Lushoto, the Hill Statiom

St. Benedicts has the BEST beds that we have slept in for a long time, including the United States (well, probably the Peninsula in Chicago is better!) We were awakened first by the Imam’s call for prayers (Islam), then the various churches (Christian) ringing their bells and then the school started banging on pans to alert the school children, we guess.

At various times between 5 a.m. and 7:15 a.m., I was so annoyed with a) paying a premium for the room and the lack of water and b) realizing that we had paid all sorts of fees for our trek today and that it didn’t include food. Plus, it wasn’t until much later that I learned that breakfast was included in our room rate. Unknowing to me, Bill doubled his Lexapro…later, when he told me, he said, we didn’t need two of us mad at the world.

Breakfast consisted of a very greasy omelet with lots of vegetables and since Bill doesn’t eat mango, I got his mango. I will say this, when they serve hot water for the instant coffee, the water is HOT. So hot, that Bill was able to make his chai each morning. Isn’t it amazing that some of the best coffee in the world comes from Tanzania, and all we can get here is instant Africafe. It’s almost enough to drive someone away from coffee…

Since the guide fees paid the guide, several villages, and the administrator, of course, it didn’t include lunch (more later). However, our guide was good-natured, and knowledgeable and so in spite of myself, I was drawn into the talk and walk.

He explained which trees are native and their value: one of them pulls water from its leaves and stores the water in its roots, so while the leaves do drop off, the tree does not die during a drought or dry period. Another tree forms a canopy and its leaves brings up water and then drops the water onto the plants below the tree. I think that this tree is good to grow over coffee plants.

The Dutch and German governments have invested in many tree seeds and so the villagers are encouraged to plant these seeds every year…If they have patience, and plant a few more trees each year, about year five, they can start harvesting the trees planted in year one to use for fuel. And if they are really clever, they can harvest the seeds and not have to buy more seeds.

One of the MAJOR problems here re: deforestation is that one tree yields only about one bag of charcoal, the major source for cooking fuels. Plus, farmers try to clear the forest for use for farms. Along comes this drought, which is really major this year, and not only do we all experience power outages, but many villages are already in starving mode.

About five miles into our hike, we passed school children during recess. They came running over to us, wearing their navy blue uniforms, and looking so cute, that I asked if we could take their picture. The guide asked them, two-thirds ran away, and one-third remained. No sooner had I clicked the picture than an older boy showed up, with mud on his legs (straight from the field) yelling [apparently] that we were not allowed to take pictures in this village, and he went to get the head man for the village.

After much yelling and gesturing, our guide went into the school house, and still more yelling, we showed the digital picture that we hadn’t taken any pictures of the buildings, only the children who had posed, and finally we were allowed to walk away. Our guide was livid…the headman should know that tourists are valuable, and no, I don’t give tribute, and I don’t take tribute, I am anti-corruption, and who is this fellow who can come in from the fields with mud on his legs and interrupt me with my clients… Oh, what a fuss!

After hiking about 10 miles (yes, you read that right) we ended up at the Irente Farm, which as near as I can gather is owned by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT). The picnic lunch included three slices of RYE bread, their homemade tilsit cheese, homemade butter, homemade jam, some veggies and another kind of soft cheese called quark with herbs.

We LOVED the meal, plus the Germans that we had seen earlier (all three share the bed, and paid only $8 for the room) showed up, bought one lunch for the men to share, and the woman nibbled on her chappati. We visited…they have traveled all over, one of them has been a student in Dar es Salaam for the last two months of so, and they went in one direction after making plans to meet up to go to the Montessori Sisters farm for banana wine and more cheese.

Our guide was stunned to learn our ages! By this time, we were hiking on a red dusty road. I cannot imagine how it is when the rains come. A boy on a bicycle passed us, and then stopped ahead of us, and started throwing stones into the ditch. Turns out that the bike had crossed over a green snake, a very poisonous green snake called green mamba, I think, so we stood there while our guide explained that as a boy he killed snakes, but now he doesn’t, but this boy! He continued to stone that snake while our guide explained how the poison kills in a matter of minutes.

By the end of the hike, I was in such a better mood, sometimes, I have to do something majorly physical, so I suggested that we give him a good tip, and we did. Later, at the tourist office, I told another couple, more Germans (the woman looked very Indian) that this guide was quite knowledgeable about plants, and so they booked him for the next day for an even longer trek to the rain forest.

Now we knew that the power was totally off for the day, so we joined the first Germans and headed off for the Montessori Sisters farm for the banana wine, which turned out to be quite dreadful, but since we paid for it, we drank it! The cheese was excellent, but we had already bought some at the Lutherans earlier, but we did invest in freshly ground peanut butter, which we shared with the two German men who didn’t know that peanut butter could be made without sugar.

We visited with a Swiss 24-year-old woman, dubbed the Swiss Miss. Bill mentioned that this is the only time that he has been embarrassed to say that he is from the United States, and she said, all of the Americans I have met here say the same thing…if you are here, the people who come here are usually are not in support of your current government policies.”

She is taking a year to teach English in the school, paying her own expenses and living with the sisters. She explained that the teachers BEAT the kids who don’t learn quickly enough, and that she doesn’t do that. If someone can pay her, she will return for another year. Can you imagine!

We couldn’t find a taxi to take us back, and the minivans were nowhere in sight, so the five of us walked another 3 miles UPHILL to our various hotels. As we parted good-night, we received one of the nicest compliments: Until now, I had never thought that I wanted to visit the United States, but after spending this time with you, I would like to visit.”

Back at St. Benedicts, we got a couple of tomatoes and green peppers, and so we dug in to our rye bread and cheese…what a great dinner, after a great day. The man brought us a bucket of VERY HOT water, and so we had bucket showers with very brown water! And then we drifted off to welcome sleep in the very comfortable beds at St. Benedicts, cool and comfortable, even needing sheets during the night!

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