Shanga - Saturday, 1 August 2015
We hopped on a tour bus in the morning to explore the Arusha area. Our first stop was a disabled artist coop. We were greeted and given a sign language demonstration of common Swahili phrases.
We were given a tour of the entire coop.
We bought a Hakuna Matata sign from an artist. Bobbi bought some tanzanite.
Coffee Plantation
After Shanga, we drove to a coffee plantation for a lecture and some lunch. We caught a glimpse of one of the rooms at the lodge. Ooh-la-la, they are nice. The lunch was a traditional African lunch, cooked in clay pots over a charcoal fire.
After lunch we had a coffee tasting with some dessert.
Market
After prodding from some travelers, Ombeni dismissed the tour bus. Ten of us stood on the side of the road, waiting for a Dala Dala (minibus) to take us to the market. Many buses went by until we found one with enough space for us. The bus already had eleven people in it, plus a baby and a pink chair. One of us did not have a seat, but had to crouch in the aisle, as there was no room to stand inside the bus.
We walked around the market, seeing the sights. Ombeni bought some baked corn on the cob from one vender and some French fries from another. We ate the fries with toothpicks.
The market does not have a food court, but has side streets dedicated to one type of barbeque. One street will have BBQ chicken, a separate street will have BBQ pork, a third will have BBQ beef. Afterward, Ombeni had to negotiate a private return trip with a dala dala driver.
The return ride was long and bumpy. The main road was blocked with traffic, so we took a shortcut over dirt roads through the back streets or Arusha. We were sitting over the rear axle in the dala dala, so we felt every bump. It was quite the African massage.
We ate dinner with Ombeni, Jack and Cindy, as the missing three travelers had not arrived yet and the other travelers were recovering from jet lag.
No comments:
Post a Comment