The wind has changed...

It is as if the weather knows we are going...….today the winds have picked up and storm clouds have been scudding across the sky. Reports of heavy rains from around the country, including from M who left us today to head down to Dar es Salaam for his flight home. His plane, if all has gone smoothly should now have left African soil. Which leaves us girls to pack up the remnants of our Tanzanian life ready for our departure on Tuesday.

For the moment we are enjoying the cool winds blowing in from the sea and our last weekend in Peponi. It's definitely been a second home, this place, and we are all very comfortable spreading ourselves out throughout the grounds.
Our hair is longer, our freckles have multiplied and our walking pace has definitely slowed to the leisurely time relaxed pace of the locals. Despite the hard bits, which I've been pretty frank in sharing, I think we emerge from this time as a tighter knit family, knowing that having done this, that most things in life will feel easier in comparison. At times I have feared we may have pushed ourselves a little too far, but we have managed not to disown each other completely!

Africa gets under your skin, or more accurately onto your skin.....B's knees will take several long soaks in a bath to be clean again - even after a weekend in the sea/pool there is still a hint of that red soil. I spent my childhood listening to tall tales from my father about his childhood in Malawi. A different era, when it took weeks on a liner to journey down the coast of Africa to Cape Town before onward overland journey. For us it is only a matter of hours to get on a plane, raincoats in hand and emerge sweating into the heat of the equator. I suspect that longer journey eased the transition from Northern Europe to Sub Sahara far more effectively than modern airline travel. We are, after 5 months finally acclimatising - no hiding our pale skins, but perhaps not so awkwardly plastered in sweat, less impatient in expecting things to happen on time.

We have been adopted into a tiny corner of this vast continent, in a truly beautiful country. Images and smells we shall carry away with us (quite literally on the smell front by the time we reach Oz!). Those first overwhelming weeks of bombardment have faded- the roaring motorbikes, scarily piled with heavy loads and passengers crisscrossing the bikes, goats, cows and brightly dressed women. I still envy the elegance with which huge stacks of firewood or buckets of water rest on their heads, the ease in which babies are strapped tightly with strips of cloth. Smells pervade of dried fish, stinky drains, rubbish being burnt on the tip, hot spices and bubbling pans of oil at roadside stalls mingling with sweetness of oranges peeled ready to suck. Children still jump up to shout 'hello, how are  you' but mainly now only if I am out with our own children, my regular stallholders greet me as I pass and the boda bodas know now not to bother asking if I want a ride. We are becoming a familiar presence around town. Even the bats, with their constant noise, we now tune out - though it will be a relief to stop wondering if I am going deaf  - the  background noise of fans and bats mean I struggle to hear conversation unless I am directly in front of the other person.

Could we stay - ultimately yes, though Muheza is not the right place for our family for much longer than we have had. We could do Africa for longer if we had an expat lifestyle, with a house more suited to family life, an international school and our own vehicle, that's for sure, though how we'd fund it I've no idea. But right now, England beckons - we have sorely missed our family and friends - and we are looking forward to the summer ahead.

Where did the week go??

Friday tomorrow and suddenly the end of our last Tanzanian week is looming.

Funny how some weeks have seemed interminable when others, like this one, have disappeared in a flash.

What have we done....

One of us has turned 6 years old and gained a visit from the Tanzanian Tooth Fairy!!!

African Birthday complete with Chameleon cake (courtesy of Shim sisters cake decorating co). Cake choices limited with green being the only food colouring option available - a whole lot of tartrazine.

Next up 160 biscuits baked and delivered to school for the Standard 4 and Standard 6 farewell party for R & L. What I wasn't prepared for was that no teachers would be evident and hence I would have sole charge of 163 children in the school hall (with an occasional pop in from the headteacher who wished us good luck!) Our sound system wasn't up to the ambitious party plan of musical statues, though I think my demonstration was enjoyed by all except my own cringing children.

Just in case we hadn't had enough of parties, we progressed to our hospital farewell party that evening. We had invited the surgical department, hospice team, hospital drivers and our housekeepers and nightwatchmen to say thank you to them all. Organised by the hospital superintendent we were all ferried out to a party venue under the stars with catering by one of the surgeon's wives (not me thank goodness). We were treated in return to a heart warming send off - each team dancing their  way around our family and wrapping us in their farewell gifts of Kitenge (long strips of material). The surgical team had sent their anaesthetic nun for a secret wardrobe raid  - the his & hers results of this will have to find their own occasion to be displayed!

