The biggest tribe

I took a bus today to the Sukuma museum - a visit well worth it. The Sukuma is the largest tribe in Tanzania. Komanya is a Sukuma as well, and he mentioned the museum in addition to LP (Lonely Planet). The guide went through a lot of explanations and he answered all my questions very well. Even though no official function is associated with it, some clans still have a king.
The picture shows some tools and stuff that the blacksmiths used to make, ahem, other tools. You can see the blowy thing (whatever that is called in English) to get the fire going, which was started with the device in the lower part of the picture. The long and thin dish on the left is for hand washing. In the other one food was served. The rocks in the center served as hammer to shape the tools.

Afterwards went to a restaurant per the guide's recommendation and met Jangu Jangu. That's right, first name equals last name. The food was delicious (fish, of course. With ugali and beans). Of course I again got weird looks for not eating the eyeballs and the rest of the fish head. "It has a lot of nutrients," they tried to tempt me. Sorry, sir - can't do...

I can now articulate myself in Swahili enough that the basics like transport, food and lodging I can handle (as long as they keep the answers simple...). Of course, most people still prefer to talk to me in English and when I continue some weird stuff can come out, like today:

Me: "Kuna Maji Kilimanjaro?" (Do you have water of the Kili brand?)
Dude: "Water?"
Me: "Ndiyo." (Yes)
Dude: Vanishes and comes back with Dassani water. "Seven Hundred."
Me: "Hakuna Maji Kilimanjaro?"
Dude doesn't understand.
Me: "Dassani tu?" (You have only Dassani water?)
Dude: "Ah, two Dassani?"
Me: "Hapana. Hakuna maji Kilimanjaro?" (No. You don't have Kili water?)
Dude: "No."

Grr, so I bought the Dassani water. The other confusion arose when the conductor let me out one stop earlier and apparently told the bike rikscha guys I was gonna get a ride with them. But after I asked how to get to the turn off and it became apparent I was going to walk, he led me back in the bus, under the somewhat angry shouting of the bike dudes. One more stop. I then walked from the turnoff to the museum (about 2km). It's the only exercise I am getting right now, so I can't let that interfere with the need of clients from some biker. Sorry.

This pic shows the altar in the Sukuma church, still decorated for christmas.
I'll not join the New Year's parties today. Frankly, the music here is way to loud for my taste at weddings and other events.

One of the things that is still the same here are the taxi drivers. It's very frustrating with them. When there are ten taxis parked and you passed nine of them and said "Hapana" then the tenth will still say "Teksi?"

I often ignore them completely, sometimes say "Hapana" and when I am in the mood I am doing silly stuff like I did with telemarketers in US. Just random nonsense. "Oh, nice taxi. But yours isn't shiny and white like the others!" (Guy storms to the front and points to his white license plate while mumbling something..." Or I may point to my legs and say "I am not that old yet", which has them smile. Still, I wished they wouldn't underestimate of my ability to read the taxi sign on their cars...

Eight o'clock, tick tock

On Friday I had tried to find an internet cafe where I could post the blog entry that I had already written on my laptop. I was told to try the Midland hotel. The computer and phone expert (John) tried in vain - it never worked. But he accompanied me to another internet cafe. I could plug in and send from there and the connection was actually stunningly fast. That evening I invited John for dinner. We went to a pizza place - it was really good and I felt that after two months of mostly rice, beans, ugali, assorted veggies and peanut butter sandwiches I deserved some Italian cuisine.

Saturday I took the bus to see Komanya, who is currently at home to visit his family. He is the biogas consultant who helped KIDT with the COMPACT project. I was a bit confused as he wrote something about the Kigongo ferry, so I thought I would get a chance to ship over Lake Victoria for a purpose. It ended up I should take the bus that says Kigongo Ferry, but get off a couple of kilometres earlier. He was right there when I got off (very African-like we didn't agree on a time I was going to come). I met his wife and kids and saw his house. Of course I was offered tea and a doughnut-like sweet.

Then we went off to see a few farmers he knew as I wanted to get something put of the trip for my thesis as well. How to get to the farmer? Well, he had a bike and suggested I should take a pedi-cab. Those aren't the ones you may be used to from SB, S Francisco or any other place in the States or Europe. It was a simple bike with a rack at the back. There was a sort of cushion as a sort of comfy seat on the rack. I liked the idea. Sort of. But asked instead of being ridden around if I could just rent the bicycle. They gave it to me for the price of two trips (TZS 2,000), which were required to the farmers. This was a good deal because in addition to the two trips I would have had to take the bus back from Kigongo Ferry. The bike was way to small for me, but the cheering from all the locals as I left the place let me quickly forget that. I waved at them. The bike actually rolled better than Komanya's, so I had to wait for him a lot.

We stopped by at some relatives of his first. They offered some fresh eggs. Very nice, but of course how I could carry those back to Mwanza or cook them??? The visits with the farmer turned out to be not too valuable, but socially very nice. Then we went to Kigongo Ferry, so I could see Lake Victoria and the ferry's arrival. At this point it was already very late and Komanya's wife had tried to reach twice. I felt really bad, as she had prepared lunch. After another stop by his grandpa's grave we finally stumbled home. I rolled down to the pedi-cab stand and honked the loud horn on the bicycle, which made everybody laugh. Returned the bike to the guy I had rented it from with an 'Ahsante'

Then we could finally eat (16:30). Komanya's wife had prepared fish, absolutely fresh from the lake. It was delicious. To not have to go through the trouble of deciding if I wanted the fish boiled or fried, she prepared it both ways!!! I can't really say if I liked one or the other better - they both tasted really good. I managed to eat the ugali with my hand. I have also seen people eat rice with their hands (Dora's sister for example) so I asked about the right technique. But K. said he uses a spoon also... A brief visit in K's. office preceded the ride home.

On Sunday In wanted to go to the Saa Nane reserve. A little island, just 15 ferry minutes away. Saa nane means eight o' clock. I am not sure if I have already mentioned the Swahili time? It starts counting with the crack of dawn at six o'clock. So 7am is saa moja - one o'clock. It's kin of confusing sometimes when people switch back and forth. In the beginning I also was wondering why Dora's sister would go to work at 2am - until I found out she meant 8.

Anyway, the island was much better than the ferry - how encouraging is it to step into a boat, with the floor already covered in water? I walked around by myself, and enjoyed it tremendously. I came to a pick nick area with a great view. I sat down and watched the birds fly around. Some hawks were gliding in the wind. There were also smaller and very pretty birds. Some all yellow, some with a yellow back and a reddish front. A blue one with a nice contrasting orange snout. Some sea gulls were there as well. One bird looked like a pigeon, but not sure how it would survive outside the city limits??? Later I saw two birds in a tree from very far, so not sure what they were. But from the distance they did look like storks.

Other things to watch were the lizards doing push-ups in the sun and the fishermen in tiny one-person boats row by. I must have sat there for hours (I was slow in getting started, as I took some pix and lost the rest of the group immediately - I saw some come back after only ten minutes; I am not sure what they were doing until the boat was leaving, which happens about every two hours. Eventually I walked to the end of the island, where it was equally nice. Going back to the harbour it was already 5pm! I had spent six hours, most of them sitting and just watching the wild life. In was glad to catch this ferry (leaving at 5:30). Supposedly there was another one at 6:30, but as always I like to be back at the hotel before it gets dark.

When I was on the island somebody came around with a survey. Overall I liked the experience. The one recommendation I made was to get rid off the lion and hyena in the cages. The latter I actually didn't see and maybe it already left. I think the sign is incomplete and instead of "Spotted Hyena" it should probably read "Who spotted the Hyena?" But the lion looked as my travel book described it - dejected. Being a lion in Africa, but encaged, may be even worse than in a zoo in any other continent?

