This past week I was reading a newspaper article in the East African, an English language newspaper I pick up any time I am in Mbeya. This particular article discussed the results from a recently released UN World Happiness report. Not surprisingly nine of the top ten happiest countries were in Europe, With Denmark and the other Scandinavian countries leading the way (Canada was the only non-European country to break the top ten). The top ten least happy countries were what really surprised me. There were the usual countries that most people would suspect like the Congo, Sierra Leone, Burundi, and even Togo (eight of the top ten in this case were found in Sub-Saharan Africa) These countries have a recent history of heinous human rights atrocities, their people are living in extreme poverty and in some cases are raged with civil war. Who wouldn’t believe that the people of these countries weren’t happy?
As I kept reading I found that Tanzania was listed as one of the top ten least happy countries. This really shocked me. The article maintained that the study took many factors into consideration not just the over all wealth of the country but things like the strength of social support offered to citizens, absence of corruption, and the amount of personal and political freedoms were taken into account. Even weighing these things in my mind I was still hard pressed to consider Tanzania an inherently unhappy country. I thought of at least five other countries that failed to make the list that appear to be a lot worse off than Tanzania.
The people I have had the pleasure of meeting and living among this year have been some of the most genuinely happy and warm people I have ever met. I know that it is part of their culture to be welcoming and inherently communal, but the extent that I have witnessed it still blows my mind. I see more people smiling and laughing here than I have anywhere else that I have traveled. Again, maybe it is just the people I am around, but even then I am amazed by them. Ileje district, the district I have been living in, is one of the more rural and poorer districts in Tanzania. The people here have so little, many don’t even have electricity or running water, they get by on so little that I am amazed by how they care for each other and not a day goes by where I am not greeted with a huge smile or have a laugh with people in the village. At first I thought this was just something they were doing to be nice to an outsider but, the more I took notice I realized that it was this way for everyone.
Coming from America where we are indoctrinated to believe that happiness means having a flat screen television, smart phone, computers, nice cars and a Big Mac, I wondered how any one could survive without these attachments I had grown so fond of. Well my friends I can say that the people here are surviving without these things and are all the more happy because they are not caught up in it all.
I can admit that Tanzania might not have the most corruption free government form what the people have told me and I have observed, but that’s not to say they aren’t trying. People here have a sense of personal and political freedom that is not found in many of the other African countries. The structures for providing social support are gaining more backing and hopefully before long there will be a better system for the people of Tanzania. I cant deny the fact that Tanzanians don’t wish at times that they were American, or European. They marvel at all the things I have brought here, but once I tell them about some of the realities of America and people from the West they seem a little less enthusiastic about it. Living with the people day in and day out I can say that I feel like the study really missed its mark by naming Tanzania as one of the least happy nations on earth.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Part Three...The Conclusion
We decided to get the heck out of Zambia a few days early because honestly there was nothing more we could do there. We had exhausted all of our options, we had even gone and had a spa day and gotten massages because we had nothing else to do. We knew we defiantly did not want to spend the night/a few days in Lusaka, after the “incident” we were left with a bad taste in our mouths for Lusaka and the idea we had previously had of going to Lake Nyasa for a few days clearly was worthless since we didn’t have any swim suits. We originally had wanted to take the train from Livingston to Lusaka to kill some time but were persuaded against it by everyone we talked to, so it was back to the buses and six am departure times.
The idea of overnight buses sound good in theory but after this trip I have learned that in practice they are the absolute worst idea ever. This last bus ride was the worst! We got to Lusaka late and most of the good buses going to the boarder were full so we got stuck on a bus with two seats on one side and three on the other. Of course all the seats on the two seat side were taken so we were stuck on the three seat side. We both wanted window seats so we sat in different rows. We did stop by the booking office of the company that we took the first time around when our bags got stolen and gave the manager a piece of our mind. Seriously how are you going to advertise a bus company with bible verses and even have a guy preach on the bus before we leave, and have employees that steal, so questionable. They told us they were still keeping on our problem and they would contact us with any information they learn from the police, so we sill see if anything ever comes from this. Things were looking up when the bus left because at first we didn’t have anyone in our rows. Of course as per usual the guy sitting on the other side of the aisle thought it would be nice to keep me company so he moved over to my side and started chatting me up. He was really nice guy and meant well but I was not in the mood at first. He did give me a soda and bought me a chicken pie (fried chicken HUGE in Zambia, I have never seen anything like it). We talked about all kinds of things, he could not believe that I live without electricity and even wanted to give me one of his generators. I told him had it not been my last month here I would have taken him up on the offer. Finally he got tired and we tried to sleep. If you think sleeping on a plane is hard, a bus is almost impossible. I kept turning and adjusting but no position would work I could not fall asleep. Finally after traveling in a bus for 23 hours we made it to the boarder and back to Tanzania with all our remaining possessions on Friday morning. During this one week span we successfully spent over 48 hours riding on cramped African buses, if that’s not a feat in itself I don’t know what is.
