Late-Afternoon Walk

It should still be pouring rain for most of the day until much later in May, but the rainy season has either ended early or given us a respite, but it's been achingly beautiful this week.  Highs in the upper seventies, blue skies, green and lush vegetation, the mud drying up... I was doing things around the house today, but went out to the gate to talk to the Allisons, who stopped by while they were out on their afternoon bike ride, and it was so beautiful out that I had to go out.

I went for a walk in the beautiful late-afternoon light.  At the end of my road, I turned right, going away from town, since I don't go that way often at all, as there's only houses that way.  The road goes downhill, away from the mountain and out towards the open savannah of the valley.  Well, I say valley, but even the valley here is at nearly 5000 feet of elevation.  

With all the rain we've had, everything is growing and green, and flowers are blooming.  It may seem odd coming from US weather, but here we tend to have more flowers in our 'winter' than our (dry, dusty) 'summer'.  

There's a big hill that stands alone out on the plain, and it's framed perfectly by the trees as my road goes toward it.  Unfortunately, the road turns before it gets too close to it.  

For a few minutes I was walking in the shade as the road is lined with trees for a ways past the turn off the my house, and at first I thought I'd just walk as far as the end of the trees, but once I got there, I had to keep going a bit further down the gentle slope towards the flatter savannah.

As it got close to sunset, I reached this area of small ravines carved into the land by water coming off of the mountain during particularly heavy rainy seasons.  I cut off the road a bit, following the footpath down towards one of the larger ravines to see what the view was like from a slightly different angle. 

Above, here's a picture looking back towards Monduli Mountain.  It's so clear tonight without the wispy clouds that come over it on rainy days.

Down by the ravine, I was greeted by a passing Maasai woman carrying a huge load of firewood.  After she passed me, she called over to a younger woman in the yard of a house across the ravine from us.  The girls called over to me to greet me and to make sure I wasn't lost (a white person wandering around a neighborhood where foreigners live is rather noticeable).  We chatted for a few minutes, and then I turned around to head back as the sun was setting and I wanted to get home before it got completely dark. I would be walking uphill on the way back, so I thought it might take longer, but then, I also wasn't taking many photos, so I made it without any problems.  I stopped by the duka (shop) across the road to by bread on my way by, and then headed home.

Today was one of those days that remind me of how beautiful this place is, and I'm grateful I get to live here.

Road Trip to Dodoma

Road trip time! While we have been trying to socially distance as we can (social distancing is not really a thing here, and we are only at the early stages of the pandemic here, unlike the US), the Allisons and I are all still trying to get our residence permits (still...I've only lived here a year and a half...), and one of our current issues is that our work visas we got last year are not coded correctly for the type of residence permit we need.  Fielden has been on the phone with the labour department in the capital city, Dodoma, but it's hard to get much done over the phone here.  Without school, we've got plenty of time anyhow, so the Allisons decided to just drive down to Dodoma and ask at the office in person, and invited me along. 

It's about a six-hour drive to Dodoma.  Dodoma is not a huge town; the capital was moved there from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's biggest city, a few years back because Dodoma is so centrally located.  Dar es Salaam is on the coast, which made for quite a trip from the western parts of the country.  The highways only pass through one city of any real size on the way, Babati.  Other than that, the scenery is rural countryside.  I took these picture from where we stopped alongside the road in case anyone needed to use a bush.  

We packed our lunches to eat along the way so we didn't have to stop; I had peanut butter crackers and yogurt and we bought some bananas along the way.  

I took some photos of the streets of Dodoma as we arrived; I took them through the car window from the backseat so sorry about the reflections.  We were fortunate to have beautiful weather for our drive (not a given in April, the middle of rainy season).

Above, I didn't get a good picture of the parliament buildings, but here's a photo of the entrance to the Bunge (parliament) complex. 

We went directly to the labour department office.  We got the information we needed, but unfortunately, we can't get our work permits corrected until we have a certain document that is dependent on the school finishing an audit that has been put on hold due to the coronavirus closures.  Maybe someday...

Although our trip didn't yield the results we hoped for, it was really nice to get out of Monduli and it was a beautiful drive.  After we left the labour department, we went to Dodoma's new Shoppers (one of the small chain of grocery stores that we often shop at in Arusha).  They had the chocolate that I like that the Arusha Shoppers' had been out of, and a new flavour of Doritos, as well as a few other things that I picked up.  

Below, some of the items in the bakery at Shoppers.  I'm not sure Americans would always recognize things that are labeled American, and I'm not sure they quite understand the meaning of the word pie, but they tried.  We decided to just buy some snacks to eat for supper rather than trying to find a restaurant, especially as the Allisons are older and trying to wear masks when in public spaces when it's necessary to be in public.  I bought a little mini pizza (edible) and a spring roll (not edible), and I have some bananas as well as the chips and chocolate I bough just to stock up, so I've got plenty to munch on if I want it.

We stayed the night at the Zebra Lodge, which the Allisons had stayed at on a previous trip and liked.  It was clean and comfortable and had a gated area to park, so it was fine, although my shower didn't work.  I was looking forward to a real shower since I take showers with a bucket at home, but oh well. 

We checked in and sat around reading on the front patio for a while, but we still had a nice afternoon and we weren't ready to eat the snacks we'd bought at Shoppers for our supper yet, so we went on a walk through the nearby neighbourhood.  

Here's my room for the night.  It was nice to be in a city, as I had really good phone service.  I never could quite figure out the lights, though; the bathroom had a normal light, but the room seemed to only have an odd red bulb (trust me, it's not the red light district ;) ).  The room had an air conditioner, but it didn't seem to actually be cooling much, but it also had a ceiling fan which was plenty to be comfortable. I had a pretty good night, and we'll be up for the provided breakfast tomorrow and then drive back to Monduli.

Last Morning in Lamu

On my last morning in Lamu, I didn't need to leave for the airport until 10:30, so I went out early for breakfast and a last walk around town.  It was another beautiful but meltingly hot day, even at nine in the morning.  One of the things I enjoy about traveling to a relatively small place like Lamu is how familiar a place can become in only a few days.  I know to find the most direct path to my room by watching out for a particular tree along the waterfront (the one in the photo below). I know the little shop that always has my coke zero.  I have a favorite restaurant, which I visited again this morning to see if their breakfast is as good as their dinners.  (It was quite good, although a fried egg can't really be compared to grilled chicken with curry sauce).  I'll miss it here, although I do look forward to being back in central Kenya, where it's winter (not likely to be exactly cold, but it won't be 95).  

"Adequate" made me laugh.

Back to the guesthouse (the entrance is under the sign at the end of the alley) to get my bag.