Ticket to Ride

My travel guide said the train to Dar goes three times/week. I checked the calendar and figured that Dec 30 would be good for me. I went to the train station today to buy the ticket. The sign was not encouraging: Trains sold out for first, second and third class until Jan 20th, 2008! Second class (sitting) was available for purchase the day of travel. Those are not recommended (for those who can afford to get the sleeper category) as it is very crowded. I asked anyway. The next train going is Jan 1st, 2008 (so I guess the Dec 30 got cancelled or the schedule changed). Despite the sign they still had a spot in second class available - phew. So I'll be in Mwanza a couple of days longer than planned, but otherwise will continue as planned by train to Dar.
The pix shows Mt. Meru in the sun rise, taken from little Meru (3800m)

Now that I am Lake Victoria, I desperately wanted to eat what everybody had recommended - samaki (fish). Fresh from the Lake. But I have tried since three days and none of the restaurants had fish!!! Some didn't have meat either, except for chicken. I have so far stayed away from the meat anyway. I don't like meat that much to begin with and mostly prefer vegetarian food. But Africa is definitely a meat country. I also tried to get a chapati pancake in vain. Seems like more of a morning dish. But today I went to the LonelyPlanet-mentioned Food square and they had it all! It was very delicious.

When I left the restaurant there were two kids that asked me for food. So we walked a bit - I wanted to find one of those women who sell the bananas right of their head. It didn't take long and we found one, selling the small bananas. I am not sure about the real price of the small ones yet - the "regular" size ones are about 50 shillings per piece. I think the small ones may be the same for I know they are more expensive. Anyway, I had to argue my way through again. She initially wanted 1,000 for a handful. Then she offered about 8-10 for 500, which was more reasonable (ahem). One of the little kids grabbed them (he spoke English very well, btw). I paid and s we were parting I asked if I could have one, too (I felt like having a dessert). He said "No, you get two." He even wanted to give me a third one, but I stopped him. After all they were the hungrier ones. But it was moving (although I am not sure if that meant they weren't really that hungry...

I will switch hotels tomorrow. Christmas is over, so the Christmas Tree Hotel is not appropriate anymore. I also want to save some money. I don't need my own bathroom and a TV (first time I saw the news in a while), if I can spend four Euros instead of eleven per night...

The bumpiest bus ride ever

The next item on the agenda was buying the ticket to Shinyanga. I went to one of the bus "offices" (a table on the street with a sign) and inquired. "47,000." Aha. I knew that it was 27,000, so I told them. They were laughing their heads off. I left and went to the other "office" Now of course four or five guys were running after me and yelling "No, wait. Friend. We'll give it to you for 27,000". Well, too late buddy. It's really tough as you always have to be well informed beforehand what stuff costs. No need in trying to find out from someone else.

I had asked the guy in the hotel to wake me at five and also inquired if it'd be safe to walk the less than ten minutes to the bus stop. He said "Yes". When I left in the morning, two taxis were waiting. They said it would be 2000. I was only willing to part with 1000 to avoid the short walk in then dark. Neither driver was willing to accept and I walked away. Meaning that 2000 apparently the going rate for a taxi in Arusha. There were already other people walking to the bus stop so it was safe anyway.

I then took a bus that Lonely Planet described as "the gruelling southwestern route". The first four hours over unpaved roads were tough, but OK. But the last two hours to Singida were a bit hard, as I was trying not to get bus sick. After that though the route was paved - newly done this year and something I will have to inform Lonely Planet about. Because I think that version, despite the bumpy six hours between Arusha and Singida (hey, we only had two flat tyres!), is much better and cheaper than the alternative, going via Nairobi. That will take around 25 hours, you will need a Kenyan transit visa ($20) and will likely have to argue your way b back in on your one-time entry Tanza visa. I was in no mood to have to pay another $50 - besides the fact that I don't have that many dollars left anyway. There is also a way to go via Serengeti. I am not sure how long it takes, but also requires the park entrance fee of $50.

Stairway to Heaven

Hey folks,

if your Christmas was just half as good as mine then I know you had a great holiday! Going up Mt. Meru was an awesome experience. I had planned to do it in two days, to save some money. But they won't let you do it the guide later told me that they used to allow it, but stopped offering it). While the price diff is substantial (210 vs. 140) don't regret having taken three days. Otherwise I would have missed a spectacular sun rise on Little Meru (3800m), watching the awakening of Kilimanjaro for the day.

Getting to the start was more difficult than the climb itself. There is no public transit. The only options are going to a Safari operator (Lonely Planet said it'd be $100), take a cab (I was also told this is around $100) or take a bus to the village at the turn off and hope for a ride (Lonely Planet called them sporadic...). I didn't want to take my chances, so when I took a taxi to the wedding in Arusha on Saturday, I inquired about the fare to Momela Gate. "40,000". Wow - a lot less than expected! I told him to pick me up at 7:30 and off we went. We came to the first Gate and I paid all the fees. Then the taxi driver refused to continue. He thought I meant that gate. Fortunately he did acknowledge that I said Momela Gate, and the guards talked to him for five minutes before he surrendered. I was in no mood to walk 15km before hiking up the mountain...

I will keep the report blog-friendly and post a longer report later.
I was paired with a couple from Austria, glad to have some company. Our guide Manuel was nice. We were one of the few people to take up the longer route on the first day. And I was one of the even fewer to not make use of a porter and carry all my stuff. To save on weight my diet for the three days consisted of 2.5 loafs of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a few cereal bars and a bag of peanuts. I also meant to bring seven liters of water, but due to an oversight or maybe poor maths skills I bought seven 1.5l bottles and I had one liter of mango juice. The first day my bag was kinda heavy (maybe 23 or 24kgs - the porters carried 20 kgs...)

After a very nice walk through the woods, seeing very pretty butterflies and some monkeys, we made it to the first hut. We were all in agreement to strive off from the usual program and the next day went to the second hut, took a quick break and continued on to the summit at 4500m. Doing it this way would get us down earlier on the last day. It was a tough six-hour day but well worth it. Going from the first to second hut was very scenic, strolling through nice wooded areas. Just three years ago they built some stairs, for two reasons. One, because the climb was very steep. So forget about that one. I will only talk about the second reason, to prevent soil erosion. That fits in with my sporty mind and my thesis subject...

The climb from Saddle Hut (the second hut) to the top was not easy at times, climbing over some rock fields where I was just hoping I wouldn't slip down and end up a few kilometres later at the wrong side of the mountain (e.g. not where the huts or the gate are...). But we didn't make a dent in the stats, all reaching the summit (the guide said in the five years he has worked there, all Austrians, Germans and Spaniards have reached the summit. He also said most Americans make it, but mentioned that "Japanese, Chinese and people from India are lazy"... We reached the summit on Christmas Eve, so I gave a Christmas present to everyone - in form of a Corny cereal bar (that were individually wrapped so I didn't need to use my standard gift wrap, which is newspaper...) There were five of us - the two Austrians, the guide and one porter.

I am glad we did it in daylight and not in the darkness, like some other groups.

The third day we got up early and went up little Meru (about 40min) to see the sun rise. It was extremely beautiful. We also saw the sun rise the day before from the first hut. Equally stunning. Going down, especially from the first hut on, was less fun. Somehow going downhill is more annoying, and also the shorter route is, with a few exceptions, less scenic than the longer one. But we did see one giraffe on the way.

After receiving my certificate for climbing Meru prenAeen8at the gate I tried the "sporadic" pickup thingie. Same as the guide. We finally could hitch a ride. I sat in the back of the pickup truck, while Manuel had climbed to the front. I got a few "thumbs up" on the way. I guess Mzungus aren't seen in the back of the trucks too often, and many use the Landrovers from the Safari operators for a more convenient ride. But I enjoyed it tremendously. Manuel had told me that I should expect to pay about 10,000 (much m ore than my travel guide said), but when I climbed off the guy left before I could even say thank you. And Manuel just paid the 500 shillings for the Dala-Dala, so my return ride was actually free!

The long walk home

Lots of walking today. First with the backpack to the bus stop in Moshi. Then in Arusha to get all myy stuff together. Now off into the mountains for three days.

