Only One Month Left in TZ

First I should start off by apologizing for being M.I.A on this blog for the past 8 months. To be honest, our blog ended up on a Peace Corps website that publishes all volunteers’ blogs, and basically I got intimidated and no longer felt like I was just writing to my friends and family. So I stopped blogging all together, but recently I decided I needed to get over it and fill you in on our life. Especially since we only have a little over a month left in Tanzania.

So here’s a glimpse of the highlights from the past 8 months:



My parents came to Tanzania… We spent a week in Mtwara, and as you can see my mom fits right in with the villagers. We experienced a few bumps in the road (a flat tire, a boat that was stuck in the sand, dirty hotel rooms), but my mom and Freddy were troopers. They can totally rough it in Africa!



Then we all went to Zanzibar for a week to enjoy the safi life. I have to admit it was a little hard going back to Mtwara after spending time with family in amazing hotels with great food, hot water, and reliable electricity.

 

Thanksgiving- We actually had to catch, kill, clean and then cook our turkey… It was our first time killing a turkey, and hopefully it was the last. I say we, but in reality Moss did the dirty work. I was just there for moral support. My main role was to cook the turkey, and I must say I definitely had the easy job!

 

Christmas in Mtwara with Adam and then safari time… It was great to have Adam down in Mtwara with us for Christmas. Then we all went on a safari to the Serengeti, Lake Manyara, and Ngorongoro Crator. It was absolutely beautiful!

After Christmas Moss and I both get back to work, work, and more work…



I have been busy teaching the 3rd year medical students, facilitating a number of different trainings for the doctors in the area, getting books for our library, and writing a grant to build a pharmacy school (thanks to all those who supported this project! It’s coming along great!)



Moss has been working in the research and monitoring department at the marine park, and currently he is putting together an amazing report on local fisheries. He has also been going into the field to monitor turtle’s nests, mangroves, and he teaches fisherman how to complete fish catch surveys so they properly monitor and track all the fishing activity.


 

Life outside of work… Whenever we are not working we spend time cooking, exercising, snorkelling, or hanging out with friends on the beach.

 

A crazy event in our life was trying to get our cat spayed… After 3 awful surgeries, 2 of which were on our dining room table, Kali survived and will forever be kitty free.

 

Close of Service (COS) Conference… Just last month we had our COS conference where we got to see all the other Peace Corps volunteer in our training class. We also learned about the complicated process of ending our Peace Corps service, which involves a lot of paper work and 3 days of doctor visits.

It’s hard to believe two years of our life have come and gone. We are definitely looking forward to returning to the states in August, but we know we will miss a lot about our life here in TZ. Before we return, however, we will have one last adventure to Zanzibar and South Africa with the soon to be newlyweds Rowan and Damon. We are counting down the days till we get to see them! T-minus 44!

So that’s our past 8 months in a nutshell and we know we have a lot to look forward to in the upcoming months. Miss you all. XOXO

In a recent experiment, I tried to demonstrate the effect of the merciless Mtwara sun on the human head – as represented by a small watermelon…



(Note: We don’t have so much fruit here on the that we can actually waste it, but this unripe watermelon was one of many that outgrew the shade clothe on which I’d trellised its unruly vine. We've since learned that you can actually boil an unripe watermelon to get something like squash. Another idea: we made homemade wine out of one. Nevertheless, the above fruit went to a good scientific purpose.)

In more serious news, it's been a busy time for us here in Mtwara. Merritt’s been working on her pharmacy school project (scheduling carpenters, negotiating over furniture), along with administering end of semester exams. Meanwhile, I’ve been spending a good amount of time out in the field, helping conduct an environmental baseline survey that British Gas is commissioning for the port of Mtwara. Surveying mangrove stands – it wouldn’t be so bad were it not for the razor-sharp oyster shells that encrust every tree and semi-solid surface, and all the mud of course.

Fieldwork is no joke at this time of year in Mtwara. The “long rains” start at the end of March, and we’ve certainly had our fair share of rain lately. March and April are also the season in between the two monsoons, so about a week ago the wind just disappeared. So now, if it isn’t raining, the sun feels like walking under a heat lamp (thus the watermelon, a fitting representation, I believe).

Sometimes the heat can be more than just a matter of comfort. Last Wednesday, I was scheduled to attend a luncheon in town with a delegation of ambassadors from the EU visiting to learn about the natural gas industry. Just before leaving for the lunch, I made the mistake of trying to run a quick errand on my bike. I thought I was going to have to meet fourteen ambassadors looking like I had just stepped out of a sauna – and would have, had I not been saved by a windy ride across town in a bajaji.

