Cameras, Conference and Craters--Adventures of a Texan in Tanzania - 5

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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Though we all left wake-up calls, there were no phones. Instead, one of the workers knocked on each door. I quickly showered and dressed, hoping to get a good picture of the sunrise. I was a bit too late. The photographers in our group said I had just missed a beautiful red sky. I took other shots, including Majura with two of the workers. One was dressed in traditional Maasai garb, while the other wore Western clothes. Some of the young adults we saw later had a combination—Maasai dress, tennis shoes and socks.

We ate and went on our way—back to the area around the volcano. Looking for rocks again, some got good specimens. We wanted a group picture, so Peter showed one of the hotel workers who “hitched” a ride with us how to work the camera. He learned quickly and got a wonderful shot. We left the rocky trails and reached a paved road. Plans were for us to visit a Tanzanite mine, but several miles into “civilization” one of the vehicles broke down. How fortunate it didn't happen in a desolate area! For the next few hours we were at a standstill. Occasionally people would stop to offer help, but nothing
worked. We sat on the grass while others tried to decide what to do. At one point, someone spotted a scorpion. It was small and looked fairly harmless, but I kept my distance, knowing looks can be deceiving.

The other ATV went into town for a mechanic. Wanda and Lech went with them on the second trip for parts and brought back cactus pieces and bananas to eat. The car still didn't budge, so we hooked a chain to the bumpers and slowly towed it to the restaurant we had visited on our first day out.

This time everyone told me to order first. The waiter brought me the skinniest chicken leg that I had ever seen. Later someone said it was probably a bird. I hope it wasn't a yellow weaver!

We pulled into Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge late. Dan introduced me to Bill Megalos,our cameraman extraordinaire. Though we had spoken by phone, we had never met. I gave them a brief synopsis of the events, with emphasis on the highlights. Everyone was tired, so we said good night.


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Photos

Excursion Family
Standing (L to R): Larry Woodfork, Fredrick Mangasini, Lech Smoragiewicz, Marc Urvois, Wanda Smoragiewicz, Rainer Ellmies, Charles Saanane, Ed de Mulder, Eva de Mulder, Peter Mmbando, Majura Songo, Priscus Shirima.
Kneeling, Vicky Niku-Paavola, Ellen Goldberg (Yours Truly)