Day 7, Snakes, chameleons, dogs and flower farming

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Wednesday 9th February


We got up again fairly early; there just wasn’t time for any lie-ins on this holiday. I had decided that I had to get back to Emslies Travel as I was sure Shafiq was working there and I really wanted to meet him. I realized that we both had been at ISM at the same time in 1977-78, but I couldn’t remember him. I wanted yet again to thank him for starting our ISM alumni group web site which has given us so much pleasure this last year.
The plan for this day was to go and see a snake park which was situated along the Arusha road, not too far from the Mount Meru Game Sanctuary where I had spent a lot of time in my youth. Harriet wanted to pop in to Rivertrees Country Inn, which lies almost opposite the Game Sanctuary. Vidar was hoping to do his work experience there, something they do nowadays from ISM. Scott does the same from his school here in England, but a little later in the year. There is another snake park on the other side of Arusha, but we were hoping that this smaller one would be both open and nice, as we didn’t really have the time to go all the way through Arusha. It would have been great to have seen that larger park, as they also have camels there that one can ride. I haven’t ridden a camel since the 60s, when I was very small, and all I do remember was being very frightened. Nowadays I don't get scared so easily, so it would have been fun. We had to be back at a reasonable time as we were going to ISM in the evening to listen to Greg Emmanuel’s talk about his flower farm; something I was greatly looking forward to hearing. Greg had been at ISM the same time as me, and although he was a day student I remember him well. I took him horse riding and we also spent many hours arguing the pros and cons of hunting, the cons being my side and the pros his!
We had breakfast outside again. It is amazing how uplifting a blue sky is. The birds were singing, there is always noise in Africa. People were walking past the house on that dirt road, shouting greetings to Jon-Erik's askaris. We in Europe have become so accustomed to car transport, that it's easy to forget that most people in Africa have to walk everywhere. Some have bicycles, and they seemed just as popular as in the 70s, when most of them came from China. Those used to be huge, black things with no gears, and quite heavy to ride, but quicker than legs. Mostly men seem to have them, although we did see some women on bikes when we went to Kibaya later on.
Jon-Erik had time to show me his kitchen garden this morning. In Sweden everyone recycles and composts all their waste, and Jon-Erik has introduced the same in his household, much to the bewilderment of his staff. The compost heap was looking very ripe, so I didn't inspect it too closely, but it is a great idea to have one, as it would mature quickly in the heat. We used to have one in Mbeya, but we only put garden waste in it, no kitchen waste because of all stray dogs. Here in Moshi the garden is all enclosed, so no strays could get in. The vegetables were all newly sown, and had only just emerged. As mentioned earlier Jon-Erik likes to try all sorts of varied plants, and there were some I hadn't seen before. He had a big clump of lemon grass, which I would love to grow in England, but it is too cold and short a season here. The plant that interested me most was the bush with leaves you can use to clarify dirty, muddy water. It was quite a large plant, with big leaves, and Jon-Erik thought that all you needed to do was to chop it down and throw it into water that needed clarifying and then stir and wait. He hadn't tried it yet so I am eagerly waiting to hear results from his experiments. The Maasai askari, whose name is Katay, joined us looking at the plants and showed great interest in the small seedlings and a lot of sensitivity when we showed him how to weed them. The Maasai are generally only interested in cattle, so we were quite surprised at his eagerness. We also had a good look at the rest of the garden as I am especially interested in ornamental plants, and I was pleased that I could name quite a few of them that Jon-Erik didn't know. In Mbeya my mother and I had a wonderful garden and I wish now looking back that I had chosen horticulture as a career rather than the travel industry which I did. In my innocence I thought that being in the travel industry meant I'd get to travel a lot; fat chance with the lousy salary that travel agents get paid!
After breakfast Harriet and I left for Moshi and also to pick up Carita from school as she was coming with us. We first went back to Emslies and there asked for Shafiq. He was in and it was great seeing him. He couldn't remember me either but that didn't matter as it seems most ex-ISMers get on well wherever they are. We talked a lot about the alumni and Shafiq was very enthusiastic about having such a large net work of people with all sorts of skills and contacts spread all over the world. Harriet and I didn't want to keep Shafiq too long from his work so we left after having said hello to his wife who stopped by.
