Attention ladies and gentlemen: This will be a LONG blog post. Consider yourself warned.
Our first week in Tanzania, we were handed a map and a budget and told to plan six days ofour trip. With little guidelines other than nothing illegal and no leaving the country (though we pushed the latter), we dove in, eventually arriving on a pretty awesome plan, if I do say so myself.
The day after our safari, we boarded a bus headed to Mbeya to meet an intriguing contact Kevin had heard about through a friend in Iringa. No one knew anything about this mysterious contact, but Kevin assured us he was “a homie.” Upon arriving in Mbeya, we met said homie, a cool, dread- headed Rasta named Goba. For the next three days, we hung out with Goba and his Rasta friends. DeeDee (finally) got some real dreads, and Kevin and Alvin got a few dreads, too. (they looked like cartoon characters!) Much to the disappointment of the group, they both took them out almost immedietly. Goba also took us to an incredible waterfall where we spent an afternoon just hanging out.
While in Mbeya, we celebrated a very special event: Talia’s 18th birthday! We went out to an incredible dinner and, while waiting for our food, repelled boredom with a peanut fight. Once we’d finished our meal, we surprised Talia with a delicious birthday cake!
After Mbeya, we got on a bus alongside our new friends (7 Italian girls- the guys were in heaven!) and headed to Matema, a small town on the shores of Lake Nyasi. The ride was interesting, to say the least. Due to the heavy rainy season this year, the only road leading to Matema was flooded. I’m talking insanely-fast-moving rapid-water-that-looks-like-a-river kind of flooded. Luckily, our driver was completely insane and just plowed on through it.
We arrived to our hotel just in time (it started to rain) and were immedietly blown away by the view. If I weren’t positive we were at Lake Nyasi, I would have bet my life we were at the ocean. Our rooms were right on the beach- I mean literally on the beach- and we could hear the waves crashing against the shore as we fell asleep. We enjoyed three incredible, relaxing days on the beach swimming, napping, and digging enormous holes (Colin was a little too excited about the holes…) On Sunday, Talia and I created an Easter surprise for everyone. Early Sunday morning, we woke up Colin and Avy to ask for some money from the budget. Maybe it was because they were half asleep, but they handed us 200,000 shillings without a second thought. Our options were limited: the “town” of Matema isn’t actually a town, persay, more of a small circle of tiny stands and shops. Despite this, we were able to make everyone their own Easter “basket,” complete with candy, bananas, and pens (I can’t tell you how sacred our pens have become after three months of travelling!) Each was wrapped in a Kitenge we hand picked for each person and tied with piece of laundry line. The baskets also included special keychains and individualized name tags made by Talia.
We invited everyone to the beach, where we shot eggs at each other with slingshots. After a little while, it started pouring and, figuring we were drenched anyway, we all jumped in the lake for a crazy swim in the middle of the storm. After a long, incredible swim, we sent the group off on a scavenger hunt to find their Easter baskets. We ended the holiday with a pre-paid meal. Everyone showed up in their new kitenges! It was definitely an Easter to remember(:
Our ride from Matema was…. rough. Imagine leaving at five AM, eleven people and their huge bags stuffed into a tiny van. Now, that’s nothing new; after three months in East Africa, we’re used to traveling like that. Here’s what made it rough: two hours on a dirt, pot-hole filled road, car sickness (compliments of your truely), and, to top it off, a lost bag (Talia’s. Despite losing almost all her belongings, though, she’s kept an amazingly positive attitude!) We were supposed to arrive in Njombe at 2 PM, officially ending our free travel. Instead, we arrived around 9 PM, making it a 16 hour day of travel!
Luckily, though, two amazing people, Curry and Luca, were waiting for us in Njombe with wide smiles on their faces. We arrived to their home around 10 PM completely exhausted and were greeted by a beautiful house, a warm shower, and an AMAZING home coooked meal. (Oh, by the way- we could actually drink the tap water- huge deal.) Curry and her sister Chevy, who we didn’t get to meet, came to Tanzaia from their home in California almost five years ago. Since then, they have worked hard to create a calm, relaxing space centered around nature and holistic living. They work closely with locals, teaching them about permaculture and healthy living. Their organization is called Ohana Amani: peaceful family. Curry’s boyfriend Luca, from Italy, has recently moved to Tanzania to work alongside Curry and Chevy.
During our three days there, we spent lots of time in the beautiful nature surrounding their home: taking walks to the lake and waterfall, working in their incredible garden, hauling wood for a new fence and then actually building the fence. We learned a lot about permaculture and sustainable living. When we weren’t working outside, we were taking time to reflect on our trip. Each morning began with yoga and meditation and we spent a lot of time thinking about our journey and ourselves throughout the day. One day we participated in a “noble silence:” for three hours, we all went outside, found a place to ourselves (in my case, a ditch in a cornfield,) and wrote about our story- what it has been up until this point and what we’d like it be from now on. For those three hours, we didn’t speak a word.
Once we’d all come back together, we created collages of what we want our futures to look like. We shared them over home- made cupcakes and tea.
Our last day at Ohana Amani’s was incredibly fun; we celebrated with an exstatic dance party and loud, fun music. It was definitely hard to say goodbye.
Our time in East Africa is almost over! As of today, we have only eleven days left on this beautiful continent. Ohana Amani’s was the perfect place to think about all the fun adventures we’ve had on this trip so far and how we will incorporate everything Africa has taught us into our daily lives.
Be good, be happy,
Breezy(:
p.s Thanks for sticking with me! I had a HUGE week to write about, huh? (: