Mountain Living

After 3 busy days exploring Arusha— hardly enough to get a taste of it— our group of 28 was split into 2 groups to go on safari (In Swahili, safari means ‘to travel’ or ‘to journey’). On Friday, my group left for a seven hour drive to Muzumbai Tropical Forest, one of the few fully protected tropical areas in Africa.


If the quintessential view of Africa is of a flat, dry savannah with one Acacia tree (like our first campsite), Muzumbai is far from it. Our safari cars wound through miles and miles of lush, green mountains, villagers balancing loads of fresh fruit and lumber on their heads (my new goal for the trip is to learn to do this), and children running towards us shouting “Muzungu! Muzungu!” (meaning white person) to which we respond “Afriko! Afriko!” The last two hours of the drive were spent ‘’oo’ and ‘ah’ing out the windows at this little-known paradise. 

Late afternoon we arrived at a beautiful, Swiss chalet overlooking the rolling Usambara Mountains which are dotted with mountain villages. The rest of the day was spent playing a game of soccer on the mowed lawn beneath our tents, devouring Oakley and the rest of the cook crew’s famous chapati for dinner (In Tanzania, voluptuousness is a sign of health and wealth and they do a great job of ensuring ours), and hanging out in the lit chalet, which is also the park library. 

The next morning we met Mr. Modest, the Manager of the Forest Reserve (who we later learned has a snow skiing diploma. Probably one of the few Tanzanians...), who briefed us on the history, species diversity, and importance of Muzumbai. 

As I mentioned in my last post, greetings are extremely important in Tanzanian culture. We were then given 3 hours to ‘get acquainted’ with the forest. We were asked to leave our cameras, watches and journals, given vague directions, and told to simply go experience it in whatever fashion we so chose— whether than be running through the forest naked (they neglected to mention the number of thorns) or climbing a tree to take a nap. The only guidelines were 1. No swinging on vines since a past SIT student dislocated her shoulder doing so and 2. Come back when the sun is directly above us. With a good combination of fighting my way through the vegetation and sitting quietly on a fallen tree branch as huge blue butterflies circled my head, the time flew by. On the way out, I stop to sit on a rock and listen to beautiful singing coming from a Sunday morning church service in the village below us, illuminating the valley. 

In the afternoon we went on what we thought would be a leisurely educational hike led by Mr. Modest and the park rangers, but which turned out to be a trek up a mountain. Although many of my classmates were not thrilled by the surprise, I couldn’t help but think about the difficulty of daily activities of the people leaving in the vertical villages around us. These places make Ithaca-living look flat. 

On Monday and Tuesday we spent our mornings in three groups collecting data on tree stratification, height, species diversity, and other factors, and then compiled our data onto charts to be presented before dinner. Our afternoons were spent lounging on the lawn, attempting to juggle the soccer ball, washing clothes, and doing readings (drinking tea goes without say). After dinner we sit around playing mafia, Poor Man’s Toe (for all you game-loving friends, I will have to teach you), and celebrity. 

Before I left the US, Tyler Fishbone told me to “have conversations with as many people as you can.” On Wednesday, we got a great opportunity. We ventured into a nearby village to talk to the villagers about their lives and perceptions of the forest reserve. We split into four groups— ethnobotany, agroforestry, gender, and fuel wood— to hold focus groups with the help of the foresters who translated. 

When we first got to to the village center, we were greeted by about 10 men standing outside the building, who shook everyones hand with a smile— before realizing that the village center had moved and these were just random people. Just another example of how welcoming and friendly everyone is around here. 

As part of the gender group, we talked with two women and two men, all separately. The moment we walked into the first woman’s home, 5 small children started hysterically crying— a bit uncomfortable but hard to blame them. If you’d never seen a white face before I imagine it would be quite scary. We asked about their families, day-to-day activities, the division of labor, contraception practices, population increases, and education. The first woman was Christian (one of the few in the village), single, has a 1-year old son and plans to open up a restaurant. The second woman was a muslim who claimed to be 35 although her husband said she was 27 (this would never happen in America...). She had four kids and said she “resigned”— If her husband wanted more he could marry another wife. Both she and her husband were farmers although they each have their own land. We were all pleasantly surprised by the strong-will and independence of these women. While most Muslim men in this area have multiple wives (they are Polygamists), both the men we spoke to only had one, which they attributed to the hard financial times. Aside from the first lady, none of the people we interviewed had ever left their little, mountain village. After purchasing a grocery bag full of delicious mangoes for only 1000 shillings (less than $1), we headed back to camp to devour them. Before dinner, we all shared our experiences in the focus groups, definitely one of the highlights of my trip so far. 

Nobody was excited to leave Muzumbai yesterday but the car ride down the mountains was equally as majestic. We stopped for a break in a town where some guy took advantage of my spotty Swahili, telling me his name was “Husband” so I decided I should spend the rest of the ride studying vocab to avoid such mixups in the future. (One of my friends meant to say “It was nice to meet you” at the end of her focus group in the village but switched up some words and said, “It’s nice to be fat.”) 

We met up with the other half the group last night back in Arusha for just enough time to catch up and exchange stories. Headed to Tarangire National Park in a couple hours! Though it seems like our time in Arusha (and therefore, time with internet access) is extremely rushed, on safari our days are full of siesta time. With a truly amazing group of people, I couldn’t ask for anything more. 

Pictures coming soon!