ianfinlayson-blog1

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Kilimanjaro

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Tarangire NP- Lilac breasted Roller (I think)

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We made it!

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29/7/2017- Tarangire

A sneaky trip to Tarangire national park, being driven by a friend for the day. Absolutely fantastic. We found hundreds of elephants, with family walking around the car, lots of amazing birds and a lion in the distance. We snuck up on one elephant by mistake who was not very impressed by the car. He turned round, trumpeted loudly, stuck his ears out and started walking quickly towards the car. We left pretty quickly!

So cool being able to do one day safari from home, we were hoping to meet a cheetah but unfortunately couldn't find it.

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28/7/2017

I'm still here, blog proving difficult to update with lack of internet. Had a really great last couple of weeks. Els flew in and we had a couple of nice days in Karatu, before heading to Ngorongoro crater for a bit of safari. Our driver was brilliant at overtaking cars and putting himself into the best possible position. This worked particularly well when watching a group of wildebeest (after overtaking 10 cars to get to the optimum place) before a lion jumped out from the long grass in front of us and grabbed a baby wildebeest. This was then followed by a group of approximately 30 hyenas quickly joining and ganging up on the lioness, eventually driving her off her kill. They had about a minutes peace before big daddy lion came in to scatter the hyenas and claim the kill. The poor lioness being long gone at this point.

After that we saw lots of zebra, hippos before an amazing encounter with a family of approximately 20 elephants walked right in front of our car. A really brilliant day, which was topped off with dinner with Jessica, the headmistress of the lutheran school. Really delicious food, and Els was given a gift of a picture of Jessica so she could remember her! Very sweet.

The next day we headed off to Moshi to begin our Kilimanjaro adventure. That afternoon we went to pick up our kit with one of the girls in our group. She was ready after five minutes, with her duffel bag and walking sticks, but had to wait for Els and I to hire the entire kit shop before she was allowed to leave. The kit man looked happy though.

Early the next morning we went to the bus to set off. In total there were 12 in our group, with one team of 6 South Africans joining us. They had slight trouble with the 15kg limit, even after taking the shaving cream, and eventually had to hire another porter to carry the excess. After that we were off and up the mountain.

Our treck was brilliant. Our guides were great at showing us the way, making sure we were Pole Pole (Slowly slowly) all the way up. We were definitely the King's of pole pole as every other group seemed to walk past us on the way up. Normally with us leaving the camp first and arriving last, but with the promise of great acclimatisation!

Every night we made it to the camp we were treated to an amazing song and dance from the group of porters, who seemed to have endless energy, despite running all our stuff up the mountain earlier on. The porters were all really friendly, with Jonathon our waiter saying see you next week at every opportunity. Els, being a difficult gluten free person, made a special friend with the chef Passati who made her own plate every meal, and checked in on her the whole time. He was so sweet and an absolute masterchef, cooking for 40 people on two gas stoves. This included boiling water and the amazing food he produced for breakfast, lunch and supper, with Wali cuco (chicken rice), spaghetti, soups etc all served in our food tent (set up for lunch as well). After being woken up with ginger tea every morning in our sleeping bags I don't think I will ever be able to camp again.

The walks for the first five days were fairly pleasant, most of the time walking for about 7 hours a day, with fairly big climbs. Day 3 was our first really test of altitude, going to the lava tower at 4,600m for lunch. This was a particularly difficult day, with many people having serious headaches at this point. Luckily these were all gone by the time we got to camp at 3,800m.

We had great guides for the trip, headed by Uncle Fredy. There was smiley Michael, lazy Michael and DJ Valance. Lazy Michael got his name for turning up late one day. DJ Valance rigged up a solar panel and speakers and had 5 songs on repeat for the entire trip. They all made sure we were happy the whole time. We think lazy Michael was trying to see what ridiculous saying he could get each group to say. In the end, we were group Wali Nazi, which we shouted at every opportunity. Although this means coconut rice it did the job, and on summit night the only words Michael would say would be "Wali Nazi never give up" and "Wali Nazi together we can".

After a relatively nice first five days we reached summit day. This meant a few hours walking in the morning, before bed in the afternoon. We were then woken up at midnight to begin our climb in the pitch black. The other group of 8 started at 10pm so had a two hour advantage over us (4 of us at this point). With DJ Valance and Lazy Michael we set a much brisker pole pole pace than we had been doing in the first few days, and caught up with the other group at 5,400m, about an hour too early as the original intention was to meet at the summit at the same time. A number of them were really struggling with both the altitude and cold and were moving really slowly. We stayed with them for about ten minutes before realising our best option was just to carry on. After powering past we reached the summit at 7am (although this is a slightly contentious point. Els certificate says 6.55am, mine and Tim's say 7.01am and Anje 8.12am! We were definitely there at the same time so just think they liked Els more. Rude!).