We then went and picked up Carita from ISM. She was to come with us to Dar-es-Salaam the following day, as was Ossian, but Vidar had a school field-trip to Arusha National Park during the weekend so he was to stay behind. It is very handy having Jon-Erik's house so close to ISM so it took only 5 minutes to get back and collect the others. We were beginning to know the road between Moshi and Arusha quite well by now. February is a good time to go to Tanzania, as the short rains should have finished and all is green and beautiful, but the roads are firm and there is little chance of getting stuck in mud. The days are clear and it is getting a little cooler after the hottest time during Christmas. Most places are accessible and travelling is easy. I always loved the rains before, but it is inconvenient if you are there for a short time as some roads become totally impassable. I can imagine the Kisima Ngeda road being difficult, as even now there were such deep grooves in it, from all the flowing water during the rains. There is a lovely place at Lake Nyasa called Matema, which we used to visit a lot from Mbeya as it was close. There is a wonderful, clean beach and no bilharzia or crocodiles and it is situated right in the shadow of the Livingstone Mountains. In the old days we would stay at the Catholic Mission which was a sort of guesthouse, but now Harriet tells me there is a new inn, and the mission has closed. The road to Matema was absolutely terrible, and the amount of times we were stuck in a sea of red, sticky mud can't be counted. We would have to get out and go into the bush to find sticks and stones and basically re-build the road. The bliss of jumping into the cool lake afterwards can only be imagined. In those days I used to lie on the beach, covered in coconut oil and fry myself until I was red as a lobster. That was the only way to get brown, we thought, which was the most attractive way to be. No thoughts of melanomas then. A Norwegian friend of mine used to get incredibly dark, which looked wonderful with his blond hair, and we all aspired to that I suppose. He didn't burn though!
Harriet dropped us off at Mount Meru Game Sanctuary; she herself had to go to a meeting in Arusha. This is a spectacular place, a wonderful lodge, quite expensive I believe but worth every penny and has always been. I can remember it from far back, when a family called von Nagy used to own it. Von Nagy himself was a Hungarian Count and he was aristocratic to his fingertips. I remember he had a white beard and he knew every one of the trophies hanging on the walls, from the huge buffalo to the lion skins on the floor. I needlessly to say did not approve, but couldn't help admiring him and his wonderful place. We would stay here quite often on our travels as a treat, but when we went to ISM my father booked us rooms at the Tanzanite hotel situated next door, as it was cheaper, during half term. Tanzanite did have one thing which von Nagy's did not - a swimming pool. On this re-visit I spoke to the receptionist, and he told me there were plans to build a pool at the Sanctuary, and I think that is a very good idea, as pools are lovely and so much fun for children especially.
We headed straight for the tables in the shadow of some big trees in front of the restaurant. From here we had a great view over the big park where zebras, eland and other animals graze. I missed the giraffe that had been there before; it used to be great fun feeding them, but I was told that the management had reduced a lot of the species taken care of these days. In the 70s there were a lot of animals, which now in our more enlightened day would not be suitable to keep enclosed in Africa. There was a lion called as far as I remember Tammy, which I used to pet through the chicken wire in the evening. She would come to the net and purr like a huge cat and I would scratch her ears. My fingers would get grey and greasy I remember, but how can you resist? There was a bush-pig that was a great friend. As soon as it saw me it would come to the wall and lie down and I would scratch it's tummy for what seemed like hours. And last but not least there was Milla, the baby chimpanzee. She was so small she used to be carried around by various staff or by von Nagy's daughter, and if you were lucky you'd be allowed to carry her yourself. When she was a little older she was very naughty and would do things like pull tablecloths and run around making a mess. She loved riding on people's backs, but unfortunately she eventually became too big and strong and had to be kept locked up and I believe she was quite unhappy and also rather aggressive. The lions also had to go as there was a terrible accident when someone got into the lion enclosure and were killed. So now there were no big cats or any bigger animal at all, apart from the ones in the park. There were some porcupines in one enclosure, and some monkeys in another. A couple of crocodiles were left. I am quite happy that they are gone, as it did seem odd to have what really was a zoo in Africa, but most of the animals where orphaned. All the animals left now are rescued, and most are rehabilitated to the wild.
The most famous of these must be Nina the elephant. I remember her well; she was at the bottom end of the 'zoo', sharing a big enclosure with what I remember another elephant, an ostrich and a buffalo. I may be wrong about the other elephant. Nina was ever so friendly and would stretch out her trunk toward us, but we didn't dare to get too close. Some years ago I happened to watch a program on TV here in England about an elephant being rehabilitated by the Born Free Foundation, it was narrated by an actor called Martin Clunes, and who would that elephant be but Nina! I was so excited to see the Sanctuary on TV and the very sympathetic Tony Fitzjohn who took responsibility for Nina at Mkomazi Game Reserve, which is located between Moshi and Tanga. Tony had worked with George Adamson in Kenya and probably knows more about wildlife than most. Yet again a hero of mine! Now Nina's enclosure at the Sanctuary was completely overgrown, with no animals in it. In the program Mr Bandi Schwent Nagy who had owned Nina was very obviously attached to her, and was naturally upset at having to say goodbye but also excited at the prospect of Nina being able to be free. I am furious with myself for not saying hello when I spotted him walking in the car park when we first arrived at the Sanctuary today, but by the time I had gathered confidence enough to do so he had left for town!
