Living on the wild side

Monday I anticipated a quiet week in the office, working on the usual stuff. By the end of the day, I’d agreed to travel to Dar es Salaam, to accompany a colleague on the long 12 hour trip, leaving the next day and returning on Saturday. The trip up included a drive around Mikumi National Park (for the sake of a guest we were taking back to Dar to catch her plane). I had the fun of doing most of the driving in the park, where we saw lots of impala (a kind of antelope) and also zebras, buffalos, giraffes, wart hogs, hippos, crocodiles, birds, elephants and best of all, lions! There were several lionesses resting in the shade of trees, and their male majestically walking around. That made the whole trip worth it, despite the fact you could also drive for ages and not see anything much at all.

We had a lot of fun in Dar, particularly enjoyed eating by the ocean, and going shopping in a couple of big stores – seeing food items I had forgotten even existed, and stocking up on breakfast cereal, chocolate and other bits and bobs I can’t get in Mbeya.

Back on the road, returning to Mbeya, we had a good trip (including seeing elephants crossing the road ahead of us) until we got a puncture in the pouring rain. However, God miraculously provided for us, in the form of help from the owners of the Guest House we had stayed at a few days earlier, who just happened to be passing (though we were out in the middle of nowhere)! The scenery going back was stunning, and looking especially beautiful after the rains had made everywhere look that fresh new green of a spring in England.

Thought I’d put a picture in here of a typically overloaded vehicle! How do you fancy getting to town perched on a pick-up like that?

Back up that mountain!

Loleza Peak, here I come again, to take a friend of a friend for a good leg stretch – her first time to climb a mountain, not exactly an easy place to start! The weather was perfect – some cloud cover to protect us from the fierceness of an African sun in summer (summertime now as we are south of the equator) and a refreshing wind (though I still got sunburnt). The views were particularly beautiful being fresh and green from the rains and God’s weird and wonderful creation was out in force with some strange bugs and beautiful flowers.

Below is a photo of Loleza Peak taken from town, so you can see how the whole mountain looks.

Christmas in Africa

Different but great. When did it start? Maybe, making the Christmas cards was first – had to make sure I got all of those ready in time to send out! Then there was the Christmas music which a friend sent me to get me in the mood, and Christmas cards and parcels arriving through the post – the latter making an exciting pile filling me with anticipation for Christmas day.

There was the Christmas BBQ at a colleague’s home, where we all gathered for some delicious food (including antelope), while watching the black skies, lightning and rain.

Christmas Eve I went to Beth’s home (close colleague and friend), where we started off the Christmas celebrations by watching a classic Christmas film – ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’. Then I was transported home as I watched a DVD my brother had put together for me, with greetings from friends and family at church – I was laughing (and nearly crying) as I watched, it was so wonderful to see everyone’s faces and hear everyone’s voices.

Christmas Day, after opening stockings we had made each other, Beth and I joined a Tanzanian colleague and his wife for the day – going to church with them and then dining on traditional Tanzanian celebration food: pilau. Pilau is a spiced rice and meat dish (the closest I could compare it too would be risotto). This was accompanied by beef stew, a leafy green vegetable dish and beans, followed by fruit (and the inevitable soda). We had a lovely afternoon chatting together (with the rain pouring down outside) before heading on home before it got dark. The rest of the evening, back at Beth’s, we opened our presents and watched ‘The Snowman’.

Boxing Day, we went with some colleagues to a hotel to indulge in a swim and some good food, including Christmas pudding (a wonderful taste of home).

Thursday I joined other colleagues (colleagues being my main group of friends) on a trip to Matema, on the banks of Lake Nyasa (also known as Lake Malawi). Despite being cloudy, I really enjoyed the beauty of the place, swimming in the lake, snorkelling (getting sunburnt in the process) and the drive home through spectacular scenery, as the sun came out and everywhere shone fresh and green after the rains.

Friday I went on a trip down memory lane as I headed back to Iringa for the day (where I did language school). Went shopping, had a huge slab of hot chocolate fudge cake at our favourite café (Neema Crafts) and picked up Karin, who has finally finished language school and has at last moved into our home. It’s lovely not to be living alone any more J

Hope all who read this little Christmas account also enjoyed a wonderful Christmas, and I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR.