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Tanzania 2008 Updates

Program Leaders:
Nancy Taylor and Brent Smith

September 10 | September 24 | October 10 | October 28 | November 10

Second Web update from Tanzania

Since our last update we have spent time in two of Tanzania’s most famous game parks and in its largest city.

Joined by the program’s long time Kenyan Maasai friends, Agnes and Simon Turasha, we loaded into our trusty green Land Rovers and drove into the cool highlands of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.  We took an afternoon hike in the spectacular rolling hills around the Crater, observing the traditional Maasai use of the land, as cattle and zebra grazed side by side.  That evening Simon (with the men) and Agnes (with the women) talked about the personal and social lives of the Maasai. 

The next day we descended into Ngorongoro Crater, truly one of the most dramatic and beautiful places on earth.  Having read about the ecology and behavior of eight more mammal species, students continued to teach each other within their safari groups.  Surrounded by the steep sides of the crater we observed hundreds of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles, plus lions, elephants, hippos, and a great gathering of crowned cranes.  We were quite fortunate to get close looks at two cerval cats, a cheetah, and, rarest of all, two black rhino!

After another cool night on the crater rim, we descended along the rough dusty road to Olduvai Gorge, the famous “cradle of humankind” where the Leakey family made many of their major archeological finds.  From there it was on to the incomparable Serengeti on a very long, incomparably wash-board ridden road.  Our home for the next three nights was a campground in the southern part of the park where we were serenaded by lion roars, hyena whoops and buffalo ruminations each night!  On our first morning we went to the Serengeti Research Center where Richard Hoare, head veterinarian of the Serengeti, spoke to us about wildlife diseases and his experiences treating wildlife, and another researcher gave us a fascinating presentation on cheetah population ecology.

Then on to two full days of safari!  The rains have come remarkably early this year to the southeastern plains of the Serengeti, so what is normally a dried-up grassland in September was a green landscape with many zebra and wildebeest that normally have migrated hundreds of kilometers to the north.  We saw bull elephants in musth (i.e., “gone bonkers” on testosterone), thousands of gazelle, large herds of buffalo, and all four big predators: spotted hyena, lion, cheetah and leopard. 

After a quick overnight stop in Arusha (with hot showers!) we said goodbye to Simon and Agnes and flew to Dar es Saalam, the largest city in Tanzania.  Here we stayed in a small downtown hotel, amid a constant bustle of humanity, cars and buses, between a mosque and a Hindu temple, and close to many small intriguing restaurants and a whole street of shops selling nothing but beautiful fabrics.

The focus of our academic work in Dar has been on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Tanzania.  On Saturday we joined the staff, volunteers plus many clients and the youth group of WAMATA, the oldest grass roots organization offering support to HIV/AIDS victims and their families, for a day of conversation, lunch, and dancing.  WAMATA reaches out to Tanzanian youth with music and dancing that tell stories about AIDS.  The group of drummers and dancers welcomed our students, and several joined in the dancing, much to the delight of the 100+ onlookers.

Two days later we joined the counselors and nurses of WAMATA for home visits with AIDS patients.  Our experiences that day will never be forgotten as we were able to glimpse the incredible tragedy of this epidemic for both victims and their families, and to see hope in the remarkable recovery of those on anti-retroviral treatment. 

We have also enjoyed an enlightening lecture on the urban development of Dar, followed by a tour of the city. 

We ended our time in Dar with a visit to the U.S. Embassy.  We were honored to have the ambassador himself, Mark Green, talk with our group.  Much of the U.S. aid to Tanzania is going toward AIDS relief and anti-retroviral drugs, so his remarks were most relevant to the issues we are struggling with.  We were also pleased to learn that an American led effort has greatly reduced the incidence of malaria on the islands of Zanzibar (our next stop).  Perhaps best of all, we were all able to cast our votes for the U.S election at the embassy this morning (September 23), thus erasing our worries about absentee ballots and the Tanzanian postal system.

Tomorrow we board the ferry for Zanzibar, for homestays and further Kiswahili instruction amid the narrow winding streets of Stone Town.

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