Hopefully the shower will work after 7pm as promiosed - I am invited to a wedding at 8...

I will have to carry all my foood and water, as I opted for no p[ortyer. My biggesdty worrry is how to get to thge gate (public tyransit may be spotty and a cab would cost 100 USD). And of course the weather. I ndidn't bnring all that much winter clothjing, after all...

Hopefully I ccan keep my stuff miostly dry.

Happy holidays and see y'all in Mwanza!

Oh Tannenbaum, oh Tannenbaum

Well, I said a while back I am positive that either phone or shower will work before Christmas. Ring! I would have preferred the shower, to be honest. But since I will start traveling soon, I hope I will get a hotel that has a shower occasionally...

The trees in the picture are called Christmas trees - simply because they bloom at Christmas. Actually, the blossoms are starting to fall off, so it's about time there is some Christmas.

I made my arrangements for Mt. Meru. While a lot cheaper than Kili, I tried to cut costs even further by doing it in two days. But they won't let you. The problem is that (an armed) guide is required for the trip. And I guess they don't like rushing things. African way of life. The rifle is required b/c there are apparently occasional Buffalo attacks. The travel guide says not to run away from your guide too far. Alrighty then...Which reminds me - no showers at all on Meru, I guess...

Yesterday I had a fun experience. On my my way home I decided to go a little farther and hang out in the stadium for a bit. It's a really nice, quiet, tranquil place that I enjoy after the dusty and busy downtown area. When I got there a soccer place was taking place and there were quite a few spectators. I didn't know the score or how far into the game they were. But the atmosphere was exciting. The white team was pressing hard and looked in control of the game. But they didn't come too close to the goal. Then the referee whistled the game off (I had only been there for a few minutes, but since there were no flood lights obviously, I knew the game wouldn't last too much longer). What happened next I have only seen on TV so far. A wild cheer erupted. The blue team was cheering and going crazy. Jumping for joy and running around the field like madmen. The players from the white team fell to the ground, deeply disappointed. Some were crying.

A blue player did a somersault to celebrate. The winners were singing. There was a brief brawl when someone stole someone else's banner, but reason quickly settled back in and the cheering continued. I watched the whole thing, glad that I could experience it. As some of the spectators and players left, I, too, headed for the exit.

The send-off I went to was interesting, but couldn't really tell much of a difference to a wedding. There were the prayers, the loud music, the chanting, the goat (although less festively presented as at the wedding-but I do like the "Bon Appetit" part...), the presents that people danced to the front and the food. The only thing that was different was that only the bride sat up front (with bridesmaid Dora). I didn't realize that the groom was actually in attendance until he finally got to walk up to the stage.

Later all the kids had a lot of fun, asking me to photograph them. They then got a real kick out of seeing the picture on the display.

Just when we got to the place it had rained really hard (and I mean really hard!). Fortunately it was dry for the rest of the day, but of course it's all just wet dirt by now and I had a layer of 1/2 inch on my shoes. But nobody cared and asked me to walk through the house with the shoes (so did the others). Even climbed into the car like that - I just couldn't get them clean quick enough.

The ride home was interesting, too. It was crowded and the potholes shook us up a lot. Then we stopped in Himo and Dora and her brother left. Only her brother came back. Strange - Dora didn't even say good-bye or anything. We were still squeezed in the back, but at least Baraka, the three year-old, had now the front passenger seat to himself! If you are worried that a three year-old may strangle himself with the seat belt, don't worry nomore. If a car is lucky enough to even have seat belts, everybody takes great care in prolonging the seat-belts' life by not using them!

Yesterday (Wednesday) I couldn't get my planned interviews done as Mfinanga had to go to Arusha on a short notice. Tomorrow (Friday), I will have to take care of a lot of things, but I am still hoping that M. and I can go towards Rau, which is where I rode my bike last Sunday. Speaking of the bike, it had a slow leak and pumping it up worked fine, except now my 2-dollar pump broke (just a few days after my 2$ lock broke...) It really is tough to try to be a bicyclist around here...And when it rains it pours. Friday morning: Amazingly, it rained all night and now it still rains! This was a good reminder that for Mt. Meru, I need to waterproof everything. Something that after six weeks of sun and dust I really didn't pay much attention to. Who'll stop the rain?


Some more pix: When I got my food there was no more silverware and a little kid showed me how to eat it. But I opted to head to the kitchen and they washed spoon for me...




















And here is the food served (besides the goat). From front to back: Banana (ndizi) with meat, rice (pilau, spiced), rice (plain - wali), cabbage (hidden pot) and cucumber.


















Groom and Bride:

A picture is worth a thousands words

Unfortunately there is no picture of me riding on the back of a (small) motorbike and even with two thousand words I couldn't describe it. But based on all the amused looks from the locals it must have been quite a sight.

I had gone to Himo to meet Pius to talk about soil erosion and soil conservation measures.

As always the whole trip was centred around a lot of confusion. To make a long story short after doing an extra trip to town so we could leave together, Dora told me she was busy and couldn't make it. Ah, if she only had known an hour earlier when I called I could have walked straight to the bus stop, instead of a 20min detour in the midday heat...

The trip was good, though, and Pius showed me some interesting things. We stopped by at a friend's house and could see terracing on one place and see how the crops from the neighbour looked much weaker (even the banana trees) as he hadn't done any soil conservation measures. The top soil and the nutrients with it just run off in the rains.

A couple of days ago I did some web searches on soil conservation and the 11th google entry was... the blog entry about my summary. How embarrassing.

Bought a large mango for less than 10 cents yesterday...Not pictured, btw. That is a pumpkin.


The road ahead


My tentative travel plans:

Dec 20: send-off in Dora's hometown for a cousin of hers, who is getting married Saturday
Dec 21: Last day I can do anything at KIDT. Packing
Dec 22: Travel to Momela Gate in Arusha NP to make arrangements for Meru climb
Dec 23/24 - maybe 25th, too?: Meru climb - I hope there is availability. I really need to call park headquarters today.
Dec26 or 27: travel to Mwanza near Lake Victoria
Dec 30: train from Mwanza to Dar es Salaam.
Jan 1: scheduled arrival at noon, but with Amtrak-style travel it may be several hours later. The time of arrival will determine if I spend a night in Dar before heading to Sansibar.
Jan 2-4: Stone Town. Not sure what to do there, but probably get stoned?
Jan 4: Will head somewhere on Sansibar.
Jan 5-8: Hanging out in the Blue Oyster hotel and go to the beach a lot...
Jan 8: travel back to Moshi, although I may try to visit TaTEDO and some biogas facilities in Dar for a day.

Eroding efforts

Well, didn't get to write anything last night, so just real brief. I will be in Himo part of the day, to talk to some specialist about soil erosion in the area. Hopefully I will also be able to talk to an agricultural officer tomorrow. They are usually the ones who make people implement some soil conservation measures.

I saw a striking difference last week between two fields and the people I was travelling with said they belonged to the same person. I was curious why the same person would have one very good field and one very bad one. I asked to go there and we talked to the owner. Turned out only the good one was hers and she had talked to an agricultural officer ten years ago. The neighbour is one of those that live somewhere completely different. This is common in this area and those people have not been interested in soil conservation too much or don't have time.

I also went up in to the mountains on Sunday with my crappy bike and saw the "rural" sprawl. People cut down forests and plant mostly banana.

Third hospital visit

After accompanying the broken arm and visiting Dora's cousin Eva (who is *still* in hospital, but apparently still doing well) I went to the big hospital, just some 3km outside Moshi. I got bitten by a moskito yesterday and wanted to see when it makes sense to do a Malaria test. So I directed my Sunday morning run (how else would you go to hospital???) towards KCMC (Kili Christian Med Center). There was a sign to a "Joint Malaria Program." So I went there and a British accent greeted me.

