THE NEW NORMAL FOR THE TIME BEING

It’s been awhile since I’ve written anything here.  Usually life seems to whiz by at record speed and it seems that I have a never-ending list of things I want to get accomplished on any given day.  Granted, what I have written down are not all “chores”, there are also what I consider “fun” things.  And some of my fun things take a lot of time to do, and there are only so many hours in a day.  But in the blink of an eye myself and millions of others have suddenly found ourselves with an abundance of time on our hands.  And a good portion of that time is being spent in our own homes away from others.

If you’ve been reading my blog you know that my husband and I love to travel the world.  We’ve been fortunate enough to be doing this for 17 years now.  Our travels have taken us to some far-flung exotic places too, like visiting the Potala Palace in Tibet, staying in a kibbutz on the Golan Heights in Israel, spending the night in a Muslim farmer’s home in Turkey, or hiking part of the Annapourna Circuit in the mountains in Nepal.  These are just a small example of where our travels have taken us.

But all of a sudden we find our wings have been clipped and we are grounded indefinitely, though we are certainly not alone in this experience.  Our trip down under that we had been planning for a year and a half is kaput.  Instead of packing our bags and flying off to explore somewhere new, we are staying at home.  Thank goodness home is a wonderful place to be.

My life has slowed down considerably and I now find I have a lot more time to pursue not only my “fun” activities but also my “chores”.  My house has never been cleaner either!  Instead of working out daily at the gym I’m now taking walks in my community.  Walking in the fresh air is not only good for my health but it clears my head and settles my mind.  We’re all living in a stressful, uncertain time and when I’m outside exercising I can momentarily forget what’s going on.

Without the social engagements that I normally have written on my calendar I have a lot more time to pursue my interests.  Being a passionate quilter I have enough projects, ideas, and fabric to last a lifetime!  Now I have the time to really get things done.

I’ve also rediscovered my long-ago interest in genealogy research.  It is so much easier now with almost everything available at your fingertips.  The family tree I started researching awhile back has been growing quite well with the information I’ve been able to gather recently.  This takes a lot of time that I didn’t want to devote before, but now it seems that I have nothing but time.

Something else that I enjoy doing is cooking.  I'm what you might call a creative cook too.  I use recipes for a lot of my meals but I also like to experiment with the ingredients I have on hand and create new dishes.  The majority of the time the results are very good.  Without being able to eat out knowing how to cook is vital.

While we are all spending more time at home we don't need to feel isolated. There’s still the phone and internet to keep in touch with friends and family so our connections to each other don’t suffer.  Besides that I have a husband who’s my best friend so staying at home together is just fine with me.  After all these years together we never seem to run out of things to talk about either.  I feel really lucky.

I know that someday this will all be over and life will get back to some kind of normalcy while the country tries to heal.  In the meantime I will try to use this extra time wisely and accomplish some of the things I’ve been putting off doing. And hopefully in the next couple of years I will be writing here about our trip “down under”.

African quilt finally finished.  Designed and created after my first trip to Africa in 2011.

SAFARI SERENGETI - PART THREE - ZANZIBAR

This amazing trip to Africa was booked more than a year in advance.  When I was sitting in my home half way around the world from Tanzania I could only imagine what the island of Zanzibar would be like.  The name alone conjures up an image of an exotic tropical island in the Indian Ocean.  I would soon discover that the reality far exceeded any image that I had in my mind.

To get to Zanzibar we had to fly from Arusha, Tanzania to the coastal city of Dar es Salaam, where we boarded another 12 passenger plane for our flight to Zanzibar.

The first few days in Zanzibar were spent in Stone Town, the birthplace of Freddy Mercury.  I stayed at the lovely Swahili House.  From the rooftop restaurant and bar you could see Stone Town stretching out to the ocean, within walking distance from the hotel.

Walking through the open-air street market is something I’ve done all over the world in the countries I’ve visited but each one is always fascinating to see with many products unique to the country I’m visiting.

After the street market I went to the old slave market site.  Reading and listening to the history in the museum was both educational and disturbing but walking through the underground cement bunkers where the slaves were packed in together in the heat and humidity that is year-round was beyond disturbing.