Indeed, as the EU delegation demonstrates, the gas industry continues to be the big news here in Tanzania. This week BG announced that its latest offshore well identified probably about 3.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – the company’s fourteenth largest discovery in years of drilling all over the world.

What this means is that the company’s combined discoveries (from four exploratory wells in two of its three lease blocks) are just shy enough to potentially justify a “two-train” LNG plant, which refers to the number of compressing plants in these types of facilities. They’ll be drilling for several more years just to determine the size and extent of the gas reserves, but it’s looking more and more likely that Tanzanian’s gas will one day go to fuel power plants in India and China.

My brief unplanned remarks to the ambassadors were accompanied by a fitting demonstration to my point about why the Marine Park is working closely with BG and the gas industry. Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of dynamite being detonated underwater rumbled across the outdoor patio at Msemo Hotel. Some local fisherman was dynamiting the reef about a kilometer from the hotel. As I said to the ambassadors, the park’s chief threats – overdependence on marine resources and illegal gear use – are much greater concerns than any potential environmental threat posed by offshore drilling. From the Park’s perspective, BG is a potential partner who can help finally bring some socioeconomic and environmental stability to the Mtwara coastal region.

But the issue is so complicated, you have to question even how to approach it. Do you look at problems such as dynamite fishing and beach seining as a matter of law enforcement or economic development? On the one hand, you can’t live in a developing country (with limited government services) without recognizing the need for rules and laws (and the need for them to be enforced). But when you consider that the people dynamiting the reef are uneducated youths with few economic opportunities, you also must admit that the solution is not just a matter of increasing arrests and convictions.

Given my background in natural resource management, I can’t help but conclude that even if these people wanted to continue these destructive activities, nature will necessarily dictate that they can’t keep doing this forever. The real problem is that they have few other means of livelihood (so youths go out and dynamite the reefs). But to really understand the problem means also recognizing how difficult finding a solution will be. Nevertheless, I think with BG’s help, the Park may be able to take a pretty good stab at the problem, but of course that will be decided long after I am gone.

Anyway, that’s the habari here. Merritt and I are applying for jobs in the States and really looking forward to coming home at the beginning of August.



As you can see we’re surviving in spite of the heat, and even Kali has finally recovered from her surgery. Actually, funny thing, about a week ago, we finally let her out after a month inside (and many escape attempts), and the first thing she does is go and kill a butterfly.

The practice has since continued (with dragonflies, shrews, mice, and this morning, a fairly large rat, all brought home to show off, of course). So it appears that her surgery simply replaced her urge to seduce Tomcats with one to hunt down and kill anything that scurries. But honestly we’d prefer she come home bearing dead mice rather than baby kittens, so I guess the surgery was a success. Merritt’s going to bake a banana bread to thank our vet, who maybe didn’t do the best job the first time, but earned our eternal gratitude for twice coming to our house (somewhat promptly) to close up her belly.

Shovel Ready

Mid-February, we’re in the middle of the dry spell in between the short and the long rains (“Matali”). But the sun has reached its celestial meridian in the Southern Hemisphere and the surf’s way up with the full moon, so we know the rain isn’t far off.

Despite the dry conditions, the garden and the trees we’ve planted seem to be doing pretty well, though I am having a hard time getting anything but papaya seedlings to grow.

I planted every kind of seed I had but all I got was papaya.

At the market, the mangoes are starting to fade, as are the pineapples, although oranges are apparently on their way and you can always get bananas. Tomatoes are suddenly three to four thousand shillings a kilo, so we’ve cut back on those (Pole, Merritt). And even with the heavy surf, we’ve had some incredible fish lately – tuna, grouper, and a 16-pound snapper out at Ruvula that was up there on the list of the best fish I’ve had in country. We were camping out at Ruvula with several friends from town – a few ex pat couples and two other Peace Corps volunteers from Mtwara, and we grilled the fish over hot charcoal coals.



The fisherman from whom we bought the fish that morning had been out in deep water the night before, in a small boat with an outboard, and was now selling a bicycle basket’s worth of barracuda, rainbow runners, snapper, and giant trevally. I had never had rainbow runner before, which is like a big mackerel and probably would have been great, but there was no passing over the one big snapper – it would feed us all and at 30,000 shillings (about $15), seemed like the only kind of deal you get on a isolated beach in East Africa.

