11-1-08
The music from the ICC club, not more than a few hundred feet from the Pamela Lodge lasts until about 2 AM. The good news is that it’s really good; bongo flavor, afro hip hop music. I want to go over and find out some of the artists, but the club doesn’t give off the warm fuzzy feeling that would invite me to go alone. We actually stopped in a few nights ago and had a nightcap. It was devoid of decorations. A plain cement floor, a simple counter and a wrought iron fence delineating the patrons from the bartender. When you order a beer or drink, it’s passed through a square opening in the bars after you hand over the money.
The next day I send Leonard the new term sheet and we all go for a long hike into the valley to the east. We follow a dirt path that people in the valley below use to get to town. The descent is very steep. We drop perhaps 1200 feet in a very short time. The view is stunning. No high tension wires, no planes, no roads, nothing but scrub land, patches of trees, and houses scattered through the huge valley. There is evidence of a river where a lighter green snakes away from a large lake at one end of the valley and we mistakenly believe that we can make it there and back before dark. The descent takes us past a small community of perhaps fifteen mud huts. The path actually takes us between the huts, which are round and have thatch roofs. It’s so very cool. They stop and stare and break out into huge smiles and waves when we say Mambo, or shikumoo (respectful greeting) We stop, a little lost as the path gives out, and a young girl points the way to continue down into the valley. It’s almost like a re-creation community from Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts, but this is the real deal.
The path leads us down to the valley floor. We walk past other houses and a few people out tending to their banana trees. Everyone stops and waves hello. Not many people hike through here, let alone white people, so we attract a lot of attention. Threatening rain clouds and the late hour force us to turn around before reaching the river. Walking past a little down town (I use that term very lightly) we are invited to join a group of people drinking a white milky liquid from coke bottles. It’s obviously some sort of home brew, but we are afraid of asking too many questions as this might lead to an invitation to drink we’d find difficult to refuse. A store keeper brings out cokes and fantas and we sit and drink. Our Swahili is not good enough to communicate very well, and their English is nonexistent. A young man comes over and introduces himself with some English. He tells us that we are very welcome here. He is happy that we are here visiting and tells us that these people are happy to see us. We feel no hostility or resentment. Though curious, people are very easy going and full of smiles and shikumoo’s to us. Children may stop and stare, but as soon as you smile at them they light up with a bright smile back. Adults wave and yell Habari easily and often.
On the way back from the hike, we are sweaty and hot and greedily take the African “not so hot” shower. It feels great. We watch the news over dinner and hope for Obama. The country is on the verge of imploding, the financial crisis seems to be an unending nightmare, and we are here in TZ planning this business and a safari to the Serengeti.
The next day, wandering around Kayanga I stop into a little shop and discover lanterns. These lanterns are all made from cut up cans. I realize that I have been looking for the glass jars I saw in Haiti. Because glass is a pretty valuable commodity on it’s own, people make lanterns out of cans. I start buying these lanterns and show everyone else. We amass a collection to take back with us; beer cans, aerosol cans, used oilcans, tomato cans, coffee cans are the most popular versions. Some are quite nice. The top of the aerosol is cut off and attached upside down to the bottom so that it acts like a little elegant stand. These lanterns are inventive and unique. We’ll take back as many as we can and hopefully use them as a marketing tool to get attention to the project.
The news of the war breaking out in the DRC confirms that the flashes we saw a few weeks back on the horizon was artillery or some other explosions. I noticed them first, then Cynthia and Joel noticed them from their room at Hotel at Home. We rationalized that it must have been lighting, even though they were orange and in the general direction of Rwanda. There is a surreal disconnection sitting in this little quiet community. Even though we know the border is a mere 200 km from where we are, and we’ve heard stories about refugees and guerilla fighting, it doesn’t seem real. We three, (before Dave and Jill show up) discuss the escape route and wonder or rather hope we’ll never have to use it. Now at breakfast we hear on the radio that the fighting has erupted in the DRC and threatens to spill over into Rwanda. Dave and I talked about the risks with these projects while safe and sound in SF. Currency fluctuations, political disruption, theft, and war. All of these problems were abstract prior to coming here. We understood them and made contingency plans should anything happen, but it’s like any insurance. You are betting against ever having to use it. Now, watching the flashes again on the horizon and hearing the news on the radio it starts to make sense to get the US consulate’s phone number plugged into your cell phone. Like a scene from a movie, we sit on the hotel balcony playing Gin Rummy and discuss who the first people each of us will call to help pave the way for us to get to Bukoba, on our way to Uganda.
11-5-08
I wake up and open the curtains of my hotel room in the Serengeti and see a Giraffe wander past. The elegant gait and gentle disposition is mesmerizing to watch. She stops and munches on some leaves before carefully walking along. Her long legs taking delicate steps, her head swinging side to side. It's a proper way to greet this day as I later learn that Obama has become the 44th president of the US. Everyone we meet today and for the next few days congratulates us as if we personally had made it happen. It's a great feeling to have been in Africa on this historic day, and something I won't soon forget.
11-8-08
This trip wraps up. We'll head back to the States and organize all the events, paper and receipts in order to prepare for the next stage of the project. I'm torn between feeling as though we didn't accomplish nearly any of the things we had hoped to and realizing that the pace of things is drastically different in Africa. However, based on all the feedback and contacts we've made I'm certain of the future success.
