Quarantine detention

Returning to Australia, quarantine detention is unavoidable and was something we were dreading.  But is was something we could never complain about as we had chosen to go overseas against Government advice and were choosing to return knowing there would be complications - likely cancellations, passport issues and the one you didn't think of. (It's always the one you didn't think of!)

Steve had joined a Facebook group* called Melbourne Hotel Quarantine and knew the difficulties (horror stories!) of other returnees.

From the time we booked our tickets in April I had been expecting to be 'bumped' or cancelled. It was a narrative that fitted well with my ambivalence about leaving early. I was telling anyone lamenting our leaving that it probably wouldn't happen.  I was saying 50-50 even as we climbed into Abraham's taxi.  And I'd paid Abraham extra to hang around in the airport carpark until we were safely through immigration.

We knew of people with onwards flights from Doha who were rerouted or postponed and had ended up with layovers there of 36hours+ so we'd packed an extra change of undies in the backpack and were resolutely prepared for anything!  And every time nothing went wrong we breathed a sigh of relief and approached the next milestone.

The flight from Kilimanjaro to Doha is an overnight flight but was fairly full so we were sleeping in our seats.  We had to entertain ourselves at Doho airport from 5:00 am until boarding at 7:30 pm.  It's when you ignore currency exchange rates and just buy the croissant and juice (breakfast) and Burger King meal (lunch) without thinking about what that number of Qatari Riyals means!  

The flight from Doha to Melbourne seemed ridiculous - fewer than 40 passengers in a plane designed for 400.  So although we were all in one section of the plane we could all stretch out over a bank of seats to sleep.  I don't think I've ever been so excited to see the Western District and suburban Melbourne from the air.

Arriving at Tullamarine was a totally different experience to the usual.  We spend a long time waiting to disembark but there were no crowded aisles and waiting while others fetched down their carry-on luggage from crowded overhead lockers.  We were very orderly and kept the required 2 metres distance from every other human.  We were sanitised frequently and had several changes of disposable mask.  In the bureaucratic process of getting through immigration and customs we were asked at least four times if we'd been in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh in the previous 14 days (no we hadn't) but not if we might have been with people who had (probably yes as there is constant traffic between Tz and India for health, education and trade).  We ticked the Yes box for bringing in wooden objects and plant based materials and having been in rural areas but for a change no-one was interested in looking at my curios or shoes and AQIS just waved us through. It's lucky I know by now what I can and can't bring in so I probably haven't imported any pests or diseases.

The longest wait was sitting on the Skybus waiting to be taken to our detention hotel - close to an hour - when I was again thankful not to be travelling with children. 

Again, we were very lucky.  We had seen photos from families of three, four or even five people in one standard hotel room with barely space to walk around for luggage.  We had seen unappetising food delivered cold in plastic containers and heard of detainees spending fortunes on Uber Eats and Deliveroo to get food they wanted to eat. We heard stories of people having a view of a brick wall and being unable to even get UberEats or Deliveroo because they were stranded out at Tullamarine.

We have a corner suite right on the Yarra River at South Wharf.  There is plenty of space and though no windows open the air quality is fine.  Food is delivered three times a day (There's a knock on the door, we sing out "Thank you" then wait 30 seconds.  One of us dons a mask, opens the door a very little and fetches the paper bag in) and though the food is in plastic take away containers it has been hot, varied and appetising.  The amount of plastic waste is disheartening but probably unavoidable.  The precautions being taken to make sure there is no transmission of virus are stringent.  

We have a bird's eye view from the 11th floor up and down the Yarra and around to the Bay.  There is always something to look at.  There are helicopters buzzing through at eye level and all manner of boats on the river.  Yesterday we watched an old steam train hauling red rattler carriages go through Spencer Street Station.  Of course having binoculars helps!  When the Traffic report on 774 says there are delays on the Bolte Bridge we can check that he's correct.  Steve is of course doing a bird list and has found a new species most days - he has 18 but still no magpie.

Steve has spent his time continuing his review of senior secondary mathematics.  I have done a bit more family history research.  Trove - the digitised collection of newspapers and other documents kept by the National Library -  has been a wonderful source of information and entertainment.  The news articles of the time show how language has changed!  We don't read of "little street arabs" or "nymphs of the pave" these days.  The family notices have been a good source of information too that is not in the official registers.  