Actually, the other fish were going to the construction crew that is at the marine park’s head office down the beach from where we were camping. With funds from the United Nations Development Program, we’re adding several staff houses and a boat shed. They really didn’t think about housing when they originally built the office, but its impractical to expect the new office to get used if you have to drive all the way from Mtwara each day. It makes getting our research and monitoring difficult, and with six months left in my service, I am starting to get nervous about all the work I have left.

Merritt, meanwhile, just completed fundraising for her pharmacy school project, so she’s not heading anywhere until that’s done. Thank you so much to all our friends and family who contributed to the project. As you saw in the grant documents, it’s a really good cause – the first such school in Tanzania’s Deep South. Just imagine if your concept of a pharmacy was a small store in someone’s home with a couple of gauze wrap bandages and malaria medication. Likewise, imagine if you went to a hospital for emergency care and there was no pharmacist to properly administer medication.

In general, the undeveloped state of Mtwara is acutely apparent, in large part because of all the work that is currently going on to fix it. I am talking about “shovel ready” projects. The COTC campus, where the pharmacy school will be built, is just about to open an new assistant medical officer (“AMO”) school, in a beautiful brand new set of classrooms built by the Global Fund. And the town’s roads are all under construction starting with the main round-about (“keep-o-lefti”). And British Gas is basically building a new road on one side of town, so that they can get heavy equipment to the port (which they’re also renovating) without driving right through the downtown core.

Speaking of British Gas, their drilling has started at a site just offshore of Mnazi Channel, the first of four exploratory wells the company plans to drill this year. They’re looking for gas in water between 1,000 and 1,500 meters deep. I’ve actually been speaking with some of their officials because the Park is going to enter into an agreement where they’ll provide us with spill response training and equipment. It makes sense, given the logistics of it, as our boats and staff are in position to respond, should something ever happen. And when you include community members (e.g., honorary rangers, research volunteers), there’s a sense of local control – or at least the ability to respond.

Statoil's drilling rig near Dar.

We probably should have such a system in place anyway, given the drilling that’s already going on within the park, in Mnazi Bay. Wentworth Resources Ltd. actually just started work on its fifth well in the concession area, an onshore exploratory well, targeting “Miocene and Oligocene sandstones.” Camping at Ruvula we could see both Wentworth and BG’s drilling rigs, on either side of us, their lit platforms extending into the night sky – stationary, unlike the dhows.

It’s pretty crazy because even Tanzanian officials are acknowledging that the offshore natural gas fields are going to convert Tanzanian from an agricultural-based economy to one centered around the natural gas industry. Tanzania is expected to eventually see its proven reserves of natural gas rise nearly tenfold, from the estimated seven trillion cubic feet of natural gas to 60 trillion cubic feet. The industry is saying that with energy markets in the Middle East and Asia, Tanzania and Mozambique may one day “rival Qatar and Australia as the world’s biggest suppliers of liquefied natural gas (LNG).” Well, we’ll see. I guess they start with the roads. But while we’re at it, can we try to do something about the municipal water?…

Merry Krismasi!

Want a kitten for Christmas?

Wow, where did November go? That month just kind of disappeared on us, and now we’re suddenly halfway through December. Needless to say August and the end of our service seem likely to come before we know it. So apologies first and foremost to anyone who may still be following this blog and have wondered, what can they be doing that they are too busy to write at least a quick update every once in a while?

So what has happened in all the time since we last wrote? Well, we’ve been a little busy with house guests. One third-year volunteer stayed with us for almost a month while she looked for a house in Mtwara (she’s now living around the corner from us in the Magomeni neighborhood). And then another volunteer, who just arrived in country, stayed with us for a week while “shadowing” Merritt (she’ll be working in a similar position in Morogoro). I don’t like to think we’re running a half-way house for volunteers, but there’s always somebody passing through town and wants to stay at our house. Maybe our cooking is too good.

As perhaps you saw Merritt memorialize on Facebook, we also had a number of volunteers in town for Thanksgiving. The killing and butchering of our turkey was a first for me, but really wasn’t too bad all things considered. We had Thanksgiving dinner looking out onto the Indian Ocean, at a guest house on the beach in Shangani where several of the volunteers were staying. Not quite like Thanksgiving in the States, but not a bad alternative either.

