we ventured into moshi town and after asking around a bit we found a place which sold an accurate thermometer (having left 2 decent ones back in melbourne during the mad rush to pack up and move out of lygon st!).
the thermometer read... 37.0 C, which means jane hasn't got a high temp. she's feeling better. still pretty hot here, but that's cos everyone's feeling the heat.
we're off this afternoon to visit marangu this afternoon which is at a higher altitude, so that will be a bit cooler for most of the afternoon.
tomorrow we'll visit st margaret's church here in moshi. this was the church i went to school at when i was a student at the International School of Moshi.
this is where we are: moshi tanzania
Saturday, December 19, 2009
jane's feeling unwell
it's pretty hot in moshi. jane's feeling a bit unwell, so we're trying to find some medical help... including skyping family back in oz.
monday we fly to dodoma and good news: we've got a flight all the way from dodoma to nairobi on monday 4th jan!
monday we fly to dodoma and good news: we've got a flight all the way from dodoma to nairobi on monday 4th jan!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Hot in moshi
It's hot. Very hot. Progesterone may be helping the heat be felt.
But Luke is hot too.
But Luke is hot too.
We're planning a trip to Luke's school (yrs 7 and 8) this afternoon.
Yesterday we caught a bus from Nairobi to Moshi. About 8 hrs. The
Lonely Planet says the road from Nairobi to the border town (Namanga)
is "sealed and in surprisingly good condition". We figured this was by
african standards, or that we travelled after roadworks began, such
that most of our trip was going on detours to the dusty rocky bumpy
road parallel to the sealed road. Perhaps the rain washed it away.
Passports for africans seem to be a piece of paper with stamps on -
perhaps with a photo. Unfortunately some people didn't have
appropriate I.D or documents for travel - when the bus continued in
Tanzania we had lost 2 passengers through the border crossing. After a
wait of more than an hour it was time to move on.
Travelling with Dad in Cambodia and Thailand was good preparation for
this trip. The touting was child's play after Cambodia's capital -
think it helps that Luke can refuse with good swahili. I don't think
the bus went over any holes big enough for the wheels to actually
lodge in... plus it was all during the day.
But I did spend much of the trip with Luke's hankie over my nose -
just another strange thing for a mzungu (white person) to do.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
walking in nairobi
in nairobi you have to watch out where you walk.
the pavement seems to be ripped up at random intervals, with holes right at places where you might like to step, or holes on the road that you might step into if you don't watch carefully.
yesterday i was walking behind luke when he suddenly swerved... i was mid-conversation and not looking down.
it wasn't a hole that got me, but a sign post, like for a street sign, but with no sign, and only about a meter tall. having more girth than previously my belly got the full force of walking into it.
Ouch!
Crossing the road is a good adventure.
Being hard of hearing would be dangerous - it's like a face-off between different types of animals.. perhaps an elephant... large, a little cumbersome (a bus), but gentle to begin with. Then there are the cheetahs, not hungry but in search of something beyond where you are. And you are some kind of gazelle perhaps, not very big or fast but with some courage. So you find a space where the cars have stopped and gingerly step (with as big a herd as you can) between the elephants.
But the elephants may get impatient and start to snort - at each other, at you, at the rhinos (matatus) also around.
So you move top speed - once the elephant gets going it's not waiting for anyone!
And on a quieter street with no traffic build up you best listen carefully for the roar of the rhino (do they roar?) or cheetah as they zoom along the street, making space for themselves by instilling fear into any would-be pedestrian. They go as quick as they come, and long as you are out of their way they take no notice of you.
Such are some first impressions of Africa.
On day 3, having thus far avoided any mosquito bites with paranoid diligence.
:-)
the pavement seems to be ripped up at random intervals, with holes right at places where you might like to step, or holes on the road that you might step into if you don't watch carefully.
yesterday i was walking behind luke when he suddenly swerved... i was mid-conversation and not looking down.
it wasn't a hole that got me, but a sign post, like for a street sign, but with no sign, and only about a meter tall. having more girth than previously my belly got the full force of walking into it.
Ouch!
Crossing the road is a good adventure.
Being hard of hearing would be dangerous - it's like a face-off between different types of animals.. perhaps an elephant... large, a little cumbersome (a bus), but gentle to begin with. Then there are the cheetahs, not hungry but in search of something beyond where you are. And you are some kind of gazelle perhaps, not very big or fast but with some courage. So you find a space where the cars have stopped and gingerly step (with as big a herd as you can) between the elephants.
But the elephants may get impatient and start to snort - at each other, at you, at the rhinos (matatus) also around.
So you move top speed - once the elephant gets going it's not waiting for anyone!
And on a quieter street with no traffic build up you best listen carefully for the roar of the rhino (do they roar?) or cheetah as they zoom along the street, making space for themselves by instilling fear into any would-be pedestrian. They go as quick as they come, and long as you are out of their way they take no notice of you.
Such are some first impressions of Africa.
On day 3, having thus far avoided any mosquito bites with paranoid diligence.
:-)
sticking out
In China I stood out.
But here in Nairobi I stand out even more.
White skin, light hair and a big belly.
Makes for a lot of staring!
My favourite type of stare is when the person is walking past, but they are so fascinated they stop and turn to watch me pass, then keep turning as they walk away to check on the sight.
Then I catch their eye - and sometimes catch the word 'mzungu', or 'wazungu' (one or two foreigners).
But here in Nairobi I stand out even more.
White skin, light hair and a big belly.
Makes for a lot of staring!
My favourite type of stare is when the person is walking past, but they are so fascinated they stop and turn to watch me pass, then keep turning as they walk away to check on the sight.
Then I catch their eye - and sometimes catch the word 'mzungu', or 'wazungu' (one or two foreigners).
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
africa's the same
i've been working on this computer for 1/2 an hour and managed to send
2 emails. that's because a homing pigeon could probably carry the data
faster!!
2 emails. that's because a homing pigeon could probably carry the data
faster!!
and try international calling ... even to neighbouring tanzania! wow!
what a challenge. it took me about 1 hour of walking around, asking at
several places, waiting and waiting only to make a 30 second phone
call that dropped out because of insufficient credit! so the kiosk
girl went to buy another recharge card and we tried again (a few
times). finally managed to talk to someone in dodoma about flights
with MAF. got the critical information across before it cut out again.
jane's exhausted - actually feeling a bit sick. snotty and very tired
from the crazy days in germany with claudi and hardy. though we had a
really great time with them and their family at the wedding. we're
taking our malaria drugs religiously and easing into the context.
the mix of english and swahili is typical nairobi. i'm having fun
speaking swahili and moving easily in the culture. someone at the
guest house here remembered me from when i was a 1 year-old (nancy)!!
money's another difficult issue here... we've only brought a few
hundred US dollars, but it seems we will need more than we have to get
around. another challenge! :)
ok. i'm heading off for an afternoon sleep...
Monday, December 14, 2009
arrived in kenya
after a big german wedding on saturday (lots of interesting traditions!), and a long overnight trip via cairo, we've now arrived in nairobi, kenya.
tired, but happy to have arrived! africa is a whole lot different from mexico, the US and europe!
tired, but happy to have arrived! africa is a whole lot different from mexico, the US and europe!
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