This summer I have the great fortune of traveling with friends. Coming to Tanzania alone last summer was an adventure and made for some entertaining blog entries (I’m told) but it also made for mental exhaustion and some loneliness. This year, at this point, I am in the great company of Laura Fombona from Spain and Hadley Rampton from Salt Lake City, UT. Soon, I’ll be joined by Carter Jensen of Salt Lake City – if he continues to survive his many adventures … sleeping with hippos, rafting the Nile and climbing Mt. Kenya.
Summer 2010 - The journey began on June 19th with Hadley and I embarking a midnight flight from Salt Lake City. We spent the following day in Manhattan – walking around the upper East side, taking a stroll in Central Park, enjoying organic goodies in a café on Lexington Ave and journeying back to the airport via taxi and subway – an adventure in itself in NYC. That night, we took another midnight flight that dropped us into Dublin, Ireland at 10am. We got a car and drove south to my cousins in Wicklow where we strolled along the harbor, enjoyed a cappuccino at the end of “main street” in Wicklow town and then rounded off the family home evening with two bottles of delicious red wine, stories, laughs and rosy cheeks.
The next day, after sleeping in much later than planned – Hadley and I set off in our little Twingo for Galway on the West coast of Ireland. Three hours after departure, we arrived and enjoyed meandering along the restaurant-packed, cobblestone promenade through the center – dodging over-priced options by diving into a small side street for fabulous Indian food. After filling up in Galway, we hopped back in the car and drove an hour and a half south to the Burren mountains and the Cliffs of Moher.
We took several pictures from the point and then planned to stretch our legs by walking along the cliffs – only to be sent back in our tracks by signs warning of ‘death by wind’ that has apparently taken its fair share of people into the sea below. There were also signs that read:
Need someone to talk to? … followed by a toll free number …. Woah! So, out of respect for those who have lost their lives on the cliff (that’s what the sign asked of us) we decided not to hop over the short stone barrier and onto the well-worn path.
Being 9pm, having nowhere to sleep and approaching our 4am check in time in Dublin, we decided to just drive through the night, back to the East coast.
We stopped into a wee pub in a wee town for a wee cup of coffee on our way back across the wee island to the capital. The men – ranging in age from 18 to 80 – were bellied up at the bar, sipping their pints and puzzling over the two odd birds at the bar drinking coffee and talking with funny accents. Meanwhile, we couldn’t tell if they were speaking in English or Irish … Later, in Dublin, we walked along the River Liffey and spotted (as in “we gotcha if you fall”) young girls as they stumbled out of bars and off their high heels into more cobblestone streets surrounding Temple Bar… there was sure to be some trouble for someone in these early morning hours, but we sensible wise 'older' women would be enjoying hummus and falafel in a sober spot letting the drunks be drunks and the innocent become less so.
Don’t go yet – we’re still en route to Africa! From Dublin, we took a short flight to Rome, Italy. We arrived in the morning, took a bus to the
Termini terminal and a metro to the station closest to our B&B. We arrived in time for a nap, followed by
Cuatro Formaggio pizza under the light of the Coliseum. We slept long and hard that night, not stirring for a single moped or gladiator singing Juliet up to our fourth floor window … ok, there were no gladiators – but we would have ignored them if they had come. The next morning, we blew it a bit … left our trip to the airport a bit late and found ourselves taking subway and train to the airport, arriving wet from sweat, hot with panic and last to our gate … to find (thankfully) that our flight was departing 30 minutes late! Phew!! After one uneventful stop-over in Cairo for a snack and a glimpse of the Japan-Denmark World Cup match, we were on our way to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania!!! At long last …
We arrived to Dar in the early early morning and my favorite little hotel had sent a driver as planned – seeing him with my name on little sign and greeting him with a light, bright “
Mambo” reminded me what I’ve been looking forward to in these past weeks. Ahhh, Tanzania! Our first day in the country, Hadley and I … well, we slept … all day! We were absolutely exhausted from our world travels thus far. Our batteries needed recharging lest we catch malaria just from the sight of a mosquito due to our tired little bodies’ inability to even think about fighting back. Once in the sleep marathon, I asked Hadley - "Is it ok that we haven't eaten or had a drink of water in 14 hours? Are we just lying here dying?" I was delirous of course.
After sleeping for about 20+ hours with a waking moment here and there, we were ready for our African adventures! Dar es Salaam, the city from which all government goings-on take place, but which is actually not the capital (Dodoma is – news to me!), is a joy and a pain. It was so similar to the past two years I’ve been here – but I’ve heard things are taking a turn for the worse with the rich getting richer and the poor … yes, you can finish that sentence. There are many street people – adults and children, many of whom come in from villages to find something better only to be greeted by the sidewalk. Street vending has been cut off (made illegal) and most businesses are run by Arab and Indian Tanzanians, leaving many of the black Tanzanians to work for them. I won’t be here long enough to make a study, but it seems grim and only to become more grim - and I had a good reference point for these perspectives found in the tales of a young American writer we met who is in Dar refining his novel on the 2000 TZ elections.
On our second day in Dar, our friend Laura arrived from Spain. Our adventures in Dar mainly consisted of logistics. We found out that a flight to Kigoma would not be possible until July 1st, which is at least 3 days later than I was hoping – but flights are full. In the meantime, we decided to make our way over to Zanzibar to putter around stone town, take in the sea breeze and sandy beaches - if only with our eyes and toes. We’ve enjoyed more delectable Indian food, some tasty spiced coffee, another World Cup match here and there and a close call with sea sickness. Right now, I’m writing from the roof-top terrace of our off-the-beaten-path hostel, the hum of a generator accompanying my view of the rising full moon along with the voices of fish sellers in the evening market up the road. Brazil is currently crushing Chile and with every goal, the entire island of Zanzibar erupts with yells and horn blows traveling from coast to coast. The breeze is amazing and for the first time all day, my neck is dry and my eyes are heavy.
We’re all very excited to get to Kigoma and then on to the villages to see the children that anticipate our arrival, to brainstorm and strategize with the village council, and to put the fundraising dollars in motion - and of course, to share these important development stages of the summer project with everyone who's invested so much in Project Wezesha.
In June, Hadley is giving back, yet again by donating 10% of the sales of water color paintings from her 'Zanzibar' series to Project Wezesha! Given the number of images in this show, Project Wezesha has the opportunity to earn up to $550 from these sales. We are deeply grateful to Hadley. 
Please help us spread the word about her show and encourage collectors - new and old - to invest in both the beautiful art of a celebrated local artist and the education of children in rural Tanzania. 
