We went to the Manyara plains on Saturday to look at poop! We almost weren't going to be able to because a car check was set up right before the entrance and the guards there didn't want to let us through unless we paid them. Kioko told us this is because Tanzania is poor and once they saw that we were students, they thought that we would be able to pay, even though the area was open for everyone else for free.
Once we got passed that obstacle, we got into groups and a local member of the Maasai tribe was assigned to us so that they could help us identify the tracks. Our guy was my age and his name was something like "Maasia" if I'm going by phonetics. He was very quiet but super helpful. All he knew in English was the names of the animals' tracks we were looking at, but he taught us those names in Maasai. For example, cattle is engitet (in Swahili, it's n'gombe).
The plains are really beautiful. They kind of just go on forever. And you really can't tell where Lake Manyara ends and the sky starts. They sort of just melt together.
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| Some grazing engitet |
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| Members of the Maasai |
After we were done, the Maasai did their famous jumping dance for us. They all chant and then take turns jumping as high as they can. The picture I got wasn't that great. The setting sun makes it dark. I have a video, but, unfortunately I can't upload it!
Yesterday was our first nonprogram day. Breakfast is normally at 7:30 but it was at 8;30 yesterday so I got to sleep in, something that was really needed! We then went to one of the local villages called Mtu wa Mbu to go on a waterfall hike. The first part of the hike was through a field of banana trees, and from there it got increasingly harder. I mean, it wasn't really that hard, but there was a lot of jumping from rock to rock and crossing streams of water. It probably only took us 20 minutes to get to the waterfall.
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| Miwaleni Watefall |
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| Got my first O-H-I-O pic! |
That waterfall was extremely pretty and sitting by it after sweating through my clothes was very relaxing! Some of the students climbed to the very top of the waterfall, but I stayed below because I was feeling a little light headed. There will be more waterfalls to climb in my life!
After the hike, the group split in half. Some of the students went to another village called Karatu to go to a lodge that had a pool and the other half of us stayed in Mtu wa Mbu. First we went to a pizza place and I had a really good margherita pizza. It cost 10,000 shillings, which is about 5 dollars, but it was more expensive than some of the other pizzas because cheese is sort of a delicacy here.
After lunch, we walked down to the Maasai market.
Right away, vendors were pulling me into their stalls, and telling me that they'd give me a very cheap "mwanafunzi" (student) discount. When you were done in one stall, a stallowner was already waiting to pull you into his stall. There really wasn't that much difference between the stalls: they all had paintings and carvings and fabric and jewelry, but they all thought they would give you the best price. Once you showed the smallest interest in something, they wouldn't stop trying to sell it to you. Usually I would ask them the price of something (shingapi?) and they'd say, "which one?" almost as if they didn't set a price until you picked an item. The prices aren't set at the market so I learned how to haggle very quickly! Once they gave me their price, I cut it down by half, and we worked our way towards a middle ground. A few times I walked away because I didn't like the price and they'd come up to me and say "no you can have it." It was definitely a stressful, but very interesting experience. I didn't like how fast my money was going (although I did buy all the souvenirs I sought out to buy for friends and family), but it was fun and I learned a lot!
Finally, the complete my very busy day yesterday, I did my laundry for the first time getting here! Hand-washing clothes is definitely a struggle and I'm glad I don't have to do it every time I wash my clothes. I think I might have put too much detergent in though, so I don't know if I got all the soap out in the end! I'll let you know if I get really itchy!
Kwaheri for now!
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