is exciting, adventurous and magical! So, needless to say, my definition of 'tourist' stuff has changed and mostly I feel like every second of every day is a vacation! With that having been said though, I had to do it! I had to go on a safari! How many times in your life do you get to drive right up to elephants?!?! So, I put on my tourist best, slathered on the sunscreen and jumped into a range rover with three of the other women here and headed out for the weekend. Jessica, Sonja, Christy and I joined our guide, Wilson, and the cook, Feeti for two days at Lake Maynara and the Ngorogoro Crater. The group of us, alone, would have been entertaining enough, but we truly did enter a wild, unbelievable world! The fact that I got to share it with these fabulous people made it even better! Jessica is the young woman who teaches at Kilamahewa with me. She was born and raised in Moshi, and in the interim between school terms, she volunteered her time to CCS. She is quiet and beautiful with a wisdom that belies her years. When I asked her about boyfriends and marriage, she just laughed and said that she didn't think that Africa had a man for her to marry. You see, she believes in education first. She wants to be a lawyer and does not want anything to detour her from those goals. To us, this sounds admirable. But, can you imagine how out-of-the-ordinary that is here in Tanzania?! Women do not do this. Ever. She is one of a very new breed of youth that are saying no to the traditional roles that society here holds so true. She has stolen my heart and I have a world of respect for her. If anyone in this country can buck convention and fulfill her dreams, Jessica can. Christy is a 40-something volunteer from Minnesota and she has become the official mom of the group. However, she is also the first in line to go out dancing, and if anyone is going to get kicked out of this program for drinking alcohol at the house, it will be her!! She is fun, wild, crazy and loved by everyone. Of course, every Yin must have its Yang and if Christy is Yin, then Sonja is Yang. Sonya is our resident celebrity. She came to CCS three days late because she was..........are you ready for this?..........she was a cheerleader in the Super Bowl! Can you imagine!? She cheers for Philadelphia. Now I know that you can picture her in your mind......blond, tan, peppy and a little annoying around the edges? Hah! You would be wrong! That is exactly what we all thought, but when we met her, instead we saw a beautiful black woman, (she does not like to be called African American), who is quiet and poised. She is working on a Masters in Public Health and she has a calming influence on the house. I think she is a very old soul! I told her that she taught me a very important lesson in assumptions! Wilson, our guide, is very popular among CCS volunteers. Everyone told us to request him, and I am so glad that we did! He is tall with ebony skin and a huge white smile, and an easy way about him. Several months ago, he took a CCS group on safari and when a lion walked up against the car, he said, "Shhhh...we are in danger". As a result, all weekend long, we kept asking him if we were in danger. He would just laugh and shake his head 'no'. We tried to teach him to just say 'yes' regardless of the danger, because that is what we really wanted to hear, but he never really got the hang of it. He brought along Feeti to do all the cooking, and while we did not get to see much of him, I can say that the food was wonderful! It is starting to get redundant when I say that so-and-so was just as nice as he/she could be, but here in Tanzania, everyone is like that and Feeti was no exception. The morning started off early with a long drive to Arusha, a trip to a grocery store and a quick stop at a huge tourist gift shop. We pulled into the parking lot and there were safari vehicles as far as you could see! I mentioned that every mzungu in all of Africa must be here, and Wilson just nodded. He told us to look, but to be careful about buying because everything was so expensive. I walked around a bit until I stopped next to a large woman in polyester pants and a Las Vegas tee-shirt. When asked how much the kanga she held was, the sales lady said, 20,000 shillings. Hmmm....20 bucks. I paid 2.75 for mine! I decided that I had had enough of the tourist scene and went back to the truck. Soon, we arrived at the lodge we were supposed to spend the night in. It was,......how can I say this kindly..........umm.....a dump. Seriously! Our room had two old single beds ensconsed in mosquito netting, gray concrete floors, walls and ceiling, and a bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I didn't care at all seeing as how I have slept in much worse places, but I was worried that the other women would hate it. Turns out, everyone thought it was fine. After all, we all agreed that we were there to see animals, not lounge around. So off we went...... We left the lodge and were driving towards the park when all of the sudden, about five baboons crossed the road! Right as they cleared the lane, I saw a wart hog dart between the weeds next to our truck! Oh man...we are definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy! Wilson laughed as we all freaked out, explaining to us that we would see so many baboons, we would soon get tired of them. Hah!! Fat chance! No sooner had we driven through the gates of the park when we found ourselves right in the middle of a huge pack of more baboons. We sat for a while, just watching them, and it was so neat! There were lots of babies, some hanging on beneath the mothers stomach as she walked, and others riding up on her back. There were large old male baboons and lots of adult females. They sat and picked insects off of each other, ruffling the fur between their fingers to make sure they didn't miss any. Other safari trucks would pass us from time to time, but the baboons didn't seem to mind. It was with a lot of regret that I finally said "Yes", after Wilson had asked if we were ready to move one......for the third time. I could spend a week here! This was the first of many "Omigosh" moments. Everytime we would come upon a new animal, I would be newly amazed, and I would be sure that it wasn't going to get any better than this. Each time, though, I was wrong. It wasn't until Wilson said, "Look", and pointed ahead, that it really hit me where I was and what I was doing. There, in front of us, was a herd of elephants. Real, live elephants. Not behind a fence at a zoo, and not running circles in a circus ring......but.....right....in.....front.....of....us. As one walked straight towards our truck, Sonya let out a little yelp and ducked back inside of the roof top window. But, as Wilson would say, we were never in danger. Instead, a mama and her baby stood next to our truck eating while another young elephant stood nearby wallowing in a mud hole. This was my favorite sighting of the weekend. The rest of the day went by in a blur of wildebeasts, water buffalo, zebras, more elephants and lots of baboons. It was so amazing, and I really didn't believe Wilson when he said that the Ngorogoro Crater would be even better. How could it get any better than this? An early supper and even earlier bedtime awaited us back at the lodge, and it was not long before I found myself lying in a pool of sweat underneath my mosquito netting. There is no glass in the windows, but unfortunately, no breeze stirred the curtains at all. I lay there listening to Jessica breathing a peaceful sleep across the room and the thump of bass from a bar down the road. The mosque is belting out Muslim prayers over a loudspeaker and the sounds of cars from the main road fill the room. I know I have said it before, but .......omigosh......I am in Africa..............Love, Anna aka Mud Butt