We still have two more days to survive but I'm hoping our luck holds.  On Monday morning we will be released from detention and drive home to Hamilton. (Thanks Jeremy for delivering the car!). My new passport is somewhere between Nairobi and the Melbourne passport office.  No rush on that but I will start thinking about our next adventure.

* Yes Steve is on Facebook, it's the only way he can get the birding information he needs and is in 13 groups, but he has resolutely refused to have any 'Friends'.

West Usambara Mountains

Last week we had a five day excursion to Same and the Magamba Forest above Lushoto.  This was essentially a birding expedition to increase Steve’s Life List but I found plenty to entertain myself as well!

We went with a Norwegian friend (who is far more familiar with Tanzania’s birds than even Steve) and a Tanzanian friend.  We had two nights in a hotel in Same and two nights camping in the forest.

Same is the town close to the Mkomazi NP and the birding we did was in woodland close to the park boundary.  Steve had a list of ‘targets’ but I was happy to see a couple of my favourites - the African Hoopoe and the Abyssinian Scimitar bill (these photos are Steve’s but not from this trip), a very interesting plant (Caralluma speciosa) and some industrious dung beetles.

The more interesting part of the trip was the time we spent in the forest.  Magamba Forest is a government forest reserve in the West Usambara Mountains.  The road up to Lushoto from Mombo is steep and windy.  It was built pre WW1 and is called “the German road”.  Lushoto was where expats went to escape the heat and humidity of the coast in colonial times.  The road is tarmacked and in very good condition.  Culverts and bridges are in bluestone with pretty arches.  It just shows if something is made properly it will last!  The down hill side of the road is lined with eucalypt trees - blue gum, spotted gum, swamp gum - all the way up.  This was supposed to stabilise the soil and prevent land slips and it seems to have worked!  At each hairpin bend there was a gushing waterfall - some muddy, some crystal clear, depending on the land use above them.  It rained all the way up the mountain and I was silently contemplating the folly of camping during the rainy season.

The road from Lushoto up to our camp in the forest was steep, wet and very muddy.  Slipping into the gutter would be disaster! But luckily it didn’t happen thanks to an ancient LandRover and some very competent Norwegian driving.

Our camp was in an abandoned sawmill so theoretically we were protected from rain but as we were in the cloud it was damp everywhere.  Getting a fire started took remarkable persistence  - no one had thought to pack firelighters, or even dry paper and corn chips!  It really was a very comfortable camp and despite the Forest Department officer’s concerns that we’d be cold - she sent a pikipiki rider up from the reserve’s headquarters with a bag of old curtains to use as extra blankets! - we stayed warm and dry.

 

The sawmill has been non-operational for several decades but in its heyday it must have been something special.  There was the mill building (where we camped) which still had some of the machinery. It had been powered by a steam engine undoubtedly fed with wood waste and saw dust.  There was a large shed stacked with sawn timber, now well and truly cured!  It is a resource that should be used by whoever has ownership.  Then there were the administrative offices in a solid brick building and still with all the filing cupboards and office equipment in place.  There were many residences I guess for the bosses, not the ‘workers’.  What we presumed to be the manager’s house was quite a mansion complete with swimming pool and magnificent garden.  There were assorted other, mainly weatherboard, cottages in various states of disrepair.  All had English gardens.  There were hydrangeas, fuschias and roses along the road and into the forest as well as arum and other lilies.  It was quite magical!

 

The ‘birding’ consisted of walking the road close to the camp.  The forest was too wet and too thick to venture too far off the road.  Birds are hard to hear and even harder to see.  It’s a job for which I have neither the patience or perseverance needed.  So I just enjoyed the walks!  Steve at one point tried to get a photo of the river we could see rushing below us and nearly ended up in it. His fall was arrested by a chameleon (the West Usambara Two-horned Chameleon) which didn’t seem to suffer too much from the experience.

Steve had to return to the scene of the crime to retrieve his binoculars

The Usambara Mountains are part of the eastern arc mountains that run from north to south in Tanzania.  The natural biodiversity both plant and animal is astonishing.  There are still new plants and animals to be discovered by those intrepid enough to try.  We know a herpetologist, a neighbour here in Arusha, who has identified many new species of frogs and toads just by going in to the forests and having a good look. He camps for weeks at a time in the forest collecting samples.

