Beautiful Day on Monduli Mountain

It seems the rains have ended; we haven't had any since the first week of May.  It's a bit early; usually the rains last until late May.  It's so beautiful right now, though; pretty blue skies and sunshine, but still with the verdant green and flowers of rainy season.  I had to stop on my way out to the school today to take a picture of the sun shining on the mountain.  

Kilimanjaro at a Great Distance

I'm not sure how well you can see it, but the mountain in the foreground on the left is Mt Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania, which we can see most of the time as it's just north of Arusha.  Behind it, you may be able to make out a shape in the distance--Mt. Kilimanjaro.  Kilimanjaro is more than 100 kilometers (just over 62 miles) away, a good three-hour drive, so it's almost never visible this far.  For that matter, as it's generally hazy around the mountain, it's rarely visible from a good deal closer.  But sometimes, when the sky is clear enough, and the light is just right from about five to six in the evening, from just the right places along the Arusha road, we can see it when leaving Monduli.  On Thanksgiving Day, the conditions lined up just right, the only time they have since I've been living here (but then again, I'm rarely going into town at that time in the evening).  

Meru from Monduli

On a very clear day, and from the right angle, you can see Mt Meru, fifty kilometers or so away.  It's hard to figure exactly how far it is; all the maps give driving directions, and it's nearly 100 km by car, but of course that's rather circuitous. 

I'm always happy to get a glimpse of the mountain.  

Arusha church of Christ

On my second Sunday in Tanzania, I went with the Shorts to visit the Arusha church of Christ.  They have friends who are members there but had never visited for a service.  It's still the school holiday, so we don't have the Sunday service with the students and are using the time to visit other area churches. 

The Arusha church of Christ is down an extremely rough little road by the railroad tracks and these huge silos just south of downtown Arusha.  I'm not sure how they get down to the building at all in the rainy season; even though many people walk down I imagine it's a bit of a mess.  It was worth the trek, though, as the members are a nice group of people.  

After church, we spent a while outside while the Shorts caught up with various people that they know and I was introduced to many new people.  We went to lunch after with the Kambarage family.  Mr. Kambarage is an elder in the Arusha church and a respected church leader here in Tanzania.  He owns a mechanic shop, as well.  He and his wife have three children, who all came--the eldest son is an accountant in his late twenties, then a daughter who is twenty-two and working as a housekeeper for an American family we know while also finishing her degree, and a twenty-year-old son who is in trade school.  I ended up at the end of the table with the three younger Kambarages, who all speak good English, while the Shorts chatted with their parents in Swahili.  I enjoyed getting to know them, and hope to see them again in the future. 

There was a great view of Mt Meru from in front of the church.

Banana Farm in Ngarash Juu

The road up to Ngarash Juu

Late one afternoon, Tammy and I drove up a little side road along the road to the school.  The neighborhood around the school is called Ngarash; up here a few hundred feet further up the side of the mountain is called Ngarash Juu (Upper Ngarash).  At first glance, there doesn't seem to be enough up here to warrant naming the place, but as we parked by a little lane I could see small houses hidden in the trees.  It turns out the hillside is dotted with little farms, mostly growing bananas. 

We walked down a side lane not wide enough for the car a couple of hundred feet from the dirt road.  The lane is bordered by high hedges that mark the edges of the properties.  We stopped at a gap in the hedge and called out "Hodi!" to enter.  

Those who live in Ngarash Juu have an incredible view.

Tammy and my shadow on the path.  She's carrying a rake, not a walking stick. 

We're further up the side of the mountain than the school, but still a good ways to go to the top.

We stopped to see Baraka, one of the students from the school.  He is an orphan, but has two older brothers who have watched out for him.  This is the banana farm of his oldest brother, and he was helping out during the school break.  He had asked Tammy if he could borrow a rake, so our visit was to deliver it.
  

Baraka hard at work between the banana plants.

I learned several things about banana plants while there: the central part of the plant is actually an underground section of trunk (which I later learned is called a rhizome); the banana tree is actually in the herb family, and the aboveground trunk is actually made up of leaf sheaths and is more of a very large stalk than anything like a tree trunk.  This stalk can grow ten to twenty feet high.  Each stalk can produce fifty to one hundred and fifty individual bananas.  After the bananas are harvested, the whole stalk is cut down to the ground, because each "trunk" only produces one bunch of bananas.  The underground base sends up new shoots every six months or so and continues to do so for years; it only takes nine months for a shoot to grow into a ten feet high stalk and produce bananas.  

Baraka got right to work with the rake, cleaning up all the bits of leaves and debris from harvesting bananas.  Tammy knew I hadn't been to a farm like this before, and she asked Baraka if he minded me taking a few pictures around his brother's place, which he didn't.  His brother has a small mud house with two rooms.  Outside, there is a little log building, unchinked to let the smoke out, with an outdoor kitchen area.  His nephew and two nieces were playing outside; one of the girls is Stella but I didn't catch the other two's names.  