Stone Town itself is a maze of buildings and narrow alleyways going this way and that way; a place very easy to lose your sense of direction when navigating.  Thank goodness a local guide was leading the way or I might still be there trying to find my way!

After spending a few days in Stone Town it was time to go to paradise - namely a tropical place called Unguja Lodge.  The lodge is set in the jungle with the Indian Ocean at your doorstep.  Everything about the lodge and its location was absolutely breathtaking!  The villa my husband and I shared was like something we had once seen on International Househunters.  Most of the villa had a roof and partial sides but no walls so it was wide open to nature and the environment.  This included the bathroom, outdoor shower, and living room.  We also had a patio within about ten feet of the Indian Ocean where we could enjoy our morning coffee while watching local fishermen pass by.  The bedroom was the only enclosed room with four complete walls and a locked door to keep out the monkeys.

In fact, one morning while we were sitting on our patio drinking our coffee and enjoying a few cookies the maid had left for us, the monkeys decided to pay us a visit.  We tried to scare them off but they seemed quite intent on stealing a cookie as they made their way closer and closer.  Finally we retreated to the safety of our room to finish our coffee and cookies.

There are steps at the lodge that lead down into the Indian Ocean and the water is very warm and inviting.  The tidal change there was much greater than where I live near the Pacific Ocean.  It varies from low tide to high tide by as much as 6 -10 feet, which means the stairs to get down into the water are completely underwater during high tide.  

One morning our small group of ten set out on an old wooden sailboat for our day’s adventure.  Little did we know it would turn out to be a “Gilligan’s Island-like experience:”

“Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship

The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure

Ten passengers set sail that day, on a six-hour tour

A six-hour tour

The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed

If not for the courage of the fearless crew the Lou Lou would be lost

The Lou Lou would be lost”.

Yes, we were sailing about two hours from the lodge to snorkel a coral reef near a small island.  And just like the song the weather got very rough as we approached the reef.  The sky turned very dark, the wind howled and the seas were high and choppy.  All of a sudden the skies opened up and started pounding us with rain.  We all huddled under a huge tarp as the boat began to take on water. Quickly everyone strapped on a life vest over their wet suits as we were told we would have to jump into the ragging sea while the crew used buckets to bail water so the boat wouldn’t sink.

To say I was terrified is putting it mildly!  Some of the crew were already in the water with life preservers for us to hold on to, which is exactly what we all did. It was inherent that we not get swept into the reef where we would be shredded to pieces. I have no idea how long we bobbed around in the water while holding on to the life preserver for dear life.  Finally the skies lightened and the crew had bailed out most of the water so we were able to reboard the boat.  We headed for a large sandbar not too far away where tables, chairs, and umbrellas were all ready set up for a seafood barbecue.  We were all so relieved to be on dry ground again!  The barbecue was delicious and the wine flowed so that soon we were all laughing while we recalled our close encounter with the great unknown.  After lunch we enjoyed snorkeling a short distance off-shore.

The two hour ride back to the lodge was a relaxing end to an extremely adventurous day to say the least!

On another day we visited a spice plantation, a butterfly farm, and Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park where the red colobus monkeys roam freely and are sometimes quite close, even crossing the path right in front of my feet.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and before we knew it we had to say goodby to beautiful Unguja Lodge and the island of Zanzibar. 

SAFARI SERENGETI - PART TWO - TANZANIA

This morning, after saying goodbye to our Maasai guide George, our small group flew in a 12 passenger plane to Arusha, Tanzania for the next part of our African adventure.

While in Arusha our group visited the Safe Water Ceramics of East Africa, which is a non-profit organization providing clean drinking water for the people of Africa.  We heard the story of how this business came into being, watched the demonstration of how these water filters are made, then saw the difference between a glass of dirty pond water and a glass of pure clean drinking water from the ceramic filter.  Each water filter comes with instructions plus a scrub brush so the person receiving the filter knows how to care for it.  The water filter costs $40 and lasts 5 years, at which time they can be exchanged for a new one for $25.  Our group was so impressed we purchased 11 filters to be given away as we continued on our adventure.