As well as, or even possibly despite, the natural diversity there are invasive species in the forests in both the Usambara and Pare mountains.  Locals like to plant eucalypts which are fast growing and have no natural enemies.  There are also pines, which along with eucalypts and Australian acacias, have ‘escaped’ from managed plantations.  It is sad to see them but I don’t think the native trees are suffering too much from their presence.

As we plan for what may be our last week here in Tanzania we can reflect on having made the most of our time and maybe we’ll sneak in one last trip to Arusha NP before Friday next week when we are due to fly home.  Fingers crossed that they’ll be no last minute SNAFU though as the acronym makes clear they are ‘normal’ especially in this part of the world.   

 You’ll all know soon how it goes, keep watching for a blog from Steve with his perspective!

Love from Jenny 

Almost done

 I know it’s a long time since the last post!  So much has happened it’s hard to know where to start.

I left you last post as we were about to fly to Namibia.  The covid certificates arrived as they should via email and we printed them.  We printed scans of the receipts from our phones too but they weren’t needed as they are at the road border.  We filled in all the paper work the Namibia Tourism site said was needed and we prepared our selves for long queues and being asked for all the things we didn’t have!  As it turned out everything was stress free and the paperwork we’d meticulously prepared wasn’t needed.  We had a wonderful time in Namibia travelling from south to north through spectacular landscapes and seeing as much wildlife as anyone could want.  Steve’s blog will tell you all about it. And no problems with a new 3 month tourist visa for Steve at KIA on our return so Mission Accomplished!

Namibia shares some colonial history with Tanzania - both were German colonies before the Great War then became British - but their paths have diverged significantly.  Historically Namibia was divided into rectangular blocks and each was assigned to a (European) farmer settler.  The people who had lived on that block were legally allowed, almost expected, to be shot by the new settler.  It was a genocide that Germany is now trying to recompense the people for after more than 100 years.  More atrocities followed including apartheid a la South Africa, as Namibia was governed from Johannesburg until1990 when it gained Independence.

A 1966 map when some parks had been declared but you can get the idea.

All of the land area was assigned but much was totally unsuited to farming and has ended up as national park or conservancy.  Nothing was left to the ownership of the indigenous inhabitants though now the conservancies are often managed locally by the historic owners in partnership with the government.  

At Cape Dias near Luderitz

There are some major differences between Namibia and Tanzania.  In land area they are about the same but Namibia has a population of about 2.7 million compared with Tanzania’s nearly 60 million!  As you drive around you see the difference - Namibia is empty of people!  The difference of course is water.  Namibia has none!  In the entire country there are only a handful of rivers that flow permanently and of those at least one that only happens because of a dam.  There are some excellent bridges - most freshly painted - over dry, sandy river beds.  And because there is no rain the roads, mostly wide, well graded gravel, are also excellent.  We drove on a road that said “Danger - serious washaways”  and just laughed.  It was like our road on a good day after it had just been mended!  We did seriously want to bring the HiLux we hired home with us - no offence to our RAV4 which has been marvellous. It was a joy to travel in.  Anyway, much as I love Tanzania and her little ways, having a holiday somewhere where things just ‘work’ was lovely!

So Rocla Pipes aren't just in Baranduda!

While we were away the death of the President of Tanzania John Magufuli was finally announced after three weeks of uncertainty and official silence.  A few days later the Vice President was inaugurated to serve out the remaining four and a half years of the five year term.  President Samia Sululu Hussein will be the first female President of an East African country and one of few female heads of government in Africa.  We are yet to see what changes that will bring and what effect it may have on our lives here.  Her official picture has started to go up in businesses and offices.

We arrived back on a Sunday and the next day saw me lined up for another Covid test so I could go to Kenya.  My passport expires in October and as travelling in the last 6 months of its validity can be problematic I thought I should renew.  And that means an in-person interview at the High Commission in Nairobi.  The shuttle bus services are only offering morning runs because covid has reduced the number of passengers so that meant a three day expedition - one to get there, one to do business at the HC and one to get back.  The distance Arusha to Nairobi is less than 300 km, all on tarmac, but can take 8 hours if the traffic is bad and the border crossing is difficult.