Soon after we finished our drinks Harriet arrived and we drove the short way to Rivertrees, basically just crossing the main road. This little lodge was new to me, but Harriet had used it many times and knew the owner Martina well. Martina has a yellow Labrador retriever that was mated with Harriet's Golden Retriever Dessie, and Dessie consequently produced puppies out of which Rivertrees kept two. These year-old dogs got very excited when we got to the lodge and so obviously knew both Harriet and Carita. Rivertrees is set in pretty gardens, with a largish pond where lots of reeds grow and both dogs were in and out of it all the time. Lucky for them with their thick coats to get so cooled off in the early afternoon heat. There were lots of dogs actually and Scott was a little worried first as he is not the best with boisterous hounds. There was one little one that wore a t-shirt of all things and Martina explained that the biggest dog called Bear had bitten it and now it had to wear this shirt to keep the ointment on that needed to be applied to the wounds. It looked quite funny though, and we didn't mind laughing as the little dog was on the mend. There was a huge tree in the middle of the garden; I don't know what it is about these old African trees, they are so majestic. Baobabs are my favourites, but this tree was special. I suppose you get the same with the Redwoods of North America, this feeling of immense power and strength.
There was unfortunately a problem with Vidar doing his work experience at Rivertrees, so he would have to find somewhere else. It would have been logistically difficult to get him there as well, as it is so far from ISM. I was very happy that we came to see Rivertrees as I definitely want to stay there next time we visit Tanzania. Martina waved goodbye and off we went again.
Now we had to find the snake park, which was easier said than done. We did find a sign and followed a rough road for what seemed like a long time. Eventually there was another sign and we arrived at a small car park and we could see a row of glass fronted cages that had to contain snakes. A very pleasant young man, who spoke impressive English, came and showed us around. Our first stop was a pen containing olive grass snakes that we were allowed to hold. Anja has never held a snake before and she was absolutely fascinated, I'm glad to say. My brother Victor and I have always liked snakes and we had one for a while in Mbeya, but we could only pick it up early in the morning when it was stiff from the cold. We weren't completely sure of the species, and thought it might have been one not terribly poisonous but still able to give a nasty bite, with fangs far back, so that was why we played it safe.
After tearing ourselves away from the grass snakes, we inspected the others behind glass. They were mostly of the very poisonous kind; mambas, cobras, boomslangs and adders/vipers of various types. These were mostly caught from the wild and then exported, something I found hard to accept. They did breed some as well, and quite a few of the cobras had laid eggs. There was one black cobra which stood out in beauty. It had been caught 2 months earlier and was still easily agitated. I have not seen a cobra with its hood out before, swaying backwards and forwards, and I feel I would be absolutely terrified if I saw that in the wild. Everyone has snake stories to tell, and I remember a couple. In Mbeya at the agricultural college Uyole where we lived, we once saw a spitting cobra on the pavement outside the classrooms. This snake had to go, so it was killed, with us watching behind a glass door. The cobra actually spat at us, but hit the glass of course. After the creature was beheaded we put it in a basket and young, foolish and naughty as we were, we walked along the road and showed the basket to people passing by. The cobra was still writhing as they do for quite a long time after being killed, and these poor people would scatter and scream 'Nyoka, nyoka'. And we laughed!
Another time someone had caught a huge puff adder. It was duly killed and it was thought that we really should try to eat it, as well as keeping its skin. So we first had some fried with boiled potatoes, very Scandinavian that, and then we made a soup out of the rest. I must say it was perfectly fine, tasted like chicken!
The young man who showed us around the snake park was really quite wonderful. He desperately wanted to study botany, which was his main interest, but as so often is the case there was no money to pay for the extra education. He was very knowledgeable about reptiles and after the snakes he showed us something I'd never seen before. In wire-mesh cages, set on poles about a metre tall, were the most extraordinary, small chameleons. He took out one of these and put it in my hand and it vibrated just like a mobile phone. Amazing! This tiny creature had a brilliant, scary defence system that he assured me was very effective against predators. They were quite plain in comparison with the other, normal ones you see everywhere in the bush.