He was amused about my question of a malaria test. It does take 7-10 days for the parasite to appear in the blood. About as long as the time until you will realize first symptoms (I was hoping maybe I could beat the symptoms...). He confirmed it was perfectly fine to not use prophylaxes and said that the malaria risk was extremely low right now in this area. And even lower on Sansibar. Only in Mwanza is the risk slightly higher, so I have to be even more careful there. But he said not to worry and just seek medical help when flu-like symptoms appear.

The Brit turned out to be from London and had been in Africa for seven ears (the y in Swahili isn't pronounced, so people often tell me how many ears old they are and that they working in "energe efficience", for example. It's really cute!). The second long-time euro guy I met in a few days. I remember the other student talking about maybe coming back and spending a few ears here. I, for once, know I would get an ear full from a few people if I had the same plans...

Hmm, I don't know how many ears Klaus has, but here is to a Happy Birthday, even if it's a couple of days late!

I am now close to half time, but of course with all the traveling ahead I don't have quite the same amount of time available for the rest of research. I do have about half the thesis written. I am at 50-odd pages. The student who did the first thesis here a couple of ears ago ended up with close to a 100 pages and some 13,000 words. I already have 11,000. Not that quantity makes up for quality, but I think I can really minimize my stress when I am back home by having most of my thesis written already. I did decide spur of the moment to add two more things into my thesis: Public transit and Waste management. Hmm, still need to tell my prof. But they really don't add much work, as most of it came already out of talking to people, based on my personal interest.

As part of it, I did a traffic count (y)esterday. There are actually more SUVs, Landrovers and Pick-up trucks (combined) than the Dala-Dala local buses on the main road. And of course there are no exhaust regulations whatsoever. If it rolls, it rolls.

Today I am invited to a Communion, though I think it's an evangelic event and really known as a confirmation. Either way, it should be interesting. There also will be another wedding next Saturday in Arusha. If I go there (and bring my camera this time) I will be able to take some pix. There is also a send-off party on Thursday, in Dora's hometown. Plenty of partying before I head on to some vacation, so I better use this nice Sunday for a bit of typing on my thesis...


Later that day:

In another true African scheduling magic we are not going to the communion. Half an hour before we were supposed to leave Dora got a call that visitors were coming from Mwanza. Can you imagine traveling 26 hours on a bus via Nairobi in Kenya and then calling a friend that you stop by for dinner in an hour? The visitors were two pastors and were there for a big meeting in Moshi. Dora knew about the meeting but apparently not about the visitors. We had a nice dinner, including a highly interesting small fish that I had no idea how I could squeeze any meat out of the extremly narrow thingy (the whole, fried fish was served). My question was quickly answered. ETWDFT. Eat the whole damn freaking thing. After I saw Dora do just that I tried, too. But I had to stop short of ther eyeballs. Actually, I didn;t touch the head at all. So Dora asked "Kwa nini?" (Why?). I just said I couldn't eat the eyeballs and they were all laughing. Dora quickly grabbed the rest of the fish off my plate amnd gone it was. However, one of the pastors also gave the head to Dora, so I think eyeball-eating is not for everyone.

The last interesting experience was the praying that the pastors were doing. Each of us got their turn. It lasted about a minute per person. The quiet mumbling always got louder at the end and both pastors were speaking at the same time. When it was my turn I was hoping the second mumbler would deliver some subtitles in English. But no, he mumbled something different than the
other pastor in Swahili. Supposedly they prayed that my travel will be fine, so I should be all set now.

The first bicycle accident!

The first bicycle accident that I saw happened a few days ago. I don't really know what happened, but saw two teenagers and a bicycle on the ground. They were laughing (except for the bike, of course). So nothing severe. I don't know if they were both on the bike and crashed or if one guy was trying to jump on. But it is another proof of the statistics. Most bicycle accidents happen without anybody else involved. Driver's fault...

I saw violence for the first time, too. A policeman was kicking a street vendor in his rear-end a few times. Not sure what happened. I do know that for a peaceful country there are way too many armed persons here. Even the police wears machine guns as if they came straight from Afghanistan. Ever since some GI's scared the living daylights out of me when I was a little kid I was never too fond of uniformed people. And having to deal with the Bundeswehr after High School didn't improve on my opinion. Let's just say that even for the admin offices you don't necessarily have to have the biggest brain power. Thank goodness I din't have to go to that Kindergarten. It was enough to hear the stories from my brother.

Oh, now let's see if anyone is still reading: How much did I pay for the bananas in the picture???

And how much did I pay for the moskito net that supposedly has a repellent that keeps insects off the net???

The Bos!

No, I am not talking about my favourite singer, although sadly enough for the first time since 1988 I will miss a concert of a major tour of his. Besides, both Springsteen and Boss are spelled with two 's'.

No, today I met Dutchman Peter Bos, who has been living in Africa for 14 years. The last two years he spent in Tanzania and he lives in Arusha right now. He works for SNV and is currently heavily involved in biogas. I am glad I went to the conference as I met some helpful people and also had some interesting experiences.

For example, a timetable of an African conference. The start was supposed to be at 9:30. I got to the bus stop in Moshi around 7:15am, to give myself ample time for the 90-minute journey. Well, wouldn't you know it. Our bus didn't get full until 7:50am. And buses don't leave before they are full. Actually, every seat was taken, but the driver waited a bit until also a few standing only spots were occupied. So make that a 7:55 departure.

The next trouble happened at a bus stop where police was busy writing tickets. I guess we got one for having too much baggage on board. This ordeal took forever. Hardly back on the road we got stopped again and weighed. Phew, this time we passed, but still it took a while.

So we finally arrive in Arusha and I was told that I can get off a little before the final stop for the hotel where the conference was scheduled. So I get up when the dude announced a stop that I thought was close enough, but double checked, "Ninapenda kuteremka Golden Rose Hotel," I said in my still rudimentary Swahili. "No, waiting," was the answer. OK, maybe the next stop, then. I saw the hotel and figured the bus would stop soon. Nope. The bus terminal was reached. I was mad because I was late and the walk from there was farther.

On the bright side I must be looking more African now. The first time I arrived in Arusha I was hassled to death right from getting off the bus. Half a dozen or more taxi drivers were waving their keys. The second time there was almost no "safari?" questions and today I did not notice a single person caring that I was walking up the street.

So I get to the conference at 10, where about half of the 25 invited people were present, but the conf hadn't started yet. It's almost as they waited for me... After a round of introduction the organizer kicked the meeting off with an intro. The short version went like this: "Welcome to the biogas stakeholder meeting. The first point on the agenda is an overview. I hear that the tea is ready [Note: the tea-break was scheduled at 10:30...]. Should we have the break first?" He looked over to Peter, and fortunately the Dutch guy had the sense to get at least the overview out of the way.

The tea-break was good though, as some sweets were served and I actually needed them....The rest of the meeting was neat to see, too. For example, some egos clashing with each other. One guy had a question and another answered: "Well, you come two hours late. We already have discussed this. I suggest you read the handout from Mr. Sounandso."

As a nice surprise, lunch was paid for, which was different than the email said. And it was good, too! The travel back had some excitement, too. At some point I realized I must have lost my pocket-knife. That would spell an end to all airline testing! At least I still had my room-key. But as we approached the final stop in Moshi, the key had disappeared, too. It was pretty dark and it was hard to look under the seat. The guy who collects the money asked what the problem was (everyone else was already off the bus). I explained about the key first. They opened the back of the bus (I was in the last row) and they found the key. Then I asked for the pocket knife. They found that, too. Phew!

It had just gotten dark and I decided to walk and not opt for the taxi. Still plenty of foot traffic. I was just avoiding groups of more than two.

Btw, in the photo you see Mfinanga vanish into the biogas plant. We crawled inside one on Friday - but don't worry, it was not "live" yet.

African Honesty

As with all peoples there is always this kind and that kind, but generally I have observed many people will try to squeeze out as much money as they can, especially from tourists that aren't aware of the real prices. However, once an agreement is reached that is it. I have given a store owner a 10,000 shilling bill, only to see him disappear with it after my 8,000 purchase Not that he wanted to run off with less than 2 bucks worth of money. No, he just ran off to neighbouring stores to check if they could break the bill for him. Five minutes later he was back and gave me the 2,000.