I had a 10 am appointment at the HC on the Friday.  I arrived early with all my photos and all the other needful documents.  Getting through security was fine - thorough checking of everything I had with me was required and my phone was confiscated for the duration of the visit.  Problem number one was my photos.  I’d had three goes in Arusha to get photos that fitted the DFAT specifications - no, 36 mm from crown to chin is not ok if the rule is 31-35 mm! - and thought I’d nailed it.  But no, I was told the photos are ‘dazed’.  Not me dazed in the photos but the photos being dazed.  I couldn’t get an explanation of what that meant, and being told that they might look at my age and overlook it didn’t help! 

The AHC in Nairobi when it was under construction and what it looks like from above.  These are from Google Earth - if I'd tried to take a picture there I think I would have been shot.

Then we had the problem of a document that proved where I live.  This was not on the requirement list but I was told it was a new security thing.  Tanzania does not do ‘residential address’ .  Our street (track?) doesn’t have a name and the block does not have a number on the gate post. The official told me I’d have to find something and email it to him if I wanted my application to proceed. (Luckily our tenancy agreement with our landlord has a Farm Plot number and Steve scanned it so I could email it before I left Nairobi.)  

The official asked had I paid - this has to be done before the visit either as a phone money transfer in Kenyan shillings, only possible from a Kenyan registered phone, or as a US dollar bank deposit into an obscure bank that seems to have very few branches. (On the Thursday afternoon after 6+ hours on the bus a taxi driver and I spent 20 minutes in the city at the intersection where the main branch was supposed to be and we couldn’t find it - he’d never heard of the bank.). In the end we went to the Nairobi General Hospital which has a small sub-branch - thank you Google Maps! - and I paid there.  So I handed the bank receipt over to the official at the HC and he says “Where’s the other part?”  What other part!!! I told him this was all the teller had given me.  He wasn’t happy.  Neither was I.  His less than reassuring response was “It might not matter”.  

He wandered off, then wandered back, then returned to the photos.  “I think you should get more” he said.  So, back out through security, back to my patient taxi driver, and off to the local mall to get DFAT regulation, undazed photos.  Twenty minutes to get that done, back to the HC, rescanned and phone re-confiscated and after handing over the new photos I’m told they’ll let me know by email if there is anything else needed.  I was shattered by this time and just wanted to go home.  “Interview” sounds so cosy.  In reality were standing on opposite sides of 1” thick glass passing documents through a sliding drawer.  He was poking at a computer, I couldn’t see what was on the screen, and he kept wandering out the back where something more interesting must have been happening.  I didn’t see a single Australian at the HC, no-one to discuss the upcoming footy games with.  Very disappointing.

Nairobi traffic is horrendous.

In Nairobi I was staying at Flora Hostel, a lovely little hostel close to the major hospitals and run by the Sisters of Consolation.  Flying Medical Service use it often.  I’d only just arrived back at Flora when the news came through that President Kenyatta had announced an immediate lockdown of Nairobi - no-one in or out indefinitely from midnight that night.  I was stuck!  The head nun was sympathetic and said I could have my room as long as I needed it as long as I paid!  I talked to Steve and we tried to find where the new regulations were written out.  I texted the shuttle bus company and the Nairobi rep thought there’d be no problem getting back to Arusha the next morning - general consensus on Twitter was that “Nairobi leaks like a sieve”.  Turns out that’s correct.  The shuttle bus breezed through all the checkpoints and the only time we were actually stopped by the police was on the Tanzanian side of the border where I had to show my passport and visa to the immigration police and show I could speak Swahili - the first requirement was official, the second was for his own amusement.  Sister-in-law Natalie kept me updated with footy scores as I travelled down the highway and I arrived home happy with a Demons win and not so happy with the remote possibility that I might get a new passport in the fullness of time - couriered here at great expense as I can’t travel to Kenya, and if I have to send my current passport to the HC in order to get my new one I won’t be going anywhere.

