Tales Among the Mangroves

It is a rainy Saturday morning here in Arusha as I start this tale. Officially our Christmas holiday ended this past Wednesday and Rebecca and I returned to work. The children go back to school on Tuesday. Rebecca just left town for a week, but Dave and Jean Sack are here until tomorrow evening when they will leave as well. It is a good moment to reflect on the past week of activities and our all too short, but deeply satisfying 6 day vacation trip over the break.

We have been planning since October to take a trip to the coast over the holidays. The Tanzania coast, like most of East Africa is one long coral reef and offers many opportunities for snorkeling and other beach related activities. Our family had been to Zanzibar once during our time in Burundi, and we would have loved to return there, but decided that the money saved by driving to the Tanzania coast across from the Zanzibar archipeligo would be a reasonable substitute. It did prove to be so.

Since there were 6 of us traveling, the grandparents--Dave and Jean Sack, Rebecca and I, and the two boys, we needed to find a bigger vehicle than the Harrier we are driving here. Forunately MCC has a large landrover which we borrowed for the 600 km trip. What it lacked in comfort, it made up for in space, power, and fuel efficiency!

We left the Wednesday after Christmas and planned to do the trip in 2 days with an overnight in a village North of Moshi (on the way), close to Mt. Kilamanjaro. This was made possible by a professional colleague of Dave's who invited us to her family home for an overnight. We got a start from Arusha in the early afternoon and arrived at a rendez-vous point just past Moshi to follow someone to the actual address of our overnight stay since it was pretty far off-road up toward Kilamanjaro.

Kilmanjaro from the South

We arrived well after dark and I was glad we had a landrover because some of the driving required a very high clearance vehicle with alot of power. We had a nice dinner with Dave's colleague, Dr. Fausta, and her parents. We woke the next morning to finally get a view of our surroundings and found ourselves on a very quaint farm about half way up Mt. Kilamanjaro! --With a good view of the summit. (Very close to the start of the 'Coca-cola route for those who know the region.) We took a short morning hike to see the mountain better, then loaded up again and drove back down the rough terrain and onto the main road  heading east for our 8 hour journey to the coast. The addition of the mountain visit was an unexpected, pleasant surprise.

lunch break on the road

It is important to set the tone of this trip by framing it around our primary activity while driving. Because we do many long trips to and from places in Arusha as a family, we have taken to listening to audio-books whenever we are in the car. We finished the entire Harry Potter series several weeks ago and began listening to Tolkein's 'Fellowship of the Ring'. After listening to Harry Potter, which jumps from climax to climax fairly continuously, it is a noticable transition to the slower paced writing of Tolkein that puts great time and detail into the long process of travel. We spent about 10 hours on the road that day listening to the slow progress of Frodo Baggins and company leaving the shire and after many, many days, multiple recountings in tales, and songs, of the history of Middle Earth, -- eventually arriving in Rivendale.

The mindset of travel as an end in itself and not just a means seems to be part of the genius of Tolkeins story. The encounters with strangers and the telling of tales and singing of songs as a regular and anticipated activity of arriving at an evening rest point in the book also became part of the logic of our own  journey. This was particularly true because WE DID NOT TRAVEL WITH OUR COMPUTERS or with any easy way to connect to the internet. (We did have our cell phones for emergencies but no data.) This became a true blessing, and the anticipation of meeting new people and hearing stories from other places became an intriguing part of our own journey now that we were not 'wired' with all the latest current events and distractions.

We arrived, after a long day driving East through fairly dry savannah, but with the Usambara mountain range just to our north. The landrover is uncomfortable and we were fairly exhausted when we pulled in to the Peponi Beach Resort just north of the town Pangani. (The last 40 kilometers were on a washboard dirt road too.)

We were received warmly at reception and shown to our 'bandas which are thatched roof cottages just off the beach. It had the feel of a campsite in a way, because there was nothing paved between cottages, restaurant, bar, pool, and ocean front. It was all sand or packed dirt paths through groves of trees and small lawns and gardens. There were monkeys in the trees and we could hear bush babies calling at night. It was very charming in Swahili coast style. The weather was hot during the day, but cool with an ocean breeze that blew through our windows and quietly rustled the mosquito net canopies over our beds.