I even once didn't have enough money in the grocery store and they just let me keep my stuff and said to come back with the remaining balance (1,000) later. Realizing it would take me longer than I had told them I tried to hurry. They were very amused when I stormed back into the store. "You were RUNNING???".

In the buses the money collectors never can get through to the end, but the money always travels from the back to the front without getting disturbed.

I am not sure if I talked about yesterday, where I went to a store to scan a document and forgot to pay? I went back today and wanted to deliver my 500 shilling. Neither Rishi, an IT expert, nor I could remember. He thought I did pay, I thought I didn't. Eventually he just said it's fine. I did ask him if he knew Jesus and he did! Last year there was another German here for research and due to his long hair apparently known as Jesus everywhere. Dora told me to ask Rishi about him, and yep, he knew the guy.

Anyway, I mentioned yesterday I don't think I would see my money for the bike again, but the dude actually gave me 40,000 today. He told me last time he'd let me keep the bike until the end of my stay, free of charge. Didn't quite understand what's in it for him, but then I can pay him a bit of a rental fee at the end. So maybe he is banking on that. Even if the bikes are too crappy to ride around Kili, I am enjoying not having to take the bus everyday.

Speaking of the bikes I am using: I had another flat on the "Black Russian" model. I am switching the bikes more often than my clothing around here.

Another chapter in the book of honesty is written in my travel book (Lonely Planet). There are apparently many touts here, who will try to sell fake or subquality safaris. And that's of course another thing I was lucky with. With a three-month stay there is no need to rush things and I can learn about everything first.

It did take me longer than I wanted to find a (somewhat nonsuitable) bicycle, but I am glad I didn't buy the overpriced ones that Rasta John offered in the beginning. Walking around with him and learning about life in Moshi and the "biker scene" was a valuable experience, though.

Anyway, yet another entry about life in Africa rather than the thesis. Maybe I should change the sub-headline? I did have three very valuable interviews today, though. I met one person who must have been one of the first ones to use biogas in this area. She started in 1987 and used it until August of this year. But finally the cost of keeping the cows had done her in and she abandoned them. Now she is back to full time electricity. She is a retired teacher and calls herself "Mama Project", as she does all sorts of things. While we were there she sold a couple of bags of mushrooms. She grows them in a hut, where you are allowed only after getting fumigated.

Mushroom is a good source of income (1kg between 8-12,000 shilling), but also very delicate to grow. It's not for everyone. Just like biogas, as I found out by now.

I talked myself into a conference in Arusha this morning. See you all on Monday.

That's enough!

Dude, your blog says it's about your master's thesis, but there is hardly anything about it. Errh, yes, you are right, so let's get right down to the boring stuff.

The picture shows the biogas test system. On the right of the picture you see the inlet. That is where the dung gets mixed with water at about the same ratio as Apfelsaftschorle - 1:1. This system has a stirring device. Due to cost it is not implemented at the project sites. Either way, Mr. Mfinanga always shows true sportsmanship when it comes to pulling out the straw and rocks out of the dung, which should not enter the system. He just puts his hands into the stuff. And when he is all done, he also opens the valve, which is located at the bottom (another "Griff in's Klo" required).

The long structure is the biodigester - basically a plastic tube where the manure wonders through and goes out the outlet (and serves as fertilizer). In the mean time the gas rises to the top and leaves the system via a pipe in the center. There is a water trap (the cement square in the centre of the picture) but is currently not in use, as water was never observed in the system.

Then next to the shed is the drum that is open at the bottom and has a pipe leading into it. The drum sits above water, with the pipe just ending above the water level. When the gas storms from the digester into the drum, the drum lifts up. How high the drum is indicates how much gas is currently available.

The pipe is then connected to a cooker, controlled by a valve. Over the weekend we went over every single piece in the system, as cost estimates ranged from 100 to 800 USD. We came up with 314,000 shilling (currently just under 300 USD), but Vicky thought some of the parts were on the high end side of things. So I will have to go to a store and ask some prices. And of course if they see a Mzungu, they likely will quote me higher prices....Student life, I guess.

Anyway, one of the pieces is called a Bush reducer. Sounds good to me. Although a bit of an oxymoron. How can you reduce him even more? He already doesn't have a clue. The nice thing about the news here, though. There are mostly about Africa and I don't understand them anyway. Though today I DID understand a word, but didn't think it was apropriate for a news program. Amen. I asked Dora if the announcer really just delivered a prayer and the answer was "Yes, they do that sometimes."

Maybe it was a prayer for Merkel, who just happened to not make friends with some of the African leaders. Arrgh, enough of politics already.

Today I had lunch twice. First the regular KIDT lunch. And then some rice, boiled without firewood by a solar cooker. I always meant to get one while living in Roseville. A group called Solarcookers International is based in Sacramento, but somehow I never made it. That area is definitely good for a solar cooker. Even when you are not into the enviro thingie - but when it's 40C or 100F outside it really is not appealing to turn on a kitchen stove and add 20 more degrees to your room temperature. The rice was very tasty, btwe. It took slighlty longer than one hour to cook, but there was no need to pay any attention to it, like making sue it doesn't overboil. Also, there were a few clouds around.

I had rice for dessert also. And yesterday ugali both for lunch and dessert. The cooks at KIDT and here at home obviously need to learn a thing or two about coordination. Anyway, tonight we had mango for dessert. Yumm. They were kinda small, but tasty nontheless. And cheap. Apparently 5 for 200 shillings or less than 20 cents.

Today a moskito kept flying dangerously close to my skin (I was saving my moskito repellent a bit, as I amazingly can't get the appropriate stuff here, but now that my parents sent me another couple of bottles, I am all set - THANKS!). Anyway, I interrupted its flying adventures with a clap of my hands. Now I am wondering what happens if you squash a moskito that happens to carry the Malaria virus. If you have a little wound or the stuff flies into your mouth, what will happen? I don't really want to find out, but here most people don't seem to think of malaria much more than the flu. Dora's boy friend just had it, and after one tablet he was OK again, apparently.

Darn, there I did it again. I went off topic and was describing life rather than the thesis. Anyway, I hope to do a few more interviews tomorrow for evaluation of the biogas systems.

Shorthanded on Change?

I don't believe everything Dora says, so I am not sure if her story is true that some tourists were robbed, but didn't have enough change and subsequently their hands were cut off. I did hear from someone else though that later that night there was more police in that area than usual. I have been warned to go out certain areas at dark around here (including parts of the walk from town to my place). I have been mostly coming home before dark anyway, because I don't want to encounter any (malaria-carrying) moskitos.

But last week I was walking home twice at dusk. I didn't see anything unusual and there was still a fair amount of foot- and car traffic. Anyway, I hope this story is just made up as it sounds horrible. I may try to find out from the police department. I also want to go there to find out about traffic laws.

I do want to return the bike now, as I had nothing but trouble with it. I think over the course from yesterday and today I broke a new personal best in the category "Miles ridden with a flat tyre." I had bought a tool to take off my wheel (no quick-releases around here), but had left it accidentally at the bike store. I had a flat on Saturday, which was fixed for free for me. Then I was out on Sunday and had yet another flat. Without the tool to take off the wheel to put in my spare tyre or at least glue to fix it I was stuck. Of course that was the day the dude was supposed to have the other bike ready (the LAB approved one) and he'd even open for me on Sunday, around 5pm. So I rode there on a flat back tyre, about 5km.

He didn't show of course, which is why I rode home (about another 5km). The next day I rode to the bank (with my passport!!!). I got laughed at a lot, riding with a flat :) And then I rode to the store – so another 5km for the day, bringing my total of "flat" km ridden to 15 (around 9 miles). Gee, when Olano won the World title in 1995(?), he had only done two km on a flat back wheel. Weak.