Zambia broke us down, and drug us through the mud a few times, but I like to think we did get a few wins out of the whole adventure. We did get to see Victoria Falls which was the main reason for going. Did we get to fully enjoy it, that’s debatable but we saw it none the less. I got to eat a lot of ice cream which is one of my favorite things. Probably the best part was getting to go on the walking safari and getting so incredibly close to rhinos and zebras in their natural state. Everything that could go wrong on this trip did, but we survived and managed to laugh at most things (although we are not at the point of acceptance yet). I don’t know if I would have handled it so well had it happened during my September break.
Being back in Mbeya has been nice. We have been able to eat at our favorite places and even discovered a new Chinese place (I know what you are thinking, Chinese in Africa…. Questionable but it was actually really good). For Easter we even treated ourselves. We have been wanting to go to the Utengule Coffee lodge and plantation for awhile now but have never had the chance to go. We decided what better time than Easter Sunday to head over for brunch. The place is set on a hill overlooking the Great Rift Valley and the atmosphere was really fun. On Sundays they have really good brick oven pizzas, so we treated ourselves to that and some coffee of course and just relaxed and took in the gorgeous scenery all afternoon. It was a great way to wind up this chaotic vacation.
Now that it is all said and done I can say that honestly it wasn’t all a complete loss. We were able to get out of our villages and see another part of the world. We got to see a natural wonder and experience yet another culture, and eat good food which we have to go with out when we are in the village. Was it everything I had been dreaming of for the past two months, no but it did give me a story I know I will be able to tell the rest of my life. It will be incredibly hard to top this as the best worst spring break ever.
The idea of overnight buses sound good in theory but after this trip I have learned that in practice they are the absolute worst idea ever. This last bus ride was the worst! We got to Lusaka late and most of the good buses going to the boarder were full so we got stuck on a bus with two seats on one side and three on the other. Of course all the seats on the two seat side were taken so we were stuck on the three seat side. We both wanted window seats so we sat in different rows. We did stop by the booking office of the company that we took the first time around when our bags got stolen and gave the manager a piece of our mind. Seriously how are you going to advertise a bus company with bible verses and even have a guy preach on the bus before we leave, and have employees that steal, so questionable. They told us they were still keeping on our problem and they would contact us with any information they learn from the police, so we sill see if anything ever comes from this. Things were looking up when the bus left because at first we didn’t have anyone in our rows. Of course as per usual the guy sitting on the other side of the aisle thought it would be nice to keep me company so he moved over to my side and started chatting me up. He was really nice guy and meant well but I was not in the mood at first. He did give me a soda and bought me a chicken pie (fried chicken HUGE in Zambia, I have never seen anything like it). We talked about all kinds of things, he could not believe that I live without electricity and even wanted to give me one of his generators. I told him had it not been my last month here I would have taken him up on the offer. Finally he got tired and we tried to sleep. If you think sleeping on a plane is hard, a bus is almost impossible. I kept turning and adjusting but no position would work I could not fall asleep. Finally after traveling in a bus for 23 hours we made it to the boarder and back to Tanzania with all our remaining possessions on Friday morning. During this one week span we successfully spent over 48 hours riding on cramped African buses, if that’s not a feat in itself I don’t know what is.
Zambia broke us down, and drug us through the mud a few times, but I like to think we did get a few wins out of the whole adventure. We did get to see Victoria Falls which was the main reason for going. Did we get to fully enjoy it, that’s debatable but we saw it none the less. I got to eat a lot of ice cream which is one of my favorite things. Probably the best part was getting to go on the walking safari and getting so incredibly close to rhinos and zebras in their natural state. Everything that could go wrong on this trip did, but we survived and managed to laugh at most things (although we are not at the point of acceptance yet). I don’t know if I would have handled it so well had it happened during my September break.
