Blogs from Lushoto, East, Tanzania, Africa - page 3

Dear Springtime blog readers, Here is your first autumn blog. In our Life Skilss-Health club we had 120 students packed into one classroom. That made our small group activity on decision making have 30 in it...small group? But, the kids are eager and want to be there,so how can we turn them away? One more note of local interest, today as we were waiting for a long-overdue bus, the entire student body of Mtumbi Secondary School passed by in clusters of green uniforms. They all 500PLUS SAID "GOOD MORNING, SIR...GOOD MORNING, MADAM." and the closest ones shook our hands and then the teachers brought up the rear. The headmaster was on his pikipiki. They were going to the lumber mill. After about an hour all returned each carrying lunber 2x4x20' some girls used their heads, some ... read more

Hello Readers, Just a quick note to let you know we are alive and well. Have had the usual no power or no network problems, so haven't been able to blog. Time on the computer is running out so I'll try to connect again on Sat. Stay tuned. Love D & W... read more

We didn’t just want to drive straight back to Dar. As it was mainly downhill from here on, we didn’t have to worry about delays with overheating of the car. So we went for a detour to a place our hiking guide Francis had recommended, Sakarani Farm on the way down to the valley. Unfortunately it wasn’t just next to the road, but up another mountain, so we had to take some involuntary breaks again to give the engine time to cool down. Sakarani is run by German Benedictine monks and produces wine, macadamia nuts and carpentry works. The head monk (one of the last two Germans there) showed us round and told us about the problems there. We assumed the soil was very fertile, as everything looks very green and vibrant, but he said the ... read more

We decided to hire a guide for the following day, as we didn’t want to have to rely on the manual again and there are no way markings anywhere. After breakfast we met Francis, a tiny 70 year old man, who was going to be our guide. Despite his age and small statue, he was like mountain goat, climbing faster than any of us young ones. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful, we hiked through the Magamba rain forest up to Hakwelwa viewpoint (1850m), where we had a nice picnic lunch with amazing views. In the afternoon we drove to another village, Kwefingo, and went up to Kiwuga Peak (2050m), with a very different setting - walking through banana plantations. ... read more

Dear Pumpkin Pie Blog Readers, You can give thanks wherever you are and we in Tanzania have so much to be thankful for: generous family & friends who are sending books and money for postage, letters, prayers, & encouragement. We thank you all! We had Thanksgiving at our site in the village of Maringo of 3,000 not counting livestock. These homes are family compounds with several generations living together up and down the little valleys. We talked to all our CA family on Thanksgiving and they had gathered at Emily & Paul's in SLO, some even in the motorhome. We invited other CPVs in the region to join us for a potluck dinner which was a modified "TZTG". On the menu was a So African charonnay or "pombe", sparkling juices, indigenous chicken "kuku", potatoes directly from ... read more