Anyway, I am not too hopeful I will get my money back. I talked to the guy today and he said he was willing to give it back to me, but the constant change of story ("3-4 days; maybe Wednesday; I can get it to you by tomorrow; tomorrow I can give you 50,000) are not a good sign. Neither was it a good sign that he said he'd give it to me tomorrow, "if God wishes." Hmm, what if He's not in the mood???

The reason I don't care for the bike with lots of problems anymore is that I still can take the bus in the morning. I have tested riding and it is fine here. In fact other people must have noticed, because the store owner said something to the affect that "I hear you ride very fast." Yep, there are enough speed bumps and buses that stop frequently that you'll see me often pass on the right...People also started noticing that I am not jumping out of the way when the car drivers blow their horns. On the non-paved roads cars often will be all over the road, to avoid the potholes. So peds and bikes jump away, even when they are perfectly fine on the left hand side of the road. But I am not in the mood for interrupting my commute for crazy stunts like this and I remember the Mercedes driver frantically trying to get his car back to the left.

But also, I am not sure how long I will be in Moshi for. I made a rough Christmas plan for travel. I may hike up Mt. Meru instead of Kili, as it is much cheaper, and by some accounts even nicer. It should take two or three days. Kili is about 5 days, or maybe 5 hours. I just read about this Stangl guy, who now holds the world record of climbing the highest peaks of all continents the fastest. And Kili took him some 5 odd hours. The longest was Mt. Everest, at a measly 14 hours (though I am not sure where the counting did get started...).

After that I will head to Dar es Salaam (the capital). B/c of Christmas I think there may not be much of a chance to see biogas facilities, but I think there is a somewhat bigger one there. Then it's over to Zanzibar. Right now I am thinking of just buying a few book in Dar, then head to the remote east coast of Zanzibar and just hang out on the beach for a few days.

Then I will take a train from Dar to Mwanza (on Lake Victoria). The journey lasts 40 scheduled hours, but Amtrak-style delays of double digit hours may be encountered. But who cares? The only bad thing would be to arrive in Mwanza at 2am, I guess. For the return I haven't figured it out yet. Most people take a 25 hour bus via Nairobi. The bad thing about that option is that I need a $20 transit visa, apparently cash and US dollars only. The problem is that I don't have dollars .
other than Traveler's checks. The only way to get dollars is to change it at a Forex exchange bureau. You know, the one with the $20 fees...

I will also need to find out if I would need another Tanzania visa. Mine is valid for one-time entry only and I am not sure if the bus counts as another re-entry. The alternative is an unpleasant 40 hour bus ride. Of course with the added advantage that I would get to see more of Tanza. So I may opt for that and break it up with an overnight stay somewhere.

Then there will be some time in Arusha NP, for some more bjorn-style canoe and walking safaris. I also haven't given up my plan yet to ride around Kilimanjaro (150miles), but will have to find a good rental bike for that one. My crappy two-wheeler ain't no good for that
Anyway, that's the rough plan right now.

Hand to Mouth

I meant to choose this title recently when I was describing how I was eating ugali with my hands. I remember hearing a Joan Baez song many, many years ago of the same title. I have no clue about the lyrics, but I guess it's a safe bet they weren't about ugali. Instead they likely better describe the disturbing scene I encountered about a week ago. I was describing the trash container where dogs, goats and vultures are hanging out sometimes. Some seven days ago I actually saw a kid inside, looking for anything to eat. I gave him some shortbread I had. Even in this food rich region some are better off than others. This was the first time I had seen someone starving in this area.

And some are even better off, as the long lines in the NBC bank prove. Spent 90 minutes to find out that even to change a simple euro bill you need a passport. Now I happen to have like three or four (long story), but never handy when I need it. So I sighed and walked off with my remaining 3,000 shillings (less than three bucks). No disco for me this weekend. I hope I last until Monday and I hope I don't forget to bring my passport...

The banks are fascinating, btw. People walk in with plastic bags of cash. The better-off have like chic brief-cases. Women with purses. And they don't put down just a few bucks. I have seen a guy with a stack of 10,000 (10 bucks) that was probably a foot high, maybe more.
It feels like being in the movies.

So as in other countries it seems that the rich are getting richer (there are some SUV's being driven around) and the poor are getting poor.

"Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king
and a king ain't satisfied til' he rules everything."

(Badlands - B. Springsteen)

While I was running today I had one of those encounters with a girl that just went nuts when she saw a Mzungu. Maybe eight, nine years old. She started running with me (in freaking FLIP-FLOPS!!!). It was downhill and I am not fond of screaming down a paved downhill slope. I have still some other work cut out for my knees. Should I have told her to stop just because I was concerned about her knees? She had a big grin on her face and kept telling me stuff. Oh well, my language skills after 4 weeks are rather embarrassing. I had been too busy the last couple of weeks to look in my study book again, so I am still stuck at my two week level.

As the street tilted upward the flip-flopper could not keep up and she ran straight into someone else's property, still smiling brightly. Ok, that must have been fun for her and she'll probably tell all her friends at school on Monday.

Where the streets have no names

-- Friday, Dec 7

I finally got to do my first batch of interviews. I am not sure if I can get all of them done by the end of next week, which was my initial plan. What I do know it is easier to interview a bunch of spandexed bicyclists than farmers who for the most part only speak Swahili. I think some things DID get lost in translation. But overall it went well and people were mostly eager to talk about their experiences. Good or bad. The answers were definitely revealing about the shortcomings of the current system.

Going to all the sites meant a lot of driving. I know, I know....But Mfinanga doesn't know how to ride a bike. And I wouldn't have been able to keep up with the car. The sites are rather far, between 5 and 15km from KIDT, but in at least three different directions. And even though I had been to most of the sites, I wouldn't have been able to find them. Damn, even our trusted driver (who also drives the KIDT bus to and from work everyday), missed a turn. That was good luck for half a dozen girls who were walking to church. They would have had another couple of km to go, but waved us down. All jumped into the back of the pickup and off we went. As they got off they thanked me (huh???) and also answered driver Manuel's question about the directions.

Darn, turned out we missed a little path a few bushes back. The streets here have mostly no names, except for the major ones. But even the so-called double road in Moshi has a different name than indicated in the map, so my guess is nobody really cares.
At that stretch of road we were driving along a canal for a few kilometres, with lots of kids dipping in for some refreshment. When they saw me they yelled "Mzungu" and waved. I waved back. It made them very happy. To me it feels a bit strange, though. Who am I? Must be like being a rock star or something, but usually people who are crazy about these people have at least heard of them. I am a complete stranger. A couple have been open about why they are friendly so far. "Give me money," is a rather clear statement.

After visit number three, I finally experienced some real rain. Only 20 minutes maybe, but it really came pouring down. So much, it messed up our fourth visit. "Maybe we cannot go," Mfinanga said. I protested "we are almost there." His objections, which I thought were around not wanting to walk from the car to the house in the rain, I didn't agree with. And then the next thing I knew is that we were stuck with the car. The road had gone slightly uphill and now there was no way forward. "Maybe we cannot go." Ah, THAT is what you meant. OK...

We then went to a place where I could do my final interview for the day. I had been there before, when the place was still under construction. Now it was ready. The people there were very happy with everything. And what hosts they were. Last time Pineapple juice (which I generally don't like). This time a (homemade) fruit juice mix served out of a what seemed like a 20 gallon container. And "half cake." Apparently a local speciality. So I tried to figure out the Swahili name. "Robo cake?" They looked bemused, but didn't know what I was talking about. Found out later that robo means quarter and nusu means half. Arrgh. Anyway, I inquired directly for the Swahili name. "Half cake" was the stunning answer. I noticed that some people use English words sometimes in-between sentences. For some things there was no Swahili name, so they had to come up with something. Environment is such an example. And not surprisingly all terms that have to with time...

