Tanzania News from Richard

Part 5 – Our trip since returning from the mountain hike.

When last heard from, our plucky travelers were racing back to town from their hike up Mt Longido on Sunday. We arrived in town before the dreaded "children vomit" filled the car. A note to parents: if you don't feed or water your children and work them hard, they cannot vomit while driving. This saves money and time spent cleaning your car. Karibu (you're welcome.)

Monday the school arranged a tour guide to take us to some of the hot spots around town. At $40, it sounded like a bargain. We started at the Masai Market, which is equivalent to the State Fair without any of the animals or Mini-Donuts or foods on sticks. It's packed with dozens of small stalls all selling the same things. Barb kept saying, "Diversify your merchandise. We don't need 50 booths with the same items." I bought a T shirt that read "I'm a Tourist, Rip Me Off." (Just kidding. But it certainly fits in with my never-yet-profitable-but fun-to-think-of-clothing line. With slogans such as: "I Stay Up Past 9PM," Vomit Free Car," and "Shush, Wild Elephants Nearby.")

While I'm thinking of it, a note about the roads here. In downtown Arusha, there are several paved roads. One goes past the UN building. One goes past the main government building. One goes from Arusha to Nairobi. (You know, as I write that, I believe that is the same paved road.) Then the other roads are dirt. Which require driving about 10-15 mph. Unless you want to vomit.

After lunch, we drove out of town to the "Snake Farm." Which is like the State Fair without any people, Mini Donuts or stick food. There are fenced-in areas with Crocodiles and cages of snakes. Dozens of snakes. All of which are indigenous to Tanzania and all of which are poisonous. Wait, I take that back. There was one species of snake which isn't poisonous. According to our Snake Farm Guide, it only causes paralysis or tissue damage to the area which is bitten. Which can lead to amputation or death. Mr Familiar With Snakes of East Africa, said "These aren't snakes that would hang out where we were hiking yesterday." Then we read the signs attached to each cage. "Found in grasslands of Tanzania." Or, "Found in forests of Tanzania." OK, those were the areas we were hiking.

"Good thing we didn't go to this Farm before we went hiking," Barb remarked, "or I wouldn't have left the car." Barb noticed there were several newspaper articles about men eaten whole by snakes. Along with photos. All of the people swallowed by the snakes had fallen asleep on the ground. So, a word to the wise: don't sleep on the ground. Hadn't we just done that two nights ago? But we had been protected by the super tough 2-3mm nylon walls of the REI tent. Which is a proven snake deterrent.

Another part of the Farm was the Masai Museum which had life-sized displays of Masai villages. The scenes of the coming-of-age rituals were a little tough to view. Ouch! After the village displays we were whisked out to a series of small shops selling the exact same stuff we'd seen in town. Then we walked over to the cattle auction taking place behind the museum.

When told of the traditional of buying wives with cows, Barb was afraid she might be sold. Although, considering her unwillingness to sleep in a dung hut, she probably wouldn't fetch many.