Today, for a final bit of enjoyment of African red tape I 'popped' into Tanga to renew our visas for the last time. A lot of huffing and head shaking, just to keep me on the edge of the seat, but a speedy 2 hours later and we were done.

In amongst all this, I have scraped in a few last bits for the hospice, settled in 2 new medical students and enjoyed the addition of a 15mth old to our family home. A definite bonus distraction for the girls to have a chirpy small person to  babysit whilst her parents helped out in theatre.

Here we are with a house half in packing mode ready for M's imminent departure back to the UK ready, we hope for  an interview next week. He has a bag full of everything we think may be incinerated by Australian customs.

Our housekeepers gave us their present too today

Us girls are heading for a last weekend in Peponi - fitting I think to end up in the place we spent our first weekend all those months ago.

All that's left after that is to cram everything else into the bags and make it down to Dar es Salaam safely for departure.

Almost time for me to stand back and say 'We did it!'. After all my talking, and planning, we actually came to Africa and had a really BIG adventure. The joyous thing is that it doesn't feel like the end, it feels like we're just beginning...I suspect there'll be plenty more adventures to come.

News of the world

We have been cocooned here in a bubble without world news. For the most part a relief to switch off from endless sad stories about the bad side of the human race, but in others a selfish ostrich in the sand to world matters. Inevitably some things have filtered through – the tragic aircrash on African soil, the bitter terrorist attack in New Zealand and in it’s wake the moving solidarity of support for the Muslim community there, the devastating storms that have so recently smashed through our neighbour Mozambique and on to Malawi and Zimbabwe, and of course the continuing bickering British politics of Brexit, so inwardly focused.

News elsewhere in the world can be so easy to ignore when it doesn’t affect you. For the most part the every day Tanzanian seems oblivious of what goes on outside their own village. Little wonder when your main focus in life is how to provide for your family. It makes it easy to imagine how the devastation on the coast south of us must be affecting the local community. If a tornado hit here, I have no idea how any kind of rescuing or recovery would be possible. Like a stack of cards, if 1 thing goes then the rest follows, and how a struggling country picks itself back up with the whole pack down I don’t know. Our eldest is all for hiring a lorry and driving south with tinned goods and water to help. Hard to explain that we’d also need a boat, and that it would take a whole week to drive just to the Mozambique water. I hope the international aid community can step in – it will be the next few weeks that disease spreads as the waters recede, and the knock on of lost crops and houses will be huge.

R and I have both started reading Sapiens…no further than chapter 2 as yet, but so far a fascinating take on our species and a great addition to our timeline of archaeological discoveries about the origins of humans here in Tanzania. A good reminder, in the timescales of planet Earth just how small we are.

Enough musings for one day! We are back in Muheza – I’ve been to the market for supplies, have a chicken waiting to roast for our arriving guests and children busy calculating how many biscuits we need to make for the school party on Wednesday (A LOT), and of course how to construct the requisite African Birthday cake for B on Tuesday  - current voting lies towards a crocodile (mainly because the only food colouring we have is green), but unlike the UK we shall be allowed to change our minds if it turns out the giraffe option looks better!

The schedule for the week is such: Monday -make birthday cake and what’s looking like 160 biscuits, visit dressmakers to collect creations and order more, last minute birthday shopping, sort out girls belongings for gifts to friends; Tuesday -birthday celebrations, current guest list for bday tea – shim family (even if we have to pull M out of theatre), medical students, our  housekeepers and our visitors, also purchase other party supplies for school party; Wednesday – school party and farewell hospital party in the evening; Thursday – trip to Tanga to renew visas (again) for our last few days, return drinks crates and bottles to supermarket in Tanga, last tourist shopping at Wazungu market; Friday  - pack up M’s suitcase with all our stuff that can be returned to UK, leaving small amount of space for his belongings; head to Peponi for last weekend! And in between all that – finish off maths books and commence large amount of admin building for our return to UK!! Actually not much different to any family week whether here in Africa or UK…just substitute activities to juggle.

How fortunate we are to have such hardships to contend with......hoping our girls now have some appreciation of just how different human lives can be

Zanzibar

Zanzibar – an name that evokes pictures of white sands, turquoise oceans, hints of spices and a forgotten world of Arabic mystery. For months now it has been the beacon to guide us through the tougher times, and yet suddenly here we are at the end of our week. Either it will have given us the energy to embrace our last week in Muheza or it may prove to be our undoing, to have switched into a different side of Africa so close to our departure. Even here with the lure of clear waters and enticing rock pools the girls are chafing to return home to the UK. 

