updates from Dar to Ede

Transcription

hmtm - 02-10-2012
updates from Dar to Ede - http://solum.nl/wordpress
hmtm
PDF generated February 10, 2012 by Kalin's PDF Creation Station WordPress plugin
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hmtm - 02-10-2012
Table Of Contents
Baby clinic .................................................................. 7
Almost Walking .............................................................. 8
Snow ...................................................................... 9
on operated on .............................................................. 10
DIY ...................................................................... 11
Ouwehands zoo .............................................................. 12
Birthday party of Marco and Tessel ............................................... 13
Nat. voorleesweek ............................................................ 14
And again... ................................................................ 15
Veluws natuurcentrum ........................................................ 16
Boom boom boom boom ....................................................... 17
Miko loves bouncing .......................................................... 18
Ginkelse heide .............................................................. 19
On the road again ............................................................ 20
And 2 more... ............................................................... 21
Play date .................................................................. 22
Restore ................................................................... 24
Happy happy joy joy .......................................................... 25
Suggestion to my Tz friends ..................................................... 26
Season of light .............................................................. 27
Go see the dr ............................................................... 28
Testing testing .............................................................. 29
Even more wind ............................................................. 30
Happy birthday ............................................................. 31
Wind and beach ............................................................. 32
Karibu .................................................................... 33
2nd stop ................................................................... 34
1st stop ................................................................... 35
Wrapping up 2 .............................................................. 36
Wrapping up ............................................................... 37
oops ...................................................................... 38
The new routine ............................................................. 39
Records in stats .............................................................. 40
What will be missed ........................................................... 41
His favourite women .......................................................... 43
Last news .................................................................. 44
Just a quick update ........................................................... 45
Dar es Salaam zoo ............................................................ 46
Logistics revealed ............................................................ 47
Uncertainty revisited .......................................................... 48
We want more! .............................................................. 50
Couch potato ............................................................... 51
And another milestone ......................................................... 52
Complaining ................................................................ 53
Another milestone ............................................................ 54
So happy together ............................................................ 55
So you know ................................................................ 57
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We all went on safari .......................................................... 58
Cause and effect ............................................................. 59
The next place I live .... ........................................................ 60
Row row row your boat ........................................................ 61
An update, finally ............................................................ 62
Lazy at the beach ............................................................ 63
Busy bee .................................................................. 64
Travel in Tanzania ........................................................... 65
Firsts ..................................................................... 66
Conversation with a 2 year old ................................................... 67
Watoto pic ................................................................. 68
Everybody needs a holiday ...................................................... 69
Soooo tired ................................................................. 70
Umeme narudi .............................................................. 71
Safari Pangani and Amani ...................................................... 72
Back ..................................................................... 75
Got no time to write .......................................................... 76
I wanna play in the sand.. ....................................................... 77
Same as yesterday and the day before yesterday ....................................... 78
No news again ............................................................... 79
No news ..... ................................................................ 82
Phases missing ... again ........................................................ 85
Out of the frying pan .......................................................... 86
Mikimono ................................................................. 90
It's over, Hurray! ............................................................ 93
How is he? ................................................................. 94
Sick ...................................................................... 95
Explosions in Dar es Salaam ..................................................... 96
Umeme revisited ............................................................. 97
Hamna Umeme .............................................................. 98
What do you see? ............................................................ 99
I'm such a small guy and the truck is so big ......................................... 102
While you were listening to the news .............................................. 104
A swim, a friend and a nap ..................................................... 106
Winds of change ............................................................ 107
Scatology ................................................................. 108
The Bean ................................................................. 109
That's what friends are for ..................................................... 110
Attracting wildlife to your garden ................................................ 112
More not so nice things ....................................................... 114
Schuitje varen ............................................................. 115
Second time around .......................................................... 116
School ................................................................... 117
The not so nice parts about living in the tropics ...................................... 118
Statistics Solum 2010 ......................................................... 119
Christmas dinner ........................................................... 120
Busy .................................................................... 121
Quick quick ............................................................... 122
Hot in Dar es Salaam ......................................................... 123
Back home ................................................................ 124
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Snow in Amsterdam .........................................................
Extra Extra Read All About It – the waiting game is over ...............................
Tareks Ta(a)l(en) ...........................................................
On how life currently is.... .....................................................
and still .... ................................................................
Waiting: a little more elaborate .................................................
No news ..................................................................
Waiting ..................................................................
Bye Bye Belly Braai ..........................................................
Consumption ..............................................................
The world is my playground ....................................................
Going down down down .......................................................
All ... people look alike ........................................................
Uncertain no more...? ........................................................
Freshi ...................................................................
Victory ..................................................................
Some facts ................................................................
My technical wizkid .........................................................
Selous Game Reserve .........................................................
Fruit ....................................................................
Belgische regering ...........................................................
Transfer website to wordpress ..................................................
Alternative Playground .......................................................
Uncertainty ...............................................................
Newspaper articles ..........................................................
Ramadan .................................................................
Easy Sunday ...............................................................
Rain ....................................................................
Red Snapper ...............................................................
Back in Dar ...............................................................
Radio silence explained .......................................................
Banana flowering ...........................................................
Social departures ...........................................................
Internet connection ..........................................................
A productive Saturday ........................................................
Koninginnendag in Dar .......................................................
Kingday ..................................................................
Amani Forest Reserve ........................................................
Tarek is sick ...............................................................
And so forth ...............................................................
Traffic ...................................................................
Stay or go .................................................................
Bouwmeesters op bezoek ......................................................
Bezoek Tanzania ............................................................
Alan ....................................................................
Power/Internet cut ..........................................................
Tree down ................................................................
Baobab ..................................................................
5-day workshop ............................................................
Kindergarten ..............................................................
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So it goes .................................................................
How am I doing ............................................................
A week alone ..............................................................
Mafia Island – Tareks 1st birthday ...............................................
Cultural event! .............................................................
Scuba diving in Dar ..........................................................
Why tourists avoid Zimbabwe ..................................................
Tarek opens screen door ......................................................
Heating up ................................................................
Jabs and monkeys ...........................................................
Vierde bezoek Willempje (en Fred) ...............................................
Rumble in the Jungle .........................................................
Teaching in Tanzania ........................................................
Crow trap ................................................................
Job .....................................................................
Plans and drought ...........................................................
Pangani ..................................................................
Consequences of rain on plants ..................................................
Waning religion ............................................................
Busy kid ..................................................................
Talking stats ...............................................................
Home alone ...............................................................
A swim but no nap ..........................................................
Saturday afternoon ..........................................................
Goat races ................................................................
New job ..................................................................
Mid year resolutions .........................................................
Tarek develops/Mikocheni undevelops: bye power ....................................
Home 'alone' - and loving every minute .... ha ha .....................................
Back to work ..............................................................
Funny how time flies .... .......................................................
Hello world - this is East Africa .................................................
Hey dude, where's my car? .....................................................
Tarek sick .... or is it something else? ..............................................
Development cooperation? .....................................................
What's going on ............................................................
Home ....................................................................
Where am I? ..............................................................
To do list .................................................................
Party time ................................................................
Check the news page! ........................................................
Have a nice weekend .........................................................
Typical Tuesday morning .....................................................
Meeting friends and going south .................................................
Single dad ................................................................
Passion ..................................................................
Wilhelmus ................................................................
(No) sleep and then .... ........................................................
Things can go fast ...........................................................
Uneventful Sunday ..........................................................
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South Africa Elections pt 2 .....................................................
South Africa Elections pt 1 .....................................................
Weekend! .................................................................
Derde bezoek Willempje (en Janneke) .............................................
Umeme talk ...............................................................
Vrooommm ...............................................................
Tweede bezoek Willempje .....................................................
Bezoek Otto en Merlijne ......................................................
Eerste bezoek Willempje ......................................................
Voor het eerst Afrika en tropen .................................................
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Baby clinic
by maya - Wednesday, February 08, 2012
http://solum.nl/wordpress/?p=1059
How very convenient, it was planned in such a way that right after Miko had been weighed, measured, tested and
jabbed, Tarek could undergo the same procedure. Minus the jabs fortunately, he's terrified of them. I've not yet
explained that in half a year he'll need one more vaccination. Now Miko is asleep and Tarek is poking his nose in
bags he ahouldn't be looking in. Duty calls.
Tarek waiting to see the nurse.
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Almost Walking
by hein - Saturday, February 04, 2012
Since a few weeks Miko is really practicing her walking skills. Chairs are moving all over the living room. On
some occasions, in between things, we even caught her standing all by herself for a few seconds. She started
climbing the stepladder (keukentrapje). I can still remember Wessel telling me some years ago that you have to
keep them immobile for as long as possible, just for convenience. Can you imagine that until about 6 months, they
stay put, perhaps move from back to belly, but on the same location.
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Snow
by hein - Friday, February 03, 2012
Fortunatly sleds were still available at the Blokker. Tarek is enthusiastic! But soon he wants to go home, too cold,
which is kind of ok because I am getting cold as well. It is -10.5.
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on operated on
by maya - Sunday, January 29, 2012
Almost three years ago Tarek got a cudley elephant. It became Tareks favorite object, by far. No sleep or comfort
without the "on". Since a while it shows wear and tear marks. Oma is a wonder doctor though.
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DIY
by maya - Wednesday, January 25, 2012
I'm not sure yet if it was worth two (yes, 2) trips to Ikea but Tarek seems pleased. So does Miko, the chairs picured
provide good walking practice assistance.
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Ouwehands zoo
by hein - Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Grandparents treated us to a one year subscription to ouwehands. It is a 25 minute drive, but eorth it. I saw my first
live european wolve and learned that saddle billed storks are a lot bigger than they appear in flight. Lots of playing
opportunities kitti, also inside. No healthy lunch available though.
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Birthday party of Marco and Tessel
by hein - Sunday, January 22, 2012
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Nat. voorleesweek
by hein - Saturday, January 21, 2012
In de bibliotheek wordt "mama is kwijt" voorgelezen.
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And again...
Miko has to go see the doctor. The ortho-optician, if I remember the name correctly. Her eyes had to be measured
because in October her pupils didn't respond as they're supposed to. So far so good, one more check follows and
then she can go home where Tarek, opa and oma are waiting ti take her to the zoo. But before that some more
waiting time a.k.a. play time.
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Veluws natuurcentrum
Again I was most fortunate with the weather. Miko thought it was a bit chilly. Tarek was very fond of the ice.
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Boom boom boom boom
by miko - Saturday, January 14, 2012
Maya slipped walking down the stairs. As she was holding me, we both fell down. She managed to catch me right
before I hit the ground. Now I have a bump on my head that matches with my dress.
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Miko loves bouncing
I know the title of this post is hard to believe if you go by the photo below. I did not manage to upload a movie.
Eleven o clock at night when the next morning is the start of a new job to complement the old one is not the right
time to try out such new things. Just believe me, it's true. If you want to do Miko a favour, set her on a trampoline.
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Ginkelse heide
Een fijn zonnetje maakt papadag een stuk aangenamer.
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On the road again
To Wassenaar to see new born baby Lizzy. Then to Den Haag to auntie Janneke and uncle Wouter. From there to
the Archipelbuurt where we were paid visits by Marjan and Otto. This morning a walk to the playground where we
managed to lose Miko's right shoe. Then to Amsterdam, to oma. Now we're lazing on the couch and trying to
decide wether to go home and have an omelette or have oma's pannekoeken.
Socially speaking, a very good weekend. Shame we all have a cold and work starts again tomorrow.
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And 2 more...
by maya - Friday, January 06, 2012
This afternoon was my holiday. I finished the work I had planned to do and took a train to Utrecht where I spent a
lovely afternoon with Sisi. Of course I couldn't resist going into a few more second hand shops. For less than €2 I
bought 2 jigsaw puzzles. The dinosaur one is too hard still for Tarek. In order to know wether it's worth keeping we
did have to make it to see if it is complete.
It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
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Play date
No school generally means holiday. With two active toddlers around and their dad trying to work as often as he can
holiday for me means working much harder than on schooldays. Fortunately even in Ede there is family close by.
Tarek played all morning with VerlaNorah while sleepy Miko occupied Northers' bed. Norther, being a teething 9
month old, would probably have preferred to use it himself but Miko slept for more than 2 hours.
VerlaNorah also has lots of beautiful Schleich animals.
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hmtm - 02-10-2012
Miko woke just in time for our departure. She liked the apple juice but ate hardly anything at all.
And we got lucky because our cousins gave us our favourite bib, like the one we lost during our move from Dar to
the Netherlands.
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Restore
by maya - Tuesday, January 03, 2012
In a house where jigsaw puzzles have become an addiction and books are devoured (in Miko's case literally) it is
good to have a second hand shop close by. The big one we went to today is called Restore, it's a project where
people can get work experience through restoring old goods. The puzzles are always checked by them. What a cool
job, making jigsaw puzzles. I can't write more, both kids are asleep. Gives me a chance to do Tarek's new puzzle.
I was especially pleased to find two books from The Railway Series, in English even.
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Happy happy joy joy
by maya - Monday, January 02, 2012
Arrived back home in Ede after a lovely visit to the grandparents. Getting out of the car we noticed that five o clock
in the afternoon on New Years day in Ede there is more fireworks than at the start of the new year in Paterswolde.
Even now, close to ten o clock at night there are continuous bangs. The kids don't care, fortunately. All Tarek
seemed to care about the past 24 hours was oliebollen. The kid must have eaten more than a dozen of the things.
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Suggestion to my Tz friends
by tarek - Saturday, December 31, 2011
If your parents decide to haul you halfway across the world to what they call 'the west' and you end up on some
cold and windy part of the globe where you don't know anyone you should suggest to them to take you to...
...Ikea, a great place to make new friends.
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Season of light
by maya - Saturday, December 31, 2011
We're spending the last days and nights of 2011 in Paterswolde and were lucky enough to make it to the Hortus of
Haren tonight. There was a Confucius Festival of Lights. The people working there spoke neither Dutch nor
English which gave the whole display a very genuine feeling. Tarek liked the dinosaurs until they started roaring.
Tarek took this photograph himself.
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Go see the dr
by miko - Thursday, December 29, 2011
My parents were worried. Just like their parents and other family and whoever else felt allowed to express their
opinion on the matter. Worried about my lungs and my perpetually snotty nose. Worried about my rasping
breathing. Worried about the fact that I, since starting nursery past October, seem to always have a cold. So on the
third day of Christmas they called the family doctor. But he was on a holiday and left no alternative doctors phone
number on his answering machine. My parents dialled the Family Doctor Line and didn't get a response because it
was not out of office hours. Then my parents dragged me and my brother to the north and managed to squeeze in an
appointment with my grandparents' family doctor. And what did the doctor say? Nothing that I haven't been trying
to make clear for the longest time: all these viral infections are part of going to nursery school.
I used the close to one hour waiting time very well though, I took my first steps towards mama holding on to oma.
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Testing testing
by maya - Tuesday, December 27, 2011
1 2 3. This is Maya trying out blogging through a phone. In case you are so ultimately bored you actually came
and checked out our blog: Karibu tena.
I have a new years resolution starting today, either a week early or 51 weeks late. Revive the blog.
Hope you're enjoying your holiday season. We were fortunate enough to spend the past few days with our families.
We unwrapped presents, sang Christmas carols and of cours we ate and ate and ate.
Hein even managed to beat his dad at chess.
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Even more wind
by hein - Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Tarek wil rennen.
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Happy birthday
by hein - Sunday, September 11, 2011
happy birthday Maya
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Wind and beach
by hein - Thursday, September 08, 2011
Our gipsy life continues in Noordwijk, where we are spending the entire month of September. Lovely house close
to the beach. If only the weather were a little better.
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Karibu
by maya - Monday, August 29, 2011
Welcome. Good to see you. Please forgive us, we realise we have been silent. This was always a blog about our life
in Tanzania. We no longer live in Tanzania and are wondering what to do with this website. As we're also trying to
find work and have two lively kids, the site slipped down somewhat on the priority list.
Suggestions karibu.
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2nd stop
by hein - Thursday, July 28, 2011
We are staying at the house of my parents in Groningen for almost a week now. There we are trying to figure out
what is next while entertaining kids. Today actualy was a sunny day, after a week of rain. We went to the
kinderboerderij (farm for children).
Sunny kinderboerderij
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1st stop
by hein - Sunday, July 10, 2011
First two weeks in the Netherlands we are lucky that we can house sit. Beautifull house with lots of toys for Tarek.
Breakfast in Amsterdam
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Wrapping up 2
by hein - Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Today the movers from AGS came to pack our stuff. They needed 4 hours to pack and weigh 1187 kg at about 5
m3. Afterwards we cleaned the house. At 18:00 we were in our comfortable hotel room. Time for a nice cold beer!
Packers at work
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Wrapping up
by maya - Tuesday, July 05, 2011
In the past 2 weeks lots of people that work on the compound came to us to borrow money. Borrowing money is
not unheard of but so many people was a bit odd. They all know we're leaving, we said. They're hoping we'll
forget, we said. One by one, each and every person is now coming to prove us wrong. Someone told me that we're
good people, we help them when they're in need. Other wazungu say (and we have felt like saying that too): 'I'm
not a bank'.
All the stuff that hasn't been sold or promised away and we don't want to leave for the landlord has to go. We asked
our ornithological friends to pick up the crow trap but they didn't make it. As Mr Protasi, the old askari, built it for
us, we gave it to him as a chicken shed. Along with an envelope. Today I gave some other people an envelope. I
have to admit that wasn't my idea as envelopes make rather impersonal gifts. Hein insisted and I'm happy he did.
Two people told me that envelopes are the kind of gift that really help and that makes people feel we really thought
of them. Mama Eliza was almost moved to tears. Which in turn almost moved me to tears. I quickly ran inside to
prepare someone else an envelope.
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oops
by maya - Monday, July 04, 2011
Busy dismantling and packing. No ornament left hanging. Every nook and hidden corner filled with boxes. This
side movers, this part plane, that stuff stays here. All that remains are the things we use every day.
The old laptop we used at home belongs to Hein's soon to be former employer so it has been taken back to the
office. Fortunately we have another laptop, a Mac much loved by Hein. Unfortunately it doesn't have a slot for the
memory card of the camera. This probably means no uploading of photographs until we're back in Amsterdam.
Brace yourself for the visually boring blog ..... (Now I'll go back to wandering through the house seeing if there's
anything left to sort out)
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The new routine
by maya - Friday, July 01, 2011
On weekdays Hein and I try to get going before the kids are awake because both of them require intense attention
once they're well and truly awake. Some days it works better than others. On a good day Tarek sleeps until 7 after
which he reads books and Miko may not notice us sneaking past her bedroom to go take a shower. More common
is Tarek roaming around the house at 6:30 shouting 'Maya Maya, Miko Is Wakker' (no wonder if yr shouting like
that kiddo) and Miko realising there is stuff going on the house and she wants to take part in the party. Recently
however, Tarek discovered he can climb into Miko's bed and talk with her. She will say something like 'Papapapa'
and he will respond by saying the exact same thing with the exact same intonation. Everybody happy. This morning
Tarek started his roaming, saw me walk towards him and said: 'No Maya, I don't want you!' after which he walked
into Miko's bedroom and we didn't see him again until Hein made the photograph below. Lets hope this is really the
new routine.
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Records in stats
by hein - Friday, July 01, 2011
At least our website ensures a nice departure of Tanzania. In the last month all records were broken with: 35885
hits from 3421 unique visitors from >30 countries, downloading >1 Gb.
Daily visits in June 2011
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What will be missed
by maya - Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Rereading the blog I have noticed I there are a few things I keep complaining about. Traffic, power and the internet
connection. The car used to be a big sore but since we found a real good fundi that has passed. It's clear that certain
things will not be missed at all when we leave.
There are a lot of things that will be missed though. Call me crazy but I could eat wali maharage (rice and beans)
every day. And I did for a long period. It can come with so many different green leafy vegetables that all translate
to 'spinach'. There is sweet potato leave, there is kisamvu (cassava leaf), there is sukuma wiki (lit: push the week, a
vegetable that grows so fast that a week or 2 after planting you can eat it already) and then there is the true
Tanzanian spinach: mchicha. Today the mchicha was so fresh and good I must have eaten a bunch and a half. This
leaves little for Tarek, Leonarda and Cecilia but Tarek has the Tanzanian habit of eating hardly any vegetables at
all so I don't think they'll mind too much.
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His favourite women
by maya - Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Very occasionally Tarek will say 'I don't want to go to school' in the morning. Every time I pick him up from
school he will refuse to go home though. It normally takes a few minutes of coercing and many times the only way
to get him to leave is to haul up his 13 kg's and simply put him in the car. Currently it's not normal school, it's
summer school he's attending. Some of his favourite teachers are not there or only coming in occasionally. These
favourite teachers are all Indian women. They have been replaced by other Indian women. And girls. Two weeks
ago while trying to get him to come home an Indian girl walked in with her dad for registration at the summer
school. Tarek immediately asked who she was. Something he doesn't do with little boys or little girls of non Indian
descent. The latest thing is that when I pick Tarek up from school I'll find all his classmates around a table
discussing the very hungry caterpillar and snacking on pieces of apple while I find Tarek separate from the group
reading a book with a pretty Indian lady.
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Last news
by hein - Saturday, June 25, 2011
We probably received the last fat enveloppe in Tanzania. Ever since we moved to Tanzania, my mother has been
providing a careful selection of articles from the Dutch newspapers NRC and Volkskrant. Traditionally the articles
have been on science, books, Dutch events, development and my favourite chess. Now also pictures for Tarek are
included. Despite the fact that the content of the envelope was sometimes a month old, it was a very reliable news
source, especially if combined with an Economist. We do hope that she will continue this activity even if we return
to the Netherlands.
Last envelope of newspaper articles
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Just a quick update
by maya - Thursday, June 23, 2011
You may wonder why it's been so silent as of late. It may have something to do with the move. Except the move
doesn't keep us very busy. With the car sold, moving company chosen and most of our things sorted out already,
there is not that much to organise. Or so it seems. A week and half from now we'll probably be super busy and
wondering why we didn't do half the things before but in proper Denglish: who then lives who then cares.
What's keeping me busy is Tarek's schedule. Since a few weeks there is no longer a driver to take him to and from
school. That means I spend an hour early morning driving him there. After that I sometimes manage to get some
shopping done and/or go to the gym and then quickly drink a cup of coffee before I pick Tarek up again. Another
hour, or longer, gone. It's gotten to the point where I recognize motor cyclist, bajajes and daladala's. After getting
wildly irritated with traffic and the stupid drivers in it a few weeks ago my inner zen Buddhist took over and now I
simply tell myself the amount of days left having to deal with the traffic. Hardly any! Or maybe it's the fact that so
many schools have closed and traffic isn't as bad as it was a few weeks ago.
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Dar es Salaam zoo
by maya - Sunday, June 19, 2011
How come we only visited the zoo now, when we're about to leave Tanzania? It was spacious. Most cages were
much larger than the cages in the Amsterdam zoo. There was an amazing playground and we had a nice picnic in
the shade. Surely it was the only time I ever visited a zoo where there was a wild monkey looking at the monkeys
eating fruit inside the cage.
Going back with the ferry everything went very smoothly. We were home at 14:15 [Hein requested I insert specific
travel time: 1 hour and 15 minutes], 15 minutes later than Christel, Kristian, Hannah and Elmer. As they drove
through Mbagala we now know that it's faster to go by road than by ferry.
Picnic of couscous salad on freshly bought bread
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Logistics revealed
by hein - Saturday, June 18, 2011
Now that we are leaving Tanzania we have to revive our planning and efficiency skills. Yesterday when looking at
our to do list we gathered that we are well on schedule. The tickets are booked for the 8th of July, the packing list
has been made, the movers have confirmed the 6th of July, most of our assets have been sold (including car!) or
promised away, Maya found work for the two ladies that now work for us, and so on. The only rather important
missing thing is work for us. There are a few maybes, but unemployment is the most concrete. Well, summer in the
Netherlands and plenty of free time...not so bad at all.
Look at my two little ones
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Uncertainty revisited
by maya - Monday, June 13, 2011
We are not sure what our place of residence will be a month from now. We are sure that it will not be Tanzania.
Meanwhile, life goes on. Tarek and his friend Trudi make paintings of the garden, the women hang the laundry and
papa goes around taking photographs.
Trudi and Tarek and watercolours
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Maya and Miko at work
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We want more!
by miko - Saturday, June 11, 2011
That was yummy. What's for dessert?
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Couch potato
by tarek - Tuesday, June 07, 2011
When Maya picked me up from school today I took a long time to fall asleep. Normally I'm asleep by the time we
reach the US embassy. Today I was still awake when we passed Shoppers Plaza. Maya even drove up to the
pizzeria and then home to try to knock me out. When we got home I was asleep, but not so deep that I couldn't tell
her I did not want to sleep in my bed. So she got my cuddly elephant and allowed both of us to lie down on the
couch. Which is where we still are. It's been more than an hour and a half now. Maya thought I wouldn't sleep long
lying on the couch so she waited for me to have lunch. By now she's fed up with waiting and really hungry so I
guess she'll go ahead and have lunch without me. I don't care. I'm comfy where I am.
Who needs a bed when there's a couch?
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And another milestone
by miko - Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Look at me! I can sit all by myself!
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Complaining
by maya - Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Got incredibly stuck in traffic. So bad that after 500 meters/half hour I decided to turn back and use an alternative
mode of transport. After I had loudly cursed all the people making the jam worse I still needed to let off more
steam so I phoned Hein and complained some more. Then I took the bajaj to the gym and complained even more to
someone in the changing room. Then I got on a cross trainer and converted my very bad mood to a really good
work out.
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Another milestone
by miko - Monday, May 23, 2011
Finally, 3 days after I celebrated my first half year on earth, my parents decided the time was right. I had a dinner
made of broccoli and breast milk, with a little baby grade rice porridge added for consistency. And how did I like
it? It was kinda weird really.
Dad fed me broccoli.
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So happy together
by miko - Sunday, May 22, 2011
My dad's back! My dad's back! Mum's happy cause she likes it much better when we're all together. She's also glad
that both my brother and I are mostly healthy. And she really liked the fact that I am so much healthier now that I
allowed her to sleep through the night.
To celebrate the reunion dad and I wore matching outfits
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Today is just a regular Sunday. In the morning, after breakfast, we went to Mediterraneo. Even I went for a dip in
the pool today. Afterwards they all got to eat pizza but I didn't get any. I tried but they wouldn't let me.
Not sure what the big deal is. It's just a big bath.
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So you know
by maya - Tuesday, May 17, 2011
I thought I'd give you a quick update on how things are.
Tarek's on the mend but has not been good enough to go to school yet. I doubt he'll go tomorrow. Antibiotics done
(he took them, only spat it out once out of 6 times). Now he has to take nose drops in order to prevent an ear
infection. Miko still has 3 more days of antibiotics to go. Administering one set of nose drops will be done
tomorrow, then we move on to saline nose spray. Her fever is finally subsiding but she's still occasionally pulling
her ear from pain, can hardly breathe and thus hardly drink. And because she's covered in a rash, is exhausted,
hungry and hoarse she looks and sounds pitiful. But, unsurprisingly, she still manages to smile a fair bit.
And there is good news: yesterday the fridge fundi came and fixed the fridge. And we have power today. Soon I
may even make it to a shop to start refilling our fridge.
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We all went on safari
by maya - Sunday, May 15, 2011
Did you do know that safari is the word for 'journey' in Swahili?
Some more explanation: 'We all went on safari' is a repetitive line in a book Tarek owns.
We all went on safari when our Sunday'd just begun
Tarek seemed a bit better, really sick kids: one
We all went on safari, to the doctors, yes it's true.
Antibiotics for Miko, amount of patients: two.
We all went on safari. Well maybe not really 'we'.
Hein left for Uganda so that left only three.
Hein gone for close to a week. Both kids on antibiotics. Fridge still broken. Something amazing happened last night
though. The power company came at ten in the evening (on a Saturday night mind you) without me having tried to
bribe anyone. And they fixed the problem in no time. We have power in the whole house! That is, until the 18 hour
black outs start. But to prepare for that we've bought close to 50 litres of diesel and have the same amount in the
generator. If only the fridge fundi comes back and the kids get better and Hein would be here and there wouldn't be
black outs or power surges everything would be just fine.
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Cause and effect
by maya - Saturday, May 14, 2011
Hein travels to Uganda tomorrow so of course:
Both the kids are sick, still. Fevers aren't making it up to 40 degrees but they are still getting close.
The fridge broke down so we can't cool Tareks' antibiotics nor keep Mikos' milk frozen.
When we turn on the pressure pump we have too much electricity in the house, turn off the pump and we have
none.
This inexplicable problem disappears when we turn on the generator (which, fortunately is working).
This inexplicable problem will be fixed by the power company yesterday. I mean today. I mean within an
hour.
The kids being ill also means there is lots of sleeping. Miko is currently in Tareks room which is easier to cool.
And she's super comfy, as you can see ....
Miko sleeping comfortably
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The next place I live ....
by maya - Thursday, May 12, 2011
..should be a place where a common cold doesn't turn into a bacterial infection of the tonsils causing up to 40
degree fevers in children.
..I hope that if the kids have high fevers and they need to be cooled, the power works so the ac can be turned on.
.., if needed, there ought to be the kind of blessed back up we have, like a generator, that doesn't require the visit of
fundi to power the house.
..it would be much appreciated if car dependency is lower than here so that I don't get stressed out if Hein needs the
car when the kids are sick.
.. I'd rather become friendly with nurses drinking coffee or tea and chatting than discussing fevers and antibiotics.
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Row row row your boat
gently down the beach
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An update, finally
by maya - Monday, May 09, 2011
Once the routine is gone it's hard to get back into it, obviously. So what are some of the things I've been silent
about?
On the 20th of April, Miko laughed out loud for the very first time. Not just a giggle but 10 minutes of Rolling
On The Floor (ok, in the bath) Laughing.
I realise this is a lousy photograph. Just use your imagination to picture Tarek splashing about in the bath and
Miko bursting with laughter at the sight.
So far we've had a weird rainy season with showers so local that you can spend 1.5 hours in traffic in the
harshest of sunshine wondering why there's a jam. Then you reach a low point and drive 200 metres through
water and continue your way in the harsh sunlight again. Extremely local and also very scattered in time. We
had more than a week without rain and decided to reinstall the water recycling system. Of course it started
raining like mad that very same day.
With opa and oma gone back to the Netherlands, Tarek needed to readjust to the same old life. He didn't settle
down easy. There were a few days of extreme naughtiness. Finding tables, walls and other surfaces covered
with crayon kind of naughty. Seeing books fly through the room kind of naughty. Hitting me hard in the face
with objects kind of naughty. Peeing where he knows it's hard to clean kind of naughty. I'm keeping my
fingers crossed that we've had the lowest point (so low I had to have a 24 hour break from him) and things will
be easier again.
For a while it literally seemed like the president had become our neighbour. No power problems when rumour
had it that the whole of Dar es Salaam had no power (All of Gaul uh Dar?) and the hum of generators could be
heard everywhere. But the president moved away last week and a power surge cost us the blender and
the amplifier. The amplifier I can probably fix if I can find the right fuse, the blender poses a bit more of a
challenge. Of course we have power cuts just when Tarek is peeing all over the place and the guests have left
and Hein comes back from a trip so there are piles of laundry to be done. This of course, is also the moment
the generator decides to stop working.
Yesterday the newspaper announced that there is to be hardly any power from the 19th until the 23rd (11 hour
black outs) and no power at all from the 23rd until the 26th. The fundi is working on the generator now. I
bought diesel last week and will be buying as much as I can this week.
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Lazy at the beach
by hein - Monday, April 25, 2011
We celebrated Easter at the Lazy Lagoon together with grandparents. Miko had her first experience with the Indian
Ocean which unsurprisingly she enjoyed very much.
Miko studying wave action
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Busy bee
by tarek - Friday, April 22, 2011
My opa and oma are here for a visit so we have no time to write. We visited the Ngorongoro Crater and are going
on a beach trip tomorrow. In between (and during) the trips there is lots of playing with lego and reading of books
to be done.
Opa playing with lego and me reading a book
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Travel in Tanzania
by maya - Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The title refers to the category I've posted this under and to what we'll be doing the coming 5 days. We're off to the
Crater Highlands. Tomorrow we fly to Arusha where we will pick up Heins' parents. From there we drive to the
town of Karatu. I hope to see one of the 13 remaining rhino in the Ngorongoro Crater on Friday.
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Firsts
by maya - Tuesday, April 12, 2011
First proper picture of the 2 teeth Miko sprouted on the 1st of April.
First time Tarek makes it from one end of the pool to the other - several times!
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Conversation with a 2 year old
by maya - Friday, April 08, 2011
-Wow Tarek, did you make that? It looks like a triangle.
-It is a triangle.
-Do you remember what a triangle is called in Kiswahili?
-No.
-Pembe tatu.
-Pembe tatu? And what's it in het Nederlands?
-Driehoek.
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Watoto pic
by maya - Thursday, April 07, 2011
Exactly their mother!
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Everybody needs a holiday
So I fully accept that there is a 2 week school holiday (why it cannot overlap with Easter is beyond me). After a
week of entertaining Tarek though, I was ready for a break. So I send him to another school. He actually knew half
the kids there and still he managed to wail incredibly loud as I dropped him off. Naturally he was a happy chappy
by the time I picked him up. And he looked adorable.
To school one day and there's a birthday party! Lucky Tarek gets his face painted and a balloon.
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Soooo tired
by maya - Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Wondering why we've not been writing much?
Well ...
Tarek has a school holiday so everyone is extra busy trying to keep him entertained;
Miko is teething (yes really - I think it's way too early) so we don't sleep enough;
I've offered to host the baby group, needed to bake cake for the mama's;
Hein is busy with lots of odds and ends at work - and staring at his screen right now;
We're organising two short trips for when Heins' parents come to visit in 2 weeks;
Whenever we have a moment .... we close our eyes and grab some of that good stuff.
Miko drooling, Hein squeezing out some more minutes of shut eye
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Umeme narudi
by hein - Sunday, March 27, 2011
Since our return from the Usambaras with Danielle 9 days ago, we did not have to run the generator. With one or
two minor exceptions power has been pretty constant. Tanzania keeps surprising me. A lot of businesses filed for
bankruptcy during the last two months because either generators were not available or too expensive to run. Like
many African countries Tanzania heavily relies on hydro power. But when the rains fail and the rivers run dry,
there is a problem. It is hard to know what happened. I heard the government managed to rent a huge generator for
Dar es Salaam only. It also rained a bit recently.
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Safari Pangani and Amani
Thinking updating would start on Sunday was a bit optimistic. Hein managed to upload some photos last night
though! Click 'home to solum' on the right side of the page. There are 2 files on the 'Tanzania' page (in excursions
2011) and of course the 'Tarek and Miko' page has now been updated with some March 2011 photos of both the
kids. One of my favourites is Miko on the swinging chair in Amani:
She's getting more gorgeous by the day!
