Back in East Africa

---

Im back! From washington dc to new york to amsterdam to nairobi, nairobi to samburu national park in middle kenya to lewa downs rhino sanctuary next to isiolo town from where you can see mt. kenya to massai mara. this was the luxery part of the journey so far. ive seen all of the animals. (kweli kabisa) I could describe all of these experiences, but already they seem far away and my head is clogged with new things. At Lewa Downs the whole birthday court of Nancy (turning 80--the point of the trip in the first place) attended the meat eating ceremony of Karamishu, a Massai friend of Nancy. We slaughtered two sheep and a cow. the massai drank the blood from the cows neck--literally. two men held down the cow and pushed on it so that the blood would flow out of the neck and into the mouth of the massai. afterwards there was dancing contests for several hours. several massai went into spasm/spirit possession? depending on your lens.
Leaving my family in nairobi, I took the train to mombasa on the kenya coast. It was supposed to be 12 hours while the bus was supposed to be 6. i was second class-with a born again (many times it seemed) kenyan christian old woman and a psychologist who went from west to east africa doing interesting jobs in slums and in HIV clinics. lots of people in the train got to know each other since the train pulled out of nairobi for five minutes and then stopped. we waited for 7 hours for a "river going over the tracks to subside." so i drank some beers in the dining car and tried to sleep alot. it ended up being 26 hours later when we arrived in mombasa. and in mombasa it was raining a little and dark and hectic and i was tired and i could find a very decent place to stay since it was night. Short story---i scapped my plans to see mombasa and grabbed a quick bus to get myself back into tanzania. when i arrived again in tanga it was a relief--in kenya very few people were speaking swahili and it felt hectic. (anyone any suggestions of places in the southern part to visit thats more low key?)
so in tanga i immediately found a friend i had made last time i was there almost 9 months ago now even though it feels like so recently. i rested there for two days and then took a bus at 5 am to Dar es Salaam. very strange to return to the city that was my home for so long. then saw in the street beata and solomon--long-lost friends I am very happy to be with now. We took the 2pm ferry to zanzibar where we found sibylle/. The whole way in the ferry I learned amazing stories from beata--her parents and her braved the south coast roads, she went to gombe and took the central line railway 3rd class and had many funny stories. very enjoyable for me-since we crisscrossed so many experiences. Now I am in zanzibar where it is hot and sunny and busy with high season tourists. ill leave stone town tomorrow. too many people in the streets: "hello my friend, taxi, taxi, mambo vipi, my friend, sister, how-are-you". they make me very tired. my immune system is down from this malarone and now i have a throat infection. beata is treating me with her ayuvedic pharmacy that somehow fits in her daypack. till next time--much love to everyone.

---