Mangroves at high tide

David was up at the crack of dawn the next morning and down at the beach catching hermit crabs and looking for seashells. We got up and had breakfast then went down to the beach as well. It is quite remarkable to see the beach at low tide because the water recedes nearly a kilometer, leaving acres of sand and coral tidal pools full of star fish, anemones, sea urchins and small tropical fish to explore. There were also a number of groves of mangrove trees sticking out of the shallow water which offered an opportunity to explore for fish, crabs, and birds.

We also discovered that several families we had met in Arusha were there as well and we had a chance to visit with them and hear more about life in Tanzania. David enjoyed seeing some of his mates from Sunday school who helped him collect shells.

On the second day though, David met a particularly intersting boy of 11 named Malik who was not from Arusha. Malik had both the appearance and swagger of a young Captain Jack Sparrow, (complete with dagger thrust in his belt).  He had the comfort in the culture of a Rudyard Kipling's 'Kim'. David spent the day with him climbing through mangroves, and exploring tidal pools, and collecting crabs. Oren also seemed to enjoy him greatly as he was closer to Oren in age and shared his sense of humor.

Malik told us that although they had a house up the coast in Kenya, he and his family usually stayed in Northwest Territories in Canada where they lived on a houseboat and he canoed to his bustop when the lake was not frozen over. His story piqued our curiosity and eventually we did find his parents who had parked their landrover at one of the available beachside campsites and had pitched a tent on its roof.

Rebecca found in one of the first conversations with F. (Malik's dad) that we had an interesting '1st degree of separation' connection. He had been part of the UN group of experts working in DRC and predecessor of Michael S., our dear friend and colleague whom he had recruited and hired to replace him in that role. Michael S. some of you know, worked with us at MCC in Rwanda/Burundi/Eastern DRC. He left MCC shortly after we did to take the job at the UN in DRC. He and another UN worker were tragically murdered in Kaasai last March while investigating anti-govt. activity in that region. (The investigation into this goes on.)

F. and his wife H. (who is an epidemiologist) were frankly fascinating people with whom we felt a deep connection in a very short time. In the evenings in the days that followed we looked forward to sitting with them under the open air patios along the beach, usually swinging gently in the hanging platform beds watching the tide go out. It had the feel of the gatherings described in The Fellowship of the Rings after a long day of activities with stories deepening in intrigue each night.

I was partcularly taken by the story of the summer camp they ran at their lake the previous year called "A Dangerous Camp for Kids"--as a corrective to the hyperprotection children often experience at home. The camp was set up as a one week adventure in which the kids arrive on day 1 to find a number of barrels, scrap wood, and power tools by the shore. They are told there has been a zombie apocalypse and they need to build a raft to get to a nearby island, then take the raft apart and make a fortress where they will camp for the week. During the week they do numerous activities on the island including nature walks, rope courses, and othe challenges. Every night F. led them in a process of reflection on the days activity, particularly the times of conflict and conflict resolution. (That is his area of expertise.) On the last day they wee taken out fishing only to discover that zombies (their parents dressed up) have taken over the fort. They must break into a house (taught technique of lock picking and breaking padlocks), find plans for an antitode, concoct it, and get back to the island to save all the zombies. It sounded really awesome. He described it like adult 'Outward Bound' adventures but with more intentional time to reflect and learn from situations where they faced conflict.

The days were replete with activities--snorkeling and beach combing chief among them, but also included playing board games, reading, watercoloring, and sleeping.