I must admit that the photo of the three horned chameleon is also very cool:
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Three horned chameleon
After spending 2 days on the beach at Pangani we drove up into the Amani Nature Reserve in the East Usambara
Mountains (download map). The reserve has an extremely high biodiversity. We saw butterflies, Black and white
Colobus monkeys, birds, birds, birds and, one night after the kids had gone to sleep, chameleons. The owner of the
camping knew a chameleon spotter. He guided us through the forest and along the stream where we saw only two,
one of the species being endemic. We had been forewarned that the end of the dry season is the worst time to see
chameleons. Walking in the forest at night is great though, even if you don't see many chameleons. (Must admit
that I'm not sure my sister would agree with that, but for the city girl she is she dealt with the discomforts that come
with such camping very bravely.) Then we remembered we had 2 children who were sleeping in a tent way out of
earshot. We walked back along the road and saw 5 more chameleons, one of them the guy you see pictured above!
Now just a little bragging about my favourite 2 year old. As you may remember we often visit a hotel called
Mediterraneo on Sunday. One day we met a Tanzanian-Austrian boy named Simon there who had a great way of
catching crabs on the beach. He'd throw some seaweed on them to immobilise them. Then someone slowly pulled
away the weed while someone else was ready to catch the crab in a bucket. Tarek was so excited that for weeks as
soon as we put him in the car he'd ask if Simon was coming.
Up in the rain forests of Amani there were some river crabs but no seaweed. On the field that we camped there
were lots of butterflies though. I never thought of it but of course grass also needs fertilisation and it looked like a
particular kind of butterfly was doing a very good job of that. I found Tarek standing in the grass holding a
butterfly that he caught. I thought the butterfly must have been wounded before until I saw Tarek pull out some
grass, run to another butterfly and throw the grass on top of it before it could fly away. He had another one. That's
human ingenuity if ever I saw it.
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Back
by maya - Saturday, March 19, 2011
And we had fun. We went to Pangani (beach) and Amani (rain forest).
My sister will leave tonight. Maybe from tomorrow onwards there will be a little more activity here. See you then.
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Got no time to write
by maya - Tuesday, March 08, 2011
My sister arrived yesterday morning. We're planning to go on a trip next week. Until then there is lots of playing
with nephews ('Waar is Danielle?' is the first thing Tarek asks in the morning), driving through Dar and lazing on
the veranda to be done.
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I wanna play in the sand..
by tarek - Saturday, March 05, 2011
.. and I don't care if it rains, I'll just build myself a tent. Or rather: I'll ask the gardener to build it for me.
Alfonsi, Trudpert and I having fun with sand
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Same as yesterday and the day before yesterday
by maya - Friday, March 04, 2011
First thing the doctor said when she last saw Miko: 'She's not fat is she?'. Just look at that gorgeous ribcage!
Handmade cuddly cloth courtesy of Tineke.
Isn't she precious?
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No news again
by maya - Thursday, March 03, 2011
I just couldn't resist to show you what she was wearing today. This suit went from St John (thanks Tali!) to
Amsterdam to Dar. Sorry, I forgot the camera so by the time I took the photo it was already dusk.
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Isn't she wonderful?
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No news .....
Just to make sure you don't drop in too often without finding an update ....
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Isn't she lovely?
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Phases missing ... again
by maya - Sunday, February 27, 2011
I realise this piece of writing is hard to follow. Rereading it, I can hardly understand it myself.
It's becoming hard to keep track of the black outs. I think we did not have power Friday during the day. So we
expected not to have power last night. Except yesterday around midday the power went out. It did come back
around the time it normally comes back on (sixish in the evening) but then it also went off again around the time it
normally goes off (a little after six). We had a candle light dinner and thought everything in the fridge would last
until the power returned around eleven at night. We decided to go to bed early and were sound asleep by the time
the power came back on. This time the power came back on with fireworks, so it woke us. With my sleepy head
and without glasses I noticed somewhere on the edge of the compound sparks were flying and there was the sound
of a series of short cuts. After a while it almost dawned on me that things weren't quite right just yet. Even though
we were now blissfully sleeping with a working fan it was just too dark around us. Worried about the fridge Hein
went to check. Hamna umeme in most of the house. As the power had been off for so long Hein went to turn on the
generator. This was around midnight and both of us were basically still asleep. With the generator we had power in
most of the house but still no outside lights. Hein was the first to be awake enough to realise that the timer for the
outside lights was no longer working and that we were having the good old phase problem. 2 Out of 3 phases were
not working. We took out our long extension cord, connected the fridge to the socket by the bed, turned off the
generator and went back to sleep.
The next morning, walking to a taxi (still no car) we noticed a bunch of burned wires that had come loose from an
electricity pole and were lying on the road. Since late afternoon we're back on 3 phases and it's now evening and
we still have power. It's hard to keep track of the black outs.
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Out of the frying pan
by maya - Thursday, February 24, 2011
into the waning heat of a Dar es Salaam street.
I'd like to thank Leonarda and Cecilia for putting in more than their share of time to help me through this week. I'd
like to thank Hein for moral and practical support. And of course I also want to thank many of you, readers, for
your supportive e-mails, facebook posts and concerned comments. And the most important figure to thank is ... The
Mole:
Since all of you readers are most likely regulars (hoi Willempje!), I don't have to mention that the weekend was
pretty bad. And though it's never fun if Hein goes off on work trips, this one was to be Monday to Friday only,
Tarek was on the mend and the freezer was full of master chef Benedict's goodies, things should have worked out
fine. Except when on Monday we (Tarek, Miko, Leonarda and I) came back from what was to be the first of 4 trips
to the clinic there was a bad smell on the compound.
Monday
Remember the cockroach entry? Well, that story didn't end there. The fumigator had warned us more, and more
thorough (as in whole compound) fumigation was needed as the infestation was particularly bad. So we suggested
as much to the landlord who promptly responded by saying that 'fumigation would take place in due course,
normally once a year, occasionally more than that depending on the news from the compound'. To me it sounded
like a typical 'don't call us we'll call you' kind of answer. So we sent an e-mail which stated 'this mail contains news
from the compound, please fumigate'. Little did we know what in due course meant. It meant: 'we don't care if there
are 3 small children living on that compound and we don't care that in the past all tenants have shown concern
about the chemical substance that is used for fumigation and we definitely don't care about what you think about
anything at all'. The thing we smelled stepping out of the car was the work of the fumigators who were to spray the
whole compound without any forewarning. Hein had already phoned Mr R, the man in the office we normally deal
with (and who always seems sensible) but this was out of his hands. Then Hein tried to talk to Mr R's boss and he
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got into a fight. Then Mr R tried to talk to the boss and was told off. Then Niko, the uber askari, tried to talk to the
boss and was told off. Out neighbour tried to talk to the boss and had a very unpleasant experience. Then I tried to
talk to the boss and hung up on him to prevent myself from becoming impolite.
It was time for evacuation. Back into the car we got, Tarek, Miko, Leonarda and I. We had lunch at Jackies,
something I had promised Tarek a while ago. Unfortunately Tarek's fever came back while we were there. I phoned
a friend who lives around the corner from there. Unfortunately she wasn't home. But that didn't matter. She phoned
the lady that works there, told her to crank up the AC and within 5 minutes we were comfy in Mike, Mara and
toddler Morgans' house. Mike was at work, Mara out to lunch and Morgan sound asleep. I breastfed Miko on the
couch, Leonarda walked Tarek to sleep. Tarek, feverish as he was, slept for a few hours, which is normally unheard
of in a strange house. Miko was her easy going self and I got to chat with Mara. Time flew. Morgan and Tarek,
once they were both awake, enjoyed each others company. Before we knew it it was time for the dreaded injection
after which we went home. Fortunately, Leonarda was spending the first night with us, that made it much easier to
get everything done.
Tuesday
The next morning I got up to find Leonarda sweeping the floor?! Getting up around seven for her (she lives more
than an hour away and starts at 7:30) is practically a lie in. The day past without anything outrageous happening.
After Tarek's nap we drove back to Mara and Morgan so the two toddlers could play together again before the
dreaded injection. Leonarda went home afterwards, which due to traffic took forever. While I fixed (=heated)
dinner Tarek watched television (hence my gratefulness to the mole). After dinner I managed to put to sleep Miko
before Tarek so it was no problem to do my required time with both watoto (mtoto = child, watoto = children).
Tarek waiting for dinner
Wednesday
The final shot! In order to give Leonarda a break from the late homecomings Cecilia went with us. Yesterdays
entry tells you all. All except... the fact that this night Miko refused to fall asleep before Tarek and Tarek refused to
fall asleep without me by his side. This in effect meant that I had to sit on an uncomfortable chair holding a baby
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while reading Tarek a book and then singing a lullaby. After we finished and I wished him goodnight my back
started killing me so I got up to walk around the room and was ordered to sit back down. And breaking your back
in an uncomfortable chair might be manageable in milder climates. It is absolutely not doable when the temperature
is around 30 degrees centigrade and the fan is pointed away from you.
Thursday
Today. No visit to the clinic, hurray. 7 Trips in 5 days is more than enough. Time for some fun. Baby group for
Miko, and as it was in the same apartment block as Hami lives, Tarek joined. And as 1 pair of eyes simply isn't
enough for 2 watoto, Cecilia went with us. Tarek played in Hami's house while Miko slept all through baby group.
Like she had done all morning, she slept from 9 until 2 in the afternoon, I had to wake her to feed her. She found
her thumb, that's why.
The best pacifier in the world!
Leaving the baby group I had to top up the power steering oil in the car. Driving away, steering became too heavy.
I looked under the car and noticed a trail of power steering oil. At this point there are 4 people in the car: Tarek
who thinks it's time to go home and is telling me as much on the top of his lungs. Miko who generally doesn't like
being in a car that goes to slowly (and there are so many such bad traffic jams lately) and is letting me know at the
top of her lungs. Cecilia who doesn't like leaving her son alone and is already running late (she doesn't need to let
me know at the top of her lungs, thank goodness she realised that). And then there is me. No matter how much
time I spend in bed, I cannot seem to get enough sleep. No matter how straight I keep my back I cannot seem to get
rid of the pain. No matter how often I tell myself I'm lucky having Leonarda and Cecilia helping me out I still
sometimes feel overwhelmed. After the horrible weekend, the fumigation and the numerous trips to the clinic, a
broken car on a busy road during rush hour with two wailing children .... this is one of those overwhelming
moments. So like a true lady of leisure... I phoned my husband in Rwanda. Also because I didn't have the number
of the fundi. In order to be rid of wailing Tarek ('NAAR HUIS! NAAR HUIS!') I put him and Ceci in a taxi, even
negotiating the price, am I becoming a Tanzanian or what? This made Tarek wail even more cause his idea of
NAAR HUIS involved me joining him. The fundi found me and Miko and managed what I couldn't: steer the car
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home. He did it single handedly. Tarek back to the Mole, Miko back to sleep and I back to the microwave. After
dinner I couldn't care less about what the literature tells me about opposite sex parental nudity in front of toddler: I
had to get in the bath with Tarek and we had a great time playing with water.
And Miko?
Not only did she find her thumb, she also fell asleep as soon as we came home. So she slept. Like she did all
morning. Like she did all week and during the weekend actually. Seems like all she does of late is sleep. Very
handy I have to admit. And lovely at night too! And even if she doesn't communicate much, the baby group is a
great occasion for her to to show off her wardrobe. And who knows, maybe she does pick up things there? As I was
typing up this looooong piece I heard some grunting sounds. Time for milk? No. Time for a nappy change? No.
Time for another change. From back to front that is! Another milestone. All the sleeping and pushing with the legs
was the prelude to something big. It is time to give my little strawberry her late night feed, lie her down on her back
and go to sleep myself. When I wake, Hein will be here - hurray.
My beautiful strawberry baby!
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Mikimono
While Tarek was fighting bacteria, Miko became a fashion model:
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It's over, Hurray!
It was the last time he had to roar like a lion so the doctor could check it's throat.
It's clean!
It was the last time a thermometer got poked into his ear to check his temperature.
It's normal!
It was the last time two people had to hold him down so the nurse could give him a shot.
It's horrible!
It was, or so I hope, the last time for a while that he had to visit the clinic.
It's over!
And because I felt so bad for him I bought Tarek a present. I allowed him to open it in the clinic before he could
start wailing about the lack of cake. (Cake at the doctors? That's another story.) 'And what is that?' I asked him.
'Een dierenboek' he said. Literally. The boy is combining words (dieren and boek) to form new ones. Spoken like a
true Dutchman.
And an animal book it is.
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How is he?
by maya - Tuesday, February 22, 2011
He's much better, Tarek is. One would hope he's getting better, with 5 visits to the clinic in 3 days. Tarek is actually
so much better that Hein went to Rwanda yesterday, he's giving a presentation as I write this. There is frantic sms
traffic going on between us, every little bit of progress in Tarek I duly report to Hein. And the fact that I've just
managed to have my first cup of coffee in a few days.
The photo on Saturday looked dramatic (see comment) because it was. Tarek had a high temperature when we
decided to take him to the doctor. Both of us still believed it was most likely teeth, he was eating and reading and
playing like normal. While waiting our turn he seemed ok, just cranky, but the paracetamol was seemingly doing its
work. Then a nurse came up to us and wanted to take his temperature, she was worried from looking at him. His
temperature had gone back to almost 40 degrees. More paracetamol and more waiting. 5 Minutes later though,
Tarek started convulsing, his eyes rolled and Hein rushed him to the operating theatre. The nurses gave Tarek a
shot of valium while his lips were turning blue. What you see on Saturdays photo is the nurses using a machine to
suck away the saliva to clear his throat. I'm afraid I'm not exaggerating when I say they saved his life. We're
extremely lucky to have the clinic and to have been there while it happened. I was already convinced the doctors at
the clinic were good but now I also feel confident that the nurses know their stuff.
And now? In case of him being contagious we're keeping him from school one more day. Right now Tarek is
visiting the neighbour with Leonarda. The neighbour isn't there but his chickens are and that's what it's all about.
Tomorrow he can go back to school. Only two more shots of antibiotics to go. His bum looks like he's fallen of
something, all blue and bruised from the shots. I hope the Dutch head of the lab is there this afternoon, yesterday
she did a great job of helping me distract Tarek through singing about Little Red Riding Hood while he was given
his 3rd dose of antibiotics.
PS while all this was happening, Miko was being her easy going self, wanting milk and the occasional hug and
otherwise sleeping like ... a baby.
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Sick
by maya - Saturday, February 19, 2011
Toto Tarek has a 40 degree fever. We are very happy to have the clinic. A throat infection turned into a lung
infection without him even coughing once. We're looking forward to a restless night. The funny thing is that when
he's out and about you don't notice a thing. But when the fever hits it's incredibly high. Hein is sleeping beside
Tarek in an air conditioned bedroom. I'm off to the shower and will then give Miko her late night snack before we
both go to sleep.
A sick Tarek being tended to by nurses from the IST clinic this morning. What a dad to remember to take a
photograph at such a moment!
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Explosions in Dar es Salaam
by hein - Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday at around 21:30 we were playing a nice game of pandemic (that we lost) and could hear multiple
explosions. They sounded like roars so we assumed it was thunder. When a friend called claiming there were no
clouds in the sky we started doubting our assumption. More roars followed and we actually had a social gathering
with our neighbors speculating what was happening. An askari came with the story of an army depot that exploded.
This made sense because another depot had blown up almost two years ago. I read now in the papers that in total
23 adjacent depots blew up. Our neighbor says the depots contained the bombs that were not used in the war with
Uganda (1978-79). The explosions could be heard until 25 km from the site. Yesterday the government announced
30 people died, later revising this amount to 20. The BBC mentioned reports of over a hundred, which does not
sound surprising considering the volume of the explosions heard from our house, some 15 km away from the blasts.
The army is mounting a house to house search for unexploded bombs scattered in the surroundings, but they claim
'the situation has normalized'. To me this sounds a bit exaggerated as they probably have no clue of what was in the
depot, where it has gone and who lived in the surroundings. The army launched an investigation though and the
president calls it a national tragedy. Unfortunately, I could not find any maps in the various newspapers.
Some links: BBC and CNN
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Umeme revisited
In case there are some challenges in understanding the content in this blog entry, please check the previous one,
Hein explained the wording already.
I opened my e-mail as I started writing this entry. Just wanted to be quick and say: 'I can't believe we have had
power since yesterday evening'. Then in my inbox I found that someone has been so kind as to e-mail me the
TANESCO black out schedule (load shedding in TANESCO wording). It is even more unbelievable that we have
power now.... we're on the list for hamna umeme right now. They forgot to turn off our power!
I think that's funny. What's even funnier is that the mail was forwarded from someone who works at TANESCO. At
the bottom it tells me to go to a blog called 'umemeforum'. Ha. I think it should be renamed to the
'hamnaumemeforum'.
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Hamna Umeme
by hein - Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Until a few days ago we have been relatively lucky, compared to fellow residents in other parts of Dar es Salaam.
But alas, yesterday the power was off from 18:00 to 23:00 and today from 8:30 until time of publication (20:45). I
do hope it will come back at 23:00. If I believe colleagues our neighbourhood is facing a period of extensive
generator use. This is annoying as particularly the neighbours' generators make a lot of noise and our 16 KV
generator uses about 2 liters of diesel an hour. But regular power is essential to keep breast milk frozen and to keep
washing machines and more importantly fans going.
After the elections the power supply got pretty unstable for which several reasons were given. The nicest and
official story was that a technician from the (state owned) electrical company TANESCO pressed the infamous red
button, which caused a chain reaction of short circuits. The fragile electric system has not yet recuperated, but the
technician went to jail. The other more heard story is that all water reservoirs were drained to generate enough
power for everyone, before elections. Since 1963 Tanzanians always vote for the CCM party and the party was
afraid people would vote for the opposition if there was no power. Now there is no more hydro power and the
entire country is on a power rationing scheme.
If Tarek now sees a generator he points and says umeme (power).
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What do you see?
by maya - Tuesday, February 08, 2011
A polar bear, wrah wrah wrah.
Tarek came home from school saying this last week and the 'What do you see?' game immediately became a big
hit. So lets play the game.
Picture 1, What do you see?
A watering can, a bucket with a lid on it and a plant pot. Right.
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The same things as before, from a different angle and with a flexible pipe added.
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The same things as before, just from further away. Now you can see the flexible pipe goes from the house to the
bucket.
So what do you really see? It's our newly installed water recycling system. The bucket can contain 70 litres of
water and the flexible pipe connects our kitchen sink to the bucket. The plant pot is the toddler drowning
prevention measure. Inspired by our neighbour that collects his washing machine water, Hein thought of this
brilliant scheme to allow the plants in our garden to make it to the rainy season. We empty the bucket several times
a day and have even planted some more banana trees already. The only negative thing I can think off is: Why didn't
we think of this before?
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I'm such a small guy and the truck is so big
This was going to be a girlie entry about me doing girlie stuff. Boring, I think, but this a blog about our life and
very occasionally doing a girlie thing is part of my life. And as there is nothing else to report I was going to write
about the Filipino lady I spoke with. Just chitchat. Boring - but like I said, such is life. On the way home from
doing girlie stuff, something happened that changed this entry completely.
While I drove home a whole bunch of cops were stopping as many cars as they could manage. As I pulled off the
road I remembered someone telling me: Act as if you're polite, stupid and cannot speak Swahili. And so I said:
'Hello sir' rather than the 'Shikamoo bwana' I would normally have addressed him with. While Mr Julius from
Oyster Bay (as I later found out) waited for my driving license he checked the mass of stickers on the car and could
apparently not find a single one that had expired (phew). But then there was the business of my driving license. My
Tanzanian one got stolen and I never managed to replace it so I drive around with my Dutch one. 'How long have
you been here?' asked Mr Julius in his ever so friendly tone. I took a gamble and said 'Less than a year'. Ha! He was
onto something. 'You're supposed to have a Tanzanian one after you have been here for half a year'. I explained the
stolen license and he said I should have gotten it replaced. I mumbled a bit about it being hard, red tape and such.
After some more back and forth talking he demanded Tsh10.000 (app. 5 euro). This was my opportunity. Doing
girlie stuff had cost me a lot more than I had expected so I could truthfully say I didn't have it. Some more back and
forth talking and then there was his slip of the tongue 'If you have been here for a year you should have a
Tanzanian license'. Ha! A year. We both knew the conversation was a waste of his time, he could be making money
from other unsuspecting drivers. We said our goodbyes, me going 'haya'. Luckily my slip of the tongue was at the
end of our encounter.
When I got to the compound the takataka truck, garbage truck, was there. 'How do they fit so many people in the
truck?' I wondered. 'And why is it not moving?' And then I noticed, there were not just a bunch of guys on top of
and beside the truck, there was also a guy underneath the truck. It had broken down right in front of the gate. So
they pushed the truck further down the road for me to get into the gate.
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While you were listening to the news
by miko - Wednesday, February 02, 2011
My parents are glued to the BBC. So much so that my brother Tarek now thinks that a radio is called a 'BBC'. In
some place called Egypt things seem to be happening that no one thought possible only a few months ago. Who
cares about a few months ago, I wasn't even born then. Come to think of it, I have to admit I really don't care about
current events in Egypt either. My main concern in life is will I get my milk when I want it, will they hold me the
right way so I can sleep snuggly and will they finally come and change my nappy already?! Don't you just hate it
when you have to poo in a nappy that you've been wearing for more than an hour? I wish my dad would shut up
about the amount of nappies I use, I don't think he'd be so impressed with having to wear them in this climate.
While the people around me listen to the news, I've taken to doing push ups in the morning. Well, last week that
was. This week I've also started using the afternoons for raising my head 90 degrees while pushing up with my
arms. I'm building up strength in my legs too. If someone, preferably not my brother, holds me upright I can carry a
bit of weight. This afternoon I decided to shock my mother. Rather than just doing the spinning around the axis
thing I also rolled over from front to back. My mother keeps exclaiming that I'm so tall. I have no idea if that's true.
It's just kind of irritating when I do the spinning thing and I get stuck because I don't actually fit in the bed
sideways. When I'm not irritated or hungry I smile loads, it seems to make people like me even more.
O yeah, I'm also still actively hunting for my thumb. Occasionally I'm even successful.
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Victory. Ok, maybe not quite but almost.
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A swim, a friend and a nap
by tarek - Saturday, January 29, 2011
Today Hein and Maya took me to the school Maya used to work at. All the askari were nice and there were some
people I knew playing hockey. And there were a few people who had never seen my sister before so they looked at
her for a bit. Then we went to the place I wanted to go to: the pool. And soon after Hein and I jumped in, someone I
knew joined us. It was Hami. We recently shared a plastic pizza and some tomatoes at shule. Today we became
even closer friends. Hami's dad had made muffins too! Afterwards I was so tired I fell asleep in the car even though
it was long before nap time. Hein and Maya took me to the supermarket but I can't really remember any of that, I
slept all the while.
This is me and my friend Hami walking to the car after we swam together.
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Winds of change
by maya - Thursday, January 27, 2011
Or 'Dust in the wind'. Or 'Blowing in the wind'.
All of the above equally apply as titles for this entry. Clouds are gathering. The wind is getting stronger and
occasionally coming from a very weird direction - the only side of the house that we don't have windows. Driving
around there is the occasional water droplet falling on the windscreen. If I remember correctly the rains will not
start until a month and a half from now but obviously the build up to the masika (=long rains as opposed to the
mvuli, short rains) has started. Unfortunately, the garden already looks dried up and it's due to get drier still. One
Oil palm tree seems to have given up resistance to the wind and drought. In one day approximately 7 of its leaves
broke off.
A combination of wind and drought?
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Scatology
If you don't know what scatology means, I suggest you look it up. You've been forewarned!
Yesterday we discussed that Tareks' potty training is going really well. He used maybe 5 nappies over the whole
weekend. He duly walked to the grass every time he needed to pee. We should tell shule about it so he can continue
his training there. Or should we?
I woke up this morning to find Tarek standing in semi squat by the bed. This normally means it's time to change
him - which is what Hein did. As it was early we all tried to get a few more minutes of sleep. Before getting up I
noticed Tareks hand smelled of poo. Hein took Tarek to wash his hands. I fed Miko and changed her nappy. There
was some poo but from her kicking I could tell there was more to come. Before I could put her clean nappy on she
peed over me and then spat up some of the milk I had just fed her. I returned to the bedroom to find a bit of Tareks'
poo on the sheet that was clean yesterday morning. Nothing that a wet wipe couldn't fix. All this to the sound of a
wailing Tarek, wanting to use a specific cup to be filled with a specific liquid by his own specific hands. I
continued the breastfeeding session and sure enough, Mikos' facial muscles and legs tensed and there was the
sound of a clean nappy being filled with a mustard like substance. Changed her again. Meanwhile Hein had
managed to make some breakfast. There were some other incidents of particular kids not wanting a particular food
etc, but nothing special for a Tuesday morning. Leonarda arrived and she managed to get some food into Tarek.
When he went to get dressed he came running back and said: "Look Maya, poopoo". The sheet on the bed we
changed him on was smeared with the stuff. Even the sheet underneath smelled of it. Nothing that the washing
machine can't fix. Heins' coffee done, he's off to work. Tarek has clothes (and a nappy!), sunscreen lotion and
mosquito repellent on, his bag with drink and snack (and a clean nappy!) is waiting for him. All that is left to do is
wait for the car that takes him to school which is often late. Then Tarek goes back to semi squat position. It's 8 o
clock, his ride is on time today.
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The Bean
Yesterday we came back from a weekend at South Beach. We spent 2 nights in a house on a bluff called fish eagle
bluff: Ras Kiroko. As the house has the shape of a bean when you look from above it is aptly called 'The Bean'.
There were 6 kids and as many adults. We played in the sand, hunted for crabs and consumed lots of food from the
braai. On the way back we were home in 70 minutes, a record. Hein claims that's because I drove like a maniac. I
think we just got lucky with the ferry and traffic. Find more photos on the solum Tanzania page in excursions
2011.
Those naughty waves tried to catch Tarek
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That's what friends are for
by tarek - Monday, January 17, 2011
After two weeks I'm starting to get used to going to shule. This is the morning routine:
I wake up and tell Hein and Maya what I want for breakfast. Porridge most of the time.
I eat my porridge while Hein and Maya try to have their showers, fix and eat breakfast and feed Miko all at the
same time.
Leonarda arrives and she helps me get ready for shule.
Hein, Maya and I get into the car and we drop of Hein at the bajaj station on the corner.
Maya and I spend half an hour in traffic driving to shule. I know every advertisement on the way, as long as it
contains an animal. I also know what bar is owned by Jackie, Jackie's bar of course.
After we arrive Maya reads the 'ten little penguins' book with me (and the other kids who are interested) and
then she leaves me to play.
And what do my parents do next?! They change the whole set up. I wondered why they kept talking about Kees but
now I understand. This morning a driver pulled up a car and Kees was inside. Papa Kees put me in the other toddler
seat and Maya started saying bye to me. That's when I realised they were changing routines on me once again. No
way I would allow that. Don't they realise that in the past 3 months (that's 12.5% of my life you know!) they have:
1. taken my mother away from me for a week;
2. put me in a plane to whisk me off to the Netherlands where I spent lots of time with Hein and Maya;
3. dumped me twice a week in a nursery where I then had to stay a whole day without someone I knew;
4. introduced me to lots of fun friends and family that gave me loads of presents;
5. enlarged our family with Miko, allowing less attention for me;
6. took me away from all of it again to bring me back to my old but changed life;
7. dumped me in another shule where, again, they left me alone.
Did they really think I would let them get away with that? NO WAY! I don't care that my friend Fenna has been
going to shule by herself for two years already. I don't care that Kees likes the place so much. Hein and Maya will
have to learn that they can't forever be changing my life. Dumping me in a car with Kees and his driver? I don't
think so. And so I wailed. I shouted 'Maya mee, Maya mee, Maya mee' until Maya squeezed in between the
two childrens seats and even a little after that.
Even before we had made it out of the street I was fine again. And then Kees told me: 'Tarek you don't have to cry
when we go to school because there are lots of friends there. So don't cry when we go ok?' Both my mother and
Jonne, papa Kees, were very impressed with Kees. In Dutch they say: Ik denk er het mijne van.... I'm not so sure
just yet. But Bob Marley might have a point: every little thing, is gonna be all right.
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This is August 2009, when they introduced me to Kees. Kees also likes lions.
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Attracting wildlife to your garden
A few days ago in the bookshop I saw a book called 'attracting wildlife to your garden in Southern Africa'. Had it
been called 'attracting birds other than crows to your garden' I would probably immediately have bought it.
Between the monkeys, the mongoose and the snakes I feel we have plenty of wildlife in our garden thank you very
much.
Yesterday I heard a lot of noise by the back door. I walked out to find Alfons fighting off Mr Blue Balls with a
bamboo stick. Mr Blue Balls is my nickname for the main man of the troop of vervet monkeys that frequent the
compound. I think you can guess why he has this particular nickname. A baby monkey had been wounded and
couldn't hold on to his mother any longer. It fell from the cashew tree into one of our flower beds and died. Alfons
disposed of the body, to the dismay of the troop. They spent the rest of the day hanging around the area. In the
evening I saw the mother in the tree with engorged breasts, no baby to empty them.
There is a pair of Heuglin's Robins that live in our garden. They seem to like the edges of Tarek's sandpit, I imagine
there are a lot of termites to be found in the decaying wood. This afternoon Leonarda found a small bird, obviously
the robin's have built a nest somewhere. She showed Tarek the little bird. He almost killed it from excitement. I
told him to set the bird free but of course then the monkeys came to check out the little snack. But papa and mama
Robin weren't having any of that. Those two tiny birds chased off Mr Blue Balls. I am not sure if the little bird
survived. The last time I spotted it it was just sitting around in our back yard with its parents hovering over it.
Between the monkeys, the mongoose and the snakes it doesn't stand much of a chance.
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More not so nice things
This post will be photo-less .... and by the end of reading it you might be happy about that.
Brought Tarek to shule this morning then spent some time at the Slipway with Miko before heading off to the
supermarket and picking up Tarek. Then the three of us had a lunch consisting of a pancake, mezze, pita bread and
breast milk. After we bought a pair of shoes for Tarek we got in the car to go back home. I'll skip most of the
details about the amount of nappies I changed (and forgot to take out of the car because lunch was waiting and thus
ending up with some unpleasant smells during the drive home). Or the moments there was a baby in my arms
crying loudly while a toddler was running around picking up garbage from the floor after he washed his hands and
before he was due to have lunch and me sweating profusely thinking 'never again!'. As soon as we got in the car to
go home both watoto (=children) fell sound asleep. We got home to a house that had been turned up side down and
was in the process of being cleaned again - The fumigators had come, done there business and gone.
Certain creatures live in the sewage. They're the type of insect people say survived the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki. These creatures swim, dive, come up and find themselves IN MY KITCHEN ..... yek urgh and disgusted
face. If, like us, you find one a fortnight in my book that's a cockroach infestation. Especially if you start finding
proof of the creatures having babies (another disgusted face). We called in one of the 36 Austrian residents in
Tanzania (unfortunately no 37 and 38 left a while ago): Mathias the Fumigator guy. He (okay, one of his guys))
came, saw and conquered. And even though I did not see the work get done and, fortunately, missed most of the
results, I've been lucky enough to see a few dozen dead and dying cockroaches.
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Schuitje varen
What do parents do after the children have gone to bed and they're not quite ready for new babies? Well, these
parents like to play with duplo. And after these parents have built a boat some grab babies to feed, others grab
cameras.
Duplo tweemaster. Please note the 'matroos in the kraaienest'
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Second time around
by maya - Thursday, January 06, 2011
I forgot quite a lot of things, about what Tarek was like at 7 weeks. But I had not forgotten his response to the first
cocktail of vaccins. He had a fairly high fever and after some paracetamol slept as if a truck ran over him. So I
almost dreaded today, after leaving a wailing Tarek in school, I had to take Miko to the clinic for a nice tetanus,
Hib and some-other-stuff cocktail. She cried, but nothing that some breast milk couldn't sooth. After we came
home all it took was more frequent nursing and a nice bath and she seemed okay. Lucky her, she might take after
her dad in her response to a vaccination - I hope she won't inherit her dads response to needles. Poor Tarek still
runs a temperature after inoculations, he seems to take after his mother who tends to get knocked out after each
shot.
Well deserved nap after vaccinations
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School
Judging from the traffic on the website, most people are interested in Miko. But all she does is sleep, eat and fill her
nappies. It is getting a little more exciting than that: the first smiles are appearing, she stares at you when you make
funny faces or strange sounds. Still... the big things are happening in Tareks' life. He started going to a new
kindergarten, or shule as we call it (Swahili has also been influenced by German). Yesterday I dropped him off and
picked him up a few hours later (it's only in the morning). At first he checked out the place, liking the outside area a
lot. He cried as I left but when I came to pick him up he hardly even looked at me so busy was he playing with play
dough.
Busy bushbaby
The teacher, as I still am, was well impressed with his animal naming skills. He seemed fairly pleased at the
prospect of going again the next day claiming he liked the place. Except when the car stopped in front of the gate
today he started crying and saying 'Wil niet! Wil niet!' I read a book with him and left him wailing for 'Maya,
Maya, Maya'. I am looking forward to Tareks' friend Kees returning from the Netherlands so they can go there
together.
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The not so nice parts about living in the tropics
As life's so busy, I've been trying to find ways to free up some time for Leonarda and Cecilia. The house is
gradually getting dirtier as it is hard for them to find time to do more than the regular things. I must admit that
Cecilia did manage to clean the very dusty windows of the living room three days ago. I try to do my part, endless
loads of laundry. I try to find chores that can be done less often or less intensively. One of the things that seem to
take a lot of Cecilia's time is ironing the clothes. And as all the ironing seems to be 'wearing out' our clothes I
suggested she stops ironing some items. In the tropics there are flies that lay their eggs on laundry after which the
larvae burrow into skin. Nice parasite this tumbu fly. The way to prevent it is to iron all clothes, especially things
that stay damp for a while (bra straps, belt parts of pants etc.). I have heard that it is not to be found in Dar es
Salaam but after the bit of research I carried out this morning I think I suggest to Cecilia she does go back to
ironing each and every garment that's been outside. I'd rather do more work in the household than have a bug crawl
into one of our family members.
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Statistics Solum 2010
by hein - Friday, December 31, 2010
The Solum domain received over 18.000 visitors in 2010, equal to about 50 a day. They downloaded nearly 5 TB
from the site which is mainly due to visitors looking at photographs. About 50% of all traffic came from the
Netherlands, 35% from extensions that cannot be traced to country (e.g. .com and .net) and the remainder from
other countries. Russia (??), Germany and Belgium are leading but other regulars like UK, Canada, France, Israel,
and of course Tanzania are following. The last two months were exceptionally busy. Therefore, my advice to
anyone wanting visitors on his/her website : Have a baby.
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Christmas dinner
by hein - Sunday, December 26, 2010
No preparation of consumables this year, a swim and a pizza at Mediterraneo.
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Busy
by maya - Thursday, December 23, 2010
As you probably concluded from the lack of posts - we're a bit busy. It seems it doesn't matter too much if you have
a lady cleaning the house, a lady watching your toddler and, as of today for 3 weeks, a cook coming in once a week
to cook up 3 dishes in less than 3 hours: life is still incredibly busy with 2 young children. Three cheers for single
parents, like my mother was and Cecilia is.