Later that day as we were traveling back to our lodge we passed a small village and two women walking there with water buckets on top of their heads.  Our guide asked if we would like to donate a couple of our water filters and we all responded yes.  While we stood around watching, Nixon, one of our drivers, spoke in Swahili and demonstrated how to care for the filters.  The younger of the two ladies wanted to make sure she knew what to do so she proceeded to repeat the instructions (in Swahili) back to Nixon.  Watching this interaction was very special and made me feel so happy that our donation could have such a positive impact on improving the lives of the people in this village who would benefit from clean water.

While in Arusha we also visited the “Albino Peacemakers”, a women’s sewing group for women with albinism.  We learned that 80% die of skin cancer by the age of 30.  Many women with albinism are rejected by their villages and families.  The building we visited provided a safe environment for them to work so they could provide for their families.  Some of the items they create on treadle sewing machines are double-sided aprons, tote bags, placemats, and many other textiles, all made with beautiful African fabrics.

While going on game drives in Tarangire National Park we stayed in a private camp at Lake Burunge.  One of the days was spent visiting a Maasai village, where we joined in their dance celebration, and also learned about their traditions.  I even sat with the Maasai women to bead jewelry using thin wire.  At the end of the visit I had an opportunity to buy some of the hand-beaded jewelry the women of the village had made.

Another important part of every OAT trip is a visit to the local primary school.  These are schools all over the world that The Grand Circle Foundation helps support.  We, as travelers, bring much-needed school supplies as well as make private donations if we choose to do so.  The classroom we visited was ages 10-12 and they sang a couple of songs for us in Swahili and then we sang a song for them. The children encouraged us to sit with them at their desks so they could practice communicating in English and show us some of their school work.  The school visits are always my favorite part of a trip because the children are so excited to see us, and of course that includes taking many, many photos which they love to pose for.

The next day, on our way to the Serengeti, we passed through the Ngorongoro entrance gates.  Before long we arrived at the viewpoint for the Ngorongoro Crater.  I couldn’t believe my eyes!  It was such a beautiful sight and absolutely enormous, with no sign of life whatsoever.  As I looked from one side across to the other side of this massive crater I kept thinking “this is the garden of Eden.”  I could see water at the bottom with a pallet of green colors throughout the crater.  The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Land is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The circular crater is 2000 feet deep and about 12 miles across.  We drove along the rim of the crater for a while as we made our way to the Serengeti far beyond the crater. 

The great Serengeti was a vast, open plain as far as the eye could see.  We traveled on rocky, dirt roads,  kicking up a huge plume of dust as we sped along.  Eventually the terrain changed to more hills and valleys, mountains and canyons.  Our tented camp was set up in one of these valleys surrounded by mountains and trees and bushes.

Each tent had comfortable twin beds, sink, toilet, and shower area, everything you needed.  Every night I heard the chilling sounds of vicious hyenas calling out to each other.  They actually terrified me more than the lions did.

Showers in the tented camp were fine for a Californian who learned how to take a “seaman’s shower” a long time ago in order to conserve our precious water.  Each day when we returned from the afternoon game drive there was one of the camp staff boiling water somewhere behind the tents for our showers.  We were each given 4 gallons of water to shower with.  There was a shower head with a chain to pull to start or stop the water.  I yelled out “tent number 3, shower number 1” and I could hear the water being poured into the top of my shower bucket.  By starting and stopping the water flow I was able to wash my thick hair as well as my body and still have enough water left for my husband to use when I was done.  He probably only used less than a gallon of his own 4 gallon allotment  to finish his shower.  

On one game drive we made our way far up into the mountains where we got to witness part of the “great migration” of the wildebeest and zebras as they made their way north.  It was truly a sight to see these animals running together kicking up enormous clouds of dust as they went.

One morning we awoke before sunrise to take a hot air balloon ride over the Serengeti.  It was an amazing ride, so peaceful as we drifted along the river, watching the hippopotamus below.  Afterward we enjoyed a champagne bush breakfast in the Serengeti.

After leaving the Serengeti we traveled back to the Ngorongoro Crater again, only this time we took a narrow, winding, one-lane rocky dirt road down to the very bottom of the crater.  Once down at the bottom I could see all the many different species of animals grazing alongside each other, something I couldn’t see from the top of the crater.  We spent many hours on the game drive at the bottom since the area is quite large and spread out.

When we finally left the Ngorongoro Crater we drove to Arusha to take a flight to the island of Zanzibar, where Part Three of my adventure concludes.