We then admired some terrapins and tortoises and also tried a bit of snake spotting in a pen containing a big avocado tree in which, our guide told us, were dozens of snakes of various species. We didn't see that many. Isn't it strange how seldom you do see snakes in Africa? They are the one thing people fear and also the most elusive, when you know how many there are out there. I mostly ever saw them run over on the roads.
We were now running a bit late and Harriet was keen to get away. After drinking some sodas at their touching café, we said our goodbyes. There were lots of signs for various Shule ya Msingi (primary school) on the road and Harriet said that nowadays all children have to attend at least primary school. She said however that recruiting educated and good teaching staff was very difficult, especially in the rural, more remote areas.
When we got home Jon-Erik was already there, and we quickly made some pasta for the children to eat. Paul had decided to stay home and not join us for Greg's talk at ISM; he wasn't feeling too good in the stomach and wanted to rest. After a shower we left them to their DVD player, and headed off to ISM.
The talk was to start at 8 pm and we didn't want to be early as these things normally never start on time. It was to be in the so called Karibu Hall, a place which was not built when I was there. The actual occasion was a monthly meeting by the Mountaineering Group, and they had asked Greg to be guest speaker. The Karibu Hall had a sort of tiered system of benches so that everyone could see what was going on. There were about 40 people there and we helped ourselves to some coffee with powdered milk and chocolate cake and then sat down to wait. I spotted Greg immediately; he was nonchalantly leaning against the wall, looking very collected and not nervous at all. I also saw his mother, and someone I thought was his wife in the audience.
After an introduction by the chairman of the mountaineering club, Greg started his talk. It is so amazing to see people again after 27 years, and recognize them immediately. We all grow older, and of course we change, but within ourselves we don't feel much older than when we finished school. So it was comforting to feel familiar with Greg's presentation. He is doing what many of us wish we could do, starting a business in Tanzania. Maybe it helps him being second or even third generation 'Tanzanian', but he seems to live the dream that we often talk about. He is growing a plant called Hypericum, of which there are many types; the one he grows is especially suited for cut flowers. It is the berry of the plant which makes it valuable in a flower arrangement, and he was experimenting with various colours. These plants have to be exported to Europe, and this is an expensive exercise. Not only do the plants have to be chilled and air freighted, they also have to be immaculate in presentation to fetch the highest price at the Dutch auction where they are sent. This means that any pests have to be controlled before they take hold of a crop, as any chewed leaves, or stunted berries make the plant worthless. He pointed out at the end of the talk, that it certainly was a balance on the edge of a razor blade, whether it was to be a successful crop or not. He grows the Hypericum in rotation, so that there is always some to cut, and so should in theory provide income throughout the year. The flower farm is still in its infancy and I wish him all the luck in the world.
After the talk we hung around to get a chance to speak to Greg, and while waiting spoke to his lovely wife who indeed was in the audience. His mother also said hello, she is English and looks like she would have stepped out of a Karen Blixen book, beautiful and fresh. She also couldn't remember me, but that is no surprise as I never went to their house in Moshi. Greg then came over and we talked for a long time both about the past and of the flower farm.
We had to tear ourselves away however if we were to get any supper this evening. So we said goodbye, and then headed out into that fantastic African night; how I adore that balmy air and the cicadas. Harriet and Jon-Erik had a restaurant in mind, but when we got there it was closed. We were too late for most places and it really hit home how early Moshi closes. In the end we found a Tanzanian restaurant that served nyama choma. They had a huge grill at the back where we chose our meat, and then we sat down, at a table covered by a wax cloth, quite in the dark. After washing our hands in some lukewarm water poured from a kettle into a hand basin at the table by a waiter, our food arrived very quickly. It was all served on a huge plate, and we took the pieces of meat with our hands. There was also fried banana (ndisi) and it was very good indeed. You really don't have to be afraid to try these restaurants; the dishes that are served hot and cooked immediately are safe. It is the food that has been standing for hours, like many buffets, that are so dangerous. And you do not eat any salad of course, with a tourist stomach!
I could have sat there for hours, but we needed to get some sleep as we had a long day tomorrow with the drive to Dar-es-Salaam. It is just so hard to tear yourself away when you get on so well with the company you're in, and you are exactly where you want to be at that minute.
And that is really on which note day 7 ends!