Besides busy and hot and sticky, we're okay. Miko's heat rash is finally subsiding. The doctor was not impressed
with us flying her over after 2 weeks. If only Miko had decided to join us a little earlier it may all have been a bit
easier. Anyway, she seems to be settling into a routine of sleeping the whole morning, wailing in the afternoon and
sleeping in the evening and at night. I try to go to bed early, meaning we wake up twice to feed her, once around
midnight and once around 4 a.m. We have a new mattress so in between feeds I sleep like a log - yeah!
Tarek seems to have finally readjusted to life here. No more wailing when he has to leave my side or go to bed. No
more refusing to speak Swahili and no more ordering people who speak Swahili to 'Noooo .... Speak English!' He
still requires a lot of attention, he's a toddler after all. So Hein and I are perpetually tired and sigh with relieve when
Leonarda appears at 7:30 in the morning. For Tarek we actually have more people than Leonarda helping us. As
you may remember Tarek is in love with Alfons, our once-a-week gardener. Currently Alfons is filling in for the
head askari Niko, meaning he spends every day on the compound. Five days of guarding and two days of
gardening. And 7 days of playing with Tarek. Currently, Darren the 12 year old son of our neighbour, is home from
boarding school for the holidays .... even more fun for Tarek. Those two have become friends across generations.
They play football together, draw together, sit in hammocks together and ... ('Darren boek lezen?') read books
together.
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Quick quick
by maya - Monday, December 13, 2010
Hein is in Nairobi for 4 days. That's just great when you're stuck at home with a 3.5 week old baby with a heat rash
and a 2 year old toddler that's got separation anxiety. As soon as Hein left this morning Tarek tried to hit Miko on
the head with a miniature London bus. But I was faster, nothing wrong with my reflexes just yet. Despite Tareks'
continuous 'Maya this' and 'Maya that' (he'd prefer me to be glued to him currently) we had a lovely dinner of
French toast and soup, bath time went well and he's now asleep. Like Miko is. I've done the dishes and cleaned up
the living room.
This whole blog post is just a little pat on the back for myself: Well done Maya, you only lost your patience once
and are now going off line in order to get some sleep.
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Hot in Dar es Salaam
by hein - Saturday, December 11, 2010
Miko is now three weeks. She has adapted quite well in the hot, humid air that now surrounds us. Quite a change
compared with the dry cold weather 1 week ago. She has a heat rash and her eye is a bit fuzzy but overall she looks
healthy, drinks loads of milk and and now weighs 3,8 kg (up 0,3 from birth). She also experienced her first traffic
jam. We went to Oyster Bay and tried to buy as many consumables possible. Now the fridge looks pretty full. It is a
shame we forgot to bring Crombach appelstroop as Tarek really likes it, so if anybody feels the urge to send a
package....
Thanks to Cecilia and Leonarda the house was pretty clean upon our arrival. Today the last basic facility (internet)
was restored, so we have a 100% working household again. Water was the major missing factor, the pump had to
be replaced. The batteries of car and generator survived our stay in the Netherlands (!?).
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Back home
by hein - Monday, December 06, 2010
Grandma and Grandpa brought us to the airport. This was very practical for two reasons. The first was that we had
10 pieces of luggage (approx. 140 kg) and 2 rather small children. The second reason was Schiphol being a mess
because of canceled flights due to the snowstorm the day before. Lide and Jan Hein had to wait in line instead of
eating a Sunday morning breakfast. Thanks to Miko we could cut several lines and finally we were early, and had
spacey seats. In the airplane we even got an extra seat for Tarek. Miko slept most of the way. Tarek only little but
all in all the trip went better than anticipated. On arrival in Nyerere airport we had a little delay because we had to
wait for visa. All suitcases arrived in one piece, no problems with customs and everything fit in the IITA car that
picked us from the airport. At 2:00 we arrived home.
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Snow in Amsterdam
by hein - Thursday, December 02, 2010
A few days ago it started freezing, then there was 900 km of traffic jam and now the streets are sort of white. Tarek
is not very impressed and refuses to throw snowballs so I can make nice pictures. Looking forward to go to the nice
32 degrees in Dar.
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Extra Extra Read All About It – the waiting game is over
by maya - Saturday, November 20, 2010
On 20 November 2010 Miko Bouwmeester was born right here in the Da Costastraat in Amsterdam West. Tarek's
sister weighed 3540 grams, 600 grams more than her brother when he was born almost 2 years ago. Both Miko and
Maya were fine, it was an easy delivery and Miko knew what she wanted: breast milk.
When Tarek was introduced to his sister he said 'die uil' (that owl) and pointed at the cuddly toy aunt Janneke had
made for Miko. After some minutes, when Miko made some more sounds, he looked at her, asked for his cuddly
elephant and gave it to his sister. This almost brought tears to his mothers' eyes. When told that that was a very
sweet thing to do he realised that he'd given his favourite object in the world away, quickly grabbed it and partly
stuffed it in his mouth.
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Tareks Ta(a)l(en)
by hein - Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tareks woordenschat groeit met de dag. Hij kent meer dan 30 vogels. Naast de honderden zelfstandig
naamwoorden maakt hij ook enkele woordcombinaties. Ons verblijf hier is erg goed voor zijn nederlands omdat hij
nu maar 1 taal hoort, maar hij kan ook vertalen naar Swahili, bv. kip (kuku), eend (bata) en vliegtuig (ndege).
Enkele combinaties:
'Zie niets' - bij geen vogels in de gracht;
'Bier kopen Vomar' als hij naar de creche moet, gevolgd door het verzoek aan mij 'Hier zitten' en dan meer
dringend 'Buiten spelen';
'Lekker warm' bij een warm bad;
'Muesli eten' voor de muesli 's ochtends.
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On how life currently is....
by maya - Friday, November 12, 2010
I called this the 'tussentijd' the other day. It's the time when you cannot do much as energy and lust for activities are
limited (and the weather is very uninviting) but at the same time you can't just sit and wait. So what do we do all
day?
Hein tries to keep up with work (keeping track of e-mail etc). Two days a week he even attempts to work from
home, that's when Tarek goes to a kindergarten. Tarek loves most of this life: he gets to spend a lot of time with his
parents so he's never very impressed with being taken to the kindergarten. We still hope that he will see the fun of
hanging out with other kids soon. The days when Tarek doesn't go to kindergarten we try to take him outside
despite the weather. The past 4 days he went to the zoo three times. He knows its name (Artis) and talks about
camels a lot. One day he even went to the kinderboerderij (city farm) in the morning and the zoo in the afternoon.
Animals galore in that boys life. As I'm not the most mobile of beings it's mostly Hein who takes him on such trips.
And what do I do? Once a week I visit the midwive. I chat with girlfriends over the phone and in real life over cups
of tea, much nicer than over the internet. I watch the leaves being blown form the trees. I became a regular
customer of the laundromat around the corner. I read the news online even though I'm not interested at all. And
Hein found me this website where I can pay logic games online. And now it's time to upload this entry because
Paula just walked in: more tea with girlfriends.
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and still ....
by maya - Wednesday, November 03, 2010
See the 25th of October entry please.
Someone should have told me that burning the apple sauce while texting with your sister and scrubbing the
bathroom tiles doesn't count as nesting, could have saved my energy. But hey ... what's that outside? It's the sun,
I'm going for a walk. Rumour has it that excersise can induce labour.
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Waiting: a little more elaborate
by maya - Tuesday, October 26, 2010
I wrote yesterdays' ultra short post while cooking. Obviously I'm no longer waiting for Hein and Tarek, they
arrived save and sound last Friday morning. Rather than the tearful and emotional reunification I had imagined,
Tarek looked at me, then pointed at Daan and Paula who drove me to the airport and said: "Die?", his way of
enquiring into who someone may be.
The day from which a home birth is allowed has also come. So now I am just waiting for T2 to show up. The
waiting combined with the huge amount of bookshops - I must have visited 10 of them in the past week and a half in this city has put some Dr Seuss poetry into my head. It's from 'Oh! The Places You'll Go':
"...You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night
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or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls,
or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting...."
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No news
by maya - Monday, October 25, 2010
still waiting
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Waiting
by maya - Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Holding my belly and trying to breathe normally I made it to Amsterdam Saturday morning. I even managed to
sleep a few hours in the plane. The nightmare scenario -going into labour while flying above Juba, Southern Sudanwas not acted out. Yesterday I had my intake at the midwife and she seemed happy about the state of T2 and me.
T2 has gone down so far that the only way to go from here is out. My lovely girlfriends have provided me with a
clean apartment, a bed that's so high I can easily get on and off, clothes that actually fit, a coat that has not been
eaten by moths, a few meals and of course good company. The good company is what makes the waiting easier.
I'm waiting for Friday morning, when Tarek and Hein will arrive.
I'm waiting for the moment a home birth will be allowed (37 weeks).
I'm basically waiting around for things to start happening .... and I know that once they do I will probably wish I
was still waiting. This is what's coming .... A toddler who enjoys continuous attention and is used to spending
whole days running outside, a husband who needs to try to get as many work hours in in order to save up his
holidays. And, at some point in the near future, a tiny creature that is completely dependent on our care. Busy times
ahead! Until then I think I'll go out riding my bicycle.
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Bye Bye Belly Braai
by maya - Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tomorrow night is the big night: I fly to the Netherlands while Tarek and Hein stay here for 6 more days. The bed
in the guest room is hardly visible underneath all the stuff that I plan to take. That's the job for tomorrow: pack.
Today was for the Bye Bye Belly Braai. We invited our friends to join us for an afternoon on the veranda. Well, the
veranda is where most of the adults were. The kids were all over the place, for example on the remnants of the
flame tree that came down last February.
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Consumption
by maya - Monday, October 11, 2010
Lunch on Mondays and Fridays is prepared by Cecilia. Tarek loves it: rice and beans. For a while we also enjoyed
bananas from the garden.
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The world is my playground
by maya - Friday, October 08, 2010
If you have visited us before the following picture night be impressive. The building by the gate is being renovated:
Don't ask me why the askari house (previously known as shed) at the gate needs separate bathroom and toilet when
for years the landlord deemed a leaky tap good enough for his employers. These renovations mean trucks come
onto the compound to deliver goods. This in turn means fun for Tarek and his neighbour friend Trudpert. Yesterday
they wore themselves out by climbing up and sliding down Mount Kilimanjaro repeatedly.
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The men on the mountain
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Going down down down
by maya - Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Since last weekend I have the feeling that T2 is sinking (official term: engaging). I get much more hungry than
before and my bladder seems to want continuous emptying from more pressure. I walked into the changing room in
the gym yesterday, the first time to see myself reflected life size since the weekend. All of a sudden I understood
the exasperated look on the faces of the people in the gym when I walked in. ('Please let her not deliver the baby
here.')
Last week I scared some people using a particular machine and I explained to them that the doctor had told me if I
take it easy, it feels right and nothing gets particularly squeezed, it's probably okay. And the few hours a week I
work out in the gym are actually when I feel best, physically. I tried swimming but got a cramp in both my calves
and my toes, big belly swimming is not for me. Despite the explaining I still get stares from people working out
that haven't seen me before. I started closing the curtains when I'm on the cross trainer to avoid the stares from the
people in the mall. And why does everybody feel it is their right to stare at me?
This is why ..... women that look like this should be wearing oversized dresses (so I've been told) and should be
taking it easy (which is what I do most of the time).
After all the staring something nice happened in the gym yesterday. The professional trainer, who had previously
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admired my gym routine and told me it sounded like I was doing it just the right way, walked in. He asked me, with
sympathy, how much longer I had to go and then told me: 'Delivery will be very easy for you, you're so fit." Ha!
Eat that all you starers. And may it please come true.
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All ... people look alike
by maya - Thursday, September 30, 2010
Alfonsi, our gardener and one of Tareks' best friends if you go by the volume that Tarek shouts his name with,
often works in the garden while wearing a cap. Consequently, whenever Tarek sees an African working in a grassy
field wearing a cap he says 'Fonsi'. Similarly, when he sees an African man with a red faded t-shirt Tarek will say
'Habibu', referring to the guard (and the clothes he works in) that often opens the gate for us.
I can live with those generalisations, even though I always correct Tarek when he makes them. I feel
almost embarrassed when Hein makes such generalisations though. I remember when we just got to Tanzania and
two days later he didn't recognize William, the driver that picked us up from the airport ('But you were wearing a
cap then!'). It was 23:00 at night and we had just spend 11 hours in a plane and William did indeed wear a cap then
so we hardly saw his face but ... no, not all black people look alike. I know that's easy to say when yr a mixed chick
that grew up in what was probably the most colourful part of the Netherlands back then. I've mentioned to Hein
that I wasn't very impressed with his black peoples recognition skills, maybe even going so far as claiming it was
rude because 'Africans don't make the same mistake towards you'.
And now for something completely different .... I will connect, no worries. Unfortunately Hein has gone back to an
old habit: smoking. He claims he will go cold turkey as soon as he steps on the plane to the Nl in October so that he
will be a non-smoking dad for T2. Everyday he goes to the little duka (= shop) across the road to buy himself 3
cigarettes. I assume he doesn't buy a packet to keep the addictive monster somewhat under control. Every day. 3
Cigarettes. The same duka with the same guy selling them every time. Last week a British colleague of Hein
walked to the same duka to buy a cigarette. Before he'd reached the duka, the guy had already turned around to
grab 3 cigarettes. Guess what .... All white people look alike.
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Uncertain no more...?
by maya - Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Yesterday evening Hein received an e-mail with a contract. Extension. It had already been somewhat clear for
some time that probably it would be offered but now it's real and we don't have to worry about a source of income
when T2 is born. If you want my advise: never become pregnant with an Expected Date of Delivery right when the
contract to your only income expires. Hein and I stayed quite calm, considering the circumstances, but it was kind
of hard having to tell the ladies that work here that we may need to lay them off. And when I saw the burst of
energy that Hein got after things became clear I realised: we may have thought we remained zen about it all tension was brewing regardless.
Another great source of uncertainty has been dealt with, the BBC told me this morning: finally The Netherlands has
a government again.
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Freshi
by maya - Monday, September 27, 2010
Guess what we're having for dinner....
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Victory
by maya - Sunday, September 26, 2010
Finally, after losing 7 games in a row and with only one player card left we did it:
Victory with 6 virulent strain epidemics!
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Some facts
by maya - Friday, September 24, 2010
The mongoose has not been chased away by Max (the neighbors' cat that now epitomizes cats to Tarek to such
an extend that all cats are Maxi) (Tarek has the Swahili tendency not to be able to end a word in a consonant).
The mongoose may have changed its habits, it's still very much there. I saw it yesterday with a nice snack: a
brightly green colored snake close to a meter in length.
There is no need for people to worry about me (thanks for the concerned e-mails though). I may be tired but I
have the luxury of being able to do absolutely nothing from time to time. And besides, I'm not so tired that I
don't make it to the gym twice a week.
Going to the gym with a highly pregnant belly is very funny, as people cannot help but stare unbelievingly.
If there is one person you should be concerned about it's probably Hein, he has to put up with my sighs and
complaints.
Tarek is in love with beans Tz style. The ladies that work here now believe that we cannot ever leave Tanzania
or will have to cook Swahili food only from now on.
Tarek is also in love with old fashioned Dutch children songs. 'Holland' means 'In Holland staat een huis',
when he cries 'Hoog' we have to sing 'klap eens in je handjes' and 'Maan maan' is our cue for 'in de
manenschijn'. And I could actually go on for a while (meisje: klein zigeunermeisje; kever: hansje pansje
kevertje; etc.)
Now I stop typing as we're going to play a board game. My favorite: Pandemic. We must learn how to beat the
game with 6 virulent strain epidemics. Wish us luck.
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My technical wizkid
by maya - Friday, September 17, 2010
Now that we're using WordPress it's become much easier to upload and I have no more excuses not to enter
anything on the blog. Besides the excuse of being highly pregnant and needing a lot of horizontalness. I just had to
share the following though.
As mentioned before I try to spend a lot of time horizontally, horizontally is the way to be! This means that every
afternoon, after Tarek wakes up from his nap, Cecilia takes Tarek outside so I can be ... a little longer. Cecilia is
way too sweet to Tarek. If he demands half her lunch she will give it, even though it might consist of the mandazi
(doughnuts) that mama Tarek so disapproves of ('they're not called 'oliebollen' for nothing in Dutch'). If he
demands her phone, Cecilia gives Tarek her phone. Two days ago he managed to change the settings of the phone.
Normally that doesn't pose to much of a problem - except this time he changed it to Russian! And I don't know
anybody here who can read Russian. Cecilia had to take her phone to a fundi, who charged way too much but fixed
it. I also encouraged Cecilia to ask the fundi how to lock the keypad of her phone.
It's almost 14:30. Time for me to go and be .....
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Selous Game Reserve
Three nights in Africa's largest protected area, the Selous Game Reserve. With 50.000 km2 about 1,5 times the size
of the Netherlands. Some 95% of the park is not accessible for the public, only for hunters that want to shoot an
elephant or a lion for a couple of thousand USD. The park is dissected by the Rufiji river and the tourists are
concentrated in some 500 km2 north of the river. My contract is finished in 2 months so it might be our last safari.
As Tarek is so fond of animals we had to go. Mayas pregnancy was of concern but in the end we decided to take a
little risk on the bumpy roads. Afterwards we are happy with the choice.
We went with my colleague Catherine and daughter Janice in a land-cruiser hardtop from Goba Tours. It was a six
hour drive including break, 150 km of tarmac road from Dar es Salaam to Kibiti, than 30 km of good dirt road,
followed by 70 km of bad dirt road. The lodge where we were supposed to spend three night was not much more
than an open spot in the forest with three tents. It was quickly decided that this was not the ideal place for young
children. We moved to Jimbiza lodge, a bit expensive but generally nice and beautifully situated on the river and 10
minutes from the main gate.
On the first day we drove for about 6 hours in the park. Mainly along the many lakes and arms of the river. We saw
many hippo, crocodile, waterbirds, kudu, water-buck, wildebeest and the usual thousands of impala, giraffes and
zebra. Only one elephant and three lions. James, our guide, explained that because of the serious poaching the
animals were rather shy. Particularly the elephants kept far away from human activity. The main attraction was the
pack of African wild dogs (10) sleeping under a tree. Selous is one of their last sanctuaries and I was very glad to
still see them before they will be extinct in 30 years or so. In the late afternoon we went on a boat-safari to watch
even more hippo and crocodile while the sun set behind the Udzungwa Mountains. On the second day we stayed in
the drier northern part of the park, according to my GPS we even past the boundary into the adjacent Mikumi
National Park. We did not see very different animals but mainly a different landscape. Some lions with a dead
wildebeest and elephants in the distance crossing the Rufiji.
African Wild Dogs in Selous
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We had packed several games but we were to tired in the evenings to play any. Probably the bumping in the car is
to tiring as you constantly have to strain your muscles. Also Tarek has suddenly developed a sleeping problem.
Two weeks ago you could put him to bed and say bye and off he went. Now he gets seriously distressed and forces
us (read Maya) to stay with him until he sleeps. No more tent for Tarek. But in general he was OK and Catherine
already said she is considering to go on another trip with us.
The last morning the kitchen made a chocolate birthday cake for Maya and we sang 'Happy birthday' at breakfast.
At 15:00 we were back on the compound.
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Fruit
Our weekly fruit consumption is high, even for tropical standards. We consume about 2 pineapples, 1 water melon,
30 oranges, 15 dessert bananas, 3 plantains, 5 apples, 10 mandarins, 7 lemons, 3 grapefruit and 3 mango's. These
quantities fluctuate with season; at present mango's are hard to come by whereas oranges and mandarins lie in huge
piles on roadsides. Pineapples are hugely expensive.
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Belgische regering
by hein - Friday, September 03, 2010
De formatie van een nieuwe regering in België is toch nog mislukt. Lang leve de democratie.
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Transfer website to wordpress
by hein - Monday, August 30, 2010
Busy transferring the present site into Wordpress format to allow more interaction and allow more possibilities.
The idea is to transfer the entire solum site. However there are many photos and I have not figured out how this
works. So for now it is mainly the log. If somebody has suggestions on nice photo-plugins, please..
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Alternative Playground
by hein - Saturday, August 28, 2010
Today was spent shopping in the morning and working in the garden in the afternoon. We build a little playground
for Tarek with some branches, three heaps of sand and a large flowerpot. It looks kind of nice and Tarek seemed
very enthusiastic, especially the jumping in the white beach sand.
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Uncertainty
by hein - Thursday, August 26, 2010
There is quite a bit of uncertainty in our household, which is mainly driven by the ending of my contract at IITA
November the 7th. Up to this date it is not certain if the contract will be extended. This in itself is not such a big
issue. However, the birth of our second child soon after complicates matters. The choice is either: go to the
Netherlands for delivery and return or alternatively not return. If we return there are few complications. If we do
not there are many logistic issues like: moving, terminating contracts with our personnel, selling of assets, etc.
The funny thing is that I thought it was quite an event when we moved here in such a short time which would
probably not be matched in future. Now matters are more complex with stakes a lot higher (family and all). I
wonder how it will look like in 10 years.
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Newspaper articles
by hein - Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Two fat envelopes with newspaper articles in the mail, huray! During our stay in Tanzania my mother loyally cuts
interesting articles from the NRC and Volkskrant and sends them by mail every 2 to 3 weeks. We developed a good
understanding about what is interesting and what is not. So we are lucky to receive a perfect selection, without the
rubbish that most of the papers (especially Volkskrant) are filled with. My personal favorites are the chess articles,
two per week. This time there was an envelope in my father’s handwriting. From this I conclude that there are
major shifts going on as a result of his pension. Have not seen the articles yet but am keen to see the difference in
content.
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Ramadan
by hein - Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ramadan is coming. According to Maya it starts tonight. Since weeks we have been gently reminded by the many
minarets in the near vicinity. I prefer the sound of the singing imam over the sound of the singing Pentecostal
priest. It is somehow more monotonous and you tend to forget it is there. I rarely wake at 4 in the morning when
the believers are summoned to pray.
I write because the internet connection failed while I was playing a nice game of chess. So I lost, which cost me 20
points of my rating. Here at home the internet connection allows me to finish a little more than 1 out of 4 games but
I will never attain a rating of more than 1550. So it goes.
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Easy Sunday
by hein - Sunday, August 08, 2010
Sunday morning starts nicely with Tarek not starting at 6. He lets us sleep until 7:15 after which a clear and
repetitive ‘Maya’ can be heard from the room next door. I walk to his bed pick him up and put him on the dressing
table in the bathroom. From the contents of his diaper I can tell he was already awake for some time. I put him on
the toilet to ‘pipi’ some more. After this he walks to Maya and climbs on our bed. I follow and cover myself.
Tarek pretends to sleep for about two seconds after which it is time for his on-the-bed-habits: 1) drinking from our
water bottles and endless opening and closing of the lids, 2) throwing duplo on the bed, 3) running from our feet
and jumping on top of you, 4) reading one or two books, preferably the zebra book, 5) and yes of course another
attempt to press the intruder alarm button. Around this time Maya tells me she is hungry so after a bit of postponing
I take a shower and make breakfast. The BBC tells me the Russian finalist of the world cup sauna sitting has died
in a 110 degrees warm Finish sauna. First a bowl of muesli, weetabix and yoghurt topped with extra raisins for
Tarek. Fried eggs with sausages and croissants from the oven for all for us. And of course passion fruit, pineapple
and bananas to ensure our daily fruit intake. After breakfast Tarek takes his bath. This is necessary because he is
covered with yoghurt. His favourite pastime in the bath is filling a shampoo bottle with water and then emptying it
in a small bucket. When full the bucket he pours the contents over his stomach. I add a complication to the game by
constantly putting a plastic donkey into the bucket, which he always removes immediately. When he starts to pour
cups of water from the bath on the bathroom floor I take him out.
It is perhaps unfortunate that Tarek does not need his morning nap anymore. Now we are deprived from our quiet
cup of coffee on the veranda. Instead Tarek insists on playing with Trudi. The boys start with their sand moving
rituals. The sun is already strong and the efforts to let them play in the shade remain without result. For some
reason water becomes a necessity. Maya does not want this, as it is in her opinion too early to be covered in mud.
Our neighbour however wants to give them water to recapture the peace. 15 minutes later Tarek is covered with
mud and happily moving mud from one bucket to another. The buckets are Trudis and after a while Trudi insists on
having them back. Tarek does comply so Trudi starts beating on Tareks hands. Tarek starts crying. I pick up Tarek
and move him to the outside water tap in our garden, remove his clothes and wash the mud away. We move inside
and skype grandpa and grandma. The connection is a bit shaky but good enough for communication. Tarek
understands the concept pretty well and shows off his toys and tries pressing as many buttons as possible on the
laptop.
For lunch we eat baguette with cheese, tomatoes and sambal brandal from the oven, for Tarek only his favourite
‘kaas’ and a bowl of yoghurt with apple-passion compote. After lunch Tarek successfully pays the toilet another
visit. Without a single protest he takes his afternoon nap. Maya joins him. A good opportunity arises for me to get
some updating done to our blog.
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Rain
by hein - Tuesday, August 03, 2010
In the morning it started raining. It did not stop for 5 hours. This is quite remarkable as it is supposed to be the
driest month. The plants were very happy and now (5 days later) we have a blooming garden. It is very satisfactory
to start seeing the effort we put into the garden the last few years. The bad thing about gardening (for an instant
result based person such as myself) is the delayed response. Especially because our water is at 4 USD per m3 too
expensive to allow large scale irrigation But our newly planted forest in the back of the garden is starting to get
denser. Some compost heaps are getting in the final stage of decomposition. Some of the walls are getting covered
with climbers. The second banana is developing a flower.
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Red Snapper
Tonight we will eat red snapper. The snapper is brought to the compound by Mr. Jaffa. He has built a small engine
on his bicycle. The engine is connected to the rear wheel with a second chain. When I asked for a demonstration
the engine did not work but it normally does, I was assured. Anyway I call Mr. Jaffa and then he brings me the fish
I want. We tried Tuna and Red Snapper and the taste was excellent, both at 4 USD a kg. The snapper you see below
weighed 7 kgs of which about a third is filet. I divide this into smaller portions and push the button ‘Quick
Freeze’. Head askari Nico is always very happy with the other two thirds of which Naomi makes excellent soup.
We fry it or make nice curries from the smaller pieces. Tarek likes white fish.
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Back in Dar
by hein - Friday, July 16, 2010
Almost a week back in Dar after three well spent weeks in the Netherlands. We had a more relaxing homeleave
compared to last year which was a bit chaotic because we had made too many appointments. This time we spent the
first week in Amsterdam, the second week int he rural parts and the third and last week again in Amsterdam. We
met a lot of 'old' friends and family, which made me again aware of the positive side of knowing people really well.
No complications and hardly any fake appearances. We visited the zoo, had many drinks, some braais, sailed on the
canals and watched a lot of football. Maya had a succesfull 20 week echo. Appart from the first two days the
weather was hot and dry so we felt a bit at home. Tarek had his first real sickness, the sixth disease and I was
enjoying the good old hayfever.
Upon return we found the house in immaculate condition because Cecilia had cleaned two days before. The garden
looks beautiful although the dry season is already moving in as some trees have shed ther leaves, including my little
baobab. The bananas grow slower than I thought. The temperature is lovely. Today I walked outside at noon in full
sun without sweating! At work I am tryng to pick up the pieces which took some effort but I managed. On
Wednesday Caroline came by to say goodbye. She is off to Belize, another friend moving away. Nanja arrived
today. She will stay for some ten days, going to the beach and maybe Mikumi.
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Radio silence explained
by maya - Thursday, June 10, 2010
Just finished the final teaching day at school. Only assembly remains for tomorrow. Unfortunately this does not
mean my work is done. After last weeks’ frantic grading and report writing I was planning on spending this week
ensuring I leave my work in such a way that the next teachers at least have something to go by. Somehow that
hasn’t worked out. The saying goodbye to colleagues seems to be sucking up all my time. Hein travelling to
Nairobi for the second consecutive week doesn’t make it easier. I also dislike most of the suggestions for the new
Dutch coalition government. The horrible traffic here isn’t helping my mood either. It’s now 15:15. The whole
school teachers’ party started 15 minutes ago. I promised I would show off my dancing skills and have even
arranged for an all night baby sitter but I really dread having to get back on the road.
Anyway – all this to show you: No I have not forgotten about the blog. Anyone who ever taught in a school will
know, the end of the year is too hectic to breathe, let alone keep a blog.
That may have been a lot of nagging and complaining and therefore we shall end this rambling tale with a funny
picture. A sunbird on the compound has become very fascinated by its own reflection.
Who's that smart looking bird?
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Banana flowering
by hein - Saturday, May 22, 2010
The rainy season is nearing its end but today is day of rain, a lot of rain. The plants are happy for this because they
appear not to be ready for the long drought. The most obvious are the bananas of which one is actually flowering.
At this moment the bunch has six hands with each about 12 fingers, so 72 bananas. You can see this on the picture
below. In principle there could be other hands hidden in the flower that might be revealed tomorrow or so, but I
think this is it. I am quite excited and hope the monkeys will not devour the bananas like they have done with all
other edible plants (except for the red peppers).
Flowering banana (plantain)
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Social departures
by hein - Sunday, May 16, 2010
Lunch at Caroline’s place on a nice Sunday afternoon. Tarek loved the sea and Maya got quite wet trying to save
him while running enthusiastically at full speed into the waves. Families of new colleagues (from IITA Uganda)
were also present. Danny already started and Fen will come in June, good company. Happy to get something alive
again in a mostly dead office.
Might be the last time here as Caroline is now definitely leaving to Belize at the beginning of July. Such a shame,
many of our friends have already left (Claudia & Harry) or are leaving (Dolar & Marjan, Suzanne & Josephine,
Anne & Rommert?). Alan explained me the 3 year expat-cycle. Most contracts are 2 to 3 years. New people start to
hang out, just like people with common interests hang out together. So if you are relatively new you lose friends.
Some people extend their contract and stay for another 2 to 3 years (Kristian & Christel).When you stick around
long enough you do not notice anymore because you hang around with people who stick around. So it goes.
Who knows why we only hang around with expats. I have had this discussion quite a few times with expats who
also only hang around with expats. We talked about racism, snobbism and capitalism but there does not seem to be
a distinct reason. At the end it is often agreed upon that it must be cultural or wealth related.
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Internet connection
After more than two weeks it looks like out internet connection is up and running again. To quote a very popular
toddler phrase: Wow!
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A productive Saturday
A productive Saturday. After Tareks morning nap we went to the IST for a Table Top Sale. Here we bought quite
some nice toys and books for Tarek. Afterwards we did shopping and bought gas and drinking water. Tomato soup
for lunch. With Alfons, a cutting session in the Garden. All were happy with the result, even neighbour Roland.
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Koninginnendag in Dar
by hein - Friday, April 30, 2010
As tradition goes there is a reception for the Dutch community in Dar es Salaam to celebrate the Queens’ birthday.
This year it is not at the ambassadors’ residence but in the most expensive hotel in town. I always thought the
Dutch government paid huge amounts of rent for the ambassador’s residence so it would be suitable and
representative for these kinds of gatherings. But the new ambassador (A. Koekoek) apparently does not want
strangers on his compound. Besides he just constructed a swimming pool so his huge garden is now too small for
parties. Fortunately I do not pay tax so I was not too bothered about this double spending. I was more bothered
about the traffic to the hotel and the lack of parking spaces. As I heard later, quite a number of cars got stuck
turning the hotel meadows to hotel mud pools. After the reception there was an ‘Orange Party’ on the Slipway
Terrace. A big band had been flown from the Netherlands and Maya danced quite heavily. I drank mainly beers
although considerable less than last year.
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Kingday
by hein - Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Kingday for the 35th time. Tarek forgot about my birthday completely. Maya gave me a nice little board game
called Pandemic which would prove to be a great success a week later. At the office there was actually a cake and
my colleagues even sang. In the evening some people came over to have some drinks and bites. Unfortunately quite
some people could not come because of the horrible traffic.
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Amani Forest Reserve
by hein - Tuesday, April 06, 2010
National holidays are a treat in Tanzania. In Europe we only have the Christian ones. Here we also have the
Muslim ones. In addition there are quite a few national ones. All in all there are about 20 a year. If you add to that
the 30 I get from work, I come to 50 a year. Not bad. Today is Karume day in honour to the president of Zanzibar.
It gives me some time to write about our Easter trip.
We left on Good Friday together with Susanne and Josephine and their kids Mattis and Hannah to Amani forest
reserve in the Usumbara mountains. These mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Ecosystem and are one of the
remnants of tropical rainforest and extraordinary biodiversity. Amani forest is the wettest part of Tanzania with an
average humidity of 87%. Most of the forest has been chopped down as we discovered during our previous trip to
another part of the Usambaras, around Lusotho (pictures 2009/09). Now we went to Emau Hill Forrest Camp, close
to the Amani Forest reserve, a more remote and less disturbed place. From Dar it was about 5 hours of driving on
nice tarmac to Muheza, followed by 2 hours on pretty rough road. We hired one of my company’s vehicles because
our personal car is considered to be untrustworthy. The rough road led us uphill through some villages, forests and
sadly clear-cut ex-forests. Further up, the road got worse and the forest more beautiful. Finally we arrived at the
camp which consisted of 5 large canvas tents with a straw cover. It was pretty basic with no electricity and running
water but the setting was marvellous, on a hill with large trees all around. There were many different birds and the
owners were proud that quite a number of endemic species could be seen on-site. And indeed, particularly in the
mornings from bed, the songs of the birds around were beautiful. Down the hill through the trees with impressive
rock outcrops was a small stream. I had always looked forward to playing with Tarek in a stream and build dams as
I had done so a lot as a kid in France and the UK. We found out Tarek is still a little too young for this but the other
kids (at almost 4) where already quite dedicated. Many of the rock formations around were covered with African
Violets, the original violet which has unlike its intensely crossed family members, small and subtle purple flowers.
At the camp we got introduced with the game of Kubb, which is basically knocking over blocks of wood with
wooden sticks. There was a very suited field and we could all join the game. Tarek was the distraction as he did not
listen when the rules were explained. I do recommend the game which is particularly suited for the late afternoon
with chilled white whine. In the evenings we played board games, adults only, glad to get some time off with
children gone to bed.
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After three lovely and relaxing nights we returned to Dar. We decided to take the shortcut via Bagamoyo so we had
60 kms of nice sandy road. I felt like a rally driver and resolved again to participate in a long distance rally through
Africa in the future. When we arrived at 17:00 at the compound we discovered that Amani was not the only place
in Tanzania where it had rained intensively over Easter. The garden is considerably greener. The temperature has
seriously dropped and yesterday Maya was even complaining about cold legs. Unfortunately with the rains the
mosquitoes are coming, but: you can’t have it all.
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Tarek is sick
by hein - Wednesday, March 31, 2010
With Tarek to the IST clinic. He has been coughing a lot the past week and the coughing sirup did not help. Doctor
Belia diagnosed children asthma, which she ensured was not asthma but quite common for small children. Now we
have a kind of gasmask to give him Ventolin three times a day. He does not like it but it does help (6 days later).
Hopefully he will be released soon.
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And so forth
by maya - Tuesday, March 30, 2010
I stayed at home from work yesterday and today, sick and with no voice. Hein went to work with a throat ache and
Tarek has gone back to coughing like mad. All in all, we’re doing great. And because I’m not doing well, the only
reason I’m sitting down here now is a sense of obligation. What’s lacking is inspiration. It seems like we haven’t
been doing that much to write about. Ever since Heins’ family left we’ve been hibernating. Getting reacquainted
after Heins’ plentiful travelling in the past 8 months.
