Day 9 (6/26):
We were scheduled to do a camel-safari today, but when we woke up, it had rained through the night and it was still pretty muggy out. It does this every day, so most of us had no doubts that it would clear up before noon, the girl who had sort of taken charge of organizing the excursion, however, went ahead and postponed it for the next day (Sun). We were all pretty disappointed since then we had nothing to do all day. We mostly lazed around and did small things. I read for a while, Emily did laundry (we hand-wash our clothes) and Libby worked on her research paper.
We eventually went to the Peace Research Center so that we could access internet because the rain had cut it out for us in the resort. We stayed there until noon, and then Libby and Emily and I headed back. We stopped at the grocery store on the way. Emily needed snacks, and I needed something to drink other than water in the apartment.
It was a slow day, so by the time lunch-time rolled around, I was tired of doing nothing so I ventured to the other apartments and found people interested in eating. We went into town for lunch, at Africafe. After that we went back to the apartment and literally just hung around until soccer started at 5. We watched the game until dinner.
After dinner most of the girls came back to our apartment for cards and just hanging out. We listened to music and drank banana wine, it was a lot of fun. We watched USA v. Ghana at 9:30 and suffered when they lost after a hard-fought game.
Day 10 (6/27):
We woke up this morning and already at 9am the sun was out. We knew today would be a good day. We ate breakfast and when our taxi-bus arrived, all piled into it.
It was a long, bumpy, dusty ride out of Arusha. We spent two hours in the bus, and out into sparse, barren, Serengeti plain. Most of the roads are only half finished, mostly you’re driving over bumpy, gravelly, rocky terrain. This was my first experience doing a drive like that, and I have to say, I will never complain about potholes the same way.
I sort of have this irrational fear of tipping over while in a car. I know that sounds silly, but if you had seen the roads. They are elevated, obviously, so that rain water can wash away, but the divets on each side of the road aren’t paved like the road is. And sometimes they are seriously deep. Meaning, that if one tire were to slip off the road and into the divet, the entire taxi-bus would be in danger of tipping over. It was stressful to say the least. Definitely not what I was expecting. When we finally pulled off the main road, it got worse.
There is nothing out there. When I say nothing, I mean nothing. It’s beautiful landscape. There is really no comparison to the Serengeti landscape, but it is hard to feel miniscule and pointless when driving through it. We would occasionally pass a Maasai village, or see little shepherd children herding their goats or sheep. Every time we passed a child or villager, they waved. There is an insane amount of friendliness and hospitality displayed by the Maasai people that we don’t receive in the city.
By the time we drive down into and up out of, again, our third riverbed, my anxiety level was through the roof. I didn’t know where we were. We were in the middle of nowhere, two hours outside of the city, with nothing but a bus full of 12 white girls and our bus driver and two guides with us. To say that I felt alone and insignificant is an understatement. I came close to a panic attack because of it.
We finally pulled into the Mkuru Camel Camp at around noon, having left the resort at 10. There were three low buildings and no camels. Not knowing anything about how this day would work and whether we would be able to leave in time to get back before it got dark, I was stressed. I’m saying all of this because it’s a blog and I’m supposed to be truthful. Not to deter anyone from doing this. Keep reading. It gets better. We sat at tables in one of the buildings which was open-air and waited for instructions. We were told that we would be taken up into the foothills a little ways and meet the Maasai people firsthand, in their village.
The Mkuru Camel Camp essentially is a cooperative organization that works with the local Maasai village. Tourists are allowed to come and meet the people and take pictures, learn about the Maasai culture, and then take a camel-back ride to some local caves. The point of this is to raise awareness and support of the Maasai people, and to maintain a sustainable goal in tourism.
We were told on the way to the village that the people were preparing a celebration. There was a circumcision to take place for the girls of age, and they were preparing a feast for the occasion. When females in the Maasai culture (and some other tribal African cultures) come of age, they undergo a procedure of female circumcision. The clitoris and labia are altered/removed so that sexual intercourse is for the sole purpose of producing children. While this probably sounds horrible and barbaric, its part of the rite of passage to becoming a woman with these people, and a cause for celebration. Any uncircumcised woman is not eligible for marriage, and therefore will most likely die because she cannot support a family without a husband.
The children in the village were especially adorable. We were told that a local NGO from Italy was camped nearby and helping them dig wells. The kids knew “ciao” from the Italians, so all they shouted as we took pictures of them and interacted with them was “ciao”. It was adorable.
After touring the village we returned to the main compound where we started and ate lunch. They provided us with rice (as usual) and vegetables and meat in sauce. They also provided ugali, which is a staple-food to the East African region made of something similar to cornmeal.
By the time we were finished our lunch, our camels were saddled and ready. At this point I’d calmed down slightly, because the organization where we were was legit and because they knew to have us on the road with enough time to get back before dark.
Me and Libby shared a camel named Lillian. She was pretty ornery, but only because she was one of the few females in the group, and apparently did not enjoy being pulled away from her male suitors. The safari was two hours. One hour ride to the caves and one hour ride back. We landscape, as I said, was beautiful. There is no way I can describe to you how vast it was. I have never felt smaller in my life. The caves they took us to were really a dried up dam leftover from the German colonists. Since there was no water (rainy season was over) local baboons had taken up residence in the upper reaches of the caves and parts of the gorge. It was pretty incredible, since the gorge gave us a splendid view of the plateau below us. We took a million pictures and then hopped back on our camels to ride back.
Camel-riding, I’d have to say, is infinitely better than horse-back riding. Horses tend to be more sociable, I guess, but they are also more flighty, and less sure-footed. Camels are mean, and gross, and nasty, but I never felt unsafe on top of the camel, and I was a good 12/13 feet in the air, and my sight level.
We got back, paid the $35 USD and headed back around 4pm. It was a good day overall. This trip only goes to show how embarrassingly uncomfortable I sometimes am outside of my comfort zone. I freak out. Its something I need to work on. By the time we were on the camels and I had a time-frame I was fine, but the entire time in the Maasai village I was upset and anxious. I think its one of those things where some people are afraid of small spaces, I definitely was wigging out with all the open, empty space.
Like I said, the experience was amazing and I am so glad I did it. I was even able to have fun when we were doing the camel-riding. I just need to be able to roll with the punches and adapt a little bit better and a little more quickly.
When we finally got back to the hotel, we were all caked in dust and dirt from the road. I wrote this blog before dinner and my roommates showered. I’m going to shower all the dirt off me when the hot water comes back, hopefully.
Tomorrow is back to class and normal things in Arusha. No more safari-adventures until next weekend!
Love and miss you all
Colleen Claire
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