Part Two

PART TWO (See Part One below first)

And… now it’s time for part two, which will unfortunately have to be quite abridged, as we only have this one day to access internet before the group splits up (much sadness) and the bio side heads back out to Oldonyo-Sambu to do independent study research projects. Trying to both relax and get all of this accomplished, and the nice poolside location that I’m now sitting next to, and the wine Anton and I are sipping helps this process move smoothly along. Borrowing Rachel Young’s computer – hope she doesn’t mind! – to give you a short blow by blow of the days that followed from where I left off.

Our trip to the Yaeda Valley was dry, as usual. We spent a stunning four days with the Hadzabe hunting-gathering people, ones who still live their lives in the same accordance as they have since the dawn of time – gathering tubers and berries and surviving off of the changes in seasonal production, and hunting everything that creepeth on the earth (no joke – they go after everything) with primitive bows that they make from entirely natural material, and arrows that I was even able to carve with them in an afternoon.

Epic tale: on our fourth day with the Hadza, when we went out for five hours on an actual hunt with individual men (super cool!), one of the groups actually – I kid you not – shot a giraffe with a poisoned arrow. The hunter came back to camp to take a break and wait for the poison to set in, and then in the early afternoon, the entire group of us set out with a band of hunters to track this staggering giraffe down. They spotted it at a certain point (by way of finding drops of blood on the ground and on select thorn bushes – craziness), and we chased it down for four hours. All the while we looked at each other, grins on our faces, whispering, “we’re stalking a freaking giraffe!” The hunt was to no avail; the poison wore off, and the giraffe ran away safely, but nonetheless, a good story to be able to tell. We were able to eat some bush hyrax meat (a bizarre rodent-ish animal that hangs out in rocks and climbs trees), which was chewy and rather tasteless, but what we witnessed was an incredibly privileged and rare glimpse into perhaps the most sustainable way of life that humankind has ever imagined. I could go on for this for ages – indeed I did in one of my papers here – so talk to me about it when I get back, and you will be rewarded with characteristic long windedness.

After the Hadza we headed up to Ngorongoro highlands and into the world famous (actually, it’s a World Heritage Site, which is pretty sweet) Ngorongoro crater, a complete ecosystem in the largest caldera in the world (a cladera is the imploded crater of a former volcano). This is where we saw LIONS! And a whole manner of other things. Check out the online world for better pictures than I could ever provide. The most touristy thing we did, for sure, but still, the Crater is a place I have wanted to visit ever since I saw it in the glossy print of nature books. Again, ask me for more when I return.

We were then rewarded with three free “reading days” in Soit-Sambu where we basically hung out in our camp all day, reading and writing and reflecting and in general catching up on personal time that you are deprived of when you are constantly around 30 other people. We read a lot, but we also did some hikes with some Maasai and saw some amazingly goofy Colobus monkeys.

On Halloween, we all decided to dress up like each other, which was a riot. Since we spend so much time with each other, we were able to nail each others’ idiosyncrasies dead on. The next night we sat around the fire and listened to Daudi’s crazy elephant stalking, lion stalking, and general badassness stories. We then sipped away around the fire, reminiscing and laughing and trying to get people to dance naked (this is Anton’s constant prerogative), and went to bad happy and ready to tackle our next adventure, the infamous Maasai homestay.

We travelled to a new area, where dead cows lined the road, to do our Maasai homestay component of the trip. The homestay itself was outrageously, well, low key. Not that it wasn’t new or exciting or a fantastic learning experience, but the fact that we could not speak their language – Maa – and they didn’t speak Swahili, we were stuck with the strange social awkwardness of not being able to say anything to each other. We learned a lot, and many people loved it, but I myself was ready for it to pass – the smoke inside the house from the fire, the water used for cleaning the dishes, the straight inequality of Maasai culture (men do not do ANYthing – women gather wood, cook, make fences, gater more wood, haul tons of water on their head, make beads, provide for the children, buy the food; the men, well, they herd the cattle around, and sit on their butts while they cattle and goats eat. Yeah.) Again, I wish I could tell you more, but ask me when I get back.

Settled here in Arusha for a few more hours.

We’re heading off for Lake Victoria and Uganda for rafting and other shenanigans post trip with a few people, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of stories from that as well.

Sorry to have cheated you all of so much information, but it’s all I can do to keep sane. Rest assured that I am safe and having the unmistakable time of my life.

LOVE LOVE LOVE :) Take care everyone, and send me texts to that international phone of mine if you get the chance to! Number is in one of the first blog posts.

I’ll be back to Arusha on December 1st.

Miss you all.

Zach