The next weekend was Easter and we decided to give ourselves a treat with a day in Tarangire NP, a night at Africa Safari Glamping and a day in Lake Manyara NP.  We spent time in five different national parks in Namibia.  Each had its own peculiarities at the entrance but all were efficient and straightforward.  At  Tarangire NP the entrance gate is new since my last visit in October 2019.  It has not increased its efficiency!  It was over half an hour of waiting, indecision, malfunctioning technology and general phaffing about before we could get through!

It is the rainy season at the moment so we’d expected the roads to be a bit rough - and they are!  Puddles in the roads have been filled with rocks so while you’re worrying about getting bogged in the mud the greater danger is a hole in a tyre, or the sump, or the petrol tank!  The RAV4 hasn’t quite forgiven us.  All the picnic areas need work - Silele Swamp picnic ground looked like it had been abandoned.  But we saw some great birds and enough giraffes and elephants to keep me happy - some at very close range.  Also cheetahs quite close and lions within touching distance.

We had stayed at Africa Safari Glamping on a couple of previous occasions.  This time we were surprised to find that the lake, usually a couple of kilometres away, had spread to be literally lapping at the steps of the dining room.  It rained heavily most of that night so we decided to give LMNP a miss the next day as we’d narrowly avoided a disastrous bogging incident on a previous trip during the wet and were anxious about what might happen.  Advice on roads is not always helpful from the gate staff.  On a trip there with the Drummonds in January last year I asked if the road down to Maji Moto was ok.  “Yes”, he said.  But what he didn’t add was “but the bridge has been washed away”! So we didn’t risk it.

You used not to be even able to see the lake!

Steve has been worrying on and off about his visa situation.  His new one expires on June 19 and our tickets home are booked for July 1.  So he convinced me to see if I could get our tickets moved to an earlier date.  I assembled all the information - booking references and e-ticket numbers - and rang Qatar’s help desk.  After 30 mins on hold I did get a very helpful officer and we were just on the point of establishing what I needed having proved who I was with birthdates and passport numbers and phone numbers, and how and when I’d bought the original tickets, when the line dropped out!  Boo!  Skype wasn’t being very helpful with what was the problem and I probably pushed the ‘top up’ button a few too many times after an argument with their algorithm about when my MasterCard expires and I was eventually able to reconnect for another 30 mins on hold with 5 $10 top-ups on Skype that will take years to get through!  This time I knew the answers to the questions before he asked them and at the point of what I needed he said I was very lucky as tickets had just been released for May 7th. So quick decision time!  Steve said ‘yes’ so I said ‘yes’ and we have new tickets (The officer said best not to try to change the itinerary again as we only had these because someone “cancellated”).  Now I have the stress of will my new passport be here in time, or will I be allowed to fly home on a passport with less than 6 months validity.  Life is never boring!

So now we have less than four weeks to be organised on the chance that these new flights are not cancelled.  We will miss many of the things I would have really liked to do - a 2 day walk up to the crater on Kili, a trip to Uganda and a trip to Bukoba so there may have to be a next time! - but the idea of seeing all the family again is something we’re so excited about.  We have packing to do, but not so much that we can’t keep living here and a car to sell.  Selling of the car was nearly not a problem.  We knew we had an oil leak and Steve was dutifully checking levels to make sure there was no problem but turns out he was checking the transmission oil not the engine oil and the mechanic discovered just a scraping in the bottom when it went in for a service on Monday but it’s all ok now with a new gasket and no leak and we have a  working car to sell.

Between all of these adventures I have been working at the Olkokola centre.  Two grants submissions have gone in and maybe there’ll be money for a small gym to help our clients who have mobility issues get some exercise.  We’ll need to find a physiotherapist to help in the planning if the money comes through.  The menstrual pads scheme lurches along - I heard for the Dutch NGO today and they still want to collaborate but aren’t quite sure how or when!  I have plans for sourcing /writing and distributing literature about Cerebral Palsy, I’m waiting on some help from another NGO - this time German.  The library and education room is going well and being well used. So all is good on that front.

Sorry there is so much to read.  Let me know if you reached the bottom!  

Love from Jenny     

  

Not in Australia, despite what my VPN says!

 

Every day something happens where I think “You wouldn’t see that in Australia!” though I have to say they are usually at the more extreme end now.