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Photos

Anja with an olive grass snake
Just look at Anja's concentration as she holds this gorgeous snake

Jon-Erik's house in Moshi
This is a rather typical house in Moshi

Jon-Erik's living room
Paul is relaxing in the living room

Anja and Rafiki outside Jon-Erik's house
Jon-Erik's dogs adored the fuss Anja made of them

Kintei, Jon-Erik's askari
Kintei is a Maasai, and has only recently moved to Moshi from Kibaya

The garden at Mount Meru Game Sanctuary
I loved this place 25 years ago and it is still wonderful

Nina the elephant is long gone
Paul and Scott by Nina's old enclosure, empty now since she was rehabilitated to the wild by the Born Free Foundation

Porcupines have an odd smell
An interesting conversation with a porcupine

At Rivertree's Guest House
These were originally Harriet's dog Dessie's puppies. They immediately recognized Harriet and Carita

And here I am by a very old tree at Rivertrees
One of only a few pictures of myself, as I tend to be the one behind the camera/video

Snake park near Arusha
A bit uncomfortable perhaps to see some of the snakes in small cages,especially the large cobras. Some had better cages though, and the facilities were clean

Olive grass snakes
Our guide was really wonderful and knowledgable. His main interest was not reptiles but botany. Carita is holding this grass snake

Greg Emmanuel, flower farmer
My school friend Greg now grows cut hypericum flowers for export to Europe.

Comments

[Bims]

The past and present
Thanks, Qiunnthefinn, for your photos and writing. Being a long stay visitor in these areas 30 years ago I greatly appreciate your choice of places and experiences - encouraging a revisit. Best rergards, Bims

[Quinnthefinn]

Thank you
Thanks Bims. Fondly remembering our times at ISM and at the Norwegian re union! Tese