Hello once again and thank you for the anniversary greetings ... we've not been to the post office yet but I hear there is some reeeeallll mail there awaiting us!
We had an amazing weekend away (and Jez didn't take his laptop)....
We were the only overnight guests at the Lodge - the chef thanked us for giving staff something to do! It was a real anniversary treat, to be away from the dust, mozzies and heat, enjoying some welcome breeze up near Ngorongoro Crater/Conservation area, if you're familiar with Africa and this wonder of nature. We didn't have the time/inclination/fees to go into the surrounding park but enjoyed the surroundings nonetheless!
These Maasai folk welcomed us, as they do all visitors... the Lodge employ local workers from surrounding villages to clean, guard, etc., wearing their traditional clothing mostly, with woolie hats and coats over the top in the chillier months! All around northern Tanzania the local Maasai really do wander around dressed like this in their shukas, with sticks, employed wherever they can make a living now that so much of their pastoral land is taken, sadly. MAF have flown many medical and evangelistic safari's to some of the vast and isolated regions - even this past week - where hundreds and hundreds have Jesus as their personal Saviour :o)
Here's the pool/view towards the Crater by night where we could watch the sunset... bliss: "from the rising of the sun to its setting, the Name of the Lord is to be praised"
 and lovely by day too...... the water was fabulous and cold, thanks to the (ahhh!) constant breeze - I took several delicious dips! |
Here's the view from our room... its also the view from our bath tub and outdoor shower!! Such luxury, such fun! Both provided excellent places to rest, where we had time to read, think, talk and pray.
We have now booked our flights to Bangkok to join the other MAF Programme Managers' Conference and then God willing shall fly on to Papua New Guinea to see the work MAF undertake to reach the isolate communities, separated by vast spaces of hills, valley's, mountains and tribal groups (with their 800 separate languages!)...beautiful bath tub eh!?
Flora and fauna and bird life were all very different from down here, incredible sun birds and song birds, we even enjoyed a large nest of love birds tweeting and sqwarking in our eaves... they were too shy to be photographed....fabulous colours, all of them.
Any idea what this plant is called?.. see how dry and cracked the ground is!
Up here the short rains were November and December, the longer rains are now due, hence we've spotted a little cloud cover - March to May we can expect them, apparently.
Our 3 hour drive took us past "Lake" Manyara.... spot the brown muddy looking puddle, almost empty. The area is normal of outstanding beauty, with tree climbing lions!
Back home we've managed piles of paperwork and prepared for upcoming visits. You might notice the large yellow and black butterfly and pretty pink petals/bush but behind it you'll see electricity pole/cables - not much more than "decoration" at the moment it would seem. We have been experiencing power cuts like those back in the days of the UK miners strike in the early 70's! It makes work VERY tricky when much of it relies on technology. We don't have the luxury of air conditioning but even a simple floor fan helps WHEN we have power - at least the defrosted fridge/freezer decides what we shall eat for our dinners (romantic, candle-lit but which adds to the lack of air/heat!) The Government promise to sort out the power issues by the end of June, just when we're due to leave and just prior to their elections! Think of us when you next flick an electrical switch...
A little information on Arusha, to close with :
Arusha, meaning "rising sun" in Hindi, has a large Asian/Hindu community; it is northern Tanzania’s major commercial centre and the
country’s undisputed safari capital, with both a local as well as an
international airport. There are many NGO’s and missions, and a large
expatriate community. It can be found on the eastern edge of Africa’s
Great Rift Valley, part of a fault in the earth’s crust, stretching 6,500km
from Israel’s Jordan Valley to the mouth of the Zambezi River, halfway down
Mozambique!
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