Us not doing much else than leading our day to day life is probably the reason for not writing much. How about I’ll
show you our day to day experience?
In the morning, around 6:15 we start getting up. If I don’t have to start at 7 in the morning, we have breakfast as a
family. Around 7:30 Cecilia arrives. Tarek starts saying bye to us at this point as he knows that we’re both getting
ready to leave. Around 8 Hein and I both leave for work. Tarek hangs out with Cecilia, helping her by grabbing the
broom so he can sweep the house. Recently, according to Cecilia, he took her to his bedroom to show her he was
tired and wanted to go to bed. He normally sleeps from 8:30 to 9:30, the time Leonarda arrives. 15 Minutes after
that, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday a taxi arrives to pick up Tarek and Leonarda. Together they go to
kindergarten where Tarek has picked up the Italian word for balloon (la pala?). So far, his first word was in English
(Bye, he still over abuses it), he appears to say poa (cool) in response to mambo (what’s up) in Kiswahili and he
does know the occasional Dutch word: gekko for example, a very typical first word don’t you think? As if that
wasn’t enough, he is now picking up Italian. Poor kid, the part of his brain that deals with speaking must be
thoroughly meddled up.
Sometimes the time Hein comes home from lunch coincides with the time Leonarda and Tarek come back from
kindergarten. That means they all sit at the table together, before Tarek goes for his second nap. His afternoon nap
is normally the time I arrive home from work. Cecilia goes home around this time and after Tarek wakes, Leonarda
takes him outside to play and explore. This gives me a chance to get started on the cooking (if I am inspired that is that’s definitely not every day). If we’re having a good day, dinner only needs heating by the time Hein gets back
from work. This is actually the nicest time of day so we spend it outside. It has recently started raining more so
there is a bit of a mosquito threat but so far it’s not been too bad.
After a family dinner (this is a good day remember, on one of the plentiful not as well organised days one of us
feeds Tarek while the other cooks) Tarek may have little sip of breastmilk before he goes into his bath and then to
bed. It’s by now 19:15 or 19:30. A whole evening lies ahead of us. It’s probably the fact that this routine takes
place in a continuous 29 degree centigrade/90% humidity climate that makes me so exhausted every night. We
don’t appear to have energy for much else than slouching on the couch, watching a movie, reading, or playing the
odd board game. We’re normally in bed around 22:00.
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Traffic
Sitting in endless traffic jams watching numerous daladala’s (mini buses) I’ve almost figured out the different
colours that match with neighbourhoods and towns: Daladalas that go to Bagamoyo always have a purple side.
Purple is difficult though, it seems that most daldala’s have a purple side. I think orange is for Kawe. I can almost
explain to Tanzanians where to take which daladala from in order to get where they need to go. I’ve seen the ‘Zulu
Boy’. Read the ‘Get rich or die trying’, the ‘Bin Laden’, and the ‘Allah Akbar’. Reading the fronts of the
Daladala’s has even taught me some Swahili: I know Mungu means God and I know wishing someone a good
night is Ukisku (=night) Mwema. So putting 2 and 2 together I realised Mungu ni Mwema means God is Good. So
yes, reading the daladala’s, even though I don’t use them for transport, keeps me busy on the road. There is one
thing that needs to be added to the back of some daladalas though. I’d like to read something to the extent of: ‘This
van has a big iron bar on the back, which may be invisible from the height of a Toyota Prado standing a little too
close. So if I, like all my fellow daladala drivers, decide that stopping in the middle of the road to pick up
passengers without paying any attention to the rest of the traffic and making it hard for the person behind me to
stop on time as I naturally have no brake working lights is a perfectly normal way of behaving in traffic, you may
want to refrain from trying to pass me up. The bar is much harder than the plastic that covers your front light. Just
so you know.’
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Stay or go
by hein - Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Many things have happened the past few weeks but very little has been written down. I apologize for this neglect.
A main event was the visit of the nearly complete Bouwmeester family. We shared busy and happy times during
which a lot of alcohol was consumed and many games of Regenwurmen were played. I will not write too much
about this since Bouk has written a guest column which summarizes the visit pretty well. He has committed himself
into making a soundscape of Dar with all the audio samples he recorded during his stay. We are looking forward to
it!
Last week we tried to quantify if we would extend our stay in Tanzania and push for an extension of my contract
after it expires in November, or if we would return to the Netherlands. Inspired by Marjan we came up with a nice
graph where the x-axis represents Hein and the y-axis represents Maya. The dots represent the variables such as
living environment, temperature, cycling and 22 others. The higher the value of the dot, the higher the weight (e.g.
friends will have a higher weight than bugs). Figures below zero represent the Netherlands while positive numbers
depict reasons to stay in Tanzania. As is clear from the fact that most points are located in the same quadrants
(namely the 1st and the 3rd), we agree on most variables. I will not specify the points for privacy reasons but want
to show the graph because I am a little proud of it. Of course it is an imperfect balance but at least it forced us to
think of important things and gave us an idea. The average of the entire exercise was about -1, meaning slightly in
favour of a return to the Netherlands.
Later that week Maya had a little conversation with the principal of IST. He mentioned that he had given her job to
another person. This came as a little bit of a shock. It will probably lower the average of -1. We also booked our
home leave and will fly into Amsterdam late June and leave mid July.
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Bouwmeesters op bezoek
by hein - Saturday, March 13, 2010
By: Bouk Bouwmeester
Het is nu 13 maart en ik/we zitten inmiddels alweer een week in bruisend nederland. Wat heeft dit land toch een
hoop kleur, gezellige mensen die vragen hoe het met je is en het lijkt wel of iedereen het hier niet zo nauw neemt.
Toen ik voor het eerst Nederland te zien kreeg vanuit het raampje van het vliegtuig leek het wel een groot
betonblok met stoplichten, heerlijk! Dar es Salaam. Het blijft toch een prachtig zooitje. Nederlands motoragent zou
hier lekker los kunnen gaan: “waar zijn we mee bezig? Mag niet he, op de stoep fietsen”.
Geleerd dat Dar zogeheten deathlanes heeft. Dat is de middelste rijbaan die beide verkeersrichtingen mogen
gebruiken. Een soort inhaalstrook, alleen dan zonder indicatie welke richting op dat moment bevoegd is om in te
halen. Gewoon gaan en hopen dat je niemand tegenkomt. Beetje oppassen omdat de wegen meestal zo vol zitten
dat je niet zomaar weer je ‘officiele’ rijstrook in kan snijden. Heel fijn dus als er een tientonner voor je rijdt die als
een soort Olifant zich een weg door de impalas beukt.....daar moet je achter zitten. Goede buffer.
Uitleggen aam een bajaj-cauffeur (motor taxi) dat we in Nederland zoiets hebben als een vluchtstrook waar je
alleen in nood even op mag stilstaan, zou onmogelijk zijn. In principe telt bijv de A4 naar Den Haag altijd twee
extra rijstroken, alleen zien wij die niet. 1, de vluchtstrook en 2 het stuk gras wat vaak links van de weg zit,
misschien zou dit zelfs voor 2 banen kunnen tellen. Enfin, een stoplicht vermijden door gewoon het tankstation op
te rijden, langs de pompen heen on zo weer hup het straatje rechts in te steken, werkt erg goed om mijn
linkerhersenhelft wat bij te trainen. Rijden in Dar is leuk, zeker met een 4x4…toyota...waarbij de schrokdempers wat
vreemd doen zodat je het gevoel krijgt op een enorm waterbed met 4 wielen te rijden (auto Hein en Maya).
Achterin een bajaj zitten om zo na 16:00 de binnenstad soort van fileloos uit te komen is net alsof je een kaartje
voor walibi flevo hebt gekocht, alleen duurt een ritje ongeveer een halfuur a uur. Ik kijk om me heen en bedenk me
dat de vrouwen hier, met vaak enorme billen, best een voordeel hebben. Tess zit rustig naast me:)
Niet alleen het verkeer, maar ook de geuren, de kraampjes, de bouwmaterialen, de muziek, het gekakel, de toeters,
de potholes, de bizarre vrachten, de shappas maakt Dar een grote beleving. Shappas : 9P busjes die mensen langs
de weg oppikken en afzetten. Ook erg goed tafereel. Deze busjes rijden niet op een tijdklok ofzo, de enige
noodzaak is om voor de shappa te komen die naar dezelfde plek gaat als jij, want dan kan je de mensen van je
concurrent afpakken. Zo onstaat er een constante battle tussen de busjes op de weg met inhaalbewegingen waar
zelfs schumacher een duim aan kan zuigen. Als passagier mag je er ook niet ‘lang’ over doen om in te stappen,
omdat dan het gevaar bestaat dat het andere busje met dezelfde lijndienst jou inhaalt. Het mannetje dat het geld
achterin de bus bij iedereen ophaalt duwt je dan ook snel tussen de rest van het vee, om vervolgens met twee tikjes
op het verroeste staal aan te geven dat er weer gereden kan worden. Opzich kunnen ze best goed rijden, ze lappen
alle regels aan hun laars maar hebben zich zo geevalueerd dat ze daar prima mee om kunnen gaan. Varkens hebben
het nog niet zo slecht in Nederland. Maar het kan ook wel gezellig zijn daarbinnen. Tussen de ellebogen, knieen,
kippen en het steenkool door is het soms wel moeilijk om te zien of je al op je bestemming bent, maar daar hadden
Tess en ik dit jaar eigenlijk nog weinig mee te maken.
Dit keer waren we nl. met de hele familie uit Nederland vertrokken en familie stond dit keer centraal. Dus niet
zoals met Tess vorig jaar in 6 weken vanuit Kaapstad naar Dar es Salaam zien te komen met vanalles dat maar
beweegt, maar meer op z’n verandaas; terassje, sigaretje, restaurantje, biertje, lagoontje, golden tullip infinite
pooltje, sushitje, sigaretje, biertje, verandatje, bootje, snorkeltje, gin en tonicje, balconetje, mango shaded lane-etje,
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captain morgantje, restaurantje, sigaretje, biertje nog een biertje etc. Ndovu bier was de favoriet. Hein drinkt graag
een Ndovu. Ik ook, maar ik nam het meestal niet zo nou. Vaak nam ik ook genoegen met een Safari of een
Serengeti of een Tusker. Geen biershirt gekocht. Wel andere mooie dingen zoals een mini-baobabje gemaakt van
ijzerdraad. Fred zag dit met argwaan aan en besloot de dag daarop op ook een bao-babje van ijzerdraad te kopen
maar dan vier keer zo groot, uiteraard.
Nog voor we vertrokken waren uit Nederland stond de hele reis al zo’n beetje vast. Aan de hand van een excel
spreadsheat konden tess en ik vanuit amsterdam al precies zien wat er van ons verwacht werd. Fred maakt van
vakantie zelfs zn werk :). Achteraf bleek wel dat Hein en Maya niet helemaal duidelijk hadden doorgekregen wat
we zouden doen in hun lange weekend, waardoor we 1 dag van te voren te horen kregen dat de lodge, op het eiland
pemba waar we heen wouden, geen kinderen onder de 7 accepteerde. Het gekrijs van huilende babys is nl. heel
vervelend als je vakantie viert. Dat wil je niet. En zo gingen we dus maar weer naar lousy zanzibar, gaap. Naar een
‘Lodge’ want zo heten die dingen hier. Hakunamatata; gerund door duits echtpaar. Met verder uitsluitend duiste
gasten en de serveerster, ook uit duitsland, vroeg op een gegeven moment of ze duits met ons kon praten. Duitsland
heeft toch geen strand? Buiten de waanzinnig kitscherige ingerichte kamers (deed me beetje denken aan bruin café
maar met houtwerk sdat ook nog eens glimt….serieus dikke kleden op de tafels matchend met het dekbed en de
kussentje op de stoelen) en het zwembad dat meer iets weg had van een slachthuis hadden we het erg fijn.De Lodge
lag aan een baai met erg mooie zonsondergangen. En s’avonds konden we op een hutje dat met palen boven het
water zweefde heerlijk stiekem ons zelf meegebrachte rum opdrinken: captain morgan. Op den duur werd het
bestellen van alleen water wel steeds inspannender, de serveerster heeft wel moeten denken: “hoe kan dat nou?”
Nou gewoon rum, een hele fles, onder de tafel, in de schaduw van het tafelblad, zodat je het niet ziet. Iemand nog?
Voor de lezers die het tot dusver hebben gered kan ik vertellen dat het huren van een scooter op zanzibar erg valt
aan te raden. Samen met Tess heb ik in een halve dag een mooi rondje over Zanzibar gereden. Op de terugweg met
de boot vanuit Zanzibar naar Dar, maakte ik me nog een beetje zorgen omdat de ferry van koers leek af te wijken.
Hein had zijn GPS meegenomen en daarop konden we zien dat de boot totaal anders voer dan de heenweg. Er
gingen ook steeds techneuten de machinekamer in….Uiteindelijk deden we 45 min langer over de terugweg en
kwamen we veilig aan. Rambo III, die in de cabine werd vertoond, is door GPS totaal aan me voorbij gegaan omdat
ik de hele tijd zenuwachtig op dat ding zat te kijken. Iemand nog Rambo III in de aanbieding?
Zanzibar hebben we 2 dagen aangedaan. Toen weer terug om nog een hele dag in Dar te hebben voordat we naar
Mozambique zouden vliegen om daar neef Wouter, vriendin Ellen en nichtje Dorien op te zoeken. We zaten
immers in de buurt.
Chronologische vertelling ontbreekt een beetje in dit onsamenhangende verhaal, vandaar dat ik zomaar terug kan
naar de eerste drie dagen van ons verblijf in Tanzania, toen nog samen met mijn lievelingszus Janneke. Hein en
Maya waren nog o zo druk met werk dat we besloten om met z’n vieren naar het noorden te gaan, naar het plaatsje
Bagamoyo.
A pitoresc little colonial village were the sound of playing children echo through the shady narrow streets….
Gedeeltelijk waar, behalve dan voor de narrow streets. Bagamoyo was vroeger de uitvoerhaven voor slaven naar
Zanzibar en vervolgens de rest van de wereld. Als je als slaaf eenmaal bij Bagamoyo was aangekomen wist je dat
het over was. Vanuit die reden zijn we daar dan ook naar het slavenmuseum geweest en hebben we zelfs een kerk
bezocht. Pap, Mam ik vonden het ondanks dat erg leuk om weer eens met jullie op vakantie te zijn.
Eigenlijk vind Ik Tanzania/Afrika al een groot openlucht museum waar zich allerlei dingen afspelen die je niet zo
snel thuis zou zien. Wat mij ook heeft gefascineerd is de inventiviteit van de Afrikanen. Ze hebben het niet zo ruim,
waardoor ze creatief met voorwerpen om moeten gaan. Zo kan je prima een oude gasfles doormidden zagen om
daar een barbecue/vuurtje in/van te maken of je fiets gebruiken als draaimechanisme voor het slijpen van messen
(fiets van de grond, aantrappen, touwtje van wiel naar slijptol), of een gaatje in de dop van een lege fles maken en
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daar een saus/zeep in te stoppen, zodat je een knijpfles hebt (hervulbaar). Er worden enorm veel spullen aan de
zijkant van de straat verkocht, waaronder, ja hoor, bouwmaterialen zodat je/ik constant werd getriggerd wat je
allemaal zou kunnen bouwen etc. Alles op straat straalt zoveel energie en bedrijvigheid uit; enorm levendig. En
allemaal erg tastbaar en direct. Alles is ook nog eens zo gedragen en gebruikt omdat het weer wordt hergebruikt,
snappie?
Eenmaal de kerk uit, gingen we naar Lazy Lagoon. Een Loooooodggge op een schiereiland net voor de kust van
Bagamoyo. Waanzinnig mooie plek en achteraf jammer dat we daar maar een nachtje hebben kunnen zitten, maar
we hadden een schema. De dag daarop stond in het teken van Tarekje knuffelen. Hij weet al precies wanneer hij
“joden!” moet zeggen op het nummer van “daar hoorden zij engelen zingen…….”. Zo’n knap ventje. Dingen kapot
scheuren en spullen van tafels gooien vind hij ook al leuk! Ik kan niet wachten om hem voor het eerst naar het
F-vak mee te nemen. Wat zal die een mooie hooligan worden. Als hij nou een enorme popster wordt later zou hij
de luxe van twee nannys kunnen voortzetten. Ik heb dit proberen aan hem uit te leggen, maar zover is hij nog niet.
Het is of joden of byebye.
Ik geloof dat ik nu maar eens op ga houden. Misschien maak ik nog een leuke geluidscollage van atmosferen die ik
tijdens deze reis heb opgenomen.
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Bezoek Tanzania
by hein - Wednesday, February 24, 2010
by: Anna van Leeuwen
In mijn portemonnee prijken groene en rode briefjes met buffels en olifanten erop, ik slik ‘s ochtends een
malariapil, mijn rug is een ranzig schilferend slagveld en als ik mijn mouw opstroop om op mijn horloge te kijken
schreeuwen vriendinnen “OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD! Wat ben jij bruin!”.
En zonder dat alles, en zonder al die bizarre foto’s op mijn computer (apen? giraffes? wtf?), zou ik nooit geloven
dat ik ooit in Tanzania ben geweest. Als ik uit mijn raam kijk zie ik de vertrouwde multiculti vishandel El Pescado,
ristorante Lago Maggiore en natuurlijk Slijterij Wijnhandel Hamers, mensen in donkere winterjassen lopen met
boodschappentasjes en winterse gezichten heen en weer en alles ziet er uit alsof we nooit zijn weggeweest. In de
tussentijd heeft Nederland overigens wel het kabinet laten vallen, de sneeuw opgeruimd en de zon verstopt.
Jammer is dat, vooral dat laatste.
Ik had me voorgenomen over Tanzania te gaan schrijven op het moment dat onze tijd in Tanzania qua
waarschijnlijkheid van “bizarre mooie droom” zou veranderen in “vakantie herinnering”, maar dat gebeurt maar
niet, dus misschien is vandaag een goed moment.
Het spelletje “één week geleden” werkt vandaag namelijk voor het laatst.
Een week geleden beleefden we onze laatste dag in Tanzania bij Hein en Maya en voerden we een stiekem plan uit.
De grote boom voor het huis van Hein en Maya, de boom waarin we de eerste dag in Tanzania met optimistische
tropische-dieren-in-overvloed-overmoed dachten een “kolibrievlinder” te zien, wat een vliegend kevertje bleek te
zijn, was twee weken eerder omgevallen met veel nachtelijk lawaai. Lawaai waarvan ik was wakker was
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geschrokken en even dacht dat er een soort grote terror-aap op het dak stampte. Roy sliep dankzij tropische
oorpijnklachten zoet verder. De volgende dag bleek de boom omgevallen en de stroom uitgevallen, omdat de boom
precies op een stroomdraad was terechtgekomen.
Inmiddels, een week geleden, was de elektriciteit weer hersteld (onder de telefoondraad kon je nog wel
limbodansen, maar dat zal misschien ook al zijn opgelost?). De omgevallen boom was door tuinman Alfons
gereduceerd tot een decoratieve boomstronk en wij wilden het geheel wat opleuken door er een mini tuintje bij aan
te leggen, stiekem. Daar kwam nogal wat timing aan te pas. We hadden de drie weken in Tanzania uitgebreid de
kans gekregen het dagritme van Hein en Maya van dichtbij te bestuderen en daaruit was gebleken dat ons
plantenplan moest worden uitgevoerd tussen het moment dat Hein thuis lunchte en het moment dat Maya thuis
kwam uit haar werk.
Beide momenten waren variabel, dus er moest vooral een portie geluk aan te pas komen.
Dat geluk hadden we.
Daar boven op had ik het geluk dat Roy mij niet capabel achtte om in de grond te hakken – hij had bij het planten
van een jonge baobab al ontdekt dat de Tanzaniaanse grond wat harder was dan de Amsterdam-Noordse grond die
hij gewend is -, dus ik mocht toekijken hoe hij stond te zwoegen en te zweten en had de nobele taak af en toe een
fles water aan te geven voor hem of een gieter water te halen voor de planten.
Hm. Dat lukte. Ik heb de laatste dag beschreven en het klinkt redelijk waarschijnlijk. Nu de andere twintig dagen
nog, die zal ik anekdotisch in gehusselde volgorde voorschotelen de komende weken/maanden/jaren/decennia met
een beetje houvast aan de foto’s.
P.S. Hilde had me verzocht een foto te maken van Roy op de rug van een stokstaartje, dat is helaas niet gelukt,
maar ik heb veel andere dierenfoto’s gemaakt. De samenvatting (met linksboven de “kolibrievlinder”):
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Alan
I can’t decide if it’s the heat from the sun hitting me from above and below - reflected by the asphalt - or the bright
sunlight that hits me hardest when I go outside to fetch a bottle of water from the car. I need the water as the venue
we’re in has been fairly tastefully decorated with flowers I am allergic to. The flowers are for Alan. The company
he helped run for a long time has organised a memorial for him. Well, it’s meant to be a memorial but I feel as if I
accidently stumbled into a PR stunt. The managing director tells about how he started up the company and how it
grew from there, mentioning Alan twice. The director then kindly introduces us to all the personnel, a board
member, his sisters and his beautiful wife. He has also kindly arranged for a gospel choir and an Anglican priest. I
wasn’t aware that Alan was religious at all. One of the few things that tell me this is really for Alan is a guitarist
who plays songs Alan liked. We’re treated to a version of the Goodbye Norma Jean song that is actually nicer to
listen to then the Elton John version I know. When the whole thing is over, Alan’s friends arrange to go to his
favourite pub. The managing director grabs the mic and suggests a change of venue to the Rose Garden and kindly
introduces the owner of Rose Garden.
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Power/Internet cut
by maya - Monday, February 22, 2010
The tree falling on top of the telephone line of our neighbours miraculously did not mean they lost their connection.
The pole that held the wires resembled the tower of Pisa a little more than before. It was very easy to see that it was
only a matter of time until the pole would come down, meaning our neighbours would lose their phone line and we
would also lose our internet connection. It only being on the verge of not working meant that the Tanzanian
Telephone Communication Ltd or whatever TTCL stands for, did not feel inclined to come do something about it.
Nico went to the TTCL office more than once, told them about the pole, they picked up the phone, dialled out
neighbours’ number heard there was a connection and flatly asked Nico what he wanted.
On Friday I came home and noticed the pole had gone completely horizontal and the remnants of the wire were
scattered over our garden and parking area. Off Nico went, back to TTCL (after I’d given him the transport
money). Just great I thought, an internet free weekend.
It only got better from there. Very early in the morning we’re woken by some rumbling noises. We see sparks.
There is firework coming from the electricity pole. It goes very dark but not completely quiet. Most of the power is
gone. The next day very early I phone the emergency number of Tanesco. Our neighbours tell us that they saw an
actual flame travel along the electricity wires. All day the power is half on or completely off. We send a text
message to Heins family in Amsterdam when they are about to board a Dar es Salaam bound plane. No electricity
and no internet, welcome to Tanzania. I try not to be cynical but I have very little faith in things getting fixed sasa
hivi. (Sasa hivi means now now as opposed to sasa which is now anywhere in the near future.) I’m proven wrong.
Internet is fixed in the morning. It’s quick and dirty but it works. Well that’s what we think; we don’t have power
to test it. But even that problem is fixed and we can see Tanesco trucks all over the neighbourhood fixing things up.
When our guests arrive at 00:30 (Why does the KLM plane arrive so late) everything is back in order.
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Tree down
At first there is a huge rainstorm that wakes me in the middle of the night. After I’ve been asleep for a while again
I’m not sure if it’s the funny sound that wakes me. It could also be Hein banging on the fan. Normally, when there
is a funny sound at night there is something up with the fan so Hein banging with his hand on the fan in the middle
of the night is not actually as strange as it may sound. Heins’ banging doesn’t make the slightest change to the
sound though. As a matter of fact it’s getting louder and it seems to be spreading. It’s clear now that it’s coming
from outside. As we both get up Hein walks to the window and exclaims ‘the tree is about to fall!’ This in turn
makes me shout that he has to move away from the window. And there it goes. One of our recently fully blooming
flame trees crashes to the ground. We see some sparks and flashes as it hits the electricity wire and then all goes
dark and quiet.
At the first daylight Hein goes outside to check. The tree has managed to neatly fall in between the Frangipani and
the Baobab that Roy planted the day before. As there is not much else to do but wait for Tanesco we all go our
respective ways. Hein and I to work, Roy and Anna to the train station. If Tanesco miraculously appears Leonarda
and Cecilia are there. Of course they don’t appear in the morning. We decide to stick to our original plan and go to
South Beach where Claudia and Harry have rented two villas on the beach. Around six in the evening we get a text
message from Nico, the power is back. When we get home on Saturday, Alfons has already managed to saw apart
and take away most of the tree. Now I’m a little more nervous walking through the garden. There are so many old
trees on the compound. Which one is next in line to bite the dust?
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Baobab
Success at last? Today we took our guests Roy and Anna in the direction of Bagamoyo. From Bomani Beach
Bungalows we dug up a small baobab tree. It has been two years since Hein came up with the idea of planting a
baobab in our garden, tomorrow may finally be the day!
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5-day workshop
by hein - Friday, January 29, 2010
Finished work and preparing to go home later this afternoon. I am now in Kigali where I participated in a 5-day
workshop that aimed to develop a method identifying banana-diseases in Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda,
Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. My role was to advice on where to sample and how many samples to take. The
output of the workshop was a questionnaire and a definition of the areas to target. We also went to the Rusizi valley
to take a look at one of the diseases and learn how to extract DNA from diseased plants for lab-analysis. Still have
a couple of hours to kill. Thinking of paying the pool area a visit.
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Kindergarten
As far as Tarek is concerned the baby group was a big success, apparently he cried when he had to leave. If he
cannot join this group on a more permanent base (that depends on the people hosting it, they may think it’s already
a bit big) than we’ll just have to find a commercial playgroup, like the one Hannah goes to every day.
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So it goes
Hein’s in Kigali, Cecilia is going home, Leonarda is in the kitchen, Tarek is asleep and I? It’s so hot I don’t know
what to do with myself. The best is probably to take off as many clothes as decently possible and crash on a bed.
Hein had to leave the house at 3:30 this morning and whenever he takes that flight I have trouble falling back
asleep after he gets up. Today is one of those get up at 5:30 days so there wasn’t that much sleep to be had in the
first place.
Tomorrow may be the start of a new life for Tarek. If everything works out as planned, Leonarda will take him to a
baby group for working mums. Most baby groups I know of are really for mothers, a chance to catch up while the
little ones grab other babies’ toys. This baby group, apparently, meets more than once a week and, as all the
mothers have a job, the nannies take the kids there and home. Tarek seems to enjoy being at home but I’ve noticed
he also really likes to see other children. Of course he sees a lot of Trudpert, but with 7 months the age difference
between them is just a little too big. I hope it works out!
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How am I doing
by tarek - Saturday, January 16, 2010
As my parents keep pretending they’re too busy to write something for the website, I’ve decided to take things into
my own hands. How I’m doing is the most important thing to most readers anyway.
And how am I doing?
As a matter of fact, I’m doing great. I’ve just had a lunch of avocado and chicken salad, some tomato and a piece
of rye bread (the bread courtesy of aunt Lide!). My mother was very proud of having made me such a nice lunch
and a little disappointed that I didn’t eat all of it. Most of the time I eat loads of many different things. In the
morning mom and dad give me weetabix porridge with yoghurt. (If you know my mom you understand that it’s
wholegrain weetabix, she drives all over town to find whole grain stuff.) I put up with the porridge, but I really
prefer to eat mango, pineapple, watermelon and, my favourite, passion. It makes my face shrivel up with its acidity
but I love it! I also love bread (wholegrain is all I get naturally) so if I’m really hungry, which is most mornings, I
eat porridge, then fruit and then bread with peanut butter, cream cheese or Dutch appelstroop. After all that I
normally drink some breast milk. Not too much and not every day. I like to have my mothers’ milk available at all
times. In the afternoon I sometimes pull away her shirt and then her bra to reach her breasts. I don’t know why she
is so shocked when I do that. In the evenings I often join them for dinner. I picked up this habit during our trip to
Ruaha, when they forgot my food and I was forced to eat their food.
I think other kids and small babies are very interesting. Just a few days ago I saw a 3 month old baby and I really
wanted to touch her and wiggle the car seat she was sitting in. My mother kept pulling me away; she said my hands
were dirty. They were only a little sandy from crawling on the floor in the doctors’ office. Then I looked at the
other kids in the clinic. They were all older then I was. After a while I decided to show off that I can do the same
thing they can. I stood up, holding on to a chair and walked to my mother while everyone in the clinic held their
breath. I can walk, though most of the time I just chose not to. We went to the doctor so I could get the vaccination
against H1N1. Apparently we were lucky there was some available because the clinic has trouble buying it with all
these western countries having put in huge orders. The companies that sell it do not care about some small clinic in
Dar es Salaam wanting a few vials. Luckily, embassy personnel of countries where they vaccinate on a large scale
are given vials for their families and then the leftover doses are donated to the clinic. I didn’t like it that my mother
and the nurse held me so tightly I couldn’t move but the needle that went into my arm was very fascinating so I
didn’t even cry. In a few weeks I get a second dose. And my mother also discussed with the nurse that it was time
for some other injections. I don’t really mind but my dad gets nervous when I’m given vaccinations. Last time he
took Leonarda along and waited outside until the needle work was over.
During the day I really enjoy being outside with my friend Trudpert. He runs and I laugh. Our other neighbour got
a small cat recently, it’s called Max. Trudpert and I love to shout at the cat. I like to watch birds too. And as I’m
now really getting the hang of pointing I point up to the sky as soon as I see a bird. I do a lot of talking but the only
word my parents seem to understand is bye bye. They make me say it all the time. If I really want to impress them,
I wave my hand at the same time. According to my mother, rest of what I say sounds mostly like dada. She should
simply pay more attention; I talk about lots of things.
How are my parents?
My parents are both complaining about work. My mom has just started after her super long break (she has not right
to complain at all). She’s just nervous about having to teach history for the first time. I think she is frustrated that
there are no teaching materials but I know she’ll be ok. She always thinks of something and then really enjoys the
work. My father complains about things like software not working so now he has to use two computers at the same
time. But he has two computers, so what’s the worry? Anyway, most of the time when they are not working mom
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and dad sit around the house reading grandma’s newspaper clippings, playing games or watching a movie after
I’ve gone to sleep around seven in the evening. Many of their friends in Dar are starting to return from their
various holiday destinations. This afternoon mom and dad are taking me down the road to meet a Malinese-Dutch
baby girl that was born in December. I really look forward to reconnecting with my friend Kees, it’s been months
since I saw him, I wonder if he’ll recognise me at all. Tomorrow my friend Hannah is coming over, with her baby
brother and her parents. Good times ahead!
How are things around the house?
My auntie Marije left a few days ago. It’s a shame she’s gone because she was fun to play with. She also brought
her sister Elize who stayed for a few days as well. Especially auntie Marije was really good in peek-a-boo and hide
and seek. She also fed me and bathed me and even managed to brush my teeth one night. I normally don’t like
having my teeth brushed as I give priority to playing in the bath but auntie Marije was pretty good at it. It’s also
fun to be with Cecilia and Leonarda again. It’s nice that everything seems to be back to normal after more than a
month of guests, travelling and people going away.
The power has been good recently. Leonarda turned the generator on one afternoon when I took my nap because it
gets so hot in my room and I get all sweaty without the fan. Something weird started happening a few days ago.
The pressure pump kept working without a tap running. My parents said there must be a leak somewhere. The next
day the water from the cold tap was warm. After a few nights mom took a shower in the guest bathroom and felt
that the wall was hot. The next morning my parents noticed water dripping from the wall. Now both the fundi and
my parents are sighing that the wall will have to be broken. And that while there are new guests arriving by the end
of the month. Roy, who worked with my mother in the shop, is coming together with his girlfriend. I heard my
mom and dad talk about a trip to Zanzibar when they are here.
What’s happening in the garden?
Today my friend Alfonsi has been replanting things. All three banana plants have made babies and some of those
babies have been moved. Alfonsi, the askari and my parents were all very happy to see the first watermelons appear
on one of their many watermelon plants. As the monkeys are normally really fast to eat the baby watermelons
everyone thought it would be a good idea to put the crow trap over the plant. They thought they were so smart for
having found new use for the crow trap, this time as some sort of monkey fence. It took 4 people to move it. They
found out quickly that it was actually a pretty bad idea though. A young monkey managed to get into the crow trap
and eat the baby fruit. It couldn’t find the exit though. All the other monkeys in the group (3 females, some young
ones and Mr Blue Balls the alpha male) were guarding the kid in the crow/monkey trap. Mr Blue Balls even chased
my dad when he was leaving in his big car. My mother got all nervous after having been chased into the house by
Mr Blue Balls but she should have known that if a monkey is smart enough to come into the trap it will also find a
way out. Now my dad and Alfonsi are trying to make the crow trap monkey proof by putting stones all around it so
the monkeys can’t get underneath it. As my father keeps hoping to plant a baobab tree in the yard but not finding
one to buy, my auntie Marije brought some baobab seeds from Bagamoyo. It’s a seed of a very old baobab, close
to the Catholic Museum in Bagamoyo. It was planted in 1863 and it’s huge. It would be very exciting if that
sprouts don’t you think?
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Baobab fruit (top), seed (left) and flower (right)
And how about the holidays?
As you know my parents were thinking of driving all the way to Malawi during the Christmas break. We never
made it that far as the brakes of the car broke. They had them fixed a little in Iringa and then we drove back in the
direction of Dar. Ruaha was great though. My mother keeps bragging about the elephant standing in front of our
banda when she wanted to go to bed one night but I didn’t see it, I slept right through. Mom said the elephant was
bigger than the banda I was sleeping in but it was dark so how could she tell? She also claims to have seen an
elephant on the other side of the camp, when a ranger had just arrived to guard the camp at night. She said he shone
his big torch on it and it was massive but I was asleep so I just have to take her word for it. I did see lions though.
And zebra and giraffes and many many birds. My parents were very happy to have seen the national bird of
Uganda, some kind of crane. We may have gone back to Dar earlier than expected but together with Marije we
went on another trip, staying at a lovely little place close to Bagamoyo. We were the only guests there, probably
because of the rain. It didn’t really bother us, we had lots of fun anyway. I really enjoyed the sea there even though
my mom thought it was too muddy. Silly mom, doesn’t she understand that mud is fun?
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A week alone
by maya - Saturday, December 19, 2009
It feels like I’m going through the most chaotic week since we moved from Amsterdam to Dar es Salaam. It’s
probably not true but one needs some exaggerating to impress people from time to time. Hein left last week Friday
night for a course in the Netherlands. I’ve just spoken with him. He’s about ready to take off from Schiphol and he
doesn’t sound half as hungover as he normally sounds before heading back to Dar.
Saturday
Last week Saturday was fine, if a bit lonely. I’d worked hard the week before to finish everything in order not to
have to work in the weekend. With hindsight I know that Tarek was then peaking in his I want my mum phase. I
couldn’t turn around without him screaming out in frustration with not being held by me. That made it hard for us
to do anything at all so the furthest out of the house we got was the garden, which right now is in a gorgeous phase.