The View from the Shopping Center Parking Lot

A few more photos for you today...I don't think I'll ever get tired of photographing this mountain.  It was especially clear this evening when we came out of the grocery store at Sable Square (a shopping center built in a South African style that is on the outskirts of Arusha in our direction).  Mt Meru's rocky peak was glowing in the last of the evening light, so I snapped a few shots with my phone.

Here's a zoomed-out shot of Mt Meru in the distance, from the grocery store parking lot.

Driving home in the sunset light.

Up to Monduli Juu

The road up to Monduli Juu

On Tuesday, Beth, her kids, the Short girls and I drove up to Monduli Juu.  Juu in Swahili means upper or higher; our town on the lower slopes of Monduli Mountain is usually just called Monduli (or sometime Monduli Chini, which means lower Monduli, if we need to specify), while the Maasai village up on top of the mountain is called Monduli Juu.  The school is along the Monduli Juu road, so we passed it on our way. The road quickly becomes quite steep just past the school as it winds upwards.

Sometimes elephants come down the Monduli Juu road late in the dry season as they risk coming closer and closer to towns to find water; they've been seen almost to the school in particularly dry periods, but we didn't see any.  Probably for the best, anyhow; while elephants aren't usually particularly aggressive animals, they are large and often nervous at being out of their usual area further from so many humans and have been known to charge at cars if they feel threatened.  

It's late in the rainy season, so there's been little rain since May.  The fields are dry and gold this time of year.

Farmers working in a field along the way.

The town of Monduli Juu, up on the mountain

The landscape up on the higher parts of Monduli Mountain.

 Our destination was the home of Ralph and Twyla Williams, a Canadian couple who are missionaries up there.  Twyla often teaches jewelry-making classes as well to help some of the local women supplement their incomes, as there is a lot of poverty in the village there.  Twyla often invites the kids up to do crafts together; they made some bracelets today, but made plans for her to teach the younger girls to knit or crochet sometime soon.  

They gave me the tour of their home; in the two years they’ve been there they’ve planted quite a few fruit trees and done several projects to improve their home.  

A beautiful plant in the Williams' yard

Twyla helping to get a thorn out of a shoe.

The view from Ralph and Twyla's front yard.

 I especially enjoyed the drive up and down the mountain for the views on the upper slopes (going up) and the views out over the savannah (going down).  As always, I took quite a few photos!

Almost back to the school.

The Road to Arusha

Since I've only been here a few days, I'm still rather in awe of the landscape of my new home, and I keep taking dozens of photos out of the windshield every time I go anywhere.  I'd like to take you along via photos on the drive from Monduli to Arusha...

Here a shot along the road down from Monduli that connects to the main highway.  Ahead is the barren, desert-like (this time of year, anyhow) plain that stretches out below Monduli Mountain.  There are small little hills that just pop up here and there; the one ahead is one of the largest.  

Due to the way Monduli is positioned, Mt Meru is only visible from a few points at odd angles, but as soon as the road reaches the bottom of the hill it's visible off to the left and will be all the way into Arusha (and for miles beyond, if we kept going).  

You can tell it's well into the dry season, which runs from June through November.  I'm told all of this will burst into green as soon as the rains start, but for now it's desert-like and brown, but beautiful in its way.  The dust really through my allergies into overdrive for the first few days, but I'm beginning to adjust to the dry air now.  

See what I mean about those little hills that just pop up?  We've turned onto the main highway now. 

Mount Meru is about fifty-five miles from Monduli, but a mountain of that size can be seen for a long way.  At 14,968 ft (4562 m), it's the second highest mountain in Tanzania (after Kilimanjaro) and the fifth highest in Africa. To put it in perspective, that's about the same height as the highest of the Rocky Mountain in Colorado.  The volcanoes of northern Tanzania are striking because of their prominence as they rise out of the savannah instead of being part of a range. The mountain is just north of Arusha, so as we head that way it's first off to the left and then right in front of us growing larger and larger.  

Mount Meru is a dormant stratovolcano; its most recent minor eruption was in 1910.  The caldera is 2.2 miles wide, but I doubt I'll ever get up there to see it because, despite being slightly shorter that Kilimanjaro, it's more difficult to climb.  It is surrounded by Arusha National Park, though, so hopefully I'll make it there at some point to get an up-close look at it.  I love mountains, and I feel blessed to be living so close to such a magnificent one.

I learned in China, and it's being confirmed here in Tanzania, that you really can carry anything on a motorcycle.  Here, motorcycles are called piki pikis.   

I don't think I'll ever get tired of this view.  

Passing through Kisongo, the largest town between Monduli and Arusha, on our way.  The Andrew Connoly School of Preaching (associated with Bear Valley) is in Kisongo as well.  

Getting closer to the mountain as we pass the Arusha city limit sign...

There actually are some areas with trees.  Going into Arusha, there is a section of the road lined by huge mahogany trees, which were planted by the grandfather of the current owner of a large coffee plantation just outside the city. (I think the family is South African?).  

We made it into the bustle of Arusha.  There are larger grocery stores and malls and such in Arusha where we can find everything we can't get in Monduli.  

The mountain looms over the city, and is visible from nearly everywhere.  The drive from Monduli to Arusha is about an hour.  I hope you enjoyed following along on the trip!