At work we’ve also been very busy. Merritt’s been working on a grant proposal for the construction of a new pharmacy school here in Mtwara (which would be the first in Tanzania’s Deep South). And a couple of weeks ago, she organized the regional stakeholders meeting for all the local health institutions and NGOs. It’s pretty impressive – she’s really made herself invaluable and her supervisors are all wondering what they are going to do when she leaves (and of course asking her to stay on).

For me, I’ve been busy helping to revamp the Park’s research and monitoring program, and have spent many days conducting plot surveys in mangroves or out wondering around the beach looking for turtle nests with our new honorary rangers. November also brought the U.S. Ambassador to visit the Park, where he formally informed our Warden-in-Charge, Redfred Ngowo, that he had been selected for the State Department’s International Visitors Leadership Program. Redfred will be traveling to America next year to participate in a month-long program on parks, biodiversity and ecotourism management. Having had a role in preparing the paperwork for the Redfred’s nomination, and I am really excited for him and think it will be a great opportunity. I believe it will really expand his perspective and further develop his leadership skills.

Mangrove plot surveys – a messy job.

Sea turtle monitoring work near southern Msimbati Peninsula

The Ambassador’s visit to the Park also included a short boat ride, in order to give him a chance to see some of the reefs within Mnazi Bay, as well as the natural gas project that’s in the operation at the tip of Ruvula Peninsula. As part of his trip to the Deep South, the Ambassador met with several of the companies that are interested in developing the region’s offshore natural gas deposits, and so he had heard about three wells that are already in production in Mnazi Bay, serving as the primary source of electricity for the Mtwara and Lindi regions. The recent news was that a new pipeline is going to be built that will bring natural gas from Mnazi Bay to the power plants outside of Dar, where it can be fed into the national power grid, in an attempt to alleviate the chronic power shortages that are plaguing the rest of the country. Meanwhile the British Gas Group has just shipped in a drilling vessel from Syria and expects to start drilling any day now (as I write this, the helicopter is cruising back into town, no doubt bringing men from the rig). And the other news last week was that a well recently drilled on-land also struck oil. So it really seems like we’re on the verge of an energy boom here in Mtwara, even though a great number of people still wonder whether it will finally happen for this small little port town, Tanzania’s backwater.

At times, I can’t help but wonder if these companies really know what they’re getting themselves into. Take for example, the recent riot in town, which apparently ended with the arrest of fifty people and the accidental death of a bystander (a child) and the shooting of one participant. Apparently the whole thing started when a group of self-proclaimed witch doctors confronted a local politician and accused him of witchcraft (I guess of the “dark” variety).

As I understand, at this time of year, when people have money from the cashew harvest, witch doctors will go around to people’s homes and tell the families that their house is inhabited by evil spirits and offer to clean the house of them – for only 2,000 shillings (about $1.25). So undoubtedly, the witch doctors thought that by accusing this well-known man of witchcraft, they could expect to extract a fair sum from him. However, fearing for his life, the man called the Mtwara police, the commissioner of which had also recently had a run-in with some of the local “doctors.”

When the police arrived and the crowd refused to disperse, the police used tear gas on the mob (which was the explosions that I heard from home, not home-made cashew-oil bombs as one Tanzanian told me). Apparently one officer then fired live bullets several times in the air, naturally resulting in a panic amongst the half-blind, coughing crowd. As people ran, a child was somehow struck and killed by vehicle. Enraged by the child’s death, part of the mod then turned on a traffic police officer, who was for some reason standing alone. In self defense, the officer fired upon and killed one of the men coming at him.

The appropriate expression in Kiswahili is “mchizi sana” – completely crazy. Tanzanians, for their part, dismiss the incident and simply note that witchcraft is “part of their culture.” Even the heads of the government, they say, believe in witchcraft. Perhaps this is an alarming story, but we’re no longer surprised by these kinds of events, not here in Tanzania at least.

I also registered the literal impact of the cashew crop last weekend, on my first scuba dive since arriving here. Apparently because people have some extra money right now (and we’re near the spring low tide) there’s also more of a market for dynamite, for fishing purposes. On our first dive, out near the mouth of Mtwara Bay, the underwater silence was suddenly shattered by what I would describe as the sound of a cabinet full of china being pulled over. I knew in an instant what I had heard. The next one wasn’t so close, but it was still pretty loud. The third explosion, however, sounded like a 12-gauge shotgun being fired right next to my head. It was one of those moments where your heart skips a beat and you wonder if your really still alive. In total we heard six blasts during our two dives – this in a small bay in which boats will be bringing drilling equipment and material in and out of for at least the next two years. Seems like perhaps a security concern for the energy companies.