Being back in Mbeya has been nice. We have been able to eat at our favorite places and even discovered a new Chinese place (I know what you are thinking, Chinese in Africa…. Questionable but it was actually really good). For Easter we even treated ourselves. We have been wanting to go to the Utengule Coffee lodge and plantation for awhile now but have never had the chance to go. We decided what better time than Easter Sunday to head over for brunch. The place is set on a hill overlooking the Great Rift Valley and the atmosphere was really fun. On Sundays they have really good brick oven pizzas, so we treated ourselves to that and some coffee of course and just relaxed and took in the gorgeous scenery all afternoon. It was a great way to wind up this chaotic vacation.
Now that it is all said and done I can say that honestly it wasn’t all a complete loss. We were able to get out of our villages and see another part of the world. We got to see a natural wonder and experience yet another culture, and eat good food which we have to go with out when we are in the village. Was it everything I had been dreaming of for the past two months, no but it did give me a story I know I will be able to tell the rest of my life. It will be incredibly hard to top this as the best worst spring break ever.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
The Best Worst Spring Break Continued
Beautiful!After all the “excitement” of the first part of the trip Nicole and I were really hoping that we could at least salvage some of the trip. Sunday morning we got up and knowing that most of the shops were going to be closed, decided to head to Victoria Falls and check out the park and the falls from the Zambian side. We took the public transport instead of a taxi and during that ride met a nice lady named Blessed who was from Zimbabwe and spoke over 10 languages and laughed at our ability to barely get by with three. She was training to be a doctor in Zambia, and wanted us to come with her into Zimbabwe so she could show us around, but we didn’t have our passports. She also took us on this “back” way to the park because the mini bus just kind of dropped us off on the side of the road and we had no clue where to go.
While we were walking to the park multiple people told us to watch out for the baboons because we were both carrying plastic sacks because we had bought snacks at the grocery store before we left. We didn’t really think much of this because I mean really how often do baboons just wander around in the open? When we finally got to the park there were a lot of typical tourist shops and, those shop workers who try and tell you how poor they are and how they need money to survive in the village, when really they are selling things for a RIDICILOUS price that is ten times the price it should be. We bypassed these guys on the way in and headed straight for the falls.
The way the park is set up is there is a giant statue of David Livingstone when you enter. (For those of you who forgot he was the first white man to set eyes on Victoria Falls, as well as being an all around awesome African explorer who when we died the local people took out his heart and buried it in Africa before sending his body back to Britain, basically true love). After the statue you follow a path and get some pretty nice glimpses of the falls and then you get to the bridge where you are basically face to face with the falls. We just so happened to come at the time when the Falls are at their fullest due to all the rain so there was so much mist that we were drenched after walking across the bridge. It was an amazing sight to see I will have to say. You are also able to walk further upstream on the Zambezi and during the dry season are even allowed to cross the river and can even jump into this pool that is at the edge of the falls. Like I said right now the river is really full we did get on the edge and stick our feet in though.
pre run in with the baboon, still excited
upstream, right before the falls start
On the bridge in the middle of the fallsEverything was going great and we were enjoying our time at the Falls and our opinions of Zambia were starting to look up when all the sudden we were walking on the path to take a look at the famous bridge that connects Zambia and Zimbabwe over the gorge, when a massive baboon walked into our path. We trid to turn around and walk the other way but another one stepped onto the path. It was like they were cornering us on the path. We were stuck and I know I was frighten. You don’t really realize how big those things are until you are that close. Nicole had a plastic shopping bag in her hand and I told her to give it that and she also had a plastic water bottle that she threw at it in hopes that they would walk away. A guy even walked by and saw us in this sticky situation and laughed took a picture of us and kept walking….so rude. The bottle did help in distracting the one baboon and we ran away super fast. It was just another way we decided Zambia was trying to get us down.
The after math of the run inAfter that excitement we left the park and headed to start a trend that we continued throughout our time in Zambia, going to the grocery store. I know it sounds weird but the ShopRite and Spare became our way to kill time. After living in rural Tanzania having the opportunity to go to the grocery store and have an entire aisle devoted to yogurt and cheese made us really happy, they were both air conditioned, also a plus.
On Monday we were able to finally try and get some other clothes and try to find a swim suit to take advantage of the pool at the hostel or any other water activities that were offered. We looked everywhere but could not find any womens swim suits, finally we wound up at what I have liked to believe is the Old Navy of Africa. The store is Called Pep and they sell clothes that are along the same lines as old navy and at around the same prices. We both broke down and bought boys swim suit bottoms because we needed some shorts and wanted something to wear by the pool. I was able tog et out of there with a pair of skinny jeans two shirts and my lovely 1990s inspired boys swim trunks for about 30 dollars, I was pleased.