At the end of the day I was pooped. Picked up my bike, which was of course only half fixed. But saw another one. No pedals and the handlebar loose, but if they fix it anytime soon I may use that one instead. It may be in better shape. And it says something like LAB approved. I take it the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) have given it their thumbs up. Although unlikely in its current condition, as the lights are missing....

photos

Finally got around to upload some pix. Unfortunately no time for captions right now.

Kili pictures

We'll be heading off for some itv's in a moment (whatever that means around here...)
Will have to buy a pot with a lid later. I am contemplating buying a pressure cooker as well, but they seem to be pricey ($50?)

Have a good weekend everybody!

Details from my thesis

I am finally attaching the description of my thesis. I was still waiting for feedback from my Prof, which didn't come. Maybe it's good enough or maybe it's worthless. I advise you read it only if you are bored...

Sorry for the font. I copied it straight from Word.

Challenges of using Sustainable Practises in energy consumption and land management in northern Tanzania.

Objective of the thesis

The main objective of this thesis is to understand the reasons why sustainable practices in agriculture and household energy needs are not more widespread in the Kilimanjaro region. Especially, the challenges of a wide spread implementation of biogas systems and land management practices shall be examined.

The term “sustainable” shall be defined in the regional context of Kilimanjaro. Several examples of sustainable practices will be given (contour dams, solar cookers, biogas) and hindrances of widespread implementation will be examined by conducting interviews with local farmers.

The main focus of the work will be detailing the current biogas project of COMPACT (description at the end) in the Moshi area and the farms around the project sites. The biogas project was started in June of 2007. Of special interest is the question what the main obstacles for a wide-spread implementation are and how they can be overcome.

A comparison will be made between the current household systems offered by COMPACT and bigger projects for schools or a community.

What is sustainability in the Kilimanjaro area?

The term sustainability shall be defined in the local context of Kilimanjaro. Sustainable practices in agriculture and household energy usage will be examined.

Agricultural practices contain land assignments and management, choice of crops and fertilization/pesticide usage methods.

A farm is sustainable when it can roughly receive the same amount of income from the harvest each year, without the nutrients being depleted from its soil each year. For this to be possible soil erosion has to be kept at a minimum and nutrients absorbed by the crops have to be replaced.

In terms of households energy usage, sustainability means the continued availability of energy sources for the typical household needs, such as lighting and cooking. Currently, firewood is by far the most prevalent energy source for cooking in the Kilimanjaro area. The firewood is harvested from the local forests. This is sometimes done illegally. The practice adds to the problems of deforestation and poor soil, vulnerable to erosion. The tropical rain forest has the ability to capture some of the moisture, which then evaporates, building new clouds. By reducing forests, more water penetrates into the soil. This means a reduction in cloud building and less rain falls. Less rain fall has a heavy impact on the local irrigation systems. 96 percent of the water coming from the Kilimanjaro mountain originates in the forest belt between 1800 and 2800 metres of altitude.

It is also important to mention that due to the influx of people (currently around four percent/year) the area is getting very crowded. Currently around 1,000,000 live at the foot of Kilimanjaro.

Discussion of Sustainable Practices

Household Energy Usage

Household energy needs centre around cooking and lighting. Traditionally cooking is done using fire wood collected in nearby forests. The stoves are inside the houses. They expose the person nearby to exhaust. These will be mostly the women cooking and children nearby. Bronchial diseases have been documented. There are several alternatives available to limit the problem. A discussion of the distinct methods and why they aren’t more widely used will follow.

Solar cookers

Solar cookers have been provided through organizations like Solar Cookers International (www.solarcookers.org) to many parts in Africa. The reasons why they have been slow to be adapted in the Moshi area will be discussed. Interviews with the local population will help in determining the resistance.

One of the obstacles is that Africans tend to cook at night, when solar cookers cannot be used. Another problem is that people do not like to cook outside and show their neighbours what they have for food.

In addition, the advantage of not needing to collect firewood, which by some estimates adds five hours a day to the work chores is sometimes negated by the social effects. Some people like to hang out and gather wood in the forests, making it a social event. For other people it is a simple form of income, as they collect the wood and sell it in the cities.

Also, solar cookers are expensive and poorer people cannot afford them.

There are still some local organizations trying to increase the usage. With a so-called slow-cooker, food can be cooked in the afternoon and kept warm until dinner time.

Biogas

The main focus of the work will be detailing the current biogas project of COMPACT in the Moshi area. Of special interest is the question what the main obstacles for a wide-spread implementation are and how they can be overcome.

A comparison will be made between the current household systems offered by COMPACT and bigger projects for schools or a community.

COMPACT has currently funding for 50 bio digesters. Two are in the process of being built. Six are constructed, but are not used by the farmers yet. Training is yet to be provided. A main problem is its difficulty to use it, which overwhelms some farmers. The system should be made easier to use for the average household.

Also, the feasibility of bigger systems should be examined. This has the advantage that one person could be running the system, without the need of a specialist per household. This would work well for tightly laid out communities or institutions like schools. The problems would be on the side of supplying the manure and the space requirements needed for a bigger system. Also, the slurry needs to be disposed.

Agricultural

Sustainable practices

Sustainable practices include contour dams, terraces, mulching and intercropping. These practices can be found in upper Kilimanjaro, .here the traditional Chiagga farms use exactly the above mentioned methods for a very sustainable way of living. Agroforestry, intercropping and sometimes terracing minimize the danger of erosion. This gives them the ability to use the same land for many years. This is necessary, as land is scarce.

In the low and midlands there is still more land available and farmers do have the ability to move on, should the need arise. a main problem is soil erosion (findings from work of Jonas Lutz). Farmers in the upper regions are forced to practice sustainable agriculture, as they cannot simply find new fields or go higher, as is the practice for the valley farmers.

Soil erosion

The area on the foot of Kilimanjaro is marked by the lowland, midland and highland farmers. The higher the altitude, the smaller the parcels that the farmers have to take care of. However, the household size is greater than in the lowlands and midlands (source: thesis from Patrik Marx).

Currently, a common practice for low- and midland farmer is to keep fields as long as possible. But if erosion settles in and the harvest rates go down, farmers tend to look for new fields elsewhere. This may include the cutting of rain forest in order to find new agricultural land. Farmers may spread sideways, but also upward, where eventually the borders of the National Park may be reached. The farmers rarely use soil conservation measures.

The two main factors of soil erosion are loss of top soil on the mainly flat fields as well as the many cattle grazing on the little vegetation there is.

There is a tendency to keep the traditional methods of agriculture that can be a cause for the increasing erosion. The problems are in the low- and midland areas. Fields are often relatively large and flat. There are many monocultures. Beans and corn can especially cause erosion problems.

Conclusion

At the end the work shall conclude with a summary of why sustainable practices are not more widespread in the area. Especially the biogas project and land management practices and its challenges shall be evaluated. Also, a comparison between the single household systems and a potential bigger biogas system shall be made.

COMPACT

The work will be done together with the group COMPACT (Community Management of Protected Areas for Conservation). Compact was founded in 1999 as a merge between the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (SGP) and the United Nations Foundation (UNF).

COMPACT's objective was to demonstrate how community-based initiative, paired with local groups and indigenous people, can be very effective. A pilot program ran unil 2004. Since it proved to be successful, the program now officially continues. Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, was one of six World Heritage sites chosen for the projects.

The local COMPACT coordinator in the Kilimanjaro area is Victoria Nderumaki. She is based in Moshi, at the foot of Kilimanjaro.

More Biogas stuff

Just a quick note - I meant to be on another field trip today, but gloriously missed the departure time. I was told when people say 7:30 they mean 8, so I figured 9:05 was safe for a scheduled 9am departure. Oh well. I have to do some admin stuff with registering my thesis now anyway. And update my questionnaire, following some feedback from the prof.

And get more dung for the bio digester, to continue testing. I had a hard time convincing the person I work with to show me Monday where the dung is that we can use. I offered to get a bucket on my bicycle. He tried to discourage me ("How you gonna carry it on a bicycle???"), but when I put something in my mind it is hard to get me off. We got the dung. I ended up walking back to keep him company and only used the bike as carrying tool (a bucket of dung is HEAVY).

