Tanzania 2010

Saturday

Today Megan, Mona and I spent the day with Ibra on a Marunga educational tour. We first went to the Makundi Village and watched the blacksmiths and carpenters. We got to try and use the bellows (I think that is the right word) to blow on the fire. It was much harder than it looked!! Blacksmiths are an integral part of traditional Africa and date back many centuries to the Iron Age.

We met up with a friend of Ibra’s named William Makundi, he is a former professor at Berkeley and is one of the top in the field of climate change and a Nobel Prize winner. We visited his home and met his brother and wife.

We then walked thru a forested area of banana and coffee trees. It was absolutely gorgeous and felt like you were in the jungle. We stopped at the 7Up Pub nestled in the forest and watched how coffee is made. The outer layer of the coffee bean is removed and then the bean is ground down to remove another layer of skin and exposes the actual coffee bean. These beans are then roasted. When they are almost done a little sunflower oil is added. After roasting, the beans are ground to a fine powder. They put the coffee in a strainer, poured hot water over it and served us the freshest made coffee ever!! It was delicious.

We continued in the forest to an area of homes and a cave that was used in the 17th century as an escape route for slaves and a hideaway from enemies.  We got to go in it but only part way as it originally extended to a river about a quarter mile away for the entrance.

We also visited a Chaga tribal hut. I think it was over 100 years old – can’t remember for sure. It had a thatched roof. The father’s bed was at the entrance so he could provide protection for his family. The wife’s bed was behind his. The children slept in a corner. There was a very small eating/cooking area and the rest of the hut was an area for the cow and goat plus their feeding area.

We visited the local market and then had lunch before hiking to Ndoro Waterfall. On the way we passed the Kibo hotel where Jimmy Carter stayed when he visited as president – not very plush for a presidential stay!

The hike to the waterfall was rustic, steep and slippery. The waterfall was absolutely gorgeous. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the people who discovered this area because I can’t imagine paradise being any more beautiful.