Car Accident

Damage done!

From the side. 

This is the truck that ran into us. 

Inside the door repair. 

Looking good in the shop. 

Just like new? 

Our work car has been under repair for the last few months and as a result we are using my car at work. Our work car saga is actually the story before the story but it's important to understand in the overall picture.

Towards the end of last year our work car, let's call it the Surf (Toyota Surf model), had a broken cylinder head. This was a pretty big repair and we didn't have the money to repair it for a few months. In December we finally scraped together the money and over the holiday it went for repair. Car repair here is not like in the developed world and finding a good mechanic is the holy grail of Tanzania. We had a guy, Rejabu, that we'd been using for about six months. He came off a recommendation from a co-worker's husband who owns a tour company so we were comfortable with having a link.

Rejabu worked out of a garage, which was typical for mechanics. Usually the free lancing repairmen will pay the garage owner a sort of rent each time he brings in a car to work on. A lot of garage owners also have parts shops so they get preferred treatment while buying parts. In the end it works out for everyone, except the consumer who does not benefit from the garage owner's indifference to the mechanics that work there.

When we returned from the holiday Rejabu said that there were more repairs needed as a result of the car sitting so long. He said the main issue was the turbo, which cost another healthy chunk of change. We vetted this process hard by demanding a used turbo and getting the turbo on credit to ensure that it worked properly. We were also aware of potential funny business and the convenient excuse of the car's long period being idle. It's common for mechanics to remove perfectly good parts and sell them on the second hand market.

Over the next few weeks, Rejabu began to act very strange. He claimed we needed a complete engine overhaul but when we pressed to see the car he got quiet. He wasn't communicating well and we all got a bit suspicious. He said he moved the car to another garage but all efforts to actually see the car were met with excuses. We didn't want to press him too hard in fear that he would disappear and in truth he had worked with us well for quite some time so we gave him some leeway in that perhaps he was having personal issues. Still, at this point I was worried we'd never see the car again.

It finally reached a point where I had to insinuate that we were going to go to the police. Our driver told him that we were just going to test the car and that our board of directors wanted to know the car was at least safe. Rejabu led our driver to the garage but our driver then in turn led Rejabu to our office. When he got out he told him the car was going to stay there and he could work on it there. He said the garage owner was going to be upset with him and it had to go back to the garage. Eventually he relented but was very nervous as he left.

A few hours later the garage owner came with the police. A standoff ensued with our security guard, driver, and the garage owner all yelling with the police. Large crowds gathered outside and I actually got a call from our neighbor before I got a call from our staff. Somehow how clinical officer got in the mix and apparently threats were made. The police said that since it is our car, we could keep it, and if there was a problem over the work then the case needed to go to civil court. I spoke on the phone with the garage owner and he was very upset claiming we owed him money and I simply told him we did not know who he was nor have any agreement with him so he'd have to talk with Rejabu. The night ended with our clinical officer going back to the police with complaints of vague threats but in the end the car was in our possession.

I waited about a week before even thinking of taking the car out and I expected Rejabu and the garage owner to come speak with us. This never happened and I was told through a mutual friend that the garage owner realized his mistake and that the problem was with Rejabu, not with us. I was still very uneasy about the situation but repeated to Rejabu that we had no business with him and all we wanted was our car.

Now that is the background...so after about a week I decided it was time to take the car on the road to test it.

I had to go for a meeting in town and our cooks needed to buy some food in the market. I told them to go and I would meet them at the market after my meeting. I instructed our driver to take the work car but for whatever reason he decided to take my car.

I met them in the market and they were not yet finished so I got some tea at a nearby shop next to the car. Out of nowhere a gigantic truck came around a corner and plowed into the side of my car. I was stunned but ran to the scene where the truck was trying to slowly pull away. Because it was a large diesel truck, acceleration was not its forte and I quickly caught up to it and action-movie-style jumped on the side and started banging. I shimmied my way up to the door and shouted at the guy to remove the key. He was a young guy and in obvious shock when he saw me swinging into the window and eventually he obliged and turned the car off.

At this point a very large crowd had gathered. Our driver was sitting in the car waiting and amazingly he was uninjured. I first checked if the guy had insurance, which he  did, but he was not the owner of the car, just the driver. I called the insurance company and they said we had to get a certain document from the police to file a report. What followed was a very time consuming process of going to the station to get police, having them come and draw a map and timeline of what happened, and then us all driving our vehicles to the police station.