In this past week I have had to transport one of our girls to and from the hospital, about 20 minutes away by car.  Her mobility and balance are affected by cerebral palsy and she had a fall a few weeks ago.  The swelling and pain in her leg had not abated so Monday it was decided it could be broken.  She was duly admitted to hospital to have a plate put on a fractured tibia. (Or anyway, that’s what I’m guessing from a conversation conducted in Swahili!). On Friday I went to the hospital to fetch her back.  She had had the surgery - invisible mending it was not!  It brought to mind the mending on red rattler leather train seats.  Neat and even 1/2 inch stitches in a herringbone pattern.  The student’s mum had been staying with her at the hospital to bring her food and to look after her personal needs, so I brought Mama W back to Olkokola too.  I had the tailoring assistant with me to help with translation, and the student stretched out on the back seat, so her mother travelled crouched in the ‘very back’ of the RAV along with all the needful equipment - bucket, basin, thermos, mugs and plates!  I’m so glad the road to the hospital has been recently graded.  This time last year it was rough and potholed, the drains were rocky ravines and in the wet the slippery mud was treacherous.  It would have been a nightmare rather than an amusing anecdote.

 

This is nothing to do with the theme of the post - just an excuse for a picture!  A local ELCT pastor came to teach the students how to make rag rugs from bags and scrap fabric.  It was a very social event and much enjoyed. Maybe some of the students can turn the skill into a money making enterprise.

On Wednesday when I was about to come home I noticed clinic patients had left shukas (Maasai blankets) and picnic debris near where I’d be wanting to drive.  I wandered over to ‘consolidate’ it into one pile that would be easier to see and miss as I backed out.  It was then I realised one of the shukas held a tiny baby, fast asleep in the shade.  I had nearly stepped on the little mite!  I put all the other stuff close to the baby and backed very wide of it all.  It wasn’t until I was driving to the gate that the mother came strolling around from the front of the clinic and I think had a bit of a start!  I hope so anyway - the clinic medical officer will need to speak to the families again about where they leave their infants, and indeed where they sleep themselves, as cars are coming and going all the time in our grassy parking area. 

Also Wednesday one of the nurses came in to my office to use our printer to make copies of a handwritten document.  It was double sided and had 8 sets of numbers written in a rectangular array, each starting at 28 and increasing by one up to variously 185, 315 and other assorted numbers in the 200s.  I could see it said it was for children from 6 months and that one column was for boys and one for girls.  I couldn’t get any sense from the nurse what it was used for.  I made her the three copies she needed.  I told her I could generate the document on my computer - dead easy using excel - and now have to her delight.  When we get back from Namibia I will make it my mission to find out how it is used!

January plus ...

We’ve been back in Tz for over 3 months now - fulfilling our commitment to Border force when we applied for an exemption to travel overseas - but it has been difficult to get settled with all the uncertainties around travel and visas.  Though that doesn’t mean we’re not working hard and making the most of our opportunities!

The trainees started arriving back in Arusha on January 8th after three weeks at home in their villages.  For some the trip back to Arusha is more complicated so it was over a week before they were all back on deck.

The new term started with elections for student leaders.  We have a chairperson and leaders for welfare, discipline, sport/games and environment.  I appointed a kiongozi wa maktaba (library monitor) who has taken over the borrowing system for the resource room.  She’ll also keep the resources in order and make sure the room is left tidy.  A solar powered light has been put in with a small storage battery.  The library can be used at night now even when the electricity supply is disrupted.

The sewing skills of the tailoring group are advanced enough now that they can start making the pedi ya kike (washable, reusable menstrual pads).  I have bought materials so each of the female trainees can have a pack of 5 in a storage bag.  Any others that make will be sold to buy materials to make more.  It is a really worthwhile enterprise!

We hope that Mojawear, an NGO charity based in The Netherlands, will again buy some to supply to school girls in Usa River where they are active in child welfare and education projects.

The masonry, carpentry and agrivet trainees are also hard at work.  They’ll have even more to do soon as we now have copies of the official vocational training syllabi in Swahili.  The teachers and I together will be looking at what is currently included in our syllabi, what else could/should be done and devising checklists of competencies to report against.  That should keep me out of trouble for a while!