In spite of the dynamite blasts, the diving was nevertheless incredible, and am looking forward to doing some more diving in the Park, as part of my work next year. I don’t know how long they’ll be around, but for the time being at least, the reefs here are worth seeing.

A couple recent photos taken while snorkeling in Mnazi Bay

Anyway, that’s some of the news from here. My brother, Adam, is coming back to visit for Christmas and we’ll be going on a safari over New Years (to Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater). No doubt we’ll have pictures and stories to share from that trip, so tune back in after the New Years.

Last but not least, let me say that we really miss you all, our friends and family back in the States, especially at this time of year. But we’re excited that this new year will bring us back home to you all once again. So happy holidays from Tanzania, and looking forward to 2012!

Science Scoop from Mombasa

This week I am Mombasa, Kenya, attending the 7th Symposium of the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA). I’ve come with two of my counterparts – Davis Orio and Yo Soma – to present on the Marine Park’s current research and monitoring efforts (here's a link to a copy of the poster we presented). Davis is the Park’s new R&M warden and Yo is a volunteer for the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA, Japan’s version of Peace Corps), who is also working for the Park. It’s been an interesting symposium so far, and has elicited a couple of thoughts that I thought I’d share, particularly since it’s been so long since we’ve updated the blog.

First, outside the context of the symposium, perhaps you’ve heard about the current security concerns here in Kenya. When we flew in on Saturday, we were greeted by the news that the U.S. State Department had issued a warning of “imminent” attacks in Kenya. After several high-profile kidnappings of foreigners by suspected members of the al Shabab terrorist group of Somalia, the Kenya government sent troops into southern Somalia last week to root out the group, which has been connected to the recent insecurity in the region, including the problem with piracy. Apparently, the State Department expected retaliatory attacks due to Kenya’s incursion, and warned against visiting public spaces frequented by foreigners. And sure enough there have already been two attacks in Nairobi involving grenades being detonated in public places.

The symposium is taking place at the well-known and certainly upscale Sarova Whitesands Hotel, north of Mombasa, so it’s hard not to feel somewhat like a target as part of this group of five-hundred plus scientists and marine managers, many of whom come from Europe, Australia, and the States. But the security is tight, not only here at the Whitesands but just about everywhere in Mombasa. You can’t enter a bank, restaurant, or supermarket without first passing through a security check-point. Even most stores seem to keep there doors locked at all times and you must be buzzed in after knocking at the door.

Sarova Whitesands Hotel, Mombasa

I’ll also note that it was only a month ago that I predicted that there would be an American military presence in Somalia within the next few years, and sure enough, reports are that U.S. drones have been striking al Shabab control centers in southern Somalia, as part of Kenya’s operation. Faster than I expected, but I expect it won’t be the last we hear of American involvement in the area.

Anyway, outside of the security concerns, the symposium has offered a glimpse into some of the more compelling research currently underway in the region. One of the more interesting presentations was by a well-known scientist, David Obura, on his research about a potential “coral triangle” at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel between northern Madagascar, northern Mozambique and southern Tanzania. As Mr. Obura is discovering the rich coral diversity in this region is likely a product of number of biogeographical conditions, including paleo-geology and paleo-oceanography.

In short, while the evolutionary history of coral species is very convoluted, this area was likely served as a refuge for coral diversity when the Tethys Sea started closing 150-100 million years ago, with the breakup of the Gondwana super-continent and Africa and India’s northward migration. Unlike the rest of the Indian Ocean, the seafloor of the Mozambique Channel is remarkably old, which may reflect an area of relative stability, allowing for the preservation of older coral taxa that were disappearing elsewhere with the closing of the Tethys Sea. And during the last several hundred thousand years, the channel’s steep sides may have diminished the coastal influences of glacial cycles, again, creating comparative stability compared to other coastal areas in the region.

More recently, it’s widely thought that the coral biodiversity in the region is enriched by the South Equatorial Current, which bring coral larvae from reefs in the eastern Indian Ocean (e.g., Australia and Indonesia), before the current runs headfirst into the African coastline around the Mozambique-Tanzania border and splits into the East African current (running northward) and Mozambique Current (flowing south through the Mozambique Channel).