It’s remarkable what a few large showers can do. We can no longer see the whole compound from the veranda,
there is too much green surrounding us. And the flame trees are a bright orangy red which sets that whole side of
the garden in a beautiful orange and green shaded light.
Finally, lots of green and many flowers
Sunday
Sunday was much nicer as we visited Elmer, a tiny Danish baby that had just arrived from Nairobi where he was
born the beginning of this month. As Elmers’ sister, Hannah is two years old she has many toys that interest Tarek
greatly. This made him much easier to handle than at home, where he knows every corner of the house. And as we
had no power all day we were happy that Elmers’ parents, Kristian and Christel, didn’t mind us using their internet
connection so we could skype with papa Hein, oma in Amsterdam and auntie Dani.
Monday
Monday I was actually relieved to be able to go to work. I love holding Tarek but it makes me very nervous when
he gets so needy. I know it’s just a phase and bla, it still makes me very nervous when he depends on me so much.
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Thank goodness he is absolutely in love with both Leonarda and Cecilia so he has much more fun when I am not
around. Work started at seven in the morning, meaning I got up at 5:30 which to me is the middle of the night, no
matter what time I go to bed. As Monday was the day all the teachers had to go through all the report comments
and make changes, I had to stay in school for a long time. That meant that Leonarda had to work a very long day as
well, coming here at 6:30 and leaving at five in the afternoon. Thank goodness Tarek is still never fussy when
going to bed (knock on wood) and by the time seven o clock came around all I could do was wait. Wait for the
guests arriving with the KLM flight which since recently arrives at **** one o clock at night. There are only so
many episodes of West wing I can make it though on one evening. After a while all I could do is lie on the couch,
drifting in and out of a slumber until I heard the plane flying in. That made me optimistic that our guests would
arrive soon. None of that though. Lide, Jan Hein and their sons Jesse and Bram told me later that even though they
were the first ones to hand in their visa papers they were the last ones out of the airport. It felt like 2:30 in the
morning when I finally heard the car pull up the driveway. As a matter of fact, it probably was. Meaning my semi waking hours on Monday amounted to 21, an amount I hope not to repeat too often.
I love guests, especially their suitcases
Tuesday
Tuesday (up at my normal 6:15 – I didn’t feel well rested, why would that be?) was an easy working day so that
was good. I was done so early I had time to drive our guests into town dropping them at the ferry to Zanzibar to
buy tickets for the boat. Naturally there was a pretty bad traffic jam going home. If only that had been the worst
part of the day – traffic jams here are such a big part of life, I sometimes notice they get talked about the way the
Dutch tend to talk about the weather: a lot, while there is nothing substantial to be said or done about it. In the
evening we ate at Dar Alive, formerly known as Malaika. It’s very close and nice to take guests to as it’s on the
beach overlooking the Msasani Bay. Also there is always the nice story to tell about Hein drinking white wine at
the beach there while Tarek was born in Amsterdam. Unfortunately I managed to lose my phone there though. I
keep saying it was stolen, but if I am honest it probably dropped out of my pocket in the parking lot as I remember
the Maasai looking at each other meaningfully as I was pulling out. They received a very large tip for guarding our
car. By the time we got home and I noticed my phone was gone and I tried to phone it, it was already disconnected.
It was probably over exhaustion combined with no power to cool the room I shared with Tarek that made me toss
and turn and feel so sorry about losing my phone that it actually took me a long time to fall asleep that night.
Wednesday
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Wednesday, before work I stopped at Heins’ office, to report my phone being lost yet again. The askari looks at me
as if I’m a stranger and closes the door behind him when he comes to inquire what my business is. Why he’ll not
simply let me in is beyond me. Without having been allowed in (‘this person is not there and neither is that
person’) I turn the car around to drive to school. As I’m irritated by the askari I feel a nasty form of joy that he
managed to lock himself out and now has to go around the gate trying to attract someone’s attention to make it
back onto the office compound. Lack of sleep often makes me see things that may not be good as if they are life
threateningly bad. Thank goodness I have a lovely colleague who gave me a good hug, by this time a good hug was
the only thing that could pull me through the day. And this lovely colleague, Natalie, even offered to come around
that evening bringing take away sushi. Natalie – in case you ever read this: that evening was the light of my week!
Thursday
Thursday, another early start. But the night before, with the guests in Zanzibar, I managed to make it to bed on
time. I actually felt fairly rested on Thursday. During the day I had to rush back home as the day before I was
struck by a case of digital nitwitism and forgot to attach some student letters that I had written from home. I
shouldn’t have had to have written the letters in the first place! Meaning, my students shouldn’t have plagiarised
part of their assignments. But having to rush home gave me the chance to also pick up my new sim card at Heins’
office. By the time I finished work, I actually felt sort of optimistic again. I was looking forward to a quiet evening,
watching some episodes of West Wing before I would go to bed early. I did that, but not before I managed to get
frustrated with the water dispenser leaking and me not being able to fix it. And then the screen door between the
kitchen and the living room refused to close. My sense of drama made me grind my teeth in frustration. Finally a
fundi had come to fix the shower, in such a way that it is now impossible to stand up straight under it, as he used
too small a cord. But as often seems to be the case in this country, fix one thing badly and have another thing
break.
Friday
Friday. School's out. As I had no teaching obligations and really had finished all the work I decided not to go at all.
No matter how often I told myself that I make many more hours than I get paid for, it still felt somewhat illegal not
to join in the whole school assembly. I treated myself to a massage in a salon where I heard they do good massages.
The Philippino women in another spa are better and more affordable, but this was nice nonetheless. Just a bit
frustrating that now that I have lost my phone I’ve also lost the number of my favourite taxi driver. With our car
being checked up for our big journey starting Monday, I had to negotiate with the taxi drivers at Sea Cliff village.
They’re absolutely crazy, they wanted to charge way more than I paid on the way over and that was already an
inflated price due to the impatience of your truly. As the taxi driver whose number I did have got stuck in traffic,
the only solution was to start walking until a taxi stopped that would give me a better deal. That ended up being a
bajaj that didn’t mind waiting at the clinic while I added yet some more stuff to our huge collection of medicines
for the safari that starts on Monday. In the evening the guests made it back from Zanzibar safe and sound. They
brought some take away sushi and we had a quiet evening of arranging things for their journey and me continuing
my first attempts at setting stuff ready to pack in a house filled with people. I spend a fair amount of time trying to
find the phone that I normally use in the Netherlands, as it had all my Nl phone numbers. I still don’t know where
it’s gone, another bit of frustration added to the pile. The sushi, from Mayfair Plaza was ok though and it’s nice to
know we can also get sushi close to home.
Today
This morning I realised why the pressure pump for the water was working overtime during the night. And also how
we could run out of water just when, fortunately, the water truck arrived. I might have to change my opinion of last
nights’ sushi. Two of our four guests spend a large part of their night on the toilet. For Bram it was so bad that he
couldn’t join his parents and brother in their journey to Iringa. They’ve set off without him, he is asleep in the
guest bedroom and hopefully will be fit enough on Monday to join Tarek, Hein and me on our journey to Iringa
where we hope to meet up with Bram’s family. Fortunately we can make use of both bathrooms again. Early in the
morning one of us managed to close and lock one of the bathroom doors in such a way that we could not open it
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anymore. But, where I often complain about things being slow in Tanzania, this morning I phoned a guy who
phoned another guy who came and looked and broke and then opened the door. Naturally, it is no problem to use
only one bathroom, it is just that much nicer to be able to use two when we have guests. The main bathroom got a
visit from a scorpion today. Thank goodness it was stupid enough to sit exactly where the door closes so it got
killed.
Attempt at organised packing: failed miserably.
After three loads of laundry, a lot of sweeping up after the door fundi by Cecilia and some more uninteresting
household chores, all that’s left to do is some more household chores and the taking apart of the bed. I was hoping
Alfonsi, the gardener that normally works here on Saturday could assist with that. He just came to collect his salary
in the morning though, in order for him to be able to bring his bike to a fundi and have its front wheel replaced.
Fortunately the front wheel is the only thing that needs fixing up after a car driver yesterday changed his mind
about yielding to Alfonsi. This fixing up the bike business leaves less and less time for Alfonsi to wash the car, take
apart and put away the bed in storage, dig a big hole for a new plant and try to dig out and move a baby tree. O
well. Things don’t always go as planned. I for example, did not plan to spend the whole morning typing away my
frustration at the keyboard. And I definitely did not plan to write such a huge piece for the website. If you’ve made
it this far: thank you for bearing with my long rant. You’ve been a great listener and it’s really helped me see that
actually, things aren’t bad at all. Most of us here are healthy and getting ready to enjoy a few weeks with no other
obligations than to enjoy each other’s company and the spectacular surroundings that this part of the world have to
offer. We’re off to Ruaha (see August last year) and may celebrate Christmas in Malawi.
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Mafia Island – Tareks 1st birthday
by maya - Monday, December 07, 2009
Yesterday we celebrated Tareks’ first birthday on the island of Mafia. A place he visited when he was -2 months
young. We snorkelled, Hein did 2 dives, we ate a lot of lovely food and by the third night, Tarek only cried for a
few seconds when he was put in his little tent/bed. Again, like last year, no whale sharks. Juvenile (3-8 m) whale
sharks reside on the west side of the island during a certain period of the year. I’m still not sure how keen I am on
seeing them but it is a bit of a shame that we’ve gone to the island twice now and have not seen them either time.
The flight was beautiful, like last year. One sees rivers that dump sediment in the ocean, little islets in front of the
coast, blooming coral and an amazingly empty main land. Landing today was a bit woblly and Tarek pulled his ear
a bit, but other than that we arrived in the heat of Dar safe and sound. Only to find out that the powdered milk
Tarek drinks had been banned by the Tanzania Food and Drug Authority. They raided shops in Dar that sold it, as
they had not been tested properly. Great. Why does the TFDA allow things to be sold if they have not yet properly
tested them?
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Cultural event!
by hein - Monday, November 16, 2009
It is only 4 in the afternoon but It feels like bed time. Could this have anything to do with last night? The Mo
Ibrahim Foundation sponsored a concert by Angelique Kidjo (Benin) and Youssou N’dour as part of a special
forum on climate change, agriculture and food security. I am not sure what the music and the forum had to do with
one another but it was very nice to be on the Karimjee Halls’ grounds last night and listen and dance to the music.
On the way to the concert Jackie told an amusing story about another artist, Michael Jackson who visited Dar in
1998 but left early because there was no nice hotel to be found. The concert was very nice with good music outside,
windy, big gardens and a good bar.
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Scuba diving in Dar
by hein - Sunday, November 15, 2009
Finally after living here for more than two years went diving. Together with Harry, we went to Sea Breeze divers at
Whitesands. The divemaster was a little upset when she heard I was in theory an advanced open water diver but
had not practiced for some 10 years. But fortunately ‘hamna shida’. We only did two shallow dives on flat area, at
average 14m. The first dive at lobster reef and the second one at Cowrie reef. Surprisingly alive and nice coral. No
big fish but plenty of small ones, one lobster and a puffer fish.
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Why tourists avoid Zimbabwe
by maya - Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Minister of Tourism of Zimbabwe on the reasons why tourists that go to Ghana don’t also go to Zimbabwe:
“Africa used to be a unity, Africa used to present itself as one entity. But then the scramble for Africa (jmc: between
1880 and 1910 Africa was divided by the powers from Europe) partitioned us both culturally and linguistically. We
now have to start presenting ourselves as one again.”
If I heard him correctly he said that tourists used to visit the whole of this vast continent, before 1880 (pretty much
the peak of mass tourism wasn’t it?). All Africans shared the same culture and the same language. But when the
Europeans colonized Africa they divided up the people. Now they all speak different languages, it’s the story of
Babel revisited. Colonization caused even more problems than I was aware of. Next time when someone tells me
that ‘we Africans do this or that in such and such a way’ or that ‘Africans are really bad at so and so’ I’ll try not
to get irritated and will not mention the fact that there are probably many differences between Algerians and
Zimbabweans. I now realise that people that say such things are all part of the movement Pan-African movement –
all rallying behind Mr Muammar al-Gaddafi.
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Tarek opens screen door
by hein - Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tarek can open the screen door between living room and kitchen. The kitchen used to be a safe haven that was
spared from his vengeance. Not any more! This weekend need to install things so he does not kill himself.
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Heating up
by hein - Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Temperature is really going up these days with an average 32 degrees in the afternoon. It rained heavily once about
two weeks ago, when my parents were here. Since only twice a little drop. The plants seem to be under the
impression spring has begun. Since then the grass-surface increased by at least a 1000%. Nearly all shrubs have
begun to sprout and there are a lot of flowers everywhere. The Flamboyant already has some flowers so it is likely
we are going to have an orange Christmas.
Tarek is physically making great progress. Since a week or so he can walk behind Mayas old push-car. It is a
mighty sight and he likes it too. In the weekend tried too make movies with my camera. Must find a way of putting
them on the net. Overall he smiles quite a lot now. Some time ago there were some critics saying he always looked
so serious on the pictures. He still does but it is not difficult to make him smile.
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Jabs and monkeys
by hein - Monday, November 09, 2009
Went with Tarek him to the clinic where he got his 3rd Hepatitis and 4th DKTP injections. I could not resist buying
him vitamin D which theoretically he does not need because of the intense sun in these regions.
It happened again. I stepped in monkey-shit on the compound and was briefly reminded of the good old
Netherlands. The poo looks and smells similar. It appears to be more revolting but this is probably caused by the
fact it does not happen often.
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Vierde bezoek Willempje (en Fred)
by hein - Friday, October 30, 2009
Door: Willempje
Ik vlieg op maandag om Tarek in Maya’s aanwezigheid al aan mij te laten wennen voor de 4 dagen vakantie die
wij Hein en Maya zonder Tarek de volgende week willen geven. Fred zou samen met Hein, die drie weken in
Wageningen voor studie was, op zaterdag volgen.
De heen reis is zo voorbij, ik vind het helemaal geen straf om 10 uur lang boekje te lezen, filmpje te kijken, wijntje
te drinken. Ik begin in "De thuiskomst" van Anna Enquist en de uren vliegen voorbij. Mr Said komt me ophalen, ik
ben heel snel door de douane, omdat Hein kopieën van visumaanvragen had meegenomen naar Nederland, die ik in
het vliegtuig al heb ingevuld. Daarom sta ik als eerste bij het loket, ondanks het feit dat ik nog een blauw
kartonnetje (dat je normaal in het vliegtuig uitgedeeld krijgt) moet invullen. Maar dat moeten alle passagiers, dus
heb ik een voorsprong. Aan de rit door een donker Dar moet ik nog steeds wennen. Veel kuilen in de weg, bussen
schieten zo voor je de weg op, rode stoplichten worden genegeerd, oogverblindende koplampen van tegenliggers,
het geluid van de assen van de auto van Said als we over een verkeersdrempel rijden, ik ben blij als we Garden
Street indraaien. Maya is nog op, lekker koud biertje gedronken en naar het kleinkind kijken! Hij ligt heerlijk te
slapen onder de klamboe, zachte haartjes, beetje vochtig van de warmte. Morgen mag ik knuffelen!
Maya gaat 's morgens voor zevenen de deur uit, dus oma mag de fles geven (de poepluier neemt ze op de koop
toe!). De eerste ochtend is Tarek meteen vriendelijk tegen me, er kan zelfs een lachje af, hij laat zich lekker
vertroetelen door vier vrouwen. Niet alleen mamma, maar Cecilia komt om 7.30 uur en om 10.00 uur komt
Leonarda, het kindermeisje! Maya heeft daartoe besloten omdat ze soms hele dagen maakt op school en Cecilia
schoonmaakwerk en de verzorging van Tarek moeilijk kan combineren. Oma had en heeft enige moeite met hierin
haar rol te bepalen, ik wil Tarek natuurlijk niet uit de armen van Leonarda rukken. In ieder geval ben ik 's morgens
een tijdje met hem alleen en ik heb hem ook al een paar keer in bad gedaan, Leonarda gaat nl. om 5 uur naar huis
en om een uur of 6 gaat Tarek in bad. Het is een lief, rustig mannetje, kruipt de hele kamer door, trekt zich op om
bijv. door het raam naar buiten te kijken, begint al wat te brabbelen en eet heel graag. Kortom, gezonde Hollandse
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jongen.
Van dinsdag op woensdagnacht vallen er een paar flinke plensbuien. Hard nodig, de grond is kurkdroog, het heeft
sinds juni niet geregend. Het anders zo mooie grasveld is een zandbak. De meeste struiken en bomen hebben geen
bladeren meer, op een paar na. De hibiscus bloeit en ook de frangipane, met grote witte trossen. Maar sindsdien is
het weer droog. Er staat wel een lekker windje, maar ik denk dat dat voor de grond niet goed is, droogt nog meer
uit. De kleine regentijd wordt binnen een week of twee verwacht.
Woensdagmorgen zijn Maya en ik met Tarek naar een babyspeelochtend geweest bij de Duitse ambassadeur! Een
prachtig huis op de Peninsula, met uitzicht op de oceaan, waar de ene residentie naast de andere staat. Er zijn een
stuk of 6 baby’s, die vrolijk op het hoogpolige tapijt en de crème sofa’s kwijlen en koekjes verkruimelen. De
ambassadeursvrouw (een hele jonge Russin!) vindt alles goed. Op de tafel staan zilveren schalen met echte Duitse
platschjes (hoe schrijf je dat ook al weer, koekjes) en chice kopjes, schoteltjes, taartbordjes, enz. Ik hou mijn hart
vast, maar 2 kindermeisjes en de butler (een man in spierwitte kleding met een donkerblauw schort, die af en toe
komt afruimen) zorgen er min of meer voor dat alles in goede banen verloopt. Ik vind het toch wel een beetje
gênant, maar de moeders, een Iranese, een Braziliaanse, een Amerikaanse, een Engelse en Maya kwebbelen er
vrolijk op los. Ik voel me enigszins misplaatst, maar ook zorgeloos, ben immers de grootmoeder. Gelukkig
arriveren we aan de late kant en kunnen we na een uurtje weer afnokken, nagezwaaid door de ambassadrice
(overigens in spijkerbroek) vanaf het bordes, met zoontje George, die een beetje op Eldert lijkt. Maakt hem in mijn
ogen meteen sympathiek.
Donderdagmorgen ga ik onverwachts op excursie. Maya belt om 8 uur vanaf school dat een 3 tal ouders van
docenten van haar school op alternatieve sightseeingtour gaan in Dar. Een wandeling door een drietal arme wijken
waar de lokale bevolking woont, eigenlijk vlakbij H en M’s huis, dus scheur ik om 8.45 uur met de bajaj
(motorfiets-taxi) naar de verzamelplek hier vlakbij. Een Tanzaniaan met rastahaar leidt ons door deze wijken, heel
interessant, omdat ik hier in mijn eentje nooit zomaar zou gaan rondlopen. We mogen een Swahilihuis van binnen
bekijken. Er wonen 6 families in. Voor het huis de porche met een bankje, waar de familie het buitengebeuren in de
gaten houdt en als je naar binnen stapt zijn er links en rechts van de gang 3 piepkleine kamertjes waar per kamer
een familie woont. Verder doorlopend kom je op een erfje met een enkele bananenboom en wat andere struikjes,
waar de was gedroogd wordt. Er is een gemeenschappelijke "badkamer", wat wil zeggen een betonnen vloertje met
een pedalo achter een golfplaten schutting. Geen stromend water, ze kopen hun water op de hoek, voor 1 shilling de
liter. Op het erfje staat nog een hutje waar nog 2 families wonen. Door een van de vrouwen worden we omhelsd en
warm onthaald. Een heel verhaal in het Swahili, wat onze gids zo goed en zo kwaad als mogelijk, vertaalt.
We passeren kleine winkeltjes, een groep mannen die koffie maakt onder een afdak. Ze malen de bonen in een
grote houten vijzel, maken daarvan een soort keteltjeskoffie en gaan daarmee langs de straten. Ze hebben dan ook
een komfoortje bij zich met gloeiende kooltjes om de koffie warm te houden. In de andere hand een emmertje met
water en een stapeltje mokjes. Na gebruik worden de mokjes even omgespoeld in de emmer, weer klaar voor
gebruik. De koffie smaakt goed, je moet er gewoon niet te lang bij nadenken. In een pannetje staan pinda's met
rietsuiker te pruttelen, daar maken ze een soort repen van, die verkopen ze bij de koffie. Elders komen we langs een
"bioscoop". De mensen in deze wijken kunnen geen bioscoopkaartje betalen en als alternatief is hier van golfplaten
een gebouwtje neergezet met eenvoudige houten bankjes. Voorin, op een verhoging, een grote tv, waarop films
worden vertoond. Buiten, op een schoolbord, staan de films en de tijden. Vandaag geen voorstelling want de
elektriciteit wordt gerationeerd. Ook bij ons valt de stroom op gezette tijden uit, bij voorkeur `s avonds. De
waterreservoirs zijn leeg i.v.m. de droogte en er kan dus geen elektriciteit worden opgewekt. Het is heel irritant als
je Tarek net in zijn badje hebt gezet, want de badkamer is vrij donker omdat er een grote boom voor het raam staat.
Fred komt samen met Hein met de zaterdagvlucht van KLM ’s avonds aan. Ik hoor dat het ontzettend koud is in
Nederland. Daar kan ik me helemaal niets bij voorstellen. Het is hier echt snikheet, zo'n 33 graden overdag, 's
nachts koelt het gelukkig iets af. De fan naast het bed draait als er stroom is, dat is heerlijk.
Doel van ons bezoek is ook om Hein en Maya een paar dagen vrij te geven terwijl wij op Tarek passen. Dinsdag
vertrekken Maya en Hein voor 4 dagen met een auto van de zaak naar de Usumbara Mountains, ten noordwesten
van Dar es Salaam, tegen de Keniaanse grens, om te wandelen.
Woensdag dus de " vuurdoop" wat betreft Tarek 's morgens uit z'n bedje halen, verschonen, fles geven, spelen
totdat Cecilia komt om een uur of 8. Hij laat ons tot 6.45 uur slapen, dus het is een makkie. Ik ben een kwartier
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daarvoor al opgestaan, heb zijn flesje gekolfde melk van Maya al in de aanslag staan, alles loopt op rolletjes. Als
Cecilia er eenmaal is kunnen Fred en ik in principe onze gang gaan tot 5 uur 's middags, want dan vertrekt
Leonarda als laatste.
Fred en ik hebben de beschikking over de Landcruiser van Hein en Maya waarmee we ons voorzichtig tussen het
bij tijden waanzinnige verkeer begeven in een auto met het stuur "aan de verkeerde kant" en in een stad die we niet
goed kennen. We hebben wel een plattegrond van het deel van de stad waarin we ons bevinden, 't is best spannend.
Eerst maar eens even naar zee, bij heerlijk koel briesje in ouderwetse rookstoelen (!) onder een kokosnotenpalm
een biertje gedronken en een visje gegeten. In de zon is het niet uit te houden, wil eigenlijk de zee in, maar deze is
te ruw naar mijn smaak en ook vrij vies hier.
Ook richting Peninsula gereden, hier en daar stoppen, beetje rondkijken, weer een visje bij de Slipway. Op de
terugweg langs bij een vrouwenproject, dat 4 jaar geleden is gestart door een Belgische, het Mabinti Center, waar
vrouwen met fistula worden geholpen om, na een operatie, hun leven weer op te bouwen. Het deed me erg denken
aan Penduka. Ook bij het Mabinti Center werken de vrouwen met textiel, maar i.p.v. borduren bedrukken ze de
stoffen. Ze maken ook voorwerpen met kraaltjes en sinds kort tassen van recyclede billboards. Dat zijn gigantische
stukken plastic van hele stevige kwaliteit, waarvan ze hele kleurige tassen, in allerlei maten, maken. We wilden
allerlei dingetjes kopen, maar gaan met de helft naar huis omdat ons geld op is. "Moeten" dus nog een keer. We
gingen vanmorgen met 100.000 Tanzaniaanse shillingen van huis, klinkt veel, maar is slechts 50 euro. 't Geld vliegt
je zak uit, we moeten nog wennen aan die grote getallen.
Helaas is Hein 2 van de 4 dagen van hun uitstapje ziek, w.s. eet hij iets verkeerd op de weg ernaartoe. Hij heeft een
hele dag in bed geleden. Gelukkig zijn er nog andere, Canadese gasten, zodat Maya met hen een dag heeft kunnen
wandelen, met een gids. Vrijdagmiddag komen ze terug, Hein voelt zich weer OK, gelukkig want zaterdagmorgen
vertrekken we weer met ons vijven naar Amani (betekent peace) Beach Hotel, zo'n 40 km onder Dar es Salaam, aan
de kust.
Als we 's morgens wakker worden plenst het van de regen, geweldig, en dat gaat nog wel even door totdat we
vertrekken. Op het moment dat we hier de poort uitrijden is het droog! Terwijl we tassen, buggy, enz. rennend met
grote paraplu naar de auto brengen omdat je hier echt nat wordt als het regent! Langs de weg in de stad zie je bij
tijden een woest kolkende beek, de planten van de vele "tuincentra" langs de weg stromen weg. Zonde dat het
meeste water regelrecht de zee instroomt, merkt Hein op. We rijden dwars door de stad, want de woonwijk van
Hein en Maya bevindt zich in het noorden en wij moeten naar het zuiden. Met een ferry steek je de monding van
een rivier af, anders moet je een heel eind omrijden. Die pont is ook een hele belevenis. Was er met Janneke al
overheen geweest, in april, het is nu iets minder druk omdat het zaterdag is (denk ik). Eerst mogen de auto's erop,
daarna worden de gaatjes opgevuld door de in kleurige lappen geklede vrouwen, mannen met koopwaar op kleine
karretjes, of hangend aan de fiets. Bijv. manden vol kokosnoten, die links en rechts van de bagagedrager hangen,
kratten tomaten, bananen, papaja’s en meloenen. Fred maakt foto's van de verveloze kano's die langs de kant
liggen, klaar om uit te varen, de zee op, op zoek naar vis. De pont af, en zuidwaarts, langs de kust. Eerst een stuk
asfaltweg, dan dirtroad. Langs de weg steeds minder lemen hutjes, een enkel winkeltje, totdat we tenslotte niets
meer tegenkomen. Behalve een enkel bord dat een van de spaarzame resorts aangeeft. Bij bord Amani Beach gaan
we de bush in. Na ong. 20 minuten slingeren over een zandpad komen we aan bij een poort. Als onze naam op de
lijst blijkt te staan mogen we door en komen terecht in een klein paradijsje. Bij het hoofdgebouw, witte steen, in
Zanzibar stijl (dus Arabische bogen, donker hout, grote, Arabische lampen) worden we verwelkomd met een
fruitdrankje. Onze gastvrouw is een Tsjechische (!), die samen met haar Italiaanse vriend de tent runt. Alles is
spotless, de inrichting, de tuin, de bloemdecoraties op de tafeltjes, heel mooi. Onze "cottages" zijn zeer ruim, groot,
hoog Zanzibarbed met veel houtsnijwerk, enorme klamboe zodat je om je bed (als we aankomen zijn onze bedden
bestrooid met bloemen!) kunt heenlopen en de leeslampjes ook binnen de klamboe staan, wat echt heel handig is
Overal staan bloemen, zelfs op de rand van het bad en de wastafels van de grote badkamer. Maar het mooist is de
veranda vanwaar wij, over het zwembad heen, zo in de oceaan kijken, op zo'n 80 m afstand (als het vloed is). En er
zijn maar 10 cottages, dus hooguit 20, 30 gasten at a time (sommige, zoals we merkten in het weekend, komen
vanuit Dar met hun kinderen en laten er kinderbedjes bij zetten, qua ruimte kunnen er wel 15 man in zo'n cottage
liggen). Op de veranda ook een hangmat, Fred helemaal blij! Vanaf onze veranda kijken we in de, op dit moment
kale, kruin van een baobab. Dit zijn enorme dikke bomen, de stam is zo dik, dat je denk ik met 10 mensen de stam
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kunt omvatten. Er hangt een enkele, peerachtige vrucht in. Verder witbloeiende frangipane, rood, roze en witte
bougainville, oleanders, allerlei soorten vetplanten met dikke, leerachtige bladeren. Het moet een enorme klus zijn
om deze enorme tuin vochtig te houden.
Nou ja, zo'n weekend kan natuurlijk niet meer stuk. Met Tarek in het zwembad, met Tarek op het strand met het
emmertje en het schepje, met Tarek in zee, hij vindt alles leuk! Golven in de branding deren hem niet!
Zondagmorgen om 7 uur maken we een wandeling naar de cliffs, waar een nest van een visarend zit, volgens de
manager. We zien ze regelmatig overvliegen, 2 volwassenen en 1 jong, maar het nest hebben we niet gevonden.
Wel kleine, grijze aapjes, dezelfde als bij H en M in de tuin, sommige met jongen die onderaan de buik van
mamma hangen, net als Tarek soms in de draagdoek bij Maya. 's Avonds gaan we eten, buiten op het terras van het
restaurant (zoals Fred en ik alle avonden) bij kaarslicht, terwijl er een babysitter op Tarek past. Vanuit de bomen
lacht een Bushbaby ons uit (klein soort aapje, maakt echt het geluid als een schaterlach). Tarek slaapt in een tentje
in de cottage. Maya en Hein willen hem vast wennen, want ze gaan in de kerstvakantie naar Ethiopië en het is de
bedoeling dat Tarek dan elke nacht in het tentje slaapt! Het eten is ook heerlijk. Warme lunch en avondeten, alles
inbegrepen. We eten 2x per dag vis. Blufish, calamaris, garnalen, tonijn, kingfish, op allerlei manieren bereid.
Zondag na de lunch vertrekken Hein en Maya en Tarek naar huis, wij blijven tot woensdagmiddag. Ik sta elke
ochtend om 7 uur op, zwem 24 banen in het zwembad, loop naar de zee, ga douchen, theezetten en Fred wakker
maken. We hebben stroom tot 8 uur (vanaf 5.30 uur 's avonds), dus voor 8 uur “I have to put the kettle on”! Alles
doen ze hier met generators, elektriciteit is er niet. Zonnepanelen op de palmbladeren daken van de cottages
(redelijk koel binnen) zorgen voor warm water. Dan ontbijten in het restaurantje op het strand. Fruit,
pannenkoekjes, eitjes. Dan nestelen we ons op de ligstoelen onder de bladeren parasols, tussen zwembad en zee en
lezen en dommelen wat. Ik heb al 7 boeken uit! Om 1 uur gaan we dan weer lunchen, dan zwemmen, wandelingetje
naar de cliffs die rond de baai lopen (niet te ver, Fred is ontzettend verbrand en ik ben verbrand), lezen, wijntje, om
8 uur diner in restaurant "boven". Langs het pad van onze "hut" naar het restaurant heeft het personeel intussen
grote stormlantaarns voor ons neergezet zodat wij de weg in het donker kunnen vinden! Wij zijn maandag, dinsdag
en woensdag nl. de enige gasten. Op woensdagmiddag worden we na de lunch door Mr. Said afgehaald. Het is
precies genoeg geweest. Langer hoeft van ons niet. Heerlijk zo'n 4 dagen lezen (Fred leest zijn 4e boek uit, een
nieuw record voor 1 vakantie), schrijven (ik natuurlijk), zwemmen, onthaasten, maar langer zou ons vervelen.
Als we terugkomen is Neil, een Engelse vriend van H en M hier zojuist op bezoek. Hij is een vijftiger en woont al
30 jaar in Tanzania, in Iringa. Daar is het bergachtig en er heerst dus een aangenamer klimaat, zegt hij. Hij heeft
een 3 jaren plan uitgewerkt voor de regering (hij is ornitholoog, of in ieder geval vogelaar) om de kraaienpopulatie
in en rond Dar volledig uit te roeien. De regering heeft daarvoor ook een flinke som geld ter beschikking gesteld.
Het is een grote plaag, die kraaien. Ingevoerd in 1890 in Zanzibar, door de Engelsen, om het afval op te ruimen,
zijn ze uitgegroeid tot een ware pest. Ze vernietigen de nesten van andere, zeldzame vogels, eten hun eieren en
jongen op. Er zullen 1000 kraaienvallen in en rond Dar worden geplaatst. Hein heeft er ook een in de tuin, vorige
week zaten er 15 in! Maar helaas, de Duitse buren op de compound hebben geklaagd, willen de val kwijt, de
kraaien maken teveel lawaai. De zgn. NIMBY-politiek (Not In My BackYard).
Vandaag donderdag, nog drie dagen en onze tijd zit erop. Het is best snel gegaan, ik was hier bijna drie weken,
maar Tarek slokt je helemaal op. Een ding wat ik niet zal missen is de warmte. Ik verheug me op de Hollandse
herfst, al is het met regen, wind en kou. Het klimaat hier verlamt je, zelfs Fred zit de hele dag als een zoutzak op
een stoel (hier op de veranda) of stretcher (aan het strand waar we net van zijn teruggekeerd), tamelijk ongewoon.
Voor mij is het geen wonder dat Afrika zo achterloopt in ontwikkeling, het is gewoon niet te doen om hier zware
lichamelijke arbeid te verrichten zonder airco, 3 koude douches per dag, of minstens een fan die je lichaam van
links tot rechts en terug verkoelt. En, i.t.t. Venezuela, koelt het hier 's avonds ook niet af. Daar woonden we op 500
m boven de zeespiegel en was het 's avonds nog te harden, maar hier gaat de wind, die een uurtje blaast als de zon
ondergaat, weer liggen en valt de hitte weer bovenop je.
Zaterdagochtend om 00:45 gaan we weer de lucht in en zijn dan zaterdagmorgen rond 08:20 op Schiphol. Deo
volente!
P.S. Terug in Nederland. We hebben ons een dag vergist wat de terugreis betreft. 31 oktober terug, ja dat klopt!
Maar dan wel om 0.45 uur!! I.v.m. schakeling van zomer- naar wintertijd tijdens ons verblijf in Tanzania is het
vliegtuig ook een uur opgeschoven! Donderdagavond komen we erachter, omdat een vriend uit Nederland, die op
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ons huis past, in een mailtje vraagt wanneer we precies in Nederland aankomen. Fred checkt de tickets ………. Help!
De vrije zaterdag samen met Hein en Maya wordt ons door de neus geboord.
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Rumble in the Jungle
by maya - Friday, October 30, 2009
It’s been 35 years since the Rumble in the Jungle.
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Teaching in Tanzania
by maya - Thursday, October 29, 2009
Just when discussing the differences in population growth between rich and poor nations something drops loudly
on the sheet metal roof of the classroom. I figured out recently that they’re ripe mangoes falling from the beautiful
tree beside my classroom. So I tell the students. And, I add, I know I won’t be eating any of them because look,
over there: a member of the support staff just ran down to fetch it. But Mrs., a student asks, shouldn’t you be
getting some of those mangoes? Well, I answer, I think my salary is higher than the support staffs’. I can just go to
the shop and buy mangoes; they probably can’t do that as easily. We’re rich people in a ELDC – Economically
Less Developed Country. O yeah, the students nod. Class continues.