The owner of the truck met us at the station and we began to discuss with the police. Everyone was acting a bit strange and eventually a police officer took me aside and said that we should try to negotiate with the guy directly instead of file an insurance report. I called one of my Tanzanian friends and he advised the same saying that because the damage isn't so major it would probably be more trouble and take much longer if we went through insurance.

Each of us brought a mechanic that could do body work to assess the damage and give an estimate. My mechanic (not Rejabu) said we needed a new door while the truck owner's mechanic didn't seem to think so. We then sought outside assistance from a third mechanic who came and said that we didn't need a new door and that we could come and check the progress as he went along to make sure it was returned in the original condition. The truck owner agreed on his price and we were all set. We asked where his garage was and he mentioned the same location as where our Surf was. After a few minutes we discovered that this was the garage owner that came to our center with the police! We all had some nervous laughs as he claimed he didn't have any problem with us and that everything was fine but I'd be lying if I said that I was confident handing my car over to him. Luckily we were at the police station so there were witnesses to everything but it was proof that Moshi is a small place. Now, just imagine if we had taken the Surf and it would have ended up back at his garage! 

Lake Nanja

The lake with a mountain the background.

During the Big Birding Day some of our friend mentioned an interesting lake near to Arusha. We decided to take this weekend to try to explore the place.

It worked out well since we could visit one of our friends in Arusha and then head out early Saturday for a full day of exploration. Our friends knew roughly where the area was but we had to do a little exploring to get there. This included stopping at a very small lake and thinking it was Nanja, at which point we all unconvincingly said, "Okay, this is cool..", only to be relieved that we were at the wrong point.

When we finally reached the correct location, we found ourselves on top of a hill in a more permanent than usual Masaai village. Instead of the usual acacia branch walls surrounding the houses there were sisal and trees planted around the edges. The village overlooked a valley and a mountain to the southwest. The surrounding area was drying out and vast expanses were dotted with a beautiful yellow flower.

We met the village chairman to inform him we would be puttering around and we were instructed to greet the elders. The Masaai don't speak very good Swahili, in fact the majority of the children don't speak any at all. Similar to our trip to Lake Natron, it was funny (and frustrating) to be back to square one with language communication. It's amazing how far a warm approach and big smile can go.

The lake was much larger than any of us had thought. We realized it was impossible to circumvent and since we wanted to see birds we figured we would just choose a direction and walk until it got too late.

We headed south and the lake was brimming with birds. The weather was overcast and cool which was poor for bird watching but excellent for our own temperatures. Usually it gets too hot to be out all day (though we push it) but the clouds hung in the sky until around 2pm which was only an hour before we decided to head out.

The landscape was beautiful and the community seemed to be unspoiled by rampant tourism. Now that the secret is out I'm curious how long it will stay like this. The village chairman noted that three teams came on the big bird day and it was many of their first time to visit. It's probably the closest place near to Arusha to do some serious water bird watching and one of the rare places you don't have to pay a fee to access. We plan on doing a camping trip sometime in the near future to try to walk around the whole lake!

A view from above as we walked down to the valley.

The wildflowers were in bloom.

Reeds and water.

Doing some birding!

It was cloudy and overcast for the most of the day.

Checking birds.

The valley was surrounded by hills.

Kindoroko: Trip IX

Lake Jipe to the east.

Since our last trip was rained out, we were hoping this trip would bring some sunshine (Part I,Part II,Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VIII ). While it wasn't exactly a sunny, it was a cool and overcast which was quite comfortable for a hike. 

After a hearty breakfast at the hotel, we were up to the trail head at 10:30am. We wanted to hike to the peak and perhaps explore a bit on the way down. One of the issues we have when going to Kindoroko Forest is that we typically have such a good time birding, which slows the pace, that when we "explore" we often feel like we are rushing. Forest birding is notoriously difficult and both Ana and I love to just take some moments and listen to the forest. I love to just go at a leisurely pace, poke around and check out cool plants.

We ended up doing the hour to hour and a half hike to the top in threehours. We took our time birding and clearing the overgrown path. There are three sections toward the peak that have some serious bramble with a variety of prickly vines and brush. We ended up having to clear these sections so we could crawl through them which was precarious to say the least. Sometimes the stray pieces fly off the machete and scrape my face and hands. There are other places where the trail is blocked by larger and less spiny liana vines which are less of a hazard but more difficult to remove.

The day was quite enjoyable with a bit of sun on the peak and rather cool temperatures throughout. It was probably the coldest we've ever experienced there. We would work up a sweat while climbing but after about 10 minutes of resting we'd start to feel chilly and have to move again. The forest was dry (relative to its normally damp state) though the moss and lichen were in full form.

We still have a lot of Kindoroko Forest to explore and we're hoping to maybe approach it from another side. However, there always seems to be more to explore...

Walking on the trail. 

View towards the west, though the light was bad. 

Wall of vines covered in moss. 

View from the peak looking north. 

A view from the peak. 

Tons of strangler figs dropping their vines. 

Ana tangles through one of my favorite sections. 

The air was not very clear giving the mountains a blue tint. 

Water retrieval point. 

View of the peak (looking west) from below. 

Nyumba ya Mungu: Trip X

Fisherman boats.

We will never tire of the trip to Nyumba ya Mungu (Trip I, II, III, IV, V & VI, VII, Trip VIII, Trip IX) and this weekend we decided to head to the usual route on the motorcycle. Because the habitat around most of the road leading to Nyumba ya Mungu is open acacia scrub, you can pretty much take the motorcycle anywhere off road and even on the main road the agility of the motorcycle is a distinct advantage over the car. The road is either extremely muddy or extremely sandy with small bridges constantly washed out so being able to find a small track around a sketchy river bank is key.

We really lucked out with the weather and the overcast skies allowed us to take our time on the ride out to stop and explore the acacia scrub and dried river beds. This was the first time we'd visited the place when it wasn't scorching hot and as a result it was also the longest trip that we've taken there. When we know it is hot we will try to leave at 7am and make it back by lunch. Today we left at 9am and came back to Moshi at 6pm.

The road was extremely dry but the lake was nearly as full as we've ever seen it. This is a result of an abnormally large amount of rain we've received in the last month, though it has tapered off over the last week or so. It didn't seem as busy with fisherman but we had also arrived at the lake quite late so we encountered a few fisherman counting their catch and children playing at the water. As usual we enjoyed our visit!

A young Masaai walks with the mountains in the background.

Taking a rest.

Great transport along the shore of the lake.

Fisherman boats tied together.

Free range pig.

Arusha Big Birding Day: 2nd year

Morning hike with Mt. Meru in the distance.

For the second consecutive year, we participated in the "big bird day". Last year was the inaugural "big birding day", which is described as:

"The Arusha Big Birding Day is a fun challenge where teams of 3-6 people try to identify as many bird species as possible starting at 12 noon on Saturday the 14th of May, and ending at noon on the 15th of May, 2016."

It's a fun event held worldwide that also has the more useful purpose of gathering data for census purposes. Here in Tanzania there is healthy community of birders, mostly professional, and although there is a bit of competition at the top, most of the participants are just looking for an excuse to bird!

This year I am much better at identifying birds than last year so I found it to be a more interesting experience. Because Ana and I are very casual birders, we never bird in the manner that we are required to during the big bird day. As soon as a species is positively ID'd, we move on to find more. There is very little watching bird behavior, taking pictures of the landscape, or taking a closer look to better learn rare species. Doing all the aforementioned activities is why I LOVE to go birding so inevitably I had my moments of frustration as I felt we were just rushing around wildly searching for birds (which we were definitely doing).  

We ended up going with roughly the same team as last year. Two 13 year old boys, one a keen birder who has grown up in Tanzania, Ana, myself, and a guide named Peterlis. The team was sponsored by one of the boys parents whom own a lodge outside of Arusha National Park (Peterlis works for them). 

Everyone meets at the same campsite in west Arusha and then disperse at noon following different routes. We were at a distinct disadvantage being the only team from Moshi and thus we didn't know all the local birding hot spots and habitats. The parents of one of the boys own a lodge adjacent to Arusha National Park so our route focused around that area. 

We spent the first day in the dry acacia scrub between Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro, eventually crossing through a vast plains with gazelle and zebra grazing before arriving at the lodge. The lodge is beautiful and we even had a buffalo pass through at night! In the morning we awoke to giraffes passing through and quickly took a walk to nearby pools before having a quick breakfast. We then headed to Arusha National Park before heading back to the meeting point. We arrived with only about 10 minutes to spare! 

The overall winner saw 283 birds and we came in with 188. We improved on our count from last year (166), which is significant considering the more birds you see the harder it gets to see a new species. We finished first out of seven amateur groups, though there was a bit of controversy as we were thrown out of the amateur group and placed in the professional group at the last minute. Not making matters any better was the fact the "winning" amateur team contained a person that we have gone birding with several times that is paid to give bird ID trainings! 

We also finished 12 out of 30 overall, which is a stunning achievement considering all the safari teams that we beat. I was very happy with our efforts and it really showed the improvement we are having in bird identification in the past year. We can't wait till next year!

Pools in the morning.

Still happy to see a giraffe, even though it's not a bird.

Welcoming the crowd.