I also suggested to sit down and have a drink. He was OK, but asked me if I didn't feel weird as a Mzungu running around town with a bucket of dung? Errh. No. Why?


Anyway, back to the subject - yesterday I spent a day in Arusha, to look at some fixed dome biogas plants and also at a construction process. But I have to go off-topic again as the funniest things never happen around biogas. They happen around life here.

We tried to board the bus to Arusha. I know they only leave when they are full Neither the small nor the big bus looked promising. Then came another bus and my mentor (Mr. Mfnanga - oops, I am certain it is spelled differently) headed straight to it. But it was empty, too? Yes, but it came from the mountain and will leave even if it is not full. Apparently others knew as the bus quickly filled. The "driver" was playing with the gas pedal, to entice more people on a quick jump on board. I call him the "driver" b/c in reality he was the "gas-pedaller". As we were really ready to leave the "gas-pedaller" left and the driver took his seat...

The price is also weird. In the small buses you always pay 2500 shilling. In the one we took you can optionally pay 2000. Huh? On the return trip we had a small bus and one guy tried to pay only 2000. He only paid the remaining balance after the bus had stopped and the passenger was threatened to be thrown out. There was quite a bit of shouting involved. Life's little thrills.

Speaking of little thrills, in Arusha we took a small bus ("Dala-Dala"). At some point we got stopped by a police lady. She started yelling at the driver, walked around the bus and looked inside. Then she went inside the bus. Only found out later that the argument was b/c the a passenger had bananas and a sack of some other food on board. Apparently that is a no-no. The police woman didn't board the bus b/c her shift was over. Instead, after all the passengers were off he and the driver were heading to the police station.

"So he has to pay a fine?" I innocently asked Mfnanga. "Maybe. Or he gives the police a little bribe." Aha, that's how it works.

Speaking of bribe, the first place we went to in Arusha did not want to show me around. I later found out the guy likes to get bribed as well for visits.

Here comes the bride

Saturday night I went to a wedding with Dora. She was invited and could bring a guest. It was highly interesting. The ceremony took place at the YMCA, where people can rent the main room. There were many tables already filled with people and three or four rows of just chairs in the back, where we sat down. I guess maybe 300 people. Music was playing as we were waiting for things to happen. Dora explained a bit about the wedding. Church had taken place in the afternoon.

Then in walked the best man and bridesmaid. Later the groom and bride. At the door they stopped and drank something out of a wooden cup with a large handle on it. Dora told me it was some local brew and a tradition. As they made their way to the front some speeches from the priest and a prayer started. The MC (master of ceremony) was next to speak.

I knew when to get up and sit down. After all, there were 300 people in front of me that showed me how to do it. In fact I was quicker than Dora most of the time... An Amen indicated the end of the prayer. Then it was time to cut the wedding cake.

I hope I am remembering the order right. I do wish I would have bought my camera. The room was beautifully decorated (apparently in one of the speeches later one woman said not even Europeans could decorate like this!) There was a thin cloth draped all over, with lighting strings inside. Flowers attached at the intersection points. I may see if I can get some of Dora's cell phone pix. They are low quality, but maybe describe better what I can't really express in words. The stage had throne-like chairs for groom, bride and flower girls.

The picture is NOT from the YMCA building, btw...

Then the relatives were introduced. They stood up and waved. A lot of times any speech was interrupted by the MC saying "Mafoki, Mafoki, Mafoki!" Clap your hands. But few people did as a tape has taken over the tedious job of clapping hands... Introducing the relatives took a while, as you can imagine with the typical large families....

Next came the bizarrest thing I have ever seen. A goat was rolled in. Its head was pretty much intact, but slightly roasted. The body was well done. Some piece of green was stuck through the mouth to make it look it was still eating... The groom and bride then started feeding family members.

After that it was time for presents. People walked up to the front... Oh wait. I have to define walk. When anybody "walked" up to the front they were of course dancing. Everything was done with music. It was sometimes hard fro me to hear what Dora was saying. Anyway, I also got in line to "walk" up to the front (actually, mine really did more like walking...) and with a few last second instructions by Dora I placed a 1,000 bill (less than a dollar) in the box. Most people put in envelopes (and I assume they contained money). Only a few had presents. Then I shook hands with groom, bride, bridesmaid and best man. Of course I had forgotten to ask Dora what "Congratulations" is in Swahili. So I just said "Ahsante" (thank you). Afterwards I got a drink as a reward (not for "dancing", I take it...). I took another bottle of water.

After that it was dinner time and we got in line to get good food. I had rice, veggies, fried fish, a cucumber and a piece of the cake. Yumm. We didn't stay much longer after that. The official program had completed, some people had already left. After some more talking apparently all that was left was dancing. So it was fine for me to leave...

PFFFFFFT

Not a pretty sound when it is made by a bicycle's back tyre. I had just gotten home and the bike was resting when all the air vanished at once. Hmm. I had to go meet the German lady that runs Chagga Tours, so I was in a bit of a hurry. I knew there was this "repair place" (just a guy sitting with some tools) near my house. I didn't have tools or patch kits yet.

I started chatting with the guy. To fix a flat was 200 shilling – the equivalent of around 18 US cents! He didn't even take the wheel off. Out went the tube, with the gaping hole quickly spotted. Becuase it was a big hole he asked twice the price. 36 cents. Fine. I then asked him where I could buy a repair kit and how much it cost. He didn't know what I was talking about. But he did tell me a tube was jubo in Swahili. The he fixed the flat. Equipped with a large tube of Pattex (glue – I am not sure what the US equivalent is?) he put on an old tube. Very interesting. The only [patches I knew are apparently not available here...

After paying I went on to meet Christina. There was also a dude from East Germany. Quite a character. His plans to climb Mont Blanc together with a team from ZDF (one of the public TV stations in Germany) to make a documentary of global warming affecting the climbing had essentially been cancelled...by warm weather! Since he had already asked for the vacation he decided to climb Kili, something that was in his mind for 4-5 years. He did the climb superfast and ended up at the rim in the dark (usually you try to time it to be there to see the sun rise, so he had to walk around in the dark and wait for the sun in the cold...)

Anyway, he agreed to do a City Tour on Sunday, which Chagga Tours offers for five dollars. Problem was that he didn't speak much English. So I quickly offered my translation services, as Christina was flying back to Germany (same flight as the other dude, KLM at 8pm). Cool, my first money earned in Tanzania in form of a five-dollar value :)

We walked around. They threw us out at the Hindu temple. The guide said that he has taken many people there, but one of the guards wasn't happy. We then walked to the German railway station. That's what it was called as the German started it in the late 1800's. But then the British ended up winning the war and took over. That's why all the signs are in English. The train service to Tanga and Dar es Salaam stopped around 10 years ago. The schedule is still posted (three trains a week) and also the note explaining the salary situation at the time of the closure in 1997. There is still freight traffic, but since I have never seen a train here had to ask about its schedule. The guide replied "Once a week. Or once a month." Aha, whenever they need to get something shipped. Or trained, as I should say.

I am not sure if the guy in the picture was waiting for the next freight train or what?

We then went to the mosque, which was a better visit than the Hindu temple as we were allowed on the premises. The only problem ensued when we were leaving as Helge, the East German, put on his shoes two centimetres inside the temple. He was quickly told that shoes are not allowed inside. But we were leaving anyway...

Afterwards I was riding around some to find a baseball cap, as my sun hat is not the greatest when riding faster than 10mph. I was scouting it out first. The asking price was at 5,000 to 6,000 shilling. I didn't want to pay more than 1500, but that didn't interest them at all...

Then my chain broke. Arrgh. Maybe the bike wasn't so good? But a guy fixed it for 500 shilling and afterwards it ran smoothly and w/o noises, so maybe it's good now (I thought the noises came from the bottom bracket). But I will stop by at the dealer's place sometime this week to ask what is going on with the bike....