If you see my Facebook page here is another photo you’ll recognise.  In January the Agrivet trainees went to a seminar organised by ECHO, Steve’s  former Host Organisation.  It was enjoyed by all and I hope this will be an ongoing partnership between Olkokola CPH and Echo.

Just before we left Australia to return to Tz last year I invested in a VPN.  I didn’t see why I shouldn’t be able to watch the ABC even though I’m out of the country!  It’s working a treat and it’s great also to have the bottomless well of BBC to enjoy.  I missed quite a lot of Last Tango in Halifax when it was on but I’m all caught up now, and have discovered other shows that Sarah Lancashire and Nicola Walker are in. Recommendations for other shows gratefully received.

We often have mamas and watoto (children) staying while they have specialist medical treatment in Arusha.  Last year it was a heartbreaking case of an 18 month old having both eyeballs removed because of cancer that had probably started to spread anyway.  Last week it was another mama with a child born with cerebral palsy wanting something that would enable her child to be like other children.  Saying there is nothing that can be done drives them into the evil clutches of faith healers and witch doctors.  The mamas currently staying find me endlessly amusing!  They wanted a photo to show off back home.

The three month tourist visa Steve is on after our trip to Kenya last November expires later this month so we’re off to Namibia for four weeks and he'll (hopefully!) get another 3 month visa when we return in late March. That gives us until late June when we either return to Australia if Qatar holds up its end of the ticket bargain, or another trip to Kenya so I can renew my passport and we’ll have visas to get us to the end of September.

I haven't mentioned our trip to Mkomazi NP a month ago.  Steve has a report complete with pics on his blog.  I continued my love affair with Bee-eaters - this is my photo of the Northern Carmine Bee-eater.  We've also had several trips into Arusha NP with the local birder group.

Next post should have pics of the wonderful scenery and wildlife of Namibia,

love from Jenny xx

Our 2020

Today, with nothing else to do, it's probably a good day to reflect on the year just finishing.

We started last January on safari with our friends from home, the Drummonds.  New Year’s Day was spent at Lake Natron, a breeding ground for beautiful pink flamingos. We then spent time in the Serengeti and at Lake Victoria.  The highlight was Ngorongoro Crater, a unique, natural wonder, and the reason tourists will continue to come to Tanzania though increasingly just the ridiculously wealthy as the Tz government price increases in all things national park related becomes exponential.

Lake Natron, Engaresero.

The second half of January we settled back into work (the reason we’re here after all!) and all was cruisy.  My education resource room was ready and the students started to use the library.  Steve was knocking out grant applications.   We were looking forward to a productive 8 months then a little more safari-ing before packing up and coming home.   

We had always planned a brief visit home to Australia at Easter and bought tickets in January with Ethiopian Airways for a two week trip. Then the corona virus story started to make its presence felt and we could feel our plans slipping away.  Flights were cancelled and rescheduled, quarantine requirements in Australia made two weeks look undoable then AVI repatriated all volunteers in late March and we were home in Hamilton, still unable to see family apart from younger son, Toby (who had to share the house again!), and with many loose ends including car and house in Arusha.

Pink Lakes near Ouyen Vic with Auntie Lyn

Victoria’s lockdown was much easier on regional people than Melbournians.  Over the seven months we were home we had several trips to the Mallee to see my mum’s twin sister as well as Hattah, Murray Sunset, Little Desert and Wyperfield NPs.  We spent time in the Grampians NP and other local nature reserves and forest parks.  We did have a couple of trips to Melbourne to see David, our older son, and Steve’s dad, and a trip to the northeast of Victoria to see extended family - my sister and her family and some Lappin cousins - but were not able to get to Tasmania so haven’t seen daughter Liz and granddaughter Sophie for nearly two years, or my brother and his family.

We saw a lot of the Grampians!

By August I’d had enough of enforced idleness.  Yes, I was walking up to 5 km most days and knitting 3 pairs of socks a week, and I’d made a few hundred face masks, but I was feeling restless.  I don’t think I’m ready for retirement!  The restrictions on travel were not helping and I was frustrated about not being able to visit our girls.  I figured we had as much contact with them from Arusha as we had from Hamilton, so I applied to Border Force for an exemption to travel overseas.  It was a pretty slapdash effort, just a little rebellion against incarceration really, and I didn’t think for a minute we had a chance but less than 24 hours later we had permission to return to Tanzania!  So then we had to choose.

