Out of lemons

It was a classic mugging setup—two guys on a motorbike—and a classic, amateur move on my part—keeping a purse full of valuables on me after dark in an international city.

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Jaime and Kim at an overlook during hiking in Lushoto.

Now missing a passport, small camera, several hundred dollars, two credit cards, a license and a library card, we decided to go to the local police station. Here we were sent to no less than six rooms, which were filled with floor-to-ceiling stacks of loose papers appearing to be decades old, before finally paying for my incident report.

We had intended to take advantage of the New Year’s lull at NCN and go to the mountains for the weekend, but our trip grew longer when we found out we would need to go to the embassy in Dar es Salaam, 14 hours from home.

Women press sugarcane into juice in the Usambara Mountains.
Women press sugarcane into juice in the Usambara Mountains.

The Usambara Mountains are lush, impressive and very beautiful. And Irente Biodiversity Farm in Lushoto, where we stayed, was well worth the 7-hour bus.

For only $20 per night, we got a room and gourmet, locally produced and homemade breakfast and dinner.

We spent our time hiking through small settlements, past sugarcane juicing and to spectacular lookouts and decompressing a little in such a peaceful setting.

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View from the Usambara Mountains in northeastern Tanzania.

Though we were initially nervous about going to Dar, we decided to make the best of it and turn it into an opportunity we might otherwise not have had. It was very, very hot and humid, but it was fun to be someplace that felt so different.

With about 4 million inhabitants, a strong Muslim presence and many Indians, Dar is definitely a world away from Karatu. There must be a huge disconnect from Tanzanian life there and in much more remote, traditional areas. Though most women were still quite covered up, we noticed a lot more leniency with the conservative dress code in younger people who looked much more western.

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At stops along the route, dozens of locals come to the bus window selling fruit, bread, chips, headphones and miscellaneous other goods.

We were able to take care of embassy business quite easily, and spent the rest of our day there enjoying Indian and Thai food, espresso milkshakes, a walk along the Indian Ocean and an air-conditioned movie. The 15-hour bus ride home was pretty rough, but it was mercifully free of deafening, violent movies or a CD on repeat, as we experienced on the other busses.

All in all, despite the unfortunate incident that served as a catalyst for our trip, we were glad to experience a new part of Tanzania, and also glad to return to the relative quiet of Karatu.

Meanwhile, between the holidays and an approaching loan cycle end, things have remained busy in a slow way. We’re now preparing for a work trip to a WMI graduation in Uganda before receiving Jess (who’ll take over WMI) upon our return. Happily, our leaders were able to continue their work, while we were away. They’re currently wrapping up paperwork for current program participants and getting ready to give out new loans at the beginning of February.

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Local Tanzanians meet to watch the sunset together.

 

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