The last day at Ng'iresi

We are now back at L'Oasis Lodge, waiting to go for luch with Mama Mkala.

On Lazaro's advice, we have bought 2 kg of sugar and some tea as a gift. When we were at Gody's house for dinner, we brought a kanga as a gift for his wife Christina. It turned out that the swahili words written on it were some romantic message, and Christina started laughing and ran out of the hut when she read it.

Yesterday we saw the secondary school and talked to the history and geography teacher. Luckily, this time, they did not take us into a classroom and leave us to teach. I (brother) was invited to volunteer and teach physics there. Perhaps I will, someday. Badaaye.

We have walked through the dirt roads of Ng'irisi many times the past two days, and I think it has given us a good feel for what life is like there.

Lazaro told us, in the same matter-of-fact manner as he used to inform us of the banana varieties grown in the village, that some of the well-to-do villagers had acquired their wealh he wrong way. One family in particular had through a curse sacrificed their child to accumulate their wealth.

He also told us that he didn't like Obama, because Obama lied about having killed Bin Laden. If Bush hadnt been able to kill Bin Laden, how could Obama have done it?

Leaving Mt Loti's house at Ng'iresi to walk back to Sekei.

Cultural tourism photos from Ng'iresi village

Our guide Lazaro and Brother by some coffee plants.

Inside a "traditional hut".

Lazaro showing us banana trees.

Ng'iresi Primary School

Brother and Mr Loti outside Mr Loti's house

There were stars here.

Ng'iresi village

Students in Ng'iresi Primary School, Standard VII.

Holding a spontaneous (and not very successful) English lesson for Ng'iresi  Standard VII.

A chamealeon 

Ng'iresi village

Yesterday we had a wonderful time with mr Loti and our guide Lazaro in the village of Ng'iresi. 

Mr Loti picked us up from our posh hotel in an old Nissan pick-up truck and drove us along the bumpy roads to his farm, 7km north of Sekei. We had tea at his house, then we walked with Lazaro to the primary school, where we met std VII and were left to teach (!!) for an hour. 


We then went to see traditional Wa-arusha tribe houses, round huts built of mud and cow dung. I was quite shocked by the extremely basic living conditions. The beds were dirty blankets strewn over some sticks. Only the guest bed was a 'real' bed. But worst of all was that the fireplace was in the middle of the hut, with no chimney! It was still a little hard to breathe from the mornings fire. We asked about the smoke and our guide said it was ok, because they only used dry wood which does not produce much smoke. And he pointed to a hole in the wall the size of my fist and said the smoke could escape there. 


He said most people in the village (adult pop 2000) live like this, but if they can afford bricks they usually try to build modern houses. And there are indeed quite a few new, rather idyllic, houses popping up around the village. We had lunch at mr Lotis, then we walked around the village all afternoon, climbing a little hill and looking at banana plantations. 


This tourism programme has been running since 1996 and it seems to be functioning. The villagers greeted us but didnt ask for money. All revenue from the tourists is distributed to the village through monthly council meetings. Well, a & i slept in tents on mr Lotis yard. Its raining miserably, a lot of my things are wet from coming in contact with the tent fabric and I feel rather dirty. Im longing for a shower, a warm house and a place to wash my clothes! We havent been able to wash our clothes since meru because the stupid hotel, l'Oasis Lodge, charges per ITEM. Which is just silly.

Cultural tourism

"Cultural tourism" is the term in Tanzania for tourism that is supposed to benefit locals directly, and through which visitors get to learn and experience local life.

This morning we left our hideaway at l'Oasis lodge in Sekei and walked down to Arusha, where we visited the Tourist Board. There were plenty of brochures for cultural tourism programmes. We read through the ones that seemed interesting and picked out our favourite, a visit to Ng'iresi village. We told the girl in the office that we would like to do it, and she said ok, called the guide of the programme and handed us the phone. We spoke to mr. Loti, farmowner in Ng'iresi who said "everything is fine madam", and we decided he would pick us up tomorrow morning.

This was surprisingly easy to organise. No hassle, almost no bargaining. It will be exciting to see what it is like.

Ng'irisi link