We had about ten minutes at the top before it was time to leave. Having been chirpy all trip Tim had gone strangely quiet from about 5,700m altitude so heading down was probably a good option. The fact that visibility was approximately 5m, there was a really strong wind and temperatures of -25c everyone agreed. On our way back we met the other group, along with a few people who definitely should not be there. One person was just in a jumper, and being dragged along by two porters. He had no idea where he was and no way of walking for himself so didn't seem to be the best option. Luckily all our group were absolutely fine and made it up no problem.

Having walked up for 7 hours the way down only took two and half. This was probably the toughest point for me as very sleepy, dehydrated and ready for my sleeping bag. It was incredibly steep, basically skiing on our boots all the way down, trying to avoid big rocks and drops on the way. Would have been great fun any other time. After getting back to camp at about 9.30am and having a few hours sleep we were back to normal, even Tim being chipper again! The other group didn't make it back down until 2.30pm so had a real slog of it, especially as much of the way down was in a snowstorm (we were lucky enough to be tucked up before this started). They all made it to the top though which was a great achievement.

The next two days were then a bit of race down to the bottom. We had a meal with the porters, and a certificate ceremony with lots of singing and dancing from the porters before finally being allowed a nice hot shower, which was probably as much of a relief for everyone around me as much as me.

A day in Moshi, meeting the Rasta man (that's what he said his name was) and having a look through the markets before taking Els to the airport and heading back to Karatu. A really brilliant trip, meeting lots of great people from all over the world who I would love to keep in contact with.

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15.7.2017

So, after constant nagging from Mum, I think it's probably time for a long overdue update! Here is a whistle-stop tour of my last month in Karatu. After Kerrie left my time with FFHC has been spent in the office, working with Honorina on the financials. We have successfully completed the budget for  2018 and have been working our way through the financial system, implementing new measures and controls to make sure expenditure is being tracked to ensure efficient use of money moving forwards. Honorina has been very keen to learn, and we have been making good progress.

I have been using my weekends to explore Karatu and the surrounding area. This has included a lovely walk to the Elephant caves and waterfall. This is a route used by elephants to find the caves, where they scrape the earth to obtain essential nutrients and minerals. I think its probably more likely they are just using the route for the amazing views! The Sunday was then spent languishing in bed recovering from a horrific form of man flu.

So far the highlight has to be a trip to Lake Manyara. Leaving bright and early we spent the day watching bufallo, elephants and giraffe. We were even lucky enough for a rare sighting of a climbing lion, normally very difficult due to the dense vegetation found there. Our guide was very friendly, but with little English and apparent lack of eyesight it was up to us to spot the animals. He did manage to stop in time to let an elephant cross the road in front of us though!

I am slowly getting used to the locals and the African culture. No walk through the town is without being stopped every thirty seconds, either for someone to try and sell something, or just to practice their English. I am still hopeless at working out which is which so often have to smile and run away. Everyone has so far been extremely friendly and very pleased to help. In Arusha, a nice man went to three shops with us trying to find a power pack for no reason other than to be nice.

Very brief, but off to the airport shortly to pick up Els.  I will look to update more when we are back, but will be climbing Kilimanjaro next week! Organised as ever we only booked last week, and are looking to fit our 8 week recommended training schedule into the next three days. Wish us luck!

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24 June

Went to visit the elephant caves today with Honorina and a couple of her friends. Really nice walk, with a great waterfall. Health and safety nicely lacking in Africa, with a gentle 60ft drop from the waterfall with very little warning.

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23 June

Full day in the office today going through the budget and financial systems. One excitement was Noel turning up at lunch with a live chicken he had been given as a gift from one of the families.

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22 June

This morning was spent in the office going through the accounts and teaching Honorina a bit of accountancy.  After lunch we then managed to get back out into the field to meet a couple of families. Both of these were in G/Lambo where I visited on day 1. They both had the best marks (yellow card) for the quality of their houses and goats and had lovely stories about how FFHC had helped them. One family had 10 children and 15 grand children, and had used the sale of a buck to purchase a door for their new house. They had the best views of any house on the planet as well. We had an interesting time inspecting the houses, with the differences to the day before amazing. One family had used the sale of a goat to purchase a door for their new house. Another had used a loan from his savings group (a project that FFHC started in each village for all recipients to teach them how to save money for the future) to purchase a  solar panel and now has satellite tv! They were so grateful for the help they have received they gave a huge bag of beans they had produced to Honorina.