But Mr. Obura suspects it’s even more complicated than this. The Mozambique Channel
is well known for its incredible currents, some of the fastest in the world, which recent oceanography has shown are partly the result of large eddies that form around the Comoros islands (between northern Madagascar and northern Mozambique) and move southward through the channel. These eddies can be as large as 300 km across, with a swirl velocity as fast as a meter a second. Mr. Obura suspects that these eddies are creating a return flow that allows for the accumulation of genetic and larval material.
Anyway, all this suggests that Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park (MBREMP), where I am fortunate enough to be working, is at the center of a “hotspot” of marine biodiversity in the western Indian Ocean. Personally, I love this kind of research that brings it all together – geology, oceanography, genetics, ecology – and more importantly, makes it relevant to resource management – i.e., the need for management schemes to protect coral reefs in the region, like MBREMP. Mr. Obura’s work is ongoing, but it’ll be interesting to see how far he can take his theory about this “coral triangle.”

A glimpse of MBREMP's coral diversity.

Another hot topic at this symposium is the ongoing issue of dynamite fishing in Tanzania. I have long wanted to discuss the issue here on the blog, as I expect it’s hard for us Westerners to believe that the problem still exists. But the practice has become rampant in Tanzania in recent years, including in MBREMP. For example, earlier this year, after a number of individual arrests, MBREMP conducted two large joint operations with the Tanzanian Army that resulted in the surrender of 70 fishermen, from eight villages in the Park, who admitted to having engaged in dynamite fishing. These fishermen were required to take a legal oath to refrain from the practice, with the threat of imprisonment if they break their promise. (Although existing law already includes the possibility of jail time, most violators go unpunished.)

Dynamite fishing in Tanzania

Reef damage in Mnazi Bay caused by dynamite fishing.

But my impression of the problem differs somewhat from what some of the scientists in the region seem to think. I see the problem as fundamentally an issue of poverty and the lack of economic opportunities for Tanzania youth. But some observers see the availability of commercial grade dynamite and incidents like government boats being torched and fisheries officers being physically threatened (blinded by acid in one case) as a sign that the problem represents a form of organized crime and corruption that runs to the highest levels of government.

While I admit, if military detonators are showing up in local fishing villages and fishermen are being tipped off about covert enforcement efforts, some degree of corruption must exist. But when fishermen can make homemade explosives – by filling plastic water bottles with sand, petrol, and fertilizer – and when most of the people engaging in the practice are poor, uneducated youths who can’t afford other types of legal fishing gear, I can’t help but conclude that the overarching problem is economic, not political. Even with the commercial grade dynamite, it would be ignorant to think that a black market for this kind of thing doesn’t exist in a large port city like Dar es Salaam. And in terms of the “organization” behind the crime, when dealers are being arrested on public buses, with the explosives in a box under their seats (as was the case late last year on a bus from Dar to Mtwara), it’s hard to see the perpetrators as “professional” criminals. Anyway, that’s my two cents, for what it’s worth.

So that’s a sample of the discussion here at the WIOMSA symposium in Mombasa. I’ll be back in Mtwara on Monday, where Merritt reports that Moto and Tiger (Kali’s kittens) are now running around the house, constantly fighting each other, and getting into everything. It’s been a productive week here, but I am looking forward to heading back to the Deep South.

Tiger and Moto wiped-out after a long day of play.

Mzito Kabisa

Well, Merritt won both bets – a week and a half and two kittens. Kali is doing well, resting and proving that those mother instincts are strong. Last night, after coming back from a safi dinner at Msemo with a group of volunteers who are in town, we opened the door to find no Kali there to greet us, and immediately I knew, she had given birth. Sure enough, in the basket we’d prepared for her in the office, there was Kali with two little kittens squirming and wiggling away at their mama’s belly.


When we left earlier that afternoon, Kali had seemed a little unsettled, but as she had yet to start nesting or lactating, we were starting to wonder whether it would happen before Merritt left for Dar next Sunday. But I guess with us gone and the house quiet, the time was right. And our concerns about potential complications were unfounded – the kittens look healthy and Kali is doing very well, eating a little, sleeping a little, and purring like a jet engine.


In the past couple of weeks, it’s been somewhat painful to watch Kali, as she’s grown uncomfortably pregnant. The expression here in Tanzania is mzito kabisa, which literally means a person who is “completely heavy.” When not sleeping on the guest bed, Kali would lounge around the house, propped up against a door frame or a wall, in order to relieve the pressure on her ever-expanding stomach. One time, after she fell asleep on a table, Merritt and I watched her kittens squirm around, pressing with their paws out on her belly – it was like a scene out of Alien.