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Crow trap
by maya - Tuesday, October 27, 2009
It’s working! It’s been a year since we had the crow trap built but finally we managed to set it up. Last night,
Andrew ‘the bird man of Dar’ Majembe killed about 18 of the birds. We hoped that with financing this trap we
could get rid of at least a large chunk of the big crow population in our area. To get rid of the crow population of
Dar there is a project starting up that aims to put up a 1000 traps. If that gets going our trap would be just a small
drop in a crow killer ocean. We’re losing even that small drop though. Our neighbors are not happy with the trap
and it looks like we have to remove it from the compound.
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Job
by maya - Saturday, October 10, 2009
O. Has it really been 10 days since I wrote? Doesn’t seem that long. That’s a good sign, time flies by.
My job is no longer just tiring. It’s becoming rewarding. My grade 9 students were great recently. They reflected
on their first ever debate. They managed to look objectively at themselves as a class and give each other
compliments regardless of friendships. And you should have seen them during the debate. Some of them, without
believing it themselves, managed to persuade their classmates that spanking is a good way to teach kids how to
behave. Amazing, as only two classes before the debate they believed it impossible to defend something that
you’re against.
Having a job really makes it a lot easier to deal with Hein being gone. I’m either working or with Tarek. Or am I?
In the past two weeks I’ve also visited friends for brunch. Hosted a brunch. Had some girlfriends over for an
evening of girly chatting. Eaten in the (not so) new (anymore) Ethiopian restaurant. Been to Visa 2 dance, the
contemporary dance festival. To the school gym four times and quite a few laps in the pool on 3 occasions. Taken
Tarek top the clinic to be weighed and measured and even updated the measurements on the website. All in all it’s
a wonder that I managed to watch quite a few episodes of West Wing as well. The only thing I haven’t found the
time for is making photographs and uploading images to the websites. And now is not the moment, Tarek has just
woken up. Let me quickly save and upload.
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Plans and drought
by maya - Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Hein is gone. He’s spending 3 weeks working in Wageningen. Seems as if ever since I’ve started work I’ve single
mummed approximately 50% of the time. In any case, so much that I feel I’m becoming quite an expert. Or does
the expertise stem from the fact that we now have 2 ladies working here? I’m almost ashamed to admit it so I’ll
note down a few excuses:
My schedule changes every day, some days start at 7:15, others not until 12:30.
Working part time as a teacher is, as many teachers know, fiction. Especially if you’re expected to be in the school
every day.
I want to try to do the job well.
I want Tarek to be cared for.
I like the house to be clean when I get home.
I hate rushing. Considering the traffic in this city rushing home is also fiction.
Maybe the above will help me convince myself of the fact that it’s ok to have both Cecilia and Leonarda working
here every day.
There has been no rain recently. The house is dusty and the garden looks like a desert. Even the palm trees are in
trouble, they are so dry it just takes a nasty crow to break their leaves. And boy do the crows like to break palm
leaves. Many parts in East Africa, including Tanzania, are suffering from a bad drought. But as this year is an El
Nino year, there may be flooding ahead. Everyone is bracing themselves. My neighbor told me her family in
Nairobi is already stocking up on rain gear, remembering that during previous El Nino year it rained and rained and
rained for days on end. Rainy season quadrupled. If that happens in Dar making it to work on time might become a
challenge. But that being the biggest of my worries I know I’m lucky. Oxfam has just requested for $15 million for
food aid in East Africa.
Both Cecilia and Leonarda have gone home. It’s time I focus my attention on Tarek. Soon it’ll be his dinner and
bath time. He normally goes to sleep around 18:30 and sleeps until 6 in the morning, so the evenings are easy. I
prepare work and watch an episode of … Ooo. He just managed to topple the fire extinguisher. Phew. It didn’t fall
on top of him. It’s obviously baby tending time.
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Pangani
Just returned from a long weekend in Pangani, about 6 hours drive north of Dar. Just another very nice piece of
coastline in East Africa. Dont have a lot of time to write, put some photos online.
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Consequences of rain on plants
by hein - Thursday, September 17, 2009
Clouds occasionaly form but unfortunatly no drops reach the ground. The plants suffer from the extensive drought,
especially the grass and other fast growing plants. But even the normally so strong palms and the bamboo look very
sad. I do not remember it to be so dry last year. Probably global warming event, or el nino or something similar.
The upper picture is taken today in the dry season, the lower picture in the (small) rainy season in december 2007,
when we just arrived here.
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Waning religion
On the religious front there have been very positive developments indeed. For quite some time now it is Ramadan.
This directly influences us as there are at least two mosques within hearing distance. I am not sure why, but
muslims are told to pray at hours where other people sleep. The priests prefer to tell their followers through 500
Watt sound-systems that are strategically placed as to reach as many sleeping people as possible. The good thing is
that it is almost Eid el Fitr which means that the volume will significantly decrease soon. At the time of the strictly
non-alcoholic jubilations we will be far away at some resort, hopefully void of amplifiers and religious freaks. The
other positive development is that my dear colleague is moving. He is a very nice man so that is not the good news.
But he lives across the road from us and rents his top floor out to Pentecostals. These people also like to amplify
quite strongly whatever they say or shout. The Pentecostals disturb our peace for prolonged periods at least 4 times
a week. But the landlord has canceled the rent because he wants to build something commercial.
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Busy kid
It has been quiet lately on our logbook. But this does not mean nothing noteworthy has happened. Actually quite a
lot has happened but Tarek is on the move and Maya started work.
Tarek is developing rapidly. He crawls like mad and pulls himself up whenever possible. Yesterday he moved
standing from one chair to another chair. Got complaints that he always looks so serious on the photos. He is quite
serious though and only sometimes laughs, mostly when tickled. He wakes on average at 6:15 and goes to sleep at
18:45. During the day he sleeps an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. His main food is still breast
milk although he gets a considerable amount of formula-milk and solid food. Yogurt, bread, pasta, cheese,
vegetables and fruit. He plays daily with neighbor Trudy.
This weekend was Mayas birthday. I gave her a cutting board, not much but beautiful as such. My colleague had
brought her a 300gr Lindt dark chocolate bar. In the mail there was a card from Mayas father and from my parents,
as well as a nice fat envelope with newspaper clippings. The additional calls, facebook and hyves messages and
sms-ses did the trick. We celebrated at Dar Alive with some friends. More presents, books and massages. In
evening we had some pizza and watched ‘On the Waterfront’. I fell asleep but awoke again to see the crucial part
when Marlon Brando is cool.
Our neighborhood, Mikocheni A, is booming the last few years. More and more tarmac roads are appearing
everywhere around us. It is hard to say but I think our street has three times as much traffic, as before we moved in.
Luckily the huge shopping mall in our street (Dar Village) that was supposed to open this May has been
considerably delayed. Across the street the bar Fiesta has turned into a restaurant where all Premier League Games
of the bg 4 (or 5) are shown on a big screen. We always hear when a team has scored.
Today there was a ‘Groene Amsterdammer’ in the mail. This was a surprise as neither of us subscribed to it. Geert
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Wilders prominent on the front page. Was he not on the front page when we left two years ago
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Talking stats
Disappointing month considering the hits on our website in August. Conspicuous is the fact about 56 percent came
from the Netherlands with Canada and Belgium at second place with 4. It appears that after a long journey of
decline we are once again becoming more popular in our home country. Oh boy..
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Home alone
by maya - Thursday, August 27, 2009
Just heard a BBC item on the Banana conference in Arusha that Hein attended this week. The conference still goes
on for a day; Hein’s on his way home though. I managed much better than last time when he was gone. Tarek not
needing to go on antibiotics and work being less new probably had a lot to do with that. That, and the fact that the
freezer was full of microwavable dishes. No matter how well it went, I’m happy Hein’s on his way back – it’s just
much more fun. Before Heins’ plane lands though, I should get my food out of the microwave and enjoy an
episode of a TV show Hein doesn’t particularly like
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A swim but no nap
by maya - Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tarek has not yet given up his vocal protests against my idea that now is a good moment for him to nap. He should
be tired. He spent some time waiting by the side of the road for our rescuing angel with a wheel spanner so his
father could change the tire. Then Tarek got to wear his brand new bathing suit in the pool at his mummy’s work,
his first time in a swimming pool. At first he was a bit bewildered but after his father showed him how you can
make funny sounds in the water he thoroughly enjoyed it. After a late lunch of pumpkin and potato porridge and
some of his tailor made milk an afternoon nap should be just the thing. Both his parents would love a nap. But that
probably has more to do with a late dinner in a Japanese restaurant with some lovely people. Talk was about Pipi
Longstocking, breastfeeding (too many mothers in the company) and the question if male circumcision is a form of
mutilation or not.
As an experiment Hein and I did not give Tarek a late night feeding yesterday. One of us had to get up very early
this morning. Hein of course. I have no mercy now that he’s packing once again. He’s off to Arusha until
Thursday. Maybe I should take Tarek out of bed now. He probably feels more like practicing pulling up to standing
than lying down in bed.
Afternoon in the pool
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Saturday afternoon
by maya - Saturday, August 22, 2009
Lunch with Jonne, Hawa and Tareks’ new friend Kees on the beach at Dar Alive, formerly known as Malaika.
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Goat races
by hein - Saturday, August 15, 2009
Once a year some members of the English community in Dar es Salaam organize goat races. It is a substitute for
the horse races, I guess, and is really a gathering of mzungos. It was quite amusing although I lost all my bets.
Several times we were reminded of Maya’s new job by greeting colleagues and students. Later we learnt that
Tanzanian caterers are carefully excluded from vending.
Wanted to go to the hairdresser almost three months ago. At that time it took little effort to convince me it was not
necessary. As hair grows and as the surrounding temperature increases, it tends to become itchy. So I went to the
hairdresser and quickly found out differential cutting was not the hairdressers’ specialty. Fortunatly, Tarek still
recognized me.
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Hein before and after the hairdresser
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New job
by maya - Friday, August 14, 2009
The first week of teaching is behind me, haven’t managed to update the blog at all. Some random thoughts on the
past week:
I’d forgotten how much I can enjoy teaching. I love seeing students make an effort, see how they want to learn.
And to the occasional cynic reading this: most students are actually eager to learn new things.
I’d forgotten how tiring teaching can be. Having worked in business for a few years, then enjoying some time off
and then starting life as a mom I am now convinced that teaching –combined with raising a breastfed baby- is
probably the most tiring job I’ve had.
And in a funny way, teaching is energising too. Just to see the light in a student’s eyes when it dawns and they
understand how we’ve divided up the earth into different time zones. So there, teaching can be a very rewarding
job and I had not forgotten that.
Let’s see how I feel by the time the school year really gets going; when I have to combine grading tests of one
group with writing reports for another, and Tarek decides the moment his father has gone on a trip is a good time to
get sick. For now though: TGIF, I’m going to put my feet up and have a little snack. Hein brought some very nice
chocolate from Uganda and Tarek has just fallen asleep.
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Mid year resolutions
by maya - Sunday, August 09, 2009
Sunday afternoon (Hein’s about to take off from Entebbe!)
I resolve to:
*update this story more regularly. Yesterday while milking (really, using a breast pump makes me feel like a two
legged cow) I read some of the old entries to this story and I realised something. Even if no one else ever reads this
story of our life in Dar, it has already become a great scrapbook of sorts for us. I’ll try to upload more photos too.
*not to write about the car as much as before. Our car is in many ways my lifeline so naturally its well or rather not
so well being is of great concern to me. But I’m sick and tired of entering all those complaints. People may even
start thinking I’m chronically depressed thanks to our car. And you know what: our car isn’t worse than others
here. Of course there are many better cars around but there are many worse ones too. A lot of people we know have
been going through the same sort of issues as we have. It’s the combination of rough roads, a lot of dust and a hot
and humid climate.
*enter the recipe for flap jacks soon. Analysing how many people visit our website and how they get there Hein
figured out that people searching for a recipe for flap jacks ended up on our page. I’m sorry of I’ve disappointed
you! You know what, might as well do it now while Tarek is still asleep.
I slightly adapted this recipe from Sarah Browns’ vegetarian cook book. To make the flap jacks vegan, simply stick
to golden syrup (I think that tastes better anyway) and use margarine.
1) Slowly melt 250 g butter with 50 g brown sugar and 125 g honey or golden syrup in a saucepan.
2) Mix 250 g oats with 250 g wholegrain flour and 50 g chopped almonds in a big bowl.
3) As soon as the butter and sugar mixture boils pour it over the dry ingredients and mix everything well. Now pour
(well, scoop really) the mixture into an oven dish of app. 18x28 cm and put it in a 180 degrees C preheated oven
for 20-25 minutes.
4) Pre cut into 12/16 pieces while still warm. Let cool in dish before really cutting it.
*to now get to work! Tomorrow I teach my first class and I feel much unprepared, like most teachers at the
beginning of a new school year. With Tarek as a great excuse, so far I’ve only managed to sort all the stuff I have
into different stacks. But sitting here writing an entry is only putting off what has to be done. Especially since I’ve
spend the rest of this weekend sitting at beach clubs and terraces with friends.
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Tarek develops/Mikocheni undevelops: bye power
by maya - Friday, August 07, 2009
(only 2 more Heinless nights to go!)
First of all: Tarek is much better! And yesterday I found him chewing the foot of lamp when he was supposed to be
playing on his mattress. He started crawling! Maybe his technique of making himself small and then lurching
forward doesn't count as crawling but the fact of the matter is he did a full round around the table. Wow!
Now to bussiness: I know my living conditions are extremely good in comparison to the average Tanzanians’.
What I didn’t yet know is that Mikocheni, where we live, is actually a posh area. According to an article in 'The
Citizen' (that has been removed from the web, sorry) my posh area is going to be spending a lot of time without
umeme (=power). Living in a posh area is obviously no running power guarantee. Save breast milk, stock up on
diesel!
I must admit that reading the article carefully, my neighbourhood isn’t actually mentioned specifically but as it
says Mikocheni in the start of the article, I better check our diesel supplies anyway. Knowing ones diesel stocks in
general is a good thing. Like knowing the amount of fuel, oil, cooler liquid and power steering oil in the car.
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Home 'alone' - and loving every minute .... ha ha
by maya - Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Poor Cecilia. She’s had to deal with my extremely bad mood today. Thank goodness I had the sense to tell her that
I’m generally quite happy with her work. Thank goodness she is warm hearted enough to just move on and tell me
to have some tea.
Poor Tarek. It might be a new tooth, it might be some bug, it might be the season. In any case the nappy rash that
started last week returned with a vengeance yesterday after it seemed almost gone on Monday. This time it’s
accompanied by a real watery form of diarrhoea. The rash/diarrhoea combination meant I had to change Tarek 3
times during the night, while he threw a tantrum out of pain. He banged his head on the changing station more than
once. Went to the doctor again, she decided he needed antibiotics. Am not too worried anymore, unlike last night
when things were at what I hope was the lowest point. He’s now playing on the mattress in the living room and
judging from the sounds uttering his mouth he’s enjoying himself. O wait. He’s just decided that the floor is the
place to be. The sound of his little plastic watering can on the stone floor is thoroughly fascinating him.
Poor me. This happens when I’m trying to get into a new job and my lovely team mate is away. Thinking back, last
night may well have been one of the worst nights of my life. Mind you, the combination with 3 flat tyres in 24
hours, 2 fundi’s not showing up and the bath still (about 3 weeks now) not draining properly, is not making me
much happier. Thank goodness there are friends like Christel and Kristian that made me a lovely meal on the braai.
Or Natalie who immediately offered to come keep me company.
Poor Hein. He’s far away in Uganda and cannot really help. He’s doing what he can by listening to my nagging
about life, the universe and everything. And believe me, listening to me in a bad state is not easy.
But hey, the antibiotics and a lot of love should sort Tarek out. The school feels like a great place to work and Hein
will be back on Sunday, we’re halfway there. We’re on our way up!
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Back to work
by maya - Monday, July 27, 2009
Today is the last day of my jobless existence. Tomorrow morning at 8 I’m expected at the secondary school
campus. As the three days are introduction for new teachers and the week following that are in-service days where
teachers work when the students aren’t in the school my first day of actual teaching will not be until the 10th of
August. I am getting a little nervous. The main worry: Will there be a working car here tomorrow morning?
PS: Two of the 3 tomatoes have been eaten by a monkey. It didn’t care that it wasn’t even remotely red yet.
Hopefully we’ll have more tomatoes than the monkeys can manage but I doubt it.
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Funny how time flies ....
by maya - Thursday, July 23, 2009
Oops. I'm not staying on top of things here. Every morning Tarek has a long nap. It gives me time to do things like
fix some of his food for the day. Spend some time e-mailing. Theoretically it also gives me time to work on the
website. But that's theory. And I've not even started the new job yet. That's another thing on the to do list for the
day: figure out when I'm supposed to start. The other things on the list? Buy lunch food (quickly, so Cecilia can
start cooking), make flap jacks, do some paper work. Will I get it done? No way. Every evening I'm exhausted but
looking back at the day I wonder what I actually did. Good thing there are (facebook) friends to remind me that's
how many a mom feels.
PS: the first 3 tomatoes are swelling. Not sure what's up with the pumpkins though, lots of flowers but no fruit.
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Hello world - this is East Africa
by hein - Thursday, July 23, 2009
No longer is my joke valid: the Tongo Islands have faster internet than East Africa. Today East Africa is connected
to the global fibre-optic network. The Seacom cable comes from India and is the first of a total of three, which will
be realized in the near future. Now all internet traffic north of South Africa is via satellite, at huge costs and at sad
speeds. I do not think this means that we will have fast internet soon, but it is a start. Sure hope they realize that the
cable from sea has to be connected to the mainland.
Source: BBC website
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Hey dude, where's my car?
In the entry below did you by any chance notice that I mentioned the car being in the garage? It feels like the Harry
Potter books or a thriller movie sequel: Toyota Prado in car killers’ conditions. There is always a little difference
with the previous episode. This time it started off with something old reappearing. The brake light stayed on after
the engine was turned off. And if you don’t notice that soon enough, the next time you try to start the car, the
battery could be flat. Which it was last Friday. Not so empty that 2 guys and me pushing it a little couldn’t do the
job. I drove and drove, to Masaki and then to Mwenge. By the time I got back, the driver of Heins’ office that
helped start the car had convinced Hein that we needed to see a fundi. Despite me telling all involved it could wait
as it was not the alternator –whatever that may be- but the fairly new battery (no need for a new battery thank you
very much) that needed charging because of the stupid brake light that yes, we need to get fixed, but no thank you,
not by some fundi I don’t know. I had to admit though, that there were more than a few things that needed looking
at. That’s how the car ended up in Joe’s Garage last week. Actually in Josephs’ garage but I couldn’t resist a little
Zappaesque joke there.
The car park has been car free for app a week now. Gives a good view of the pumpkin, bananas and tomatoes.
Josephs’ garage is located smack in the middle of dirt road Magomeni. I’ve been there 3 times now and still I
don’t think I could find it. The garage does well, it shows. I saw at least 3 diplomatic license plates as I walked in.
This means that embassy people (read: people who can afford to care more about a job well done than about the
cost of it) take their car to Joseph.
Joseph is a man who has done well for himself – it shows. In subtle ways, a small gold chain, a crisp ironed quality
shirt. He’s not at all like some Tanzanians that made it big and feel the need to show it through a heavy load of
golden jewellery and huge flat screen television in their office with gold coloured edges to the table. Hmm. I have
to admit to not having seen Josephs’ office. All in all, I liked him. Until he phoned me to tell me that he needed to
get a spare part that would cost $400,-. Not for the battery, the alternator or the brake light. This is for the steering.
He seemed honest when he said it was a decent deal. He seemed to like my silly Swahili. He went to great lengths
to answer my questions on how it all worked, what needed replacement and why. So I still kind of liked him. That
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is, until Hein went to collect the car yesterday, a day later than agreed, and found the car bado tayari (not yet
ready). Labda baadaye (maybe later). But when I phoned around 5 Joseph told me the car was ready but the garage
closed. At 5 in the afternoon? What kind of Tanzanian garage closes at 5?!
This morning I phoned bwana Joseph, to ask if the gari was tayari. Kusubiri kidogo (wait a little) I will phone you
in half an hour. Now I’ve been waiting for a call from Joseph for 2 hours. I really want to collect the car before
Cecilia finishes work. It would mean she can be with Tarek while I do some shopping. The endless waiting for the
car means we ran out of essentials such as drinking water, rice and washing powder. All things that I can buy
around the corner but prefer to buy in bulk. Especially the washing powder. Tareks’ poo still has not returned to a
non spilling consistency, but that’s probably a detail you didn’t care to know about.
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Tarek sick .... or is it something else?
by maya - Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday night at Dolar and Marjans’ place an unusual thing happened. Tarek refused to go to sleep and cried until
his throat was soar. On Monday he didn’t eat very enthusiastically and rather than once a day he soiled his nappy
every hour and a half – the stuff in his nappy becoming runnier every time. In the evening he refused food but
drank a lot from one breast. While getting ready for the second breast his mouth fell open and there were the kind
of convulsions that that often precede vomiting. And there it was! He forcefully spat out more than 100 ml of milk.
I managed to catch most between my cupped hand and my hip, that’s how I know how much it was. We took
Tareks’ temperature; it was just below 39 degrees. Three hours later it was 39.6. Such temperatures, our literature
tells us, are a reason to call the doctor. Especially combined with diarrhoea and another of the violent vomiting
events. I think he needs a shot, the doctor said. Go to the clinic, I’ll instruct the nurse on duty to administer it.
While putting our clothes back on, trying to comfort a very sad and exhausted Tarek and ensuring we brought
enough clothes and cloth to withstand some more bouts of diarrhoea and vomit Hein realised that we had no car.
Our car was in the garage and the key to the company car was with a driver from work. We decided to resort to the
Dutch technique of pappen and nathouden. If it got worrisome, we could call for a cab. Until then we’d ensure
Tarek would take in some liquid and we’d give him some more paracetamol. Some of us even managed to get
some sleep that night albeit restless.
The next day at the doctors’ it was concluded that he probably had a virus. Rather than put him on antibiotics,
we’d continue with the same technique. Milk started to stay in though. No more vomiting. And the diarrhoea
became less frequent, his temperature went down a little more and the little man managed a little smile
occasionally. I took an afternoon nap and we all went to bed early that evening. This morning the fever was all but
gone. Tarek was still a bit fussy during feeding though. And then we saw it: two little teeth had appeared. No
longer is he Toothless Tarek. There goes my song: ’daar is Tarek met de tandenloze lach’. As long as the lach
(smile) is back, I don’t mind having to give up a song.
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Development cooperation?
by hein - Monday, July 13, 2009
A Dutch investor complained to the Dutch Minister of development cooperation B. Koenders that he was
mistreated by the Tanzanian government. The alleged mistreatment forced the minister to write an official letter of
warning to the Tanzanian government warning that he was considering freezing the 30 million euro’s annual
direct budget support. Fortunately the Dutch government cares for the poor investors in the world.
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What's going on
Obviously getting back into the habit of regularly sharing my eventful life online takes more discipline than I have.
Trying to feed Tarek other things than breast milk; deciding on whether or not to switch over to formula once I start
work; encouraging Tarek to crawl and sit up through meeting other babies; frequenting the beaches (I told you my
life is eventful), there is not that much time to do anything else.
Climbed a ladder to look over the wall last night, asking the neighbours in my broken Swahili to please not burn all
their takataka (garbage) so close to where our mtoto mdogo (little child) is sleeping.
Just now Cecilia came back in. She’s bought the ndizi (banana) that will be our lunch stew together with viazi
(potatoes) and the niama (meat) I bought yesterday at the Farm House butcher that just opened around the corner.
Please note that this new butcher is a BIG event, saves me having to drive to the peninsula in order to buy meat that
I dare eat – am still a bit of a vegetarian when it concerns the look and feel of the meat I eat. With Cecilia back and
Tarek still taking a long morning nap, it’s time for me to hop in the car and drive to Mlimani, the only place I know
around here where you can buy the huge bags of nappies. Still too expensive but a little more affordable than what
is sold closer to home.
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Home
by maya - Monday, June 29, 2009
Home. The house was very dark when we arrived. The electricity credits had been finished since the previous day. I
fed and changed Tarek by candle light while Hein drove through the area trying to find a working ATM or a place
to change dollars to shillings and then to buy luku. We were both happily surprised with the car starting
immediately.
Home. Does Tarek recognise it? The rooms and toys are met with a smile. He practically roared out with loving
laughter upon seeing Cecilia. Even Nico, whom he did not see quite as often, was allowed to hold him even though
he’d just woken up and is normally cranky when hungry as he was. Yesterday at what used to be crying hour,
Alfons came by to greet and hold Tarek and was met with a vocal expression of joy. Just now, Tarek finished his
jar of pumpkin and cauliflower enthusiastically after which he only drank a wee bit of milk. A great opportunity to
express the left over milk for evening porridge. Except, there is no power.
Home. Trying to do the laundry, write an e-mail to the Dutch National Institute of Public Health and the
Environment (“this little boy did get his jabs, read my blog and don’t send me reminders please”) and entertain
Tarek all at the same time I hear a loud crash. Very loud. Like all the people working on the compound (there’s an
average of 6 during any given day) I run to the source of the sound. The light at our neighbour Olafs’ parking lot
has changed dramatically. An old cashew tree split in two and one half fell down, draping itself around and, lucky
for him, not on top of Olafs’ car. Did we mention that until the sixties of last century the compound used to be a
cashew farm? There are many beautiful old trees that don’t bear too much fruit anymore but do give the compound
a park like atmosphere. Most of the cashew trees are found in our garden, approximately 7 of them.
Tree around car
We have to teach Tarek to be alone with Cecilia, in a months’ time I start working in the mornings. Teach Tarek?
He doesn’t seem to mind at all. She puts him in his bouncy chair and he stares at her when she makes up the bed.
He gets a bit cranky and she takes him on his back. He looks around him with bewildered eyes for a few minutes
and then zonks out.
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Cecilia multitasks
The electricity comes back, I express some milk and turn on the computer. I know we have a website to tend to.
This is a start no? We spent all day yesterday unpacking, clearing up and organising. In the evening we started
work on the photographs. Even after deleting the ones that are not good, not sharp, et cetera we have over 400
photographs. We’ll get back to it tonight. Now there are no more beautifully light summer evenings to go for walks
with Tarek in the stroller, or grandmothers to visit, or friends that cycle past our house to pay a quick visit that
quickly turns into pizza on the little piazza. Such excuses are gone. We’re home. Or are we? Cecilia, seeing how
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happy Tarek is, claims he belongs in Tanzania. About Hein and me she wasn’t so sure.
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Where am I?
Where am I? I'm more than a little confused. Yesterday we had a nice sunny braai. Now, after a big breakfast with
(hey, it's sunday) eggs and lots of fruit (passion of course) I'm now sitting on a veranda overlooking a beautiful
garden while Hein is mowing the lawn. There are lots of birds to be heard. Tarek hardly needs to wear a thing and
we put a fair amount of sunscreen lotion on him. Feels just like home. And it is, in a way. It's the home of Wil and
Fred. The braai yesterday was in Wekerom, in the garden of Heins' cousin Jeroen. Now we are in Paterswolde and
the weather is great. We've only been inside to sleep really. Getting here was quite a journey but Tarek hardly
noticed the first 8000 km. He probably slept better than anyone else in the plane, having a proper bed. All the new
impressions yesterday may have gotten to him though. In the car from Wekerom to Paterswolde he cried from
Deventer to Ommen and slept like a log after we arrived here. I just hope he'll adjust to Dutch time though. This
morning he woke up at the not too unusual hour of 6:15 in the morning, except in this country that means 5:15.
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To do list
Sorting out the clothes to take for Tarek so we don’t carry stuff he’ll grow out off before the end of June.
Check.
Teaching Tarek to fall asleep by himself. Check.
Txt-ing Dani to ask if we should bring her hard disk.
Showing Cecilia how the washing machine works so she doesn’t have to wash the curtains by hand when she
returns from Arusha. Check.
Emptying the fridge and freezer. Check (where it concerns yummy things like chocolate).
Getting a new set of glasses. Check.
Have them readjust the glasses as they hurt my ears kidogo (a little).
Arranging meetings with girlfriends, cousins, parents and parents of friends. Check.
Letting people know we’re coming. Check.
Ask Erik to clean the high windows on the day we return.
Walking through the garden with Alfonsi so he knows what he can do while we’re gone. Check.
Send happy birthday txt messages to Nelly and Mari. Check.
Trying to fit cot and big bag into suitcase.
Buying some presents. Check. (It’s a shame that there wasn’t an arts and craft market like last year right
before we left.)
Making some back ups of files on computer. Check.
Sorting out forms and contract for work permit. Check.
See if they put my bio up on the schools’ website. Double check.
Stop freezing breast milk as we’ll have to throw most of the expressed milk away anyway. Check.
Making sure I go the gym at least one time this week. Check.
Indulging myself in the affordable treats Dar has to offer, massage, beauty salon, hair dresser. Getting there.
Only massage and haircut left. It’s a tough life but I might manage to do it all before we go.
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Party time
by hein - Friday, May 22, 2009
In the afternoon we threw a small party in honour of Mayas new job and our anticipated home leave to the good old
Netherlands coming Friday. Return to the world of order and predictability, back to civilization. It turned out we
have many friends with kids, at prime time there must have been 9 of them. I knew already that I was about to enter
this condition but only realized it fully this afternoon. We had enough toys, a lovely garden and plastic swimming
pool which was kindly given to us by our neighbour Olaf, a big children fanatic. After a lot of coffee, sandwiches,
humus, juice and croissants we ended up with chilled white whine, which according to Marjan is a good thing to
drink in the afternoon. Naturally, I agree. At 16:00 everybody had gone home leaving a bit of manageable chaos.
Take away pizza at Saverio’s.
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celebration
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Check the news page!
Finally, for the first time since Tarek was born we’ve good reasons to update the news page – hip hip Hurray!
The weekend was great, as lazy as we hoped. I’d love to write a little more about it, and I probably will, but not
now. The umeme just died and rather than typing like a maniac hoping to beat the back up battery, I will look
through the various forms I have to fill in. If you’d read the news page you’d probably understand what paper
work I mean.
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Have a nice weekend
by maya - Saturday, May 16, 2009
Reunited and it feels so good! So good that were going to celebrate in style: we're off to the Lazy Lagoon. A resort
on a private island off the coast by Bagamoyo. Light to heavy showers in Amsterdam the BBC tells me. We mustn't
forget sunscreen lotion.
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Typical Tuesday morning
Monday was my first morning alone with Tarek. No reason to change a winning routine. As soon as Cecilia had
arrived and Tarek was (semi) asleep I jumped in the car with my gym clothes on. Only to jump out before I could
make it to the end of the street though: flat tire. Labda kesho (maybe tomorrow) I thought and didn’t worry. I asked
the fundi to change and fix the tire and look at the brakes while he was at it, the car was picked up not even an hour
after I phoned and replaced by a Toyota corolla.
Tuesday morning I made it to the gym. It was a bit haraka haraka (hasty hasty) but I worked out nonetheless. After
having my shower, feeding Tarek, playing a little and then helping him to sleep I hurried to the corolla with the
baby car seat. As we leave it in our car permanently I have no idea how to fix it into a car. And knowing the state of
most Tanzanian cars I realised that fixing the seat may be impossible. I’d rather find out sooner than later that I had
to cancel lunch with Marjan. With the baby phone on the dashboard and in the burning sun, referring to the manual
more than once and with a lot of pushing and wiggling I managed to get the car seat installed. The next project was
putting Tareks’ stroller in the car. In our prado it’s a matter of lifting the whole thing into the back. With this car it
took dismantling and folding. Not too bad, and the whole thing actually fitted in the boot. Fairly impressed with
both Tarek (asleep until now) and my own accomplishment, I went inside to feed Tarek just before it was time to
go. I heard the metal clinging sound that the gate makes when opened and then a very noisy car. Our car. All fixed
up and ready to go. Can I please have the keys to the corolla now asked the fundi.
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Meeting friends and going south
As you may have gathered from the irregular updates, power has been a bit shaky again. The irregular updates are
more due to being busy living though. Job interviews, Tarek to doctor (thank goodness he did not have malaria and
he’s absolutely thriving again) and an increasingly busy social life have kept us busy the past week. In the past 9
days we lazed for hours at the terrace of the Lebanese restaurant, attended two braais, went to a play, had dinner
with the neighbors and were host to Annemieke, Sebastiaan and Lidia. Lidia was supposed to be born
approximately on the same day as Tarek was due but waited a little longer (rather than two weeks early she decided
to come about 10 days later). Looking at them together they really don’t seem to differ in age at all. This was the
first time they paid any attention to each other.
baby interaction
A few days ago I received a text message from Gisela, the same woman who introduced me to the right person at
the school - mentioned at the end of April. Update on that will follow, believe me. The text message said: there is
room for one night at the Tower House in South Beach. No kids. (Gisela had a son and a daughter.) When is the
right time to spend a first night away from your baby? Cecilia obviously thought now was not the right time just
yet. But Tanzanians do not believe men have any skills whatsoever in taking care of children. As Hein is spending
next week in Uganda and I fully trust his fathering skills, I thought it might actually be nice for him to spend and
intense 24 hours with his son. I packed the breast pump and headed south.
First stop was at the fish market for some superfresh squid. Then there was a bumpy ride, lengthened by
insufficient direction reading skills (and I was one of 2 geographers in the car, this is a very painful admission) and
the lack of signs in Tanzania. We made it to the tower house just before sunset though. Enjoying a glass of white
wine we laid in the infinite pool overlooking the ocean from a cliff and seeing the full moon come up on the other
side. Life’s not so bad. After sleeping soundly for 8 hours, another swim in the pool, a nice walk on the beach and
a lot of lovely food, I headed home with Natalie, the other geographer, and a liter of mothers’ milk in the cooler
bag. And what was it like, that first night without Tarek? Well, I have to admit that it was lovely. Maybe because I
knew it was only 24 hours and that getting back was easy, I did not miss my two lovely lads. I miss one of my
lovely lads now though … Hein just left by taxi, he’ll be back from Uganda Friday evening.
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Single dad
For 24 hours I was father and mother while Maya was at a house at the Southern beach, with two friends and an
infinite pool. Naturally I was a little nervous because I have no breasts that are always a solution to Tareks misery.
But I was left with a fair amount of frozen milk, surely enough. Tarek was behaving, he did not let me work a lot,
but I saw no reasons for violence. In the evening I could even watch two very movies, bloody ones but this was
unrelated.
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Passion
Very often I wish I carried a recorder of sorts to say the lines that might later, once settled in the computer corner,
turn into an entry of this log. When I sit feeding Tarek and listen to the sound of the bamboo in the back and see the
teenage monkeys play catch I resolve it should be written down. Talking with Hein about sampling lay out – I
sometimes function as colleague replacement – we hear trees swaying and branches breaking. It’s a monkey
morning. Later, as we go out for lunch we try to clear up the branches that the monkeys broke whilst getting from
A to B. One of the branches is still half dangling in the tree and I cannot shake it loose for the passion fruit plant
wound itself around it tightly. And then I see it, very green still –which is probably the reason the monkeys haven’t
taken it yet- our first home grown passion fruit.