On our third day there we took a trip on a dhow (traditional sail boat) about 2 kilometers offshore for some amazing coral reef snorkeling. Despite the fact we were so far from land, the water was only about 12 feet deep around the reef. David, Oren, Rebecca, and I all went out snorkeling for a couple hours around the boat while Dave and Jean watched from on board. The view was beautiful and we saw just about everything one could imagine, octopus, moray eel, countless tropical fish including a venomous lion fish guarding a piece of coral. One of the sublime features where we snorkeled was a "Finding Nemo" style 'drop-off' where the reefed ended and the bottom vanished dropping hundreds of feet almost straight down. It produced some anxiety of seeing large shadowy forms in the depths below.

When we had had our fill of snorkeling, we got back on the boat and were taken to a pure white sandbar also well away from any coastline. There they set up a tarp and we had a lunch that was prepared for us. We swam around the sandbar after lunch and within a couple hours it began to disappear under the tide. We packed everything quickly and were off the bar as it disappeared under the water in the high tide. We sailed about an hour back to the hotel/campsite. It was an awesome day.

Dave Sack in the surf

New Years was another highlight. The Peponi resort staff prepared a big bonfire on the beach. We sat around on the swinging beds with our new friends and shared stories. I know other expats. have probably had the experience of making deep friendships quickly--probably a survival mechanism. But there is also that experience, when constantly remaking one's social network, of meeting total strangers that seem to be long lost friends-- an experience of a deep spirtual connection. These occurences are few and far between, but Rebecca still have friends all over the world with whom we have continue to feel a deep bond, eventhough we rarely see each other. A reunion, even years later, can feel like no time has past at all. That is how it felt to spend time with Malik's family.

Our conversations were rarely interrupted by the kids who were having a great time collecting hermit crabs on the beach by flashlight and had coralled about 100 of them in a small hole they dug in the sand. (they let them go later.) Some were enormous. Around midnight we noticed that Oren and Malik had gone over to the beachside bar and Malik was dancing on the bar with the resort proprietor. (I did mention that he had the charisma of an 11 year old Captain Jack Sparrow.) When his dad went to subdue him we noticed several minutes later that he had instead been recruited to join Malik in the bar top revelry. As midnight approach we all began dancing to disco oldies to welcome in the New Year, then promptly went to bed shortly after midnight.

On our last night, again following the formula of the 'Fellowship of the Rings' we shared a bottle of wine at dinner with F. and H. while Malik and the boys ran aroud on the beach. The tales went deeper still, and H. told us about F.s last trip to Somalia where he was doing disaster management at a refugee camp and was kidnapped by Somali pirates. He shared with us the story of his capture and release, (made possible only because of his many local contacts in Somalia.) We talked into the night about what was important in life and agreed to be in touch in the future. I went to bed with a sense of gratitude for the good things we have and a renewed sense of wonder.

The next morning we packed up and began the 10+ hour trip to Arusha. We again listened to The Fellowship of the Ring and the continuing journey from Rivendale to Mordor. The length of the journey and the excellent voice of the narrator (Rob Inglis), who made up tunes and sung the many songs and poems along the journey gave the otherwise exhausting trip, a deeper sense of purpose.

I have to say that I do not think Tolkein's trilogy would have succeeded at all if it was written in the past decade. We live in such a fast-paced society. A book that does not include the adjective "Riveting" as a descriptor would struggle to gain a readership. Tolkein is anything but! He demands that we take time to read about every long tedious day, to see the sights, smell the smells, meet the people along the way and hear their stories. He even demands us to follow false starts, turn back; that we learn the geography of Middlearth, including human and elven names for every locale and region--as well as its history. I realize that for me, I have generally seen the journey as a necessary evil, and distraction as the main activity along the way, to relieve the tedium. I am certainly not alone in that. But I think it is a loss.

This is actually the second time I wrote this blog and it is now Monday morning. I had written it once and with a computer glitch it vanished (eventhoug it said it was saved.)  We got back to work after traveling all day last Wednesday, on Thursday morning. Dave and Jean helped with childcare as the kids don't go back to school until this Tuesday.

On Saturday Rebecca left for Uganda for a week, and on Sunday Dave and Jean left for Dar Es Salaam and then back to Baltimore. The holidays are over, but I have many memories treasured in my heart from this one to carry me through to summer at  least.