What have our Zanzibar highlights been? Well obviously Uncle R….who also makes in to the top 5 highlights of Africa for all the girls, up there with lion viewing! Scuba diving…yes even B got a go in the swimming pool, having sat patiently through her parents Open Water PADI refresher. All the girls took to it like dolphins to water. The dive instructors looked on with awe as our 5 year old spent her time duck diving to the bottom of the deep end to inspect her scuba sisters. R is old enough to take her newly learnt skills out to sea, so the following day she & I went for a girls diving trip out to the nearest coral atoll. So many fish, and a joy to find ourselves gently being accompanied by dolphins whilst 12m below the surface. Lucky girl got another 2 dives the following day accompanying M. The other two enjoyed having the run of our 5 star hotel entirely to ourselves. Each of the 4 swimming pools duly found themselves with little collections of playmobil people enjoying themselves on the side. 

Another favourite was the lagoon at the south of the island, having moved half way through the week to try a different part of Zanzibar. We could've floated for hours on the outgoing tide along the edge of the lagoon - stuff of holiday brochures. 

Having switched into holiday mode, I find myself forgetting that we have one more week to finish off the school work, say our farewells, celebrate a birthday, arrange the school parties and our hospital leaving do. We have the fortunate distraction as well this coming week of a visiting ‘baby’ who will be bringing her surgeon & anaesthetist parents to visit for 10 days. A friend of M’s who is testing out African plans of her own with a mini stint, to see how life can work with children here.

We have taken pleasure here on being able to respond to the locals in Kiswahili. It changes the dynamics slightly from being another rich white tourist. They are all as friendly as the other Tanzanians we have met, even those touting for trade are very good natured on polite rebuffal. The sales pressures of Moshi are not apparent here. Though what is noticeable are the greetings we get from children; instead of cries of wazungu or polite shikamoos we get requests for sweets/books/pencils, even to the extent of whatever bag I am carrying being peered into. I suspect well intentioned tourists have changed the dynamics to expectation of gifts. 

Our return flight to the mainland a suitable finish heading back into the setting sun with our impossibly glamorous  lady pilot and co-pilot. A reminder in this male dominated culture that women can do it too!

Family

A weekend of mixed emotions. 

Predictably the best laid plans of mice and men don’t always go smoothly.

The lengthy immigration process meant our visitor missed his connecting flight from Dar up to Tanga. He was not deterred and managed to procure himself a taxi to drive him up to us instead. Cue an evening on tenterhooks hoping that his taxi would negotiate its way safely through the night time hazards. His feast converted into a plate awaiting reheating on arrival. My anxiety was not abated with reports of his swift progress. Seems the taxi driver was really earning his fare at twice the national speed limit. The 7 hour journey took 5. A remarkably calm passenger emerged, apparently although nail-biting, the journey hadn’t reached the reckless heights of Russian road experiences.

Remarkably the girls didn’t wake on his arrival, despite much grumblings at bedtime of not being allowed to stay up to greet him. So all were in good form for their tour guide designs in the morning. Farm walk, trip to the market and hospital visit all accomplished with time for a swift early lunch and then exit for the airport.

We thought we were going to be the only passengers on the 12 seater flight, until a last minute flurry of business men joined us. Such tantalising views of turquoise ocean beneath us and remarkably smooth journey. We loved our 30min summary of the Swahili coast laid out below, the distances between all our weekend beach trips looked tiny. We managed to identify our favourite, Peponi.

The capital of Zanzibar was far larger than I had imagined, with an international airport to match. A short transit into Stone Town and we emerged into a different kind of Africa. More Arabic in style with towering stone buildings, narrow alleys and precipitous balconies on the top levels. A mild culture shock for us all to suddenly be surrounded by scantily clad tourists, incongruous against a backdrop of conservatively dressed locals, by majority Muslim.

We enjoyed a bustling evening street food market, eventually persuading M that we weren’t going to get things at Muheza prices. Dinner at the old British Consulate, slowly crumbling, where the body of Livingstone had lain waiting for transport back to Britain. More culture for the girls the next morning – we all woke far too cold in the night, unused to the aircon, albeit set at 24c – sampled lots of strange Zanzibari dishes for breakfast – and then out into the heat to lose ourselves in a maze of alleys.