We had planned on going to Zimbabwe and possibly Botswana during our time in Livingstone because both are easily accessible and our hostel had multiple activities we could do in both countries. We had even looked at the things to do and were really interested in a few of them, when Zambia played another cruel trick on us. Nicole had lived by the Lonely Planet guide to Zambia and Malawi to plan the trip and it said that you only needed to buy a single entry visa and could easily go into Zimbabwe to see the falls or take day trips into Botswana no problem. We learned that in fact this was not the case and if we wanted to do either of the things (side note all of the main tourist infrastructure for the falls is on the Zimbabwean side of the falls) we would have to pay another fifty dollars on top of the fees we would have to pay for the activities to buy another visa. Zambia just kept getting a laugh out of us. We seriously considered it a few times, if only to go into Zimbabwe and see the falls and attempt to find swim suits, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it and went to the grocery store instead.
We were able to go on a walking safari one morning and we got to get within fifty feet of four white rhinos, including one baby. We also got to get close to zebras and giraffes. The icing on the cake for that experience was we got to ride in what is basically a truck with bench seats and a canopy in the back, but we felt like we were in a parade because you are sitting up higher than the cab and it is open air. That was probably the highlight of the trip to Livingstone after seeing the falls of course.
Stay tuned for the final part of the trilogy of The Best Worst Spring Break Ever!
On Monday we were able to finally try and get some other clothes and try to find a swim suit to take advantage of the pool at the hostel or any other water activities that were offered. We looked everywhere but could not find any womens swim suits, finally we wound up at what I have liked to believe is the Old Navy of Africa. The store is Called Pep and they sell clothes that are along the same lines as old navy and at around the same prices. We both broke down and bought boys swim suit bottoms because we needed some shorts and wanted something to wear by the pool. I was able tog et out of there with a pair of skinny jeans two shirts and my lovely 1990s inspired boys swim trunks for about 30 dollars, I was pleased.
We had planned on going to Zimbabwe and possibly Botswana during our time in Livingstone because both are easily accessible and our hostel had multiple activities we could do in both countries. We had even looked at the things to do and were really interested in a few of them, when Zambia played another cruel trick on us. Nicole had lived by the Lonely Planet guide to Zambia and Malawi to plan the trip and it said that you only needed to buy a single entry visa and could easily go into Zimbabwe to see the falls or take day trips into Botswana no problem. We learned that in fact this was not the case and if we wanted to do either of the things (side note all of the main tourist infrastructure for the falls is on the Zimbabwean side of the falls) we would have to pay another fifty dollars on top of the fees we would have to pay for the activities to buy another visa. Zambia just kept getting a laugh out of us. We seriously considered it a few times, if only to go into Zimbabwe and see the falls and attempt to find swim suits, but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth it and went to the grocery store instead.
We were able to go on a walking safari one morning and we got to get within fifty feet of four white rhinos, including one baby. We also got to get close to zebras and giraffes. The icing on the cake for that experience was we got to ride in what is basically a truck with bench seats and a canopy in the back, but we felt like we were in a parade because you are sitting up higher than the cab and it is open air. That was probably the highlight of the trip to Livingstone after seeing the falls of course.
Stay tuned for the final part of the trilogy of The Best Worst Spring Break Ever!
We found this on the side of the street and loved it
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
April Fooled
April fooled
I am officially on break! The adventure started bright and early last Friday morning. I had to catch the 4 am bus out of the village, meaning I had to leave my house at 3:30 am to get down there in time l. Luckily I have learned and bought my rocket the night before so that I could have a seat in the front with the driver. The bus came on time and I was off, when we passed through Isongole we picked up Nicole and the trip really started. We were traveling first to the boarder town of Tunduma where we were going to get our visas and then find a bus down to Lusaka.
We made it to the boarder in great time and had no problems for once crossing the boarder, we bought our Zambian visas, exchanged our Shillings for Kwacha (I was amused because I became a millionaire) and went to find a bus to Lusaka, by this point it was only 11 am, things were going great! We found a nice looking bus and bought a ticket and found out we would have to wait 5 hours for it to leave because it was an over night bus but we didn't mind.
The bus left and we were even happier because it wasn't that full so we each got two seats to ourselves. The ride was almost perfect except I did have a minor break down . The seats in front of me reclined a lot further than any others and at one point I felt trapped, I also had two chatty Cathy men behind me who apparently didn't need sleep because they chatted the entire night. Oher than that the ride was great and we made it to Lusaka around 4:30 am. We decided to wait on the bus we came on until 5 and then go and find a bus down to Livingston, where Victoria Falls is located.