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Wilhelmus
Finally have recuperated from a severe hangover in honor of our beloved queen her birthday. At the embassy 1
minute of silence was dedicated to the tragic accidents in Netherlands and Tanzania. There were plenty of bitter
balls, herring, eel, rookworst and people. Unfortunately Maya had to stay at home because we did not want to
expose the babysitter to Tareks’ new situation (see below). Afterwards there was a party on the Slipway
terrace.There were many more people I knew than expected, which was sort of comforting.
Maya is away to some massage saloon. Not that I am incapable of massage, which I am, but the Thai are simply
better. She is also doing some shopping for the braai we are having tonight at neighbor Olaf. Am kind of curious to
my response to alcohol. Tarek just allowed me to plant rocket salad in our new edible garden. We build it last week
and already the pumpkins and tomatoes have sprouted. There is quite a bit of room left however besides the chinese
spinach, eggplant and watermelon.
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(No) sleep and then ....
by maya - Friday, May 01, 2009
What happened to my lovely dovely sleeping baby? Tarek wanted to be fed 4 times last night. Hein went to the
queensday party and is sleeping off his hangover. Tarek just fell asleep too. What can I do but crash on the couch?
10 minutes after publishing below:
Just heard about explosion in Dar es Salaam. Think it probably was further out of town, on New Bagamoyo road.
Was thinking of going to Mlimani mall but will not if explosion took place where I think it did, as there will be
even huger traffic jams. I can witness that the blast was not felt by me, had to hear it from a studio in London.
O wait... it was to the south. Between Airport and Kilwa road, very far from where we live and not even close to
Mlimani.
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Things can go fast
by maya - Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sometimes … No, allow me to rephrase. Often I complain about things going slowly here. Seems that days can go
by waiting for a fundi that never shows up. When yr favourite brand of canned tomatoes is sold out in the
supermarket, prepare to start liking a different brand for a few months.
On the other hand, things can go superfast too. Last week I met a Dutch woman who knew some people at the
secondary school and told me to drop off my cv there, which I did on Monday morning. Today I had a proper job
interview! We’ll see where it leads. I’m not looking for a full time permanent position as a teacher, and the school
does not have that on offer. Who knows what'll happen by the time the next schoolyear starts …..
When I told the doctor a few weeks ago that sometimes I felt a bit isolated being home with Tarek all the time, she
gave me the phone number of Carolien, whose youngest daughter is two weeks younger than Tarek. A few days
later I was introduced to a new phenomenon: the babygroup. Very funny to see Tarek interact with other babies.
Uuuh well, maybe I should say potentially interact, he’s not too interested in other babies just yet.
Italian Vanessa and almost 3 months old Matteo, Portugese Anna with toddler Emma, Dutch Nienke sitting and
Dutch Tarek lying down and wobbling.
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Uneventful Sunday
by maya - Sunday, April 26, 2009
Still raining. Amazingly enough, there have been no power cuts or other shida kwa umeme (problem with the
power). And the sink drains and there is no leakage. I’ll not bother to tell you about the car. So far even those
problems appear to be minor and screwdrivers are a girls’ best friend.
But yes, rain. Not heavily but steadily. Not really appealing to go to Malaika, beach clubs are for brighter days. So
what else can one do on a rainy Sunday?
You could play with Trudpert while his parents attend mass. Or, like Tarek, you could play in the baby gym.
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Another option would be to work in the garden, replanting bananas for example.
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Maya prefers taking photographs of wildlife on the compound. A cordon blue in a cashew tree and a snake Hein
rescued from Tanzania's snake killers mentality.
Other than that, not much going on. Made a big pot of pumpkin soup yesterday, refilling the freezer. We had some
of it for lunch with German bread. Temperature went down enough to turn off the fan. Feels like Dutch autumn.
Bring me tea and cookies!
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South Africa Elections pt 2
by hein - Saturday, April 25, 2009
It is quite clear now, theoratically no absolute majority. Bring them machine guns!
South African elections 2009 (25/04/2009 BBC 15:45 GMT)
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South Africa Elections pt 1
by maya - Saturday, April 25, 2009
Did they or did they not win a 2/3 majority? All week the news has been dominated by the South African elections.
The question right now is 2/3 of seats for ANC or no.
The NRC thinks yes they did. The BBC disagrees.
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Weekend!
by hein - Saturday, April 25, 2009
Last night it started raining and it still does. Not too hard, but steady just like rain in the Netherlands (where it rains
on average 800mm a year, about two hours a day or 8% of total time). Tanzania has about the same annual rainfall
except that it falls in one long and one short rainy season. Power is still there, quite remarkable. Maya is making
coffee and flap-jacks, my favorites! The little one is sort of asleep although I hear him moaning now and then.
Our favourite program, Charlie Gillet’s weekly view on a world of music, is on the BBC now. A whole weekend is
about to come. No plans so probably some website updating, shopping and gardening.
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Derde bezoek Willempje (en Janneke)
by hein - Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Door: Willempje Bouwmeester
Op de dag van vertrek, 7 april, een kort verslag van mijn verblijf in Dar es Salaam. De derde keer in een jaar tijd,
wel erg lux, maar deze keer was de reden toch ook weer heel plausibel, nl. "een band opbouwen met mijn eerste
kleinkind".Daarom deze keer geen sightseeing tours, geen souvenirjacht - hoewel - en geen kroegentochten. Nee, in
plaats daarvan Tarekje in bad doen, Tarek in de draagzak over de compound, Tarek in slaap wiegen met arsenaal
kinderliedjes en gewoon naar Tarek kijken. Die liedjes moeten hoognodig worden opgepoetst, veel woorden zijn
me ontschoten. Niet dat dat Tarek iets uitmaakt, lalala en erre erre erre volstaat.
Ik heb erg van hem genoten. Gisteren was hij alweer vier maanden oud. Hij kijkt je aan, lacht, grijpt naar speeltjes,
vindt het heerlijk in bad, en vindt het soms minder leuk in zijn bedje. Maar armen genoeg om hem te wiegen.
Hein's, Cecilia's, Bibi's (Bibi is Swahili voor oma) en Maya's natuurlijk. Dat is absoluut de favoriet, maar zo hoort
het ook. Maya voedt hem nog helemaal zelf, behalve als ze naar fitness gaat (3 a 4 keer per week, 's morgens tussen
6 en 7 uur), dan geeft Hein hem een flesje.
De eerste vier dagen was ik hier met Janneke. We gingen naar de Kariakoo markt aan de andere kant van de stad.
Een grote, overdekte markt waar de lokale bevolking groente, fruit, vis, vlees, maar ook huishoudelijke artikelen,
zaaigoed, landbouwwerktuigen, enz. enz. inkoopt. Altijd weer boeiend, zo'n exotische markt.
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We hebben Hein's nieuwe kantoor, letterlijk naast de deur, bezichtigd. Een hele verbetering, maar ook
onpersoonlijk. Iedereen sluit zich op in zijn airco-kamer, je ziet geen kip op de gang. Hein beaamt dit ook, er is
nauwelijks collegiaal contact. Jammer.
We zijn een dag naar het strand geweest iets ten zuiden van Dar, Kipepeo Beach. Om er te komen moesten we over
met een ferry. Anders moet je anderhalf uur omrijden, om de baai. Op de ferry passen wel 40 auto's en heel, heel
veel mensen. Eerst mogen de auto's en de handkarren, meestal hoog opgetast met kratten frisdrank, kistjes tomaten,
fruit, plastic balen met ?, meubilair, matrassen, kortom meest uiteenlopende waar, de pont op en dan worden
letterlijk alle gaatjes opgevuld door voetgangers, de vrouwen in de meest kleurige kleding. De overtocht bedraagt
maar een paar minuten, onbegrijpelijk dat ze er geen brug bouwen. Het strand was mooi schoon, ook het water heel
redelijk, maar lauw. Afkoelen in zee is er niet bij. We installeerden ons bij een soort lodge, waar palmbladeren
dakjes de mensen beschermen tegen de zon, want die is er niet te harden.Tarek werd in zijn hangmatje gelegd,
onder het dakje en lag als een kleine prins te schommelen in een briesje uit zee. Heerlijke dag, gezwommen,
geluncht, koele drankjes, boekjes gelezen, het leven in de tropen is zo slecht nog niet. Op de terugweg hadden we
pech. Er was een containerschip gestrand vlakbij de afvaartplek van onze ferry, dus moesten we zeker een uur
wachten voor we naar de overkant konden. Daar kwamen we ook nog eens in de spits terecht, Tarek had het
helemaal gehad. Hein wandelde een eindje naast de file met Tarek op de arm, toen werd hij weer rustig. We zagen
honderden vleermuizen van flinke afmetingen door de lucht scheren, nog nooit zoveel bij elkaar, en zo groot
gezien. Volgens mij hadden ze het aan de stok met vlucht kraaien, die in dezelfde boom wilden overnachten.
Het gestrande schip
Op Janneke's laatste dag ging Maya 's middags naar een babygroep, moeders met jonge kindjes, en dus kon
Janneke's wens, middagje chillen bij de infinite pool van het Golden Tulip Hotel, ook nog in vervulling gaan.
Vanuit het zwembad kijk je zo de oceaan in, het is wel een hele mooie plek. Boekjes en tijdschriften mee, bacardi
cola in de hand, Jans geniet. Na Janneke's vertrek paar dagen rustig aan. Hein moest ook naar Nairobi, dus gewoon
beetje aantutten, Maya en ik, in en rondom het huis. We gaan langs bij de Hollandse dokter, want Tarek's
oorontsteking is nog niet helemaal over. De Dutch clinic is klein, schoon, fris in de verf en er liggen Hollandse
tijdschriften in de wachtruimte. Maya gaat vrijdagmorgen weer naar de fitness, en daarna met vriendin op
kledingjacht, maar ze is eigenlijk al weer snel terug, met alleen maar 1 korte broek voor Hein. Die zit perfect. Ik
herinner me uit de tijd dat ik babies had dat ik er heel erg naar kon verlangen paar uurtjes voor mezelf te hebben,
maar dat ik ook weer heel snel naar huis wilde als de gelegenheid zich voordeed.
In 't weekend komen Duitse en Deense vrienden cocktails drinken, die Hein maakt met nieuwe shaker. Maya maakt
een heerlijke lasage en vrienden nemen salade mee. En een bevriend Amerikaanse koppel op leeftijd die in Kigoma
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een half jaar medische trainingen geven. In Kigoma is helemaal niks te krijgen, deze mensen verdienen echt een
lintje. Want ze zijn al met pensioen en hoeven dit werk niet meer te doen.
Zondag lunchen we weer met 2 Deense vrouwen met hun kleine kindjes Hanna en Tiewe. Leuk dat er veel jonge
mensen met babies zijn, in Dar. Met Pasen gaan Hein en Maya met ene Deense stel en kindje Hanna naar de
Morogoro, 200 km ten zuiden van Dar es Salaam. Vanavond, na 10 dagen, weer terug naar Nederland. Naar een
Hollandse lente. Hoeft van mij niet zo heet te zijn.
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Umeme talk
-Habari za hapa?
-How it is here? Well, waiting for the fundi once more.
-What fundi?
-The one who came yesterday because our kitchen sink stopped draining. He decided he knew what the problem
was without looking at it, set some people to work with a chisel and then left. Now we have a hole in the wall from
which the kitchen sink seems to drain, much faster than before I must admit. But we also still have a bucket under
the sink and a very dirty leaky pipe down there. So that’s one reason I’m waiting for the fundi.
-At least the power is working.
-Uhh. Well.
-What?
-We had power for 36 hours from Sunday, only disrupted by two minor explosions somewhere close to Heins’
office yesterday afternoon. Yesterday evening I wanted to check the timer that should turn on our outside lights but
didn’t and as I took it out the house went dark. The other houses still had their lights on. Hein decided to turn on
the generator. Nice test as that had just been fixed after breaking down last week.
-The generator broke down?
-Yep, after 63 running hours since last year, 10 of those hours were last week when there was no power most of the
time, the generator seemingly had another one of those battery problems, like when we first got it. Saturday
morning we threw away three or four meals for Tarek, milk I had expressed and frozen. But the fundi from Heins’
work seems to be very reliable and fast working.
-So the generator worked last night?
-O yeah it worked. But we still did not have any power in the house. After some fiddling with the switchboard we
now have power in half the house. The fridge is working, thank goodness as I’ve started freezing more milk. But
the water pumps are not working, nor are any of the lights in the bedrooms and bathrooms. I’m hoping that if and
when the fundi comes he’ll also look into the power problem.
-Pole sana.
-Asante.
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Vrooommm
by maya - Thursday, April 16, 2009
Vroommm. That’s the sound of 3 generators humming in unison. Philip Glass may like it. Particularly with the
ticking of the dryer in the background for a little variation. Tanesco, the electricity people, came by today to fix
something on the roof. This, naturally, does not in any way imply that the electricity works now. Since Sunday
we’ve not had a full day of working umeme. It seems there are/were 3 problems. One concerned the whole
neighourhood but as we came back from dinner out (didn't want to cook with candlelight again) we noticed the
lights are on almost everywhere. Problem one solved. The second problem was at our house, which is hopefully
fixed now. We may even have gone back to a three phase system (see a whole lot of entries around the same time
last year). We’ll only know once the last problem is solved. This concerns the electricity pole outside our
compound. Yesterday our neighbour Olaf and I walked to the mast and noticed that big sparks come off when the
wind blows in such a way that a particularly big tree, standing on a neighbouring compound, sways right into the
wires. Today Nico, the main askari, managed to convince the Tanesco people to come have a look with him. They
were finally convinced that the combination tree, pole and wind is problematic. The solution seemed very simple,
convince the owners of the tree to do something about the branches that grow into the wiring. As the people there
haven’t had electricity for days it did not take much to convince them. Within half an hour three men started
hacking away with machetes. It took them hours but they did it: the whole tree is gone. Naturally, this does not in
any way imply that we have umeme now. Vroommm.
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Tweede bezoek Willempje
by hein - Monday, October 20, 2008
Door: Willempje
Van 10 – 20 oktober 2008 waren wij (Fred en Willempje, ouders van Hein) te gast bij Hein en Maya. Willempje
voor de tweede keer, Fred voor de eerste.
We waren toen al 12 dagen op reis in Tanzania, maakten een safari, beginnend in Arusha, naar de verschillende
wildparken. Arusha, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Krater, Serengeti en Lake Natron. Het was een
indrukwekkende reis van ongeveer 1600 – 1800 km, meest over onverharde, hobbelige wegen, maar we werden
comfortabel vervoerd door Abdul, onze gids en chauffeur in een ruime Toyota Landcruiser 4WD met open dak, dat
recht omhoog open ging, zodat je staande, uit de zon, het wild, de vogels en het landschap kon bekijken. Hoewel je
op deze manier aardig wat stof binnenkreeg was het briesje langs je gezicht erg aangenaam. We overnachtten in
uiteenlopende plaatsen, in lodges. Van eenvoudige tot super de luxe lodges of “tented camps”, ruime tenten, op
palen, met een palmbladeren dak erover, tegen hitte en regen. Deze tenten bevatten niet alleen gewone bedden,
maar ook een badkamer, vaak met bad.
We hebben veel wild gezien. Zebra’s, giraffen, gnoes, impala’s, dickdicks, Thomson gazelles, Grant gazelles,
cheetahs, luipaarden, leeuwen, hippo’s, 1 neushoorn (!), hyena’s, jakhals, bavianen, en vele andere soorten apen,
olifanten, te veel om op te noemen. Fred en ik ontdekten deze keer ook de enorme variëteit aan vogels, dankzij
onze gids, die veel namen kende.
Op onze tocht stuitten we ook op de Masaai, die in dit gebied, en het zuiden van Kenia, wonen. Op de meest
desolate (en naar ons idee droge) gebieden zag je soms opeens een kleurige Masaai man of een paar vrouwen in de
onmetelijke vlakte lopen. De mannen (in felrode lap gewikkeld, met een stok) meestal met vee, de vrouwen, in
blauwe lap, uitgedost met kralenkettingen en dito mutsjes, met ezeltjes, beladen met plastic jerrycans, flessen, op
weg, of terug komend van de rivier of een waterplaats. We reden soms langs Masaai dorpjes, die bijna nooit aan de
weg liggen, maar middenin een vlakte. Ze hebben toch geen auto’s, dus hoeven ze niet aan de weg te zitten. Ze
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hebben vaak enorme kuddes, vnl. koeien, maar soms ook geiten, ezels of schapen. De dieren zien er meestal niet
erg goed gevoed uit. Maar het was ook het einde van het droge seizoen, dus weinig voedsel en water.
Kinderen rennen naar de auto, als je voorbij komt, “pen, pen”, roepend, en een schrijfgebaar met de hand makend,
ik zou iedereen die die kant op gaat, willen aanraden pennen (of potloden zijn prima) mee te nemen. Die zijn
moeilijk te krijgen op het platteland en er is een enorme behoefte aan bij schoolkinderen. Kortom, het was een
schitterende reis, maar het leidt te ver om hierover in de gastencolumn uitgebreid verslag van te doen. Dus over
naar ons verblijf bij Hein en Maya in Dar es Salaam.
Toen we er op 10 oktober aankwamen kwamen Hein en Maya ook net terug uit Mombasa. Hein had daar o.a. een
presentatie gehouden op de bananenconferentie, een heerlijk fout woord! Maya had genoten van luxe hotel,
zwembaden (7) en overvloedige maaltijden.
Ze is prachtig zwanger, draagt haar buik met verve. Ze barst zo langzamerhand uit de kleren, maar hanteert
creatieve oplossingen. Gelukkig had Nanja ons een hele tas zwangerschapskleren meegegeven, die Maya
enthousiaste kreten ontlokte en ik had bij Prenatal een bikini en een broek gekocht die uitstekend bleken te passen.
Fred inspecteerde het huis, sinds mijn vorige bezoek (6 mnd geleden) is het huis “eigener” geworden. Er hangen
lampen, er is een mooie eettafel met stoelen, in de keuken hangen houten kastjes met glazen deurtjes, en er staat
een prachtig, Arabisch logeerbed met uitstekende klamboe in ‘onze slaapkamer”. Compleet met houtsnijwerk en
blauwe, glazen ruitjes. “Mijn” (eenpersoons) kamer wordt de babykamer, daar zijn de donkere kastdeuren wit
geverfd, lekker licht. Aan de wand hangen hier en daar wat schilderijen, of wandkleden, er liggen kussentjes op de
bank, kortom Hollandse huiselijkheid. Ook is er een goede studeerhoek in de kamer waar de pc's staan.
Maar de meeste belangstelling gaat natuurlijk uit naar de tuin, die door Fred aan een minutieus onderzoek wordt
onderworpen. Elk plantje, elk stekje, wordt besproken en het ongelooflijke is gebeurd: Hein en Maya zijn al net
zulke mutsen op tuingebied als mijn “constant gardener”. Ik geloof dat Fred’s uiteindelijke oordeel over de tuin
goed uitpakt: het kan zijn goedkeuring wegdragen. Wel vindt hij (ik herken het uit Paterswolde) dat een deel van
het gazon er aan moet geloven om nog meer vaste planten onder te brengen, maar ik, veel nuchterder in deze
dingen, raad het Hein af, omdat hij in het droge seizoen dan nog langer bezig is met water geven (met gieters, elke
avond als hij uit zijn werk komt!). Ik zie Hein en ook Maya toch wel een beetje opgelucht ademhalen, zij gebruiken
nu al het meeste water van de hele compound, eigenlijk niet verantwoord.
De eerste dagen genieten we van onze rust en van elkaar. Beetje wasjes draaien, beetje boodschapjes doen,
rondkijken in Dar, BBQen (lomito!), lezen, nieuw spelletje doen, dat we hebben meegenomen. “Regenwormen”,
nr. 1 bij Wirwar, de speelgoedwinkel in Groningen, wat inderdaad een heel leuk spel blijkt te zijn. Fred en Hein
laten zelfs het schaken er voor staan, dat ze de eerste dagen weer even fanatiek hadden opgepakt. Lekker uit eten
bij “Addis in Dar”, gezellig en uitstekend Ethiopisch restaurant in de buurt. Kennisgemaakt met Olaf, de nieuwe
buurman, en Trudpert, het baby’tje van de andere buren.
Zondag vliegen we met klein vliegtuigje (12 passagiers) naar Mafia Island, een eilandje voor de kust, ten zuiden
van Zanzibar. Maya heeft 2 “banda’s”(weer van die mooie hutten op palen) besproken in Ras Mbisi Lodge. Ze is
afgegaan op de hemelse beschrijving in de Lonely Planet over het eten, voor Maya deze maanden zo ongeveer het
allerbelangrijkste item, de zwangerschap bezorgt haar een “gezonde trek” in het kwadraat! De keuken is inderdaad
niet mis, heerlijke gerookte vis, salades van tomaten en rucola, eigen gebakken brood, zeer smakelijke toetjes.
Jammie!
Onze banda staat op palen, hooguit 50 m van zee, onder de kokospalmen, vanuit je bed kijk je zo de Indische
Oceaan in. Er zijn geen wanden, het is alleen een afdak van palmbladeren, je kunt grote lappen van kaasdoek laten
zakken als je meer privacy wenst. Af en toe hoor ik “plof”, dan valt er een kokosnoot in het zand. Alles in de banda
is gemaakt van kokosnoothout, de stoelen, tafel, het bed, zelfs het zeepje. Voor het trapje dat naar de veranda leidt
staat een grote terracotta bloempot gevuld met water om je voeten af te spoelen voordat je je huisje binnenstapt. De
“lilac breasted roller” pikt naar mieren naast de hut, blauw, blauw, blauw. Het zand is spierwit.
De tweede dag huren we een dhow om de zee op te gaan. In de luwte van het eiland leven jonge walvishaaien, die
daar blijven totdat ze groot genoeg zijn om de wilde baren te trotseren. Ook gaan we snorkelen, tussen het koraal.
De walvishaaien laten zich helaas niet zien vandaag, en het water is vrij troebel tijdens het snorkelen, zodat we niet
veel kleuren kunnen onderscheiden, maar who cares? Op een onbewoond eilandje wordt onze lunch klaargemaakt
(gegrilde barracuda!) met een heerlijke salade. Uit de koelbox komen biertjes, sapjes, witte wijn, het leven is goed!!
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Er strijkt een koppel zwarte en witte reigers neer, vlak voor ons op het strand, perfect. Op de terugweg zien we de
zon in de zee zakken. Het enige minpunt van ons verblijf op het eiland zijn de sandflies, je ziet ze niet, voelt ze
niet, tot een paar uur later, dan begint het te jeuken en krijg je flinke bulten. Dat duurt wel een paar dagen. Om ze te
verjagen steekt men ’s avonds bij het restaurant een vuur van kokosnotenschillen, daar houden die vliegjes niet
van, maar het zet geen zoden aan de dijk. Maya en ik zitten dagen onder de bulten.
Als we terugkeren in Dar es Salaam is het Julius Nyerere dag, een van de vele nationale feestdagen in Tanzania.
Het is dan ook heel druk op straat. Markten, vuurtjes, maar weinig muziek. Een verschil met Zuid Amerika, daar
hoor je overal muziek, niet alleen in cafés, huizen, maar ook in bussen, auto’s, op straat. Zijn de mensen hier
serieuzer? Er valt misschien minder te lachen, het leven is hard.
Woensdag gaat Hein weer aan het werk. Fred doet wat klusjes in huis. Planken op maat maken en ophangen in de
twee badkamers, en later nog een samen met Hein, in de babykamer. Het zweet gutst van zijn lijf. Maya en ik gaan
met een bajaj (zo’n motortaxi) naar de ijzerwinkel om schuurpapier (made in Holland!) te halen. Alsof je in de
botsautootjes zit op de kermis. Lekker luchtig, koel briesje, dat wel, maar je staat doodsangsten uit. Auto’s hebben
totaal geen respect voor je, en de bajajchauffeur wringt zich overal tussendoor. Maar Maya zit gezellig naast me te
kouten, dus ik moet me niet aanstellen. Ook nog even de supermarkt in, mmmm, zalig, net een ijskast, na die hitte.
Donderdagochtend gaat Maya naar zwangerschapsyoga. Op maandagavond is er les, dan gaat Hein mee. Fred en ik
gaan op zoek naar leuke souvenirs, o.a. op de Tinga Tinga markt, daar moet je zijn voor schilderijen. Fred is heel
enthousiast en koopt er twee. Ook kopen we een “askari” een bewaker/politieagent in een mooi wit uniform, van
hout. Fred denkt zoals gewoonlijk weer groot. Maya sleept ons ook nog naar andere marktjes, de Slipway en de
markt op Mwenge Road. Leuk, maar na een paar uur ben je totaal uitgeput en rijp voor een ijskoude douche (maar
die is er niet). Voor Maya vind ik het erg zwaar, dus sturen we haar naar huis en nemen later een bajaj naar huis.
Maakt Fred dat ook mee. Hij boft want het is spitsuur. Als we in een file terechtkomen stuurt onze chauffeur zijn
bajaj gewoon het talud af, langs de weg en een endje verderop, waar men weer rijdt, het talud weer op. Fred en ik
klemmen ons aan elkaar vast achterin.
’s Avonds gaan we in een goed restaurant Mediterraneo (!) eten, aan zee. Hein heeft beetje de pest in, wordt
beroerd van de afstand naar zijn werk. Elke dag een uur heen en een uur terug over een ongelooflijk drukke,
gevaarlijke weg. Het is maar 35 km, maar door opstoppingen, files, enz. kost het hem een uur heel geconcentreerd
rijden. Heeft al een paar keer aanrijdingen gehad. Er is een kantoor van de IITA veel dichterbij, maar daar zit men
hutje mutje op elkaar, daar is geen plaats voor Hein.
De volgende morgen, als Maya en wij naar dat kantoor gaan om geld voor de huur te halen horen we van Francis,
collega van Hein, dat IITA aan het onderhandelen is met eigenaar van kantoorruimte NAAST het huis van Maya en
Hein! Als dat eens zou gebeuren! (5/11: gaat definitief door, contract is getekend! W). Dat betekent dat Hein kan
lopen naar kantoor, en tussen de middag eventjes baby kan knuffelen!
Zaterdagmorgen gaan we naar het centrum van Dar, naar een galerie, en naar de stofjesmarkt. We zoeken ons een
rotje naar een leuk restaurantje waar Maya en Hein wel eens hebben geluncht, maar kunnen het niet vinden. Het
centrum is erg onoverzichtelijk, ook zijn er geen uithangborden bij winkels, cafés, e.d. We lunchen in soort
cultureel centrum, authentieker dan hotel Mövenpick, waar we onze auto veilig hebben geparkeerd!
Zaterdagavond zijn we uitgenodigd bij Olaf, de buurman, op zijn verjaardag. Een hele groep Duitsers, die
behoorlijk goed Engels spreekt bij elkaar. De meesten werken al jaren in Tanzania op het gebied van lepra, aids,
een antropologe verricht er onderzoek, ook op het gebied van aids. Zware verhalen. Hein beheert het vuur, volgens
mij is hij er niet echt blij mee, want iedereen zit te praten en te eten en terwijl hij alsmaar lapjes vlees omdraait, op
de hoek van de veranda. Echter, zijn tijd komt nog wel, maar dan liggen Maya, ik en zelfs Fred al in bed.
Op zondag worden we uiteraard gewekt door de kerkdienst op het dak. Er wordt gezongen door een koortje, dan
door een vrouw en het orgeltje gaat on and on and on. We stappen in de auto en gaan lunchen op het strand, bij
“Belinda”. Het kost ongeveer een uur voordat we onze bestelling hebben doorgegeven, nog een uur voordat we
weten dat 9 van de 10 gerechten op het menu er niet zijn en dan nog een uur totdat we ons schamele bordje vis
geserveerd krijgen. Maar het bier en de wijn komen wel goed door, dat is het belangrijkste! Carolyn, een collega
van Hein die vlakbij woont, komt erbij. Leuk om haar een beetje te leren kennen. Voor vertrek nog even een paar
spelletjes regenwurmen nu het nog kan!
Thuis pakken we de koffers, maar die moeten we op het vliegveld weer uitpakken, want de rode koffer (gewicht 34
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kg) mag niet mee van de baliemedewerker. 46 kg bagage is geoorloofd, maar dan wel in 2 koffers van 23 kg. Op
Schiphol was dat 3 weken geleden geen punt, maar zij houdt voet bij stuk. Gelukkig hebben we nog een kleine
Samsonite (die hebben we in iets grotere Samsonite koffer gedaan, omdat we terug veel minder spullen hebben dan
heen), en we smijten ruim 10 kg in het kleinere koffertje, totdat de weegschaal met de rode koffer precies 23 kg
aanwijst. Dit tot grote verbijstering van de dame achter de balie die geld rook.
De weg naar het vliegveld blijkt trouwens levensgevaarlijk in het donker. Er is bijna geen straatverlichting en het is
ontzettend druk langs de weg. Busjes vol mensen rijden zomaar vanaf de berm de weg op en ook zien we een paar
keer een busje met pech op de tweede baan staan. Zonder verlichting, ja er ligt een tak op 5 m achter de bus,
levensgevaarlijk. We staan paar keer in de file en Hein zit zo ongeveer met z’n neus tegen de voorruit. Fred en ik
rijden mee achterin. Dit moeten Hein en Maya echt nooit meer doen, ’s avonds laat mensen naar het vliegveld
brengen. Op een gegeven moment stoppen er een paar auto’s, maar Hein kan er nog net langs schieten.
Verontwaardigd zeggen we tegen elkaar “snap je dat nou, gaan zomaar stilstaan?” Zijn deze auto’s gestopt voor
een goederentrein, die zonder waarschuwingsbord of knipperlicht op de weg ons pad kruist. 10 seconden later en de
trein had ons gegrepen! Je moet het maar weten! Poeh, poeh, we zitten allemaal te shaken.
Nog maar een biertje en een pizza op het vliegveld, voor de schrik, we hebben ook nog de tijd. Voor Maya en Hein
misschien ook minder druk, wat later, die akelige terugweg. Voordat wij in het vliegtuig stappen bellen ze ons al.
“We zijn thuis”.
Wij ook, alweer twee weken, en kijken terug op een heerlijke tijd in Dar. Voor de laatste keer met vier volwassenen
onder elkaar! De volgende keer draait alles om “die kleine”! Heel bewust beleefd, deze week en uitkijkend naar de
volgende fase!
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Bezoek Otto en Merlijne
Door Merlijne de Jong
Vier weken rondreizen in Tanzania. In tegenstelling tot het dagelijks leven, houden we er in de vakantie niet zo van
lang op dezelfde plaats te verblijven. Verandering van spijs doet eten. Tanzania is bij uitstek een land dat in die
behoefte kan voorzien, behalve dan misschien wat betreft het eten. Vele klimaatzones, grondgesteldheden, flora,
fauna, stammen, religies, enz. Hein en Maya halen ons het vliegveld op. Bier en barbecue in Dar es Salaam. Vier
weken eerder was het hetzelfde recept in Den Haag.
De eerste dag hangen we wat rond in de stad en zwemmen aan een strandje in de geur van fecaliën. Het is weer tijd
om verder te gaan.
De volgende ochtend vertrekken we naar Zanzibar. Een eiland in de Indische Oceaan, waar bij wijze van
uitzondering voor deze uithoek van de wereld, kruidige maaltijden bereid worden. Arabische, Indiase en
Afrikaanse invloeden mixen hier kleuren en spijzen. Een helder blauwe koraalkust, exotische schelpen en de
weldaad aan vruchten doen paradijselijk aan. En alsof deze wereld niet voldoende is, gaan we ook onderwater
kijken met de duikbril. Merlijne stapt in een zee-egel. 12 stekels dringen door de eeltlaag heen. Een antagonistisch
gekrijs over de verder zo rustig kabbelende Indische Oceaan. We willen nog de Kilimanjaro beklimmen.
Na wat ellendige minuten doet het bijtende zout zijn werk en varen we met dhow (Arabisch voor zeilboot) naar het
koraal.
We zijn drie dagen op Zanzibar en beginnen aan dit paradijs te wennen, tijd om weer verder te gaan. Met de Dala
Dala (op Zanzibar is dit een minibusje en vrachtwagentje tegelijk) reizen we weer terug naar Dar.
In Tanzania zijn enkele verkeersborden (overstekende olifanten) en heel soms plaatsnaamborden. Goede kaarten
ontbreken en de wegenwacht en APK is ook anders geregeld. Hein en Maya laten zich in deze kwesties adviseren
door Mr Mgoba, hierna te noemen ANWB. Hij helpt ons bij het organiseren van de tocht naar de top van de
Kilimanjaro en zorgt voor een check van Maya’s jeep. Tevens kunnen we hem altijd bellen als we in de problemen
komen … hij haalt ons dan uit de brand.
In alle vroegte worden wij door een jammerende Imam tot gebed opgeroepen. We vertrekken echter per jeep naar
het noorden van Tanzania om de Kilimanjaro te beklimmen. Op de Kili hebben we elke dag in een andere
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klimaatzone. Temperaturen van 28 tot -15 graden en luchtdruk verschillen hier van 1000 millibar tot onder de 500
millibar.
Gelukkig worden we goed verzorgd. We houden wel van een pittig verzetje, maar zes dagen met een zware rugzak
op lijkt ons wat veel. We huren een gids (‘Babu’ Augustin) en assistent gids (Alfesto) plus vier dragers waarvan er
eentje tevens kok is (Alfred) en een andere ober (Marcus).
Na een halve dag wandelen zijn we toe aan onze eerste lunch en wordt duidelijk waarom we zoveel dragers nodig
hebben. We worden genood te gaan zitten op de krukjes aan het gedekte tafeltje met: kip, vruchten, soep en
broodjes. Een enigszins bevreemdende aanblik midden in het regenwoud (inderdaad … regen), waar onze eerste
etappe doorheen loopt. We slapen net onder de boomgrens op 2.890 m. De tweede dag lopen we door naar 3.840
m. Otto voelt de hoogte aan zijn hoofd, maar blijkt gewoon niet de nodige 5 liter water per dag gedronken te
hebben. De derde dag door de geheel doodse hoogvlakte heeft Merlijne de hoogte in de benen. Het verschil tussen
start en finish deze dag is maar 100 m, maar ’s middags zijn we 0,5 km hoger. Deze dag is speciaal voor de
acclimatisatie. We beginnen aan de ingekochte structuur te wennen. Elke ochtend worden we om 6:30h gewekt met
een kop thee. Vervolgens ruimen we onze tent op en pakken onze bagage in voor de dragers. We krijgen pap, een
omelet en (steeds ouder) brood. ’s Middags fruit en soep (steeds dezelfde smaak met een andere naam) en ’s
avonds, popcorn, gebakken pinda’s, soep (weer een andere naam) en groenten met rijst.
Onze laatste overnachting voor de uiteindelijke beklimming van de top is bij Barafu Hut op 4600 m. Om 23:00 h
worden we gewekt met een kopje thee. Om 0:00 h vertrekken we (met gids zonder dragers) om rond 6:30 h van de
zonsopgang te genieten op Stella Point (5.735 m). We hebben zonder noemenswaardige stop gestegen. Midden in
de nacht op stap, met hoofdlampjes op lijkt het een soort Sint Maarten optocht. Gelukkig hebben we volle maan en
kunnen we redelijk makkelijk het pad zien.