We spent a long time making the decision to return here and discussed it endlessly with family and friends.  Some can understand why we made the decision we did, others think we are foolish, even suicidal (Pam!).  In the end the decision is actually not about coming here to Tz; it is about not being able to go home and increasingly about not being able to travel anywhere in the way we had planned.  We had hoped to use Tz as a base for exploring further southern and western Africa, and even Europe in the coming northern summer, but neither will be possible.  Our visa situation changed and that has become an additional problem as we need to leave the country periodically when it is becoming more difficult to do so.

We have been back in Tz for two months now and half of that has been spent travelling, first to Kenya then to central and southern Tz.  I have been volunteering again at the centre for people with disabilities at Olkokola and the maths program is up and running.  I know, from the state of the box of cards, that it was being well used in the last three weeks of term while we were away.  When the students return next week we will have to appoint a Maths Monitor to keep the box in order and supervise its use.  The library is also being used as well as the Kagera Reading program, an English language learning program devised by a VSO friend David Jackson.  For me the next two months at work will be about work programs and lesson planning as well as record keeping for the teachers.  The language barriers will continue but there is heaps of good will and we’ll all do our best.  In all aspects of life there are things you can change and things you can’t.  It is a life’s work getting to know the difference!    

Work is always a place of the unexpected.  Last week I arrived to find a note taped on the door of the workroom I share with the Flying Medical Service pilots that said “Do not enter and stay until after 12 noon.  Room sprayed for fleas at 7 am”.  I had to sneak in and get the work computer and TIN register but I didn’t linger. I hope the insecticide has worked - one of the pilots has been bitten all over, I mercifully have escaped.  TINs are taxpayer identification numbers.  The government has decreed that everyone who pays in to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) should have one.  Also everyone must have a NIDA (National Identification Authority number) in order to register their phone SIM but that’s another story.

I have been helping the staff to get their TINs so their pensions will be secured.  It can be done on-line provided you have a NIDA number.  The web-site is a bit clumsy but manageable.  The biggest problem is that we take a less than rigorous approach to names here - the system demands three - and spelling is not set in stone.  ‘Ph’ and ‘F’ are interchangeable as are ‘Ch’ and ‘K’ in European derived names, ‘l’ and ‘r’ are interchangeable in local names.  If someone doesn’t like the name they’ve been given by their parents they will sometimes choose something different.  But a computerised system demands an exactitude that is foreign here!  Most of our staff have some work to do now to get the names on their NIDAs, NSSF and TIN to be all the same or their pensions will be slow in coming (one of our guards is 80 years old so he needs to fix it soon!).  Another of our guards has three totally different names on his NSSF compared with his NIDA and all of the teachers had at least one different name or a different spelling.  The computer system to get the TINs is slow but people here are patient - I’m sure they were perplexed by my (of course fruitless) efforts to hurry the process along.  And I can now do the Swahili for ‘a message will come on your phone with a password, stand by the tree where the network is strong’ without thinking.    

The Green-winged Pytilia or Melba Finch is in my Top10 Tanzanian Birds though why it is named for an Australian opera singer is a mystery.  
I took this photo in Ruaha NP.

In December we travelled south to Iringa, Ruaha NP and Mikumi NP among other places.  We saw so much Steve has written three posts with accompanying pictures.  You’ll find them here.  

In Ruaha NP, this bus managed 90 deg of the 180 deg it needed.

We spent a morning on a hill called Ibofwe east of Iringa.  While Steve and his mates chased birds I studied the wildflowers.  They were amazing - some like the Fireball Lily are spectacular but many were delicate and had their own beauty.  It was a very special place to visit. 

We visited Neema Crafts in Iringa which a workshop, retail centre and cafe staffed by people living with disability, many with similar issues to ours at Olkokola.  It is quite similar to Shanga as it makes 'high end' goods to sell to expats and tourists, and for export, rather than equipping people to go home to their own villages and earn a living there.  The crafts include weaving, carpentry, tailoring and screen printing.  The cafe makes an excellent Rolex! (Spanish omelette rolled in a chapati.)

Looms similar to those at Shanga.

Back to work on the 11th, love from Jenny xx