A waterfront of decaying Omani palaces, many touts offering boat trips out to the islands, streets which B thought were actually those of a French town and intricate carved doorways suggestive of an opulent past. We eventually found our way to the old slave market, with a detailed exhibition on the East African slave trade. Sobering, not least the section on modern day slavery in which they estimate that there are more slaves/enforced labourers today than there ever was in the hundreds of years of the African slave trade.

Our visitor could stay no longer, and yet is still treating us to a blissful week in Zanzibar ahead. B has taken some persuading that we can still have fun without him.

A part of my mind has been absent through the weekend. It is a little ironic that whilst I am spending time doing palliative care in Africa, my family have taken on palliative care back home. My grandfather has been increasingly frail since a stroke 18 months ago and started a massive decline a month ago. I have offered suggestions from afar to support my uncles and aunt in enabling him to be comfortable and end his days at home. They have managed to access all the support he needs. My Pa has flown back just in time to say farewell. I know that were I in the UK, I would likely not be in a position to go and help in person. But nonetheless wishing I could be closer to help more. I hope the end comes swiftly and peacefully. 

Countdown...

The excitement is mounting for our long awaited and eagerly anticipated visitor! We were delighted my Uncle was contemplating checking out the reality of our living conditions for himself, not least because he has been a huge supporter of our African adventure. But we wouldn't have been surprised if travel logisitics had put him off. He's a determined man, squeezing us into a busy schedule and now we have the pleasure of showing someone really special to us a glimpse of this life we have been leading. Tomorrow he arrives.
It's been a marker on the calendar for the last 2 months.....much discussion has gone on as to sleeping arrangements, what local delights we should feed him, what are the highlights of Muheza to whisk him round….
M is collecting him from Tanga airport, so hopefully he should arrive just before dark and be greeted to the cacophony of swooping bats and a backdrop of setting sun towards the mountains. As it gets dark, the flames flicker from the many small fires that farmers are still busy tending as a quick method of clearing their land before the rains. We had a few showers the week before last, but nothing since.....there is much confidence they will arrive properly this weekend.
The water tank is full so we can offer him a light drizzle of a shower, and a toilet that flushes: luxury indeed.
We are planning a veritable feast; local stew, coconut rice, cabbage and fried plantain. The list of fruits I have been commanded to buy ready for a tropical breakfast is long.....hope he is hungry!
We are giving him less than 24hrs in Muheza: 1 night of noise and heat is more than enough to ask, and selflessly we thought we'd take him up on the offer of a trip to Zanzibar!!
So we'll have a jam packed schedule on Saturday morning, with a walk down through the farms, hospital tour and possibly a quick trip into the market. Then lunch and off to the airport to fly to that well know island.
A week holiday lies ahead for us, though we only have my uncle for 2 of those nights.
On our return it will be to our last week in Muheza, Tanzania, Africa.

This week has zoomed by; our markers of time, the English school maths books and our malaria tablets, are coming to an end. There are only a few pages to go for each girls, and the last packet of tablets looms for us all. I've done my last day of visits, a palliative care update for the hospital teams and helped the hospice director with a last round of grant applications. The dressmaker has had a busy time with all our new orders, though now time is short I keep thinking of other things I'd like her to make. Our souvenir shopping list is eclectic and should cause British customs some perplexity if they choose to check through M's - we are loading him with all our goodies so that we don't lose them all to the Australian customs, who are apparently very fierce about African souvenirs. I fear he will look like he's about to set up an African shop with the cooking pots, clothing, wooden animals and beaded Masai goods, not to mention the large collections of broken glass from the glassblowing factory in Arusha!
We have also fitted in another Nun visit - this time to a convent in Korogwe, an hour away, so not only dinner but an overnight stay. Our hostess, the amazing surgeon M has linked with to hopefully continue with support for his surgical input here. It is these interludes that have really made our time here special, being welcomed so openly....and a proud measure of how the girls have adapted, negotiating graciously through the appropriate greetings and tucking into many unknown dishes without batting an eyelid. We woke to serene voices harmonising in the cool morning air with morning prayer in the chapel outside our window.
Tonight the elder two have gone to bed snuggled up together in R's room......that bittersweet sister relationship edging ever closer to more of the sweet and less of the bitter. Whether it will last the night is another matter!

So another chapter of fun adventures to come, before we start our farewells......