More car excitement today in a land rover, with the seat Honorina was sitting on falling off half way through to leave her sitting on the floor. Very nice day with amazing views, and meeting families who had really benefitted from the program by doing what they had been taught and were really grateful for the help they had received.

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21 June

Another interesting day. After difficulties with the car our 8.15am departure turned to 9.45, before heading to one of the further away villages for the day. We had full interviews with four of the recipients in the village. This project was one of the first to receive their goats, with many not completing their sheds before receiving the goat. This meant that many had a red card for the quality of their houses and goat sheds.

It was noticeable in this area that the families were much poorer than in the other villages we had visited. The area was noticeably drier, with very few crops growing in the fields and water a good hours walk away. However, the views from there were absolutely stunning! The first recipient we visited had cleverly turned their one goat into eight. However, they had allowed breeding with local goats, which produces a hybrid which is very poor at producing milk and receives a much lower price accordingly. The most striking thing about these villages were the fences used to protect the animals from hyenas. Not being able to afford basic building materials for their houses, let alone their goat sheds, they move the thorniest dead branches they can, to fence off their house and pen in their animals.

As part of the FFHC project, each family is taught how to farm and how to keep a healthy house. A fourteen point guide is recommended, with points such as having a kitchen separate to sleeping area, animal house far from the main house, latrine, washing area, clothes line etc. By ticking each item on the list a family has a happy healthy home. Part of the scorecards are to determine both the families living situation and the goat house and health.

One family visited consisted of a grandmother and her four grandchildren. She also looked after four cows for her cousin, and with little to no income had no way of paying for everything. Through the FFHC project she had 2 goats which provided valuable milk to the family. She was also part of a savings group (run by FFHC), through which she had taken out a loan to pay for food and for the children to go to school. She was looking to repay the loan with sales of chickens later on. A desperate situation, but one where the project was noticeably helping.

On the way back it became apparent why there was such a delay with the car in the morning. With the key in the ignition, the driver continued to jump start the car with two wires hanging out. Not sure why they needed the key! We then tried to get back to Karatu down what only could be described as a goat track. After a lot of joggling we completely ran out of road and had to enlist the help of a passerby to get us back on the right goat track. Despite the financial situation of these families the views they have are just outstanding, no elephants seen yet though!

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20 June

Day 2 finished in the office and I'm slowly getting into the swing of it. My first day yesterday was a full days staff meeting, discussing all the policies and rules of Food for His Children. One thing I did learn is that safari means to travel, not to go and see the elephants, much to my disappointment. I also managed to excel myself by completely ignoring someone, thinking they were talking to the group and saying in, only to realise after a lengthy pause he was saying Ian.

Today Honorina and Kerrie talked me through the various things I need to understand about Karatu, some cultural things, like if someone offers you a closed fist, don't try and shake it (again), but put your hand next to theirs, and a full induction for my time here. In the afternoon we managed to go out to another village called Chem Chem, where they were holding their quarterly goat meeting. We again discussed how things were going and the benefits of the charity. It was interesting to see the huge difference between this village and the first. Here, many of the residents have a red card, ie their goat accommodation was not good enough and had correspondingly higher amounts of disease and lower births. After the promise from each of them to improve the goat sheds we took some pictures and left.

The roads to the villages are quite rocky as mud from the rainy season has hardened into a cement, with many potholes, ruts etc making travel interesting. Quite exciting though as most of the journey is spent trying to hold onto your seat so you don't fall off.

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17 June

I've arrived!! Well, some of me has. A 1.30am arrival into Kilimanjaro airport was greeted with complete bemusement when myself and 20 other passengers asked where are bags might have got to. Form filled in and the promise of it being sent to me filled me with the confidence to carry on, only to find my taxi driver had not arrived! Added to the fact the cash machine refused me money all in all not a great start.

After a brief kip in Arusha my taxi driver arrived promptly at 9am (things looking up already) and took me to the cash machine where, this time using the correct pin, I was able to get some cash out. A few hours later I was met in Karatu by Kerrie, Honorina, Noel ("Noelli"), Margaret, Peter and Marusu for a nice lunch and a tour of my lovely accommodation.

It was then straight out to visit one of the villages supported by "Food for His Children" where we sat in on one of their committee meetings. We had a run down from each of the individuals about how many goats they had, when the received it and then a heartwarming story from each and every one about how the money created from owning that goat had been put to amazing things. One person had started a successful business and everyone else had either used the money to send their children to school or build their house. It was lovely to see what an impact the charity had in the community and the obvious gratitude they felt towards Kerrie and Noel. They were so taken aback by all the help received that when I explained what I was doing there I got a round of applause, probably the first time an accountant has received such a response from a client!

So an eventful but exciting first day with the promise of many more to come.