Mt. Meru.

Mt. Kilimanjaro way off in the background, seen from the unfamiliar western side.

Sunset.

Mt. Meru hiding in the clouds in Arusha National Park.

Hot springs at Boma Ngombe Trip II

Baobab tree on a hill.

I had been to the hot springs over two years ago so I figured it was time for another trip. The hot springs (perhaps a more appropriate name may be luke warm springs) is a very popular destination of tourists from both Moshi and Arusha due to the ability to visit in a day and provide a different type of activity than the usual safari and game watching.

We were actually motivated to return to the area as a result of one of our bird watching friends telling us that it is a nice area. A few months ago my sisters were here for a visit but I had to work one of the days so I sent them to the hot springs. To be honest I had somewhat forgotten about the place and due to what I had heard was over crowding on weekends I had pretty much written it off.

We also chose the trip as it is nearby and with all the rain we've been having we wanted to choose a trip that wouldn't bring too much disappointment if it was canceled. We ended up really lucking out with a cloudy and overcast morning followed by a sunny afternoon. The road to the springs isn't well marked but but straightforward enough with only a few confusing forks in the road.

The road was pretty rough after the rains we've been having and we even had to cross a small river, which is always a treat. The bird life was interesting and we enjoyed a slow pace puttering around. When we finally reached the hot springs my worst fears were realized; the place was packed. In fact, right after we pulled up, two buses came, one full of about 25 Tanzanians who promptly went to the swimming area and watched the 10 or so foreigners swimming.

I had heard the area's infrastructure was much improved and I wanted to take a peek so I insisted to the fee collector that I just wanted to take a look and much to her behest, and possibly aided by the arrival of the buses, we entered the springs and saw a new cooking area and a nicely manicured place.

I was going to stick around for one of my favorite foods, a chips mayai, but when I saw they were only just starting to peel potatoes I figured if we weren't going to even swim, it wasn't worth it.

We followed the springs south and found a few cool spots that weren't necessarily great swimming spots but were beautiful nonetheless. I will take the advice of the fee collector as she noted that Saturday and Sundays it's packed while weekdays it's almost empty. If we return on a weekday I'll bring my swimming suit!

Birding with the Masaai Mountains in the background to the south.

People enjoying the water.

West Kilimanjaro: Farmstead II

Looking out towards Mt. Kilimanjaro.

This weekend was a completely different experience than our first trip to a farmstead in west Kilimanjaro (Trip I). After that trip I wrote, "Overall, the farm experience was interesting, though I'm not sure if we'd return.", while this time I am going to finish with, "We can't wait to return". It's not that we didn't have a nice time last time; we both remember remarking on the incredible views and the amazing food. Was it just the weather?

We had previously come in the dry season and the fields of grain were mesmerizing against the backdrop of the plains below. This time we actually almost canceled the trip at the last minute because the rain had been so bad. Luckily we pressed on and we were rewarded with a lush and vibrant landscape. It was still cloudy for the majority of the time which created a very subdued vibe in the soft light.


We were happy as the lodge was not very crowded so we were able to camp at the main house. We set up camp and then went off to drive around the 2,500 acre farm. We were very lucky with the weather as it appeared to almost start raining for about five hours. Unfortunately our hot streak expired as we tried to climb up to the forest, slid off the road and into the soft fields. We had to call the proprietor of the property to come and pull us out. The rain was threatening but never came and after a few nervous tugs, we finally got us out and on our way.

After we hard returned to the main camp, it started raining. We were happy to have the hot shower and cover and enjoyed a tea while reading and watching the sunset. The views from the main house are unbelievable with the entire valley between Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru visible and dotted with conical hills. The food, as previously remembered, was unbelievable, dare I say, the best food in this region.

In the morning we enjoyed a quick "river walk", a short walk next to a river which separates public land and the national park. The water was so high that we couldn't go view a waterfall we had seen last trip. The walk was a great way to start the morning and work up our appetite for another amazing meal of homemade granola, yogurt, sausage, fresh fruit and eggs.

After must discussion and reflection, we concluded that our extreme change in the interpretation of our experience was likely based on expectations. Our first trip we perhaps expected too much and then this trip we were ready for the worst, which would have been constant rain and reading in the tent. We had a great time and can't wait to return.

We're stuck and the rain to the right side is coming our way.

Enjoying the view before dinner.

On the road, Kili is behind the clouds.

On the road up.

Mt. Kilimanjaro hides in the background.

Looking for some birds...

A storm is coming.

That is what I call a sheet of rain.

The view in the evening.

River walk.

River walk with some lush trees.