Lake Manyara Cultural Tour a.m.

So much happened today that it’s hard to know where to start. Maybe at the beginning…

The Ngedere Lodge and Camp in Mto wa Mbu is an attractive place with comfortable rooms, internet, a good restaurant and a welcoming pool. Monkeys, sheep and rabbits wander around the nicely landscaped, large property. Our laundry could be done here also. The only negative was that we didn’t have reliable power.

At breakfast, Norton came to the hotel and then drove us to a nearby gas station where Prista, a local guide met us. She took us on a three hour walk about showing us the various activities in the village.

We started out in a rice field, then into a big banana plantation, past vegetable gardens with tomatoes, corn, pumpkins, carrots and cabbage. The valley, the bottom of the Great Rift valley, is very fertile due to the volcanic nature of the soil and has a lot of water.

It’s Sunday today, so churches were full of singing parishioners. Houses are huts, mainly made of sticks and mud. There are herds of cattle, goats and sheep walking along the sides of the road. People are very friendly and always acknowledging us by saying, Welcome, with a smile

This village is made up of 120 tribes, each with their own language. It’s a perfect location for jobs so people have come here from all over.

On our walk, we stopped into a woodworking shop where they carved intricate animals and figurines from ebony, rosewood or white mahogany - labour intensive.

An artist showed us the three types of paintings the people did here - Tinga Tinga cartoon animals, paintings done with a palette knife and more modern animal paintings.

We stopped in a little shelter to learn about how banana beer is made and to sample it. It was all right. Made from mashed bananas, water and millet.

At the end of the walk, a tuktuk picked us up to take us to a ‘traditional restaurant’ in the banana plantation. The ladies cooked outdoors using large pots over a fire using local fresh produce. As tourists, we have eaten amazingly healthy foods here. Always a feast!

While enjoying lunch, Gail realized that she had lost one of her hearing aids somewhere in the banana plantation. The guide was very concerned but knowing where we had been Gail was resigned to the fact that there was no way it would be found. One less thing to worry about…Read more