Op Stella Point aangekomen komt de zon net tevoorschijn. Merlijne heeft haar laatste energie nu verbruikt. Otto
gaat nog even naar Uhuru Peak (5.895 m) “Africa’s highest point, worlds highest free-standing mountain, one of
world’s largest volcanoes..welcome”, staat er te lezen op één van de schaarse naambordjes die Tanzania rijk is.
Terug in het kamp mogen we van de gids even een uurtje slapen en krijgen als we weer ‘wakker’ zijn …(o,
structuur) soep met weer een andere naam en zelfde smaak. Soep, ei, popcorn… goed bedoeld, maar de rest van de
vakantie hebben we er geen trek meer in!
De afdaling gaat weer door een kale hoogvlakte. Het water is op en wandelen de hele dag op de gedachte aan
water. Uitgeput komen we aan in het regenwoud. We waren de laatste dagen vertrouwd geraakt met het alom
aanwezige stof dat zelfs door het gaas van de tent komt waaien. In het regenwoud blijkt dezelfde stof in een zeer
vloeibaar soort modder te veranderen. Alles wat je aanraakt geeft zwart water af. Gelukkig hoeven we nog maar
één dag met deze vieze spullen.
Terug in Moshi bij ons Lutheraans hostel merken we dat de tocht ons toch meer heeft uitgeput dan we dachten. We
nemen een dagje rust en voeden ons met bruin brood (nergens te krijgen behalve hier), yoghurt (schaars), verse
koffie (eigenlijk voor de export) en een boek. Welverdiende rust. Dan is het weer tijd om verder te gaan.
Behalve een aapje in de tuin van Maya en Hein hebben we nog geen ‘wilde dieren’ gezien. Op safari dus. Het
Tarangire National Park ligt in de Maasai steppe. Een steppe, genoemd naar haar nomadische inwoners. Lieden die
zich met trots verzetten tegen veranderingen in leefwijze (heel hedendaags dus). We kamperen op een stukje
ommuurde steppe. Een Maasai met pijl en boog beschermt ons ‘s nachts tegen zijn stamleden.
We hebben het asfalt nu ver achter ons gelaten. De ‘dirt roads’ leiden ons nu langs zebra’s, impala’s, giraffen,
antilopen, wratzwijnen, gnoe’s (Wildebeest), gazellen, buffels, bavianen, olifanten en zelfs een leeuw. Merlijne
neemt wat vaart om een heuveltje van stuifzand op te rijden, bijna boven … staan we oog in oog met een olifant aan.
Abrupt remmen en even stil staan op een te schuin stukje weg. De remschijven zitten vol stof en houden de jeep
niet meer. Achteruitglijdend proberen we de auto op het pad te houden. De ongebruikelijkheid van deze rijwijze
ontgaat de olifant niet. Met een schelle trompet roept hij de familie erbij. Een achttal olifanten zit ons verbaasd aan
te staren.
We hebben een kwart van de hobbel-de-bobbel-weg gehad, nog ca. 350 km te gaan. We dachten dat hier geen
dorpjes zouden zijn. Niets was daarvan op de kaart te vinden. Grote delen van de route echter laten het typische
beeld zien van een hobbel-de-bobbel-weg met vrouwen met water, was of struiken op hun hoofd, mannen die
karren voortduwen en kinderen in schooluniformen die zwaaien. Soms een voorbij racende jeep die het tafereel
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omhult met een dikke stofwolk.
Onze jeep heeft er genoeg van. De uitlaat breekt en föhnt nu dieseltank. Onze afspraak met Hein, Maya en Daniëlle
in Morogoro gaan we niet op tijd halen.
Gelukkig heeft Tanzania het hoogst aantal automonteurs per auto. Twaalf zwarte handjes en een lasvlam zorgen er
binnen twee uur voor dat onze uitlaat een geheel andere doch bruikbare vorm heeft gekregen. Het is inmiddels
19:30h en stikdonker. Onverantwoord om nog door te rijden over een onverlichte asfaltweg zonder
noemenswaardige tussenplaatsen. We rijden een dorpje terug omdat daar een guesthouse zou zijn. Uitbater ‘Babu‘
(vader in Swahili) is erg blij dat hij zijn Engels kan oefenen op ons. ‘Mama’ bereidt het eten, waar we inmiddels
erg aan toe zijn. Voldaan gaan we slapen. Er is hier geen stromend water, maar wel warm water. In een grote ketel
op gloeiende kooltjes achter het huis kunnen we emmertjes warm water halen om ons te wassen.
De auto moet helaas de volgende morgen aangeduwd worden, maar daarna rijden we ‘non stop’ door naar
Morogoro.
Met Hein, Maya en Daniëlle gaan we naar Ruaha NP. De auto heeft het echter gehad. De dieseltank lekt (wordt
gemaakt, lekt weer, wordt gemaakt, lekt weer), de accu wordt vervangen, de voorbumper valt er af. Hein belt de
ANWB om te vragen wat er moet gebeuren en om de prijs te bepalen met de ook hier weer in overvloed aanwezige
monteurachtige kinderen. Het binnenstedelijke (inmiddels in Iringa) benzinestation ademt een onmiskenbare
authentieke Afrikaanse sfeer.
Om de tijd te doden leert Daniëlle Swahili van Maya, Otto en Hein spelen schaak en Merlijne leest een boek. We
moeten een nacht overblijven in Iringa. De volgende dag kunnen weer eindelijk weer verder naar Ruaha.
Maya geniet dat ze weer in haar autootje kan rijden en ontwijkt behendig de gaten en oneffenheden in de weg. Hein
houdt zich bezig met zijn GPS en vertelt nauwlettend welke consequenties ´intermezzo’s´ hebben op onze
gemiddelde snelheid.
Halverwege de middag bereiken we de lodge (ook een advies van de ANWB). Vanaf het terras kijken we uit over
de eindeloze vlakte Acaciabomen. Nadat onze tassen in mierzoet ingerichte kamer staan (Daniëlle’s kamer
lichtgevend oranje, de kamer van Hein en Maya lichtgevend roze en onze kamer lichtgevend geel), gaan we naar
het Nationaal Park. We hadden nog geen krokodillen en nijlpaarden gezien en waren dus blij verrast toen we enkele
door de stroom lopende gepolijste dikke ‘rotsen’ zagen klapperen en draaien met hun oortjes. De krokodillen
trokken zich niets van deze Hipo’s (zo niet de domste dan toch de meest plompe safaridieren) aan.
We hadden de taken verdeeld: Otto zoek de luipaarden, Maya identificeert de vogels, Hein doet de
landschapsfoto’s, Merlijne doet het watermanagement en Daniëlle doet close-up foto’s. Alleen Otto heeft zijn taak
niet naar behoren volbracht.
Na drie dagen safari snel naar Dar Es Salaam om nog wat souvenirs te kopen. ’s Avonds gaan we (Olaf i.p.v.
Maya) bier drinken in de plaatselijke bar/ disco/ hoerentent. De anders zo zorgvuldig en charmant geklede vrouwen
in de meest kleurige Kanga´s (doeken), zijn nu wel erg schaars gekleed. Het typisch Oost-Afrikaanse gebrek aan
haar is hier lang, blond of paars. De dames dingen naar de gunsten van oude wazungu (Swahili voor blanke
vreemdelingen).
Uitslapen, nog snel een paar souvenirs en met de taxi door het drukke verkeer naar het vliegveld- terug naar
Scheveningen.
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Eerste bezoek Willempje
by hein - Friday, April 25, 2008
Door: Willempje
De eerste week in Dar besteed aan een beetje acclimatiseren, rondkijken in Dar en omgeving, zweten op de veranda
en muggenbulten tellen. Een kakkerlak boven mjn hoofd in de klamboe, dat soort dingen. Geen Fred in de buurt om
het beest te vernietigen. Ja, ik sta er helemaal alleen voor hier, hoewel, alleen, ik heb 2 zeer capabele vrouwen om
mij heen, die regelen alles. Mijn lieve schoondochter Maya, uiteraard, die al een aardig woordje Swahili spreekt (ik
ben nog niet verder dan "pole" , hetgeen sorry betekent) en haar hartsvriendin Marije (of Marrigje, zoals Maya haar
noemt). Zeer bijdehand, maar voor Marije is het de eerste keer in Afrika en ze is o.a. bang voor de tropische
beestjes, muggen i.h.b. en schudt steeds haar hoofd als ze merkt dat het hier niet zo goed geregeld is allemaal. Wat
dat betreft voel ik mij een echte tropenkenner, dat heb ik allemaal al een keer doorgemaakt, breek me de b ... niet
open.
Hein vertrekt om een uur of 8, 's morgens, en komt om een uur of zes thuis. Als hij het huis uitgaat komt mamma
Elisa binnen, de hulp, die elke dag de vloeren veegt, dweilt, strijkwerk doet, enz. Ik dacht dat ze ongeveer een jaar
of 40-45 zou zijn, moeilijk in te schatten, ze blijkt 53 jaar te zijn. Ze is recentelijk weduwe geworden, vertelde ze
me, en heeft kinderen. Ze is erg bescheiden, veel te veel eerbied voor die rijke blanken, soms genant. Maar Maya
kletst met haar in het Swahili, en leert ook van haar de taal.
Hein doet wat hij kan, op het werk, maar echt gladjes verloopt het nog niet. Hij ergert zich aan de enorme
bureaucratie. Om een voorbeeld te noemen: hij heeft er een maand over gedaan om een nietmachine te
bemachtigen, op zijn kantoortje. Zjin baas is een Congolees en ouder en in Afrika betekent dat dat je dan buigt als
een knipmes, en daarin is Hein niet zo goed. Hij heeft gelukkig een hele leuke collega, Carolyn, haar hebben we
kort ontmoet, die hem begrijpt en, hopelijk, bemoedigt.
Naar de haven, in het centrum geweest om tickets voor de boot naar Zanzibar te kopen. De kaartjes zijn voor
toeristen 2 x zo duur als voor residents, maar vooruit, het toerisme is hier een goede inkomstenbron. We hadden de
auto bij het Hilton Hotel geparkeerd en hebben wat rondgelopen in de stad. Hier redelijk veel hoge gebouwen,
nieuw en shabby wisselen elkaar af, grote billboards, de vooruitgang rukt ook hier op. Veel mensen op straat, vaak
in kleurige rokken gekleed. Mannen soms ook in doeken, dat zijn leden van de Masaai. Die worden op een
bepaalde leeftijd de " bush" ingestuurd en moeten zich dan maar enkele jaren zien te redden. Het enige wat ze
hebben is hun kleding en een stok (speer) en ze lopen hele afstanden het land door. Op een gegeven moment gaan
ze weer terug naar hun stam (of niet) en zijn dan "krijger" geworden. Hun bestemmng wordt bij de geboorte al
bepaald. Sommigen worden herder, vrouwen moeten natuurlijk voor de kinderen zorgen en ...... ? Paar keer deze
mensen bij een bar ontmoet als we parkeerden 's avonds, ze staan dan beetje bij de auto's en hopen op een
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muntstuk. Bedelen niet echt.
Straathandel niet zoveel als bijv. in Zuid Amerika, maar dat wordt van overheidswege ontmoedigd, heb ik gelezen,
omdat dat het straatbeeld vervuilt. De straatverkopers zijn daar natuurlijk niet blij mee. Ze mogen nog wel, maar
dan moeten ze wat belasting betalen.
Langs de Ned. ambassade gelopen, een karakteristiek gebouw in deze stad, splinternieuw. Deed mij een beetje
denken aan de Ned. inzending op de wereldtentoonstelling in Hannover, paar jaar geleden, maar ben naam architect
vergeten.
Het is ongelooflijk groen, maar dat komt natuurlijk door de regen. Het hoost bij tijd en wijlen. Veel bloeiende
bomen, struiken, planten. Sommige vind ik afschuwelijk als kamerplant in Nederland (bijv. de pik op schotel),
maar hier staat het heel mooi, die felle kleuren.
Mensen zijn erg religieus hier. Aantal hoofddoeken valt me mee, wel mannen met zo'n mooi recht mutsje, dat zijn
.m.i. moslims, maar je hebt ook veel fanatieke christenen. Vlakbij huis H en M worden dagelijks op het dak van
een huis diensten gehouden. Eerst begint er een orgeltje te spelen (gaat uren door, echt letterlijk, klinkt een beetje
als "Droomland"!) en dan valt de voorganger in. Als je denkt nu is hij wel bijna klaar, komt hij pas goed op stoom,
en kan urenlang doorgaan. En dat niet alleen op zondag! Toch moeten er ook veel moslims zijn, want regelmatig
hoor ik vanaf minaretten oproepen tot het gebed. Het zit dus wel snor, met die Tanzanianen. Ze zijn erg vriendelijk,
ze lachen en spreken je aan op straat. Ik ben "mamma" en ze willen me vaak een hand geven. Nou vooruit.
Onlangs zijn we naar een (blanke) kroeg geweest, daar werd Liverpool-Arsenal op een groot scherm vertoond, voor
de Engelsen en Zuidafrikanen die hier in groten getale wonen. Eerst mochten we niet in het zaaltje waar het scherm
stond (only members), maar ik ben op de (Canadese) portier afgegaan en heb al m'n charmes in de strijd gegooid,
en ja hoor, het hielp! De tweede helft gingen we toch liever kijken in de "Q-bar", waar je hutje-mutje met
Tanzanianen stond, veel gezelliger. Het rook er lekker naar vleesjes op de grill en er zaten mooie, superslanke
Tanz. vrouwen met hele korte rokjes en diepe decolletes, dat was veel leuker om naar te kijken. Natuurlijk was ik
wel blij dat mijn favoriete voetballer Dirk Kuyt een goal maakte!
De wegen zijn afschuwelijk, hier. Grote wegen zijn wel geasfalteerd, maar met heel veel gaten en rafelige randen.
De kleinere wegen zijn onverhard, met diepe greppels erlangs, en heel veel kuilen, hotsebots naar het cafe 's
avonds.
Ook al een filmavond gehad. Hein heeft een beamer en zo konden wij op de muur, vanuit comfortabele fauteuils
naar Festen kijken, one of my favorites.
Slapen doe ik redelijk, onder een grote klamboe en met een ventilator. Deken/laken niet nodig, te heet. Ik heb een
lekker kamertje, met een leeslampje, dus soms schrijf ik 's avonds nog wat, of lees voor ik ga slapen.
Lang weekend naar Zanzibar geweest. Hein heeft vrijdag een dag vrij genomen en maandag was een feestdag. We
kwamen er vrijdag vroeg in de middag aan, na een bootreis met een redelijk comfortabele boot van 2 uur. Soort
vliegtuigstoelen, airco aan boord en een vreselijk slechte Japanse (?) vechtfilm op een aantal video's die boven ons
hoofd hingen die onverstaanbare, maar wel duidelijk soort oerkreten uitbraakte. Toen we aankwamen in Stone
Town regende het pijpenstelen. Meteen neergestreken in de eerste de beste tent aan het water, geheten "Mercury's
bar" , omdat Freddy Mercury op Zanzibar is geboren. Nooit geweten, maar voor de fans natuurlijk gesneden koek.
Hein en Maya kennen ene Achmed, in wiens huis ze vorige keer hebben overnacht, maar die had alle gasten,
waarschijnlijk i.v.m. het lange vrije weekend. Maandag is hier een nationale feestdag, dan wordt Karume herdacht,
ooit president van Zanzibar die vermoord is. Achmed had wel een neef, Mohammed (hoe bestaat het?) die ons de
kamers in Achmeds andere huis liet zien. Moh. kwam naar Mercury en ging ons voor door de wirwar van kleine
straatjes, soort kasba. Helemaal niet zo gek als je je realiseert dat sjeiks eeuwenlang de dienst uitmaakten op
Zanzibar. Zij verscheepten vanuit Stone Town de slaven, vnl. naar het oosten, die vanuit de binnenlanden van
Afrika werden aangevoerd. De oorspronkelijke slavenmarkt is ook te bezichtigen en er is een monument. Het huis
waar wij naar toe werden gebracht was zeer eenvoudig, maar kostte dan ook maar 11$ voor een kamer (eigen
badkamer, wel heeel basic, maar wc, douche (koud) en piep wasbakje. Mijn bed was een kuil, "lokaal bed" legde
Moh. gedienstig uit. Tussen een rechthoek van ronde palen spannen ze een web van sisal touw, maar dat rekt vrij
snel uit. Wel klamboe en fan. Ok, 1 nachtje is nog wel te doen. We gingen de stad in, door de straatjes, over de
markt, de slavenmarkt, het house of wonders, het culturele gebouw, het fort, alles gebouwd in Arabische stijl, i.v.m.
de rijke sultans die dit eiland ooit tot grote bloei brachten (over de rug van de slaven heen, dan). Maar ook aan de
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export van kruiden, zoals kruidnagel, kaneel, e.d. werd veel geld verdiend. Het lopen door de modder en in de
regen ging toch vrij snel vervelen, erg jammer. 's Avonds leuk uiteten in rest. Living Stone, met een live band.
Zelfs nog gedanst. De 3 meisjes dan, Hein is niet zo'n danser, lijkt wat dat betreft helemaal niet op zijn paps!
Via Achmed de volgende dag een auto gehuurd, een 4wheel drive voor 60 $ voor 2 dagen! W.s. gewoon een
particuliere jongen die dit weekend toch nergens naar toe ging. Maya reed, zij was de enige met een int. rijbewijs,
aan te raden omdat je ongeveer elke 20 km wordt aangehouden door een prachtige politieman in een wit uniform
die je papieren wil zien. Maya spreekt Swahili en is zo vriendelijk, dat ze al die kerels om haar vingertje windt, dus
geen problemen. We zetten koers naar de zuidoostkant van het eiland, daar hebben we meer kans op goed weer.
Klopt!
Onderweg bezoeken we een vlindertuin (sinds 3 maanden open, om met uitsterving bedreigde vlinders te
conserveren) en het Jozani forest waar een bepaald type colobusaapjes voorkomen, de enige plek ter wereld
(Zanzibar) waar deze nog leven. We zien hele groepen, heel leuk, ze zijn niet groot, zo'n 30 tot 40 cm en ze hebben
ook kleintjes. Veel foto's, er gaat er een bijna op Maya's hoofd zitten. Ook wandelen we door de mangrovebossen,
zien o.a. miereneters, de groene mamba (heel giftig) en een boomslang. We are lucky, zegt onze gids, die ons van
alles verteld over de fauna en flora van Zanzibar. Twee kinderen lieten ons een beestje zien dat de jongen in de
palm van zijn hand hield. Een “bush baby”, grijs aapachtig, met recht opstaande oortjes. Dan rijden we naar Paje,
waar je een aantal hotels hebt zo aan het strand. We wikken en wegen en nemen onze intrek in Paradise Beach,
hotel dat bestaat uit een 8 tal hutjes met palmbladeren dakjes (voor 2 a 3 personen) met mooie donkere houten
meubelen erin en hoge, met houtsnijwerk versierde bedden (gelukkig ook met klamboe). De hutjes zijn 35$ per
persoon, voor H en M 50$ voor 2 personen. Ik neem m'n eigen hutje, en heb een zitje voor de hut, onder
palmbomen, kijkend over een prachtige blauwe zee, paradijselijk!! Hier blijven we 2 nachten. Eten kun je er ook,
onder een groot afdak met stoelen en banken met kussens vanwaar katten (en soms ook een schurftige hond) ons
peinzend aanstaren, zich uitrekkend of krabbend. Ook lopen er kipjes rond, kortom een gezellig gedoetje. Het eten
smaakt ook prima daar, nogal Japans gericht en dat snappen we als we de 2e avond de eigenaresse zien, Japanese!
Er zijn ook 2 Japanse stelletjes te gast. Verder misschien nog zo'n 6 gasten, dus heerlijk rustig.
We snorkelen, spelen 's avonds domino, maken de 2e dag een ritje, doen kleinschalige hotelletje aan waar Hein en
Maya met Sisi en Frank hebben gelogeerd en bezoeken Zala zoo, waar we uitgebreid worden geinformeerd over de
dieren door een bevlogen leraar, die het parkje heeft opgezet om de jeugd te wijzen op het belang van het
voortbestaan van ogenschijnlijk “gevaarlijke” of “smakelijke” diersoorten.
Maar de tijd vliegt en na 2 nachten aan de kust rijden we weer naar Stone Town. Zanzibar is zeer islamitisch, veel
moslimvrouwen, soms zelfs met schortjes voor het gezicht die alleen de ogen vrijlaten. De mannen dragen vaak een
rond mutsje en soms een jurk. Ook zagen we nogal wat Masai krijgers lopen, ze bewaakten o.a. het terrein rond ons
hotel. De mensen zijn erg vriendelijk, ze zeggen steeds gedag en vragen hoe je het maakt voordat ze je uberhaupt
iets vragen. Je kunt niet een directe vraag stellen, daaraan gaat eerst een hele ceremonie aan vooraf. Wat een
verschil met Groningers, die alleen "moi" zeggen.
Toen we na onze trip bij het huis aankwamen was de electriciteit weer uitgevallen! Roland, de buurman zei dat er
het hele weekend niets aan de hand was, en ongeveer een half uur voor onze thuiskomst was het weer zover! Nadat
Marije en ik bij kaarslicht de meest verrukkellijke pasta in elkaar hadden gedraaid en we die met geraspte oude
hollandse kaas naar binnen hadden gewerkt sprong het licht weer aan! Gelukkig, frisse lucht vannacht. Heb zelfs
voor 't eerst met airco geslapen. 23 graden, beetje aan de frisse kant!
Verder aapjes gefotografeerd in de tuin en een mongoest (soort eekhoorn), naar shopping centres en kunstmarkten,
beetje dingetjes kopen voor thuis en natuurlijk het raamloze kantoor van Hein bezocht.
_______________________________________________
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hmtm - 02-10-2012
Voor het eerst Afrika en tropen
by hein - Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Door: Marije Overmars
Het is voor mij niet mogelijk om te proberen onopvallend rond te reizen in Tanzania of stiekem mijn eigen gang te
gaan, overal word ik als Mzungu (blanke rondreizende Europeean) benaderd of bekeken. De dag na mijn aankomst
in Dar wordt ik direct naar een afgelegen gebied gereden. In het dorpje Mang’ula komen kleine kinderen achter
Maya, Hein en mij aangerend, de dapperste wil zelfs graag naast me lopen en mijn hand vasthouden, totdat zijn
moeder hem terugroept. Het is bijzonder voor de kinderen om eem Mzungu te zien. Deze eerste ontmoeting in
Afrika zet me aan het denken over hoe een donker iemand zich vroeger (?) in een dorp in Nederland gevoeld moet
hebben en ik realiseer me hoeveel verschillende bevolkingsgroepen er nu in Amsterdam gemixt door elkaar leven
zonder dat er iemand wordt nagestaard. Maya wordt hier tot mijn verbazing ook voor Mzungu uitgemaakt, hoewel
er toch ook wel lichtere Tanzanianen zijn (de meeste Tanzanianen hebben een hele donkere huid). Maya beweert
dat het door haar haardos komt. De bevolking van Tanzania heeft namelijk nauwelijks haar. Mannen en vrouwen
hebben meestal slechts een paar cm haar op hun hoofd. Vrouwen met lang haar hebben uit China geimporteerde
haarstrengen laten invlechten of een pruik op hun hoofd! Dat verklaart wel waarom de kapsels er continu perfect uit
zien (ik vroeg me al af hoeveel haarlak erin zat). De gids in Udzungwa mountains heeft eveneens weinig haar op
zijn onderbenen.. Bijna om jaloers op te worden (scheelt veel gedoe met scheren etc).
Het is vreemd om in 1 enkele keer 400.000 (ca 250 euro) van de bank te halen, terwijl ik normaliter nooit meer dan
50 in mijn portomonnaie heb! 4 Ton is een heel erg dik pakket met briefjes van 10.000. In Tanzaniaanse shilling
ben ik een miljonair!! Ik voel me ongemakkelijk en uitermate decadent als we rond rijden in de gigantische auto
van Maya en Hein, terwijl mensen langs de weg lopen, fietsen (soms op een houten fiets) of voor een zelf gemaakt
karretje lopen te zwoegen met alle spullen die ze mee zeulen. Brandhout, houtskool, water, fruit, zakken met brood
voor een heel dorp, suikerriet en soms een gezin. De vrouwen mogen altijd achterop. Als we in de schemering over
een modderweg vol gaten rijden in de regen zien we hoe een vrouw die achterop zit gelanceerd wordt en recht op
haar gezicht valt. Gelukkig staat ze direct weer op. De tegenstelling tussen arm en rijk is heel erg groot. De elite
heeft een auto, met mazzel heeft iemand een fiets of een koe, de rest loopt. Ook als het water in de straten tot boven
je knieen staat. Kleren worden niet opgetild of uitgetrokken als er een grote hoeveelheid water op de weg is, nat
worden de fietsers en voetgangers toch wel.
In de file in Dar (’s ochtends de stad in en ’s avonds de stad uit) zie ik meer modellen Toyota dan ik ooit voor
mogelijk had gehouden! Uiteraard allemaal oude modellen, vaak met de Japanse letters of vignetten er nog op. De
meeste auto’s zijn wit, dan worden ze minder heet.... Het verkeer (links rijdend) is een vreselijke chaos, als er al
page 270 / 273
hmtm - 02-10-2012
banen zijn dan kan je afhankelijk van waar je bent toch tegenliggers op jouw deel vinden. De tegenligger toetert
nog even om te laten weten dat hij er is. Dat doen bestuurders ook die nog even door rood rijden omdat ze anders
zo lang moeten wachten. Onderweg naar de luchthaven om Hein’s moeder op te halen knallen we als we optrekken
op een of andere idioot die we doordat er een auto naast ons stond niet aan zagen komen. De schade voor onze auto
is nihil, de veroorzaker scheurt zo hard door dat we hem niet kunnen achterhalen, maar zijn wielkas zal
waarschijnlijk behoorlijk ingedeukt zijn.
Op de weg geldt het recht van de grootste (zwaarste), in volgorde:
Vrachtauto, 4 wheel drive - dalla dalla (afhankelijk van de bestuurder), personenauto, Bajaj (een 3 wieler tuk tuk),
brommer, persoon met een kar – fietser, voetganger. Iedereeen maakt gebruik van dezelfde route.
De zachte modderige berm langs wegen wordt benut door dalla-dalla’s (busjes volgepropt met mensen) die links
inhalen. Maar als er files zijn kan het gebeuren dat er iemand in tegengestelde richting in de berm rijdt. Vaak
iemand met een speciaal nummerbord (je hebt rode nummerborden en nummerborden die beginnen met cd , de
bijbehorende bestuurders worden meestal ongemoeid gelaten ongeacht hun rijgedrag, hij/zij is namelijk werkzaam
voor een belangrijke organisatie die in Tanzania investeert, fyi Hein heeft zo’n auto van zijn werk). De files
worden meestal veroorzaakt omdat er ergens een gat in de weg zit waar iedereen en zeker de wat kleinere
personenauto’s langzaam doorheen moet. En waarvoor afgeremd wordt. De auto’s hebben geen roetfilter of iets
dergelijks, de meeste uitlaatgassen zijn pikzwart. Dar is wat dat betreft een heel erg smerige stad.
De gaten in de wegen zijn meestal ontstaan door de regen, daar heb ik inmiddels al aardig wat van gezien (gaten en
regen), de regen is wel prettig want het betekent dat het wat koeler is (26 graden). Als de zon schijnt is hij echt heel
fel, je merkt nauwelijks dat de zon hier van oost naar noord naar west draait want eigenlijk staat hij de hele dag
boven op je hoofd. Bij het snorkelen ben ik ondanks goed insmeren en het dragen van een t-shirt over mijn bikini
halverwege de dag toch een klein beetje verbrand. Hein smeert zich nooit in en het is me een raadsel dat dat goed
kan gaan. Mijn huid is zoveel zonnekracht niet gewend. De zon schijnt ca 12 uur per dag. Het is elke avond rond
18.30 donker, het beeld van de braai van Hein, dat ik in Nederland had heb ik iets moeten bijstellen. Je kan hier niet
zoals in Nederland gezellig in de avondschemering zitten, in plaats daarvan is het in en om het huis verlicht met tl
buizen. Als de stroom het doet, want van de dagen die ik in Dar geweest ben is tot nu toe ongeveer de helft geheel
of gedeeltelijk zonder stroom geweest. Dat is lastig als het al zo vroeg donker is. Lezen bij kaarslicht gaat op een
gegeven moment niet echt goed. Candle ligth dinner heeft voor mij inmiddels de betekenis van koken bij
kaarslicht... :-) Doordat de waterdruk electrisch geregeld wordt is het zonder stroom een uitdaging om de zeep af te
spoelen met het koude water. Het water uit de kraan is als de stroom het wel doet overigens ook koud. Maya en
Hein vinden het niet nodig om de boiler aan te zetten. Voor mij persoonlijk is dat af en toe best een uitdaging, het
water is denk ik zwembad temeratuur, dus als je door bent is het wel oké.
Het huis van Hein en Maya is er 1 van 5 op een stukje grond (compound) dat ommuurd is en wordt bewaakt door
Askari’s. De Askari’s zijn allemaal erg aardig zeker omdat we proberen ze in het Swahili te begroeten.
Opperhoofd Nico probeert altijd eerst in Swahili te praten en vertaalt pas naar Engels als we niet weten wat hij zegt
(ook voor mij is hij streng, Hein’s moeder komt wel met Engels weg). Op de muur om de huizen is gebroken glas
ingemetseld zodat er geen indringers kunnen komen. De apenfamilie die regelmatig langskomt heeft er gelukkig
geen last van. Ze gebruiken de takken van de Cashewbomen of van de Palmen die in de tuin rondom de huizen
staan. Ook rent er regelmatig een grappig beestje door de tuin (Maya noemt het een Mongoest) een soort grote
eekhoorn met een kattenstaart. Ook zijn er veel mieren, termieten en muggen actief. Ondanks dat ik af en toe Deet
(40%) opspuit zien mijn benen er niet uit met al die rode bulten en vlekken. En JEUK, aargh, vooral op mijn enkels
is het erg!!! Van alle nattigheid en het vaak douchen en wassen van je voeten heb ik inmiddels blaren. Het valt
lichamelijk niet mee om in de tropen te wonen ;-). Het eten buitenhuis valt over het algemeen redelijk goed, heel af
en toe iets minder maar dat levert met name kramp op.Als we een dagje thuis koken is het weer weg. Lariam
slikken (tegen Malaria) gaat gelukkig nog zonder bijwerkingen gepaard. Maar het blijft beter om niet gestoken te
worden. In huis wonen gekko’s zij eten de weinige muggen en grote kakkerlakken die toch zijn binnengekomen.
Alle ramen zijn voorzien van stalen tralies (horizontaal) en horren. Hierdoor kunnen de ramen die er eigenlijk meer
uitzien als reuze luxaflex van glas atlijd open blijven. De ventilatoren in alle ruimtes zorgen voor een beetje
page 271 / 273
hmtm - 02-10-2012
verkoeling als het warm is. Als ik ga slapen klim ik in mijn tegen muggen beveiligde ‘prinsessenbed’ (er hangt en
grote klamboe omheen).
In Tanzania zijn veel gelovige mensen, thuis worden we dagelijks op een Christelijke kerkdienst getrakteerd
(compleet met orgelspel a la Raymond van het Groenwoud voor wie dat liedje kent maar dan met valse zang), ook
roept de imam van de moskee aan de andere zijde van het huis regelmatig om onze aandacht. Als klap op de
vuurpijl heb ik het geluk dat achter de muur bij mijn slaapkamer een dame ’s avonds af en toe op hefige wijze
geesten verdrijft of iets dergelijks (de eerste keer dacht ik dat er 2 mensen ruzie hadden waarvan 1 een monoloog
hield en de andere becomentarieerde zonder dat de monoloog stopte). Gelukkig is dat niet al te vaak. De buren van
Maya en Hein (Duits en Duits Kenyaans) zijn vriendelijk maar wel wat ouder en doorgewinterde tropenbewoners.
Iedereen is erg op zichzelf, 1 huis is momenteel leeg (de oude Duitser die daar woonde ging vorige week weg), 1
huis wordt af en toe bewoond door iemand die voor het bedrijf van de eigenaar werkt. Meestal is het leeg. Elke dag
komt ‘mama Elisabeth’ om ons huis en de 2 lege huizen schoon te maken en de was te strijken. Het is fijn om hulp
te hebben, maar het voelt ongemakkelijk. Ze reist lang om te komen en ze verdient voor Tanzaniaanse begrippen
niet slecht maar het is toch weinig. De compound geeft relatieve rust en veiligheid maar het is wel opgesloten want
je hoort de geluiden op straat wel, maar je kan niet zien wat er gebeurt.
Maya, Willempje (Hein’s moeder) en ik houden ons door de weeks overdag bezig met zaken zoals uitgebreid
ontbijten, veel boeken en tijdschriften lezen, boodschappen doen (zowel bij de locale winkeltjes als in de malls),
stroom regelen, dingen voor het huis aanschaffen of bestellen en eten koken. Daarnaast bekijken we wat meer
toeristische dingen zoals de binnenstad, the national museum, markten (tinga tinga markt, handicraft market) ,
Maya’s favoriete gallerie en de werkplaats van polio slachtoffers (www.wonderwelders.org). Met Hein gaan we in
de weekends op stap. Mijn eerste weekend hier was Pasen, dus hadden we 4 dagen. Het tweede weekend hebben
we een snorkeltrip naar een eilandje vlakbij Dar es Salaam gemaakt, afgelopen weekend waren we op Unguja
eiland (Zanzibar). Hein had vrijdag vrij genomen en maandag was een officiele feestdag. Komend weekend geven
we misschien een feestje voor Hein’s verjaardag. Al is nog niet duidelijk hoe groot het wordt, Hein heeft nog
niemand gevraagd om te komen. We gaan vandaag langs bij zijn kantoor in Kibaha om te zien waar hij werkt en
om te lunchen in zijn favoriete eethuisje.
Op een doordeweekse avond hebben we Engels voetbal gekeken in 2 verschillende kroegen. Engels voetbal is hier
zo populair dat de scores zelfs op een muur in Zanzibar town bijgehouden werden. Het verschil tussen de kroegen
waar we gekeken hebben kan niet groter. De één is een expat kroeg met de naam George and Dragon, waar we
members moesten zijn om het zaaltje met het voetbalscherm te mogen betreden. Een membership kon je niet
kopen, je moet er vaak komen om het te verdienen. Op aandringen van Hein’s moeder mogen we voor het einde
van de 1e helft toch binnen in het zaaltje. De tweede helft kijken we in de Q-bar. Een plek waar veel Tanzanianen
komen, maar het is ook de werkplek van prostituees. Drie mannen voor onze neus worden voorgesteld aan meisjes,
twee happen toe, de derde wil niet maar zijn vrienden vinden dat hij moet. Er wordt een steviger meisje gehaald (de
eerste was echt graatmager) en die valt iets beter in de smaak, maar hij wil nog steeds niet. Geen idee hoe het
afgelopen is want na de wedstrijd zijn we naar huis gegaan. De dame die de meisjes verdeelde was wel erg
aanhoudend/dwingend. Ook in Zanzibar blijkt een populair café werkterrein van jonge meisjes (en jongens). Je kan
er gelukkig ook lekker eten en dansen bij/met de lokale band.
_______________________________________________
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hmtm - 02-10-2012
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