Saturday, November 12, 2005
Our travels to Mbinga and beyond by Billy
We had a wonderful adventure last weekend. It turned out that we only had lunch in Mbinga. We met with Fr. Jose who is managing the completion of a new school there. The workmen were just putting the finishing touches on a miniature statue of an elephant that they were creating in cement. It was very acurate.
After lunch, we we travelled right out into the "outback" of Tanzania. We went as far as Mpepai from where it is said that you can see the Mozambique mountains in the far distance. In this town we met with Fr. Babu. He treated us to "Safari" beer, nuts and other treats. It was wonderful. We met with sisters in this town that were running the local clinic/hospital. There was a set of twins there that were born the day before and we went into their room and took video. All the sick people were out on the porch as it was quite warm there that evening. Everyone is quite anxious to give a gift to visitors. One of the sisters gave us a table cloth with hand stitching. Chantal got a straw handbag.
The roads we used run along the sides of mountain hills. They are not passable safely in the rainy season. There are a few spots that were even a little hair raising for us "chickens" during the dry season. There were three "bridges" to cross which were just planks or logs. Lucky for us we had an expert driver and also the local politicians had passed by the week before us so the bridges had been "fixed" a little. I have gotten a good video of the bridge crossings. The vehicles take such a beating that they have to change the tires on the trucks once a year.
At our farthest point in the journey, we stopped in a village of about a few hundred called Njomloole, a name which means "Come and See". The village reception was wonderful. Lots of singing and a procession to an open area where we were the guests of honour. You must picture that much of the clothing here is European and North American style but usually second hand. A group of men had on what appeared to be a collection of slightly battered white uniforms from a cricket team. They had embellished their shorts with what were a wild mix of women's panty hose and leggings in the most outlandish colours worn underneath knee length socks. They were enthusiastic and proud. As the drummers were drumming the action was punctuated by the playing of the instruments they were carrying which was a collection of whistles, horns and huge homemade Kazoos. What a wild sound.
They would have danced and played for us for most of the afternoon if our priest/friend (Fr. Varghese from Mbangamao) had not shortened the proceedings. There was also a choir, poems and then a procession of gifts of corn, bananas, and a something special which I assumed was a symbolic gift. Wrong again...We are now the proud owners of a goat.
This village was really trying to give us the biggest welcome they could. We were even treated to a special meal with the village elders that consisted of rice, chicken, and green vegetable that was close to spinach. And to finish, no honourable meal is ever complete without some soda. Please note that the Pepsi-Coke wars are alive and well in the most remote parts of Tanzania. This happened to be a Pepsi village. Most others we have been to are loyal to Coke. Do not doubt that the cola companies are the real rulers of the world and are doing more than the United Nations to advance the cause of peace. Chantal was a big hit. One of the women got hold of her and started this funny dance-walk combination while singing "wa-wa-wa".
Because transportation is at such a premium here, we of course needed to provide rides to others on the way back from the village. What a scene with five us stuffed into the small cab, holding things on our lap. There were three men, the goat, our big bag of corn and the bananas plus a piece of plywood loaded in the back. No need to tie down the plywood, we would not be going fast enough along the rough roads to create much lift.
That evening we slept at the church in Mbangamao. They have a generator for lights. Father Varghese asked how many minutes I needed to get ready for bed. He was very precise...I was not. The lights went out about three seconds after I noticed an ugly looking insect crawling across the floor towards me. I was now barefoot, in complete pitch darkness and about 5 feet from my bed. I made it to my bed with out meeting the creature but I heard it scutling about a few times during the night. I decided not to get up to go to the toilet until it was dawn.
After lunch, we we travelled right out into the "outback" of Tanzania. We went as far as Mpepai from where it is said that you can see the Mozambique mountains in the far distance. In this town we met with Fr. Babu. He treated us to "Safari" beer, nuts and other treats. It was wonderful. We met with sisters in this town that were running the local clinic/hospital. There was a set of twins there that were born the day before and we went into their room and took video. All the sick people were out on the porch as it was quite warm there that evening. Everyone is quite anxious to give a gift to visitors. One of the sisters gave us a table cloth with hand stitching. Chantal got a straw handbag.
The roads we used run along the sides of mountain hills. They are not passable safely in the rainy season. There are a few spots that were even a little hair raising for us "chickens" during the dry season. There were three "bridges" to cross which were just planks or logs. Lucky for us we had an expert driver and also the local politicians had passed by the week before us so the bridges had been "fixed" a little. I have gotten a good video of the bridge crossings. The vehicles take such a beating that they have to change the tires on the trucks once a year.
At our farthest point in the journey, we stopped in a village of about a few hundred called Njomloole, a name which means "Come and See". The village reception was wonderful. Lots of singing and a procession to an open area where we were the guests of honour. You must picture that much of the clothing here is European and North American style but usually second hand. A group of men had on what appeared to be a collection of slightly battered white uniforms from a cricket team. They had embellished their shorts with what were a wild mix of women's panty hose and leggings in the most outlandish colours worn underneath knee length socks. They were enthusiastic and proud. As the drummers were drumming the action was punctuated by the playing of the instruments they were carrying which was a collection of whistles, horns and huge homemade Kazoos. What a wild sound.
They would have danced and played for us for most of the afternoon if our priest/friend (Fr. Varghese from Mbangamao) had not shortened the proceedings. There was also a choir, poems and then a procession of gifts of corn, bananas, and a something special which I assumed was a symbolic gift. Wrong again...We are now the proud owners of a goat.
This village was really trying to give us the biggest welcome they could. We were even treated to a special meal with the village elders that consisted of rice, chicken, and green vegetable that was close to spinach. And to finish, no honourable meal is ever complete without some soda. Please note that the Pepsi-Coke wars are alive and well in the most remote parts of Tanzania. This happened to be a Pepsi village. Most others we have been to are loyal to Coke. Do not doubt that the cola companies are the real rulers of the world and are doing more than the United Nations to advance the cause of peace. Chantal was a big hit. One of the women got hold of her and started this funny dance-walk combination while singing "wa-wa-wa".
Because transportation is at such a premium here, we of course needed to provide rides to others on the way back from the village. What a scene with five us stuffed into the small cab, holding things on our lap. There were three men, the goat, our big bag of corn and the bananas plus a piece of plywood loaded in the back. No need to tie down the plywood, we would not be going fast enough along the rough roads to create much lift.
That evening we slept at the church in Mbangamao. They have a generator for lights. Father Varghese asked how many minutes I needed to get ready for bed. He was very precise...I was not. The lights went out about three seconds after I noticed an ugly looking insect crawling across the floor towards me. I was now barefoot, in complete pitch darkness and about 5 feet from my bed. I made it to my bed with out meeting the creature but I heard it scutling about a few times during the night. I decided not to get up to go to the toilet until it was dawn.
# posted by Chantal @ 3:00 a.m. 