The color of the kittens is somewhat of a surprise – we think it’s actually a mixed parentage, the little tramp. There were really three Tom cats that came over the wall and into our courtyard at one point or another – one of which we scared off. But the other two were uniquely different – one a big, strong, dish-faced calico and the other a long, lanky, traffic-cone orange tabby. Kali seemed to be pretty interested in both cats, and now each of her kittens strikingly resemble one of the two.


As for names, we are still undecided. We may leave it to the kitten’s future owners to name them. Our plan is to give the two kittens away to some of the new Peace Corps volunteers in the region, and we intend this to be Kali’s only litter. Anyway, that's the exiting news here.

Mt. Kilimanjaro!

We returned from our amazing trip safely. Moss and I travelled to Moshi to meet Adam (Moss’s brother) and then to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro! After the 6 day climb we went to Zanzibar for a week of rest and relaxation.

This was a much needed vacation, and it was so much fun to have Adam in town. He was our first family member to come visit from the states. Moss and I had a blast showing him around and giving him a glimpse of what our life is like in TZ. However, he did see the rather safi side in that throughout the trip we stayed in relatively nice hotels with hot running water and electricity. Next time Adam will have to come down to Mtwara to get a better look at life as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Adam arrived in Moshi the day prior to our climb at one in the morning. We spent the day walking around Moshi, enjoying the new city, and getting prepared for our adventure. We went to the tour office to rent the gear we did not have, but thanks to our parents, who sent a ton of warm clothes and hiking gear, we did not need to rent much. Moss and I rented hiking poles. I also needed hiking boots and Moss needed a small backpack. That evening we had a few drinks on the rooftop of our hotel, while looking out at the magnificently massive mountain in the distance.

The following day we got picked up by the tour company and met the rest of the hikers in our group. We initially thought it would only be us three hiking the mountain together, but we were pleasantly surprised that two young med students from the UK, Amy and Ranjit, joined our group. They both had great attitudes and were fun people to get to know.

A glimpse of our hiking experience:

Day 1: Machame Gate to Machame Camp (6,232 ft - 9,840 ft) ~8 miles

We arrive at Macheme gate and fill out paperwork and wait for our first day of hiking to begin. We wait for our luggage to be weighed and all the porters to be sorted out. It turns out we have ten porters, one guide, one assistant guide, one cook, and even a waiter... talk about safi hiking. We only have to carry one small pack with the items that we want for the day i.e. water, clif bars, extra warm clothes, and toilet paper. We hike for five hours on a well developed trail through a tropical rainforest. Once we arrive at camp our tents are already set up and shortly after we are served tea/coffee/hot chocolate and snacks, while the cooks continue preparing our gourmet feast of us delicious soup, potatoes, and salmon for dinner. (This is first time I have had salmon in a year!)

Day 2: On to Shira Camp (9,840 ft – 12,792 ft) ~6miles


It is surprisingly warm on day two, and most of us hike in shorts. We hike on narrow rocky ridges, which is a sharp contrast compared to the first day in the rainforest. We reach Shira camp in the afternoon, rest, have tea, and then have the choice to continue on for about an hour to visit the Shira camp ranger station in order to acclimatize a little. On the way to the station, we check out the Shira Cave, which was used by porters for sleeping and cooking back in the day. On the way to the station there is a clear view of Mount Meru and the western peaks of Kilimanjaro.

Day 3: On to Barranco Camp (12,792 ft – 12,956 ft) Highest Point was 15,120 ft ~7.5miles


It is a cold, foggy day in the clouds, but it’s amazing to see the clouds above and below you as you hike. On day three the landscape is what Adam calls ‘moonscape.’ There is no vegetation, just rocks and dust. We hike up to the Lava tower, have lunch, and attempt to get used to the altitude.

We then proceed to descend about 3,000 ft to our campsite. I have to admit, today was the first day I really struggle. It was unbearably cold up at the lava tower and I did not have enough clothes on, I thought my fingers might fall off, and then the climb down to camp was harder than I expected. Going down the mountain certainly proves to be harder than going up. Despite the cold and the light rain, I try to enjoy the views and look forward to reaching camp and drinking really hot, hot coco.

Day 4: On to Barrafu Camp (12,956 ft – 15,088 ft) ~6 miles