Mountain air

Very tempting to head off again for a weekend at the beach, but I still have so many places I want to visit in this country. The huge benefit of being the family decision maker is just that - I get to decide what we're doing.

So we all piled into the car for just under a 3 hour drive up into the Eastern Usambara Mountains. Our new med student, F, training in New Zealand, gamely came along to join the adventure. Which meant a long journey in the boot with our talkative youngest child!

I really hoped the recommendations for Lushoto, and higher were worth the effort. 

Thankfully, they truly were - we were treated to an Alpine summer climate, with pines and green meadows and grazing cattle. Our bed for the night at Irente Farm (German in beginnings) was basic, but idyllic. 

We all enjoyed petting the very un-African pigs. It is hard to explain our excitement at the simple fare of fresh bread with real butter, cheese and homemade jams. 

We only stayed 1 night as I wanted to head higher, up to 1900m to Mambo View Point to stay at an ecolodge perched on the edge of cliffs.

My navigation didn't go quite so smoothly and another 2 hours later I was really hoping it was worth the extra drive (all on the bumpy dirt tracks we have become so used to). We had many pauses to ask amused boda boda drivers whether we were heading the right way.

Once again, my worries were unfounded and it was a spectacular destination. I shared L's concerns as we turned the corner to see little huts built on a vast rock overhang. It was so cool, the air was dry and the views as if we were at the end of the earth. You could literally see Africa stretching endlessly out from beneath us. 

Last night we had little pots of fire burning beneath the table to keep us warm and we snuggled up under duvets. L in fact slept in 3 layers of clothing with her hood up.....at 22c I'm a little concerned she'll need ski wear for our return to the British summer. We woke to clouds beneath our toes - a vista of white rolling candyfloss spreading outside our windows, with the glinting peak of Kilimanjaro 160km away in the distance. 

Remove the oppressive heat and the children once again start moving - skipping and running along the little paths and gamely agreeing to a walk/scramble along the cliff edge to a view point. Though not sure M nor I enjoyed the feeling of our precious family sitting on boulders balanced at the top of a 1km drop!

Family harmony can't possibly last a whole weekend, and a 4.5 hour drive back down to the hot plains put paid to any illusions of angelic children. F got a pretty good close up of 3 squabbling passengers on the back seat.

We are safely back to sweating in Muheza, though a peony coloured sunset thick with swooping bats greeted us home. After a weekend of feasting, supper was all I had in the cupboard - marmite toast, and some of the cottage cheese I brought back from Irente. And so we enter our last 3 weeks....

Needle work

What do you do with 5 months in Africa - sew your own doll of course!

After a LOT of stitching from L and an infinite amount of patience from me on interpreting complicated instructions we are proud to introduce Emily!!!

We're here to the end....

Having had a few messages asking whether I'd been successful on the visa front or whether I had lost my patience and got us kicked out of the country, I realised I have not written since that trip to Tanga!

So the good news is, after 5 extremely patient hours with my 'sweet' smile firmly fixed we were indeed given an extension.#
The bad news is it's only for 30 days so I will have to go through the process all over again to renew for our last few days in the country.

We're slowly reaching our 'last' experiences in Tanzania....M's last trip to Peponi and then to Tanga Yacht Club. It is looking likely he'll be leaving before us, hopefully to a job interview, before flying on to join us in Oz.
Yes indeed, to finish our trip we're heading further on round the planet to visit some very dear friends in Australia. A 'holiday' if you like, to reacclimatise to the western world before heading back to the UK for the start of the summer term.

I am endeavouring to stay present for this last month, my mind already turns too easily towards job lists for our return home.
The girls are busy taking photos in school, keen to show their friends back home just where they have been. They are planning whom to give all our various toys and stationary supplies to when we leave, as well as the treasured football. We will be donating all our books to the school library and there are many discussions about having class parties to say farewell.

B is busy counting down to a more important date - her BIRTHDAY - though her countdown began when we arrived in November!

The rains have slowly started, with intermittent heavy showers which turn the red dirt to thick glue like mud. Our water tank at least is overflowing this week - a welcome change to no water supply. The air temp also drops blissfully, though the humid heat soon creeps back up again.

Pancake day today, so I am told. Though the excitement of pancakes is somewhat diminished as the girls eat them most days for breakfast. No-one enjoys UHT milk & they're all pretty bored of Daddy's porridge and savoury pancakes for supper is not uncommon here. But they still want pancakes on the menu tonight.....all though that may be because they know I was planning an Okra curry!