Immediately when we got off the bus a guy came up and asked us if we were going to Livingstone and took us to his bus company to get a ticket. This is totally normal in most African countries, and it makes things easy if you don't really have a bus company you prefer. We bought our tickets and likes the bus company they had bible verses on their tickets and sign, the people were super friendly. We took our bags to the bus and put them under to store and made sure to have the guy close it and then went to grab a coffee and papers and them sat on the bus. This ride was relatively short compared to the other, only 7 hours. Other than having the usual creeper on the bs wanting to chat with us because we are white the ride was great. We both got really excited when we saw the sign welcoming us to Livingstone and both committed on how easy and how few problems we had had on this long trip down here. Little did we know
When we got off the bus and went to grab our backpacks they were nowhere to be found! I immediately went into full on panic freak out mode, I hadn't slept in basically two days and I was in dire need of a shower. The guys who worked for the company were really nice and one of them, Patrick took us to the used clothes store to buy some stuff and then brought us to our hostel.
As of now we know that the guy from re bus station we first meet who took us to the bus counter and worked for the company has been taken by the police but that's all we know. Most of the things in the two bags were worthless. Nicoles bag was even half filled with trash she didn't want to burn in the village. Both of us had really nasty old clothes in our bags, the bags also were nasty due to the fact that they have been strapped to the top of buses for hours on end on dirt roads. Africans don't like dirty things, so the joke was on them. The thing that really sucked was that my nice camera was in my bag I forgot to talbot out because it was at the bottom of my bag, also my small computer charger was in the bag. I took out my computer but forgot the charger so that's going to make life rough for the next few weeks in the village.
Over all though I feel like the joke was on the thief because our stuff wasn't really that nice and they are going to have a hard time selling most of it. We have had a good time rocking the only swimsuit we could find which was boys swim trunks and our second hand clothes, I have learned I can survive a week with only one skirt and three shirts, ohhh Africa More to come soon about all the stuff we have done here in Zambia
I am officially on break! The adventure started bright and early last Friday morning. I had to catch the 4 am bus out of the village, meaning I had to leave my house at 3:30 am to get down there in time l. Luckily I have learned and bought my rocket the night before so that I could have a seat in the front with the driver. The bus came on time and I was off, when we passed through Isongole we picked up Nicole and the trip really started. We were traveling first to the boarder town of Tunduma where we were going to get our visas and then find a bus down to Lusaka.
We made it to the boarder in great time and had no problems for once crossing the boarder, we bought our Zambian visas, exchanged our Shillings for Kwacha (I was amused because I became a millionaire) and went to find a bus to Lusaka, by this point it was only 11 am, things were going great! We found a nice looking bus and bought a ticket and found out we would have to wait 5 hours for it to leave because it was an over night bus but we didn't mind.
The bus left and we were even happier because it wasn't that full so we each got two seats to ourselves. The ride was almost perfect except I did have a minor break down . The seats in front of me reclined a lot further than any others and at one point I felt trapped, I also had two chatty Cathy men behind me who apparently didn't need sleep because they chatted the entire night. Oher than that the ride was great and we made it to Lusaka around 4:30 am. We decided to wait on the bus we came on until 5 and then go and find a bus down to Livingston, where Victoria Falls is located.
Immediately when we got off the bus a guy came up and asked us if we were going to Livingstone and took us to his bus company to get a ticket. This is totally normal in most African countries, and it makes things easy if you don't really have a bus company you prefer. We bought our tickets and likes the bus company they had bible verses on their tickets and sign, the people were super friendly. We took our bags to the bus and put them under to store and made sure to have the guy close it and then went to grab a coffee and papers and them sat on the bus. This ride was relatively short compared to the other, only 7 hours. Other than having the usual creeper on the bs wanting to chat with us because we are white the ride was great. We both got really excited when we saw the sign welcoming us to Livingstone and both committed on how easy and how few problems we had had on this long trip down here. Little did we know
When we got off the bus and went to grab our backpacks they were nowhere to be found! I immediately went into full on panic freak out mode, I hadn't slept in basically two days and I was in dire need of a shower. The guys who worked for the company were really nice and one of them, Patrick took us to the used clothes store to buy some stuff and then brought us to our hostel.
As of now we know that the guy from re bus station we first meet who took us to the bus counter and worked for the company has been taken by the police but that's all we know. Most of the things in the two bags were worthless. Nicoles bag was even half filled with trash she didn't want to burn in the village. Both of us had really nasty old clothes in our bags, the bags also were nasty due to the fact that they have been strapped to the top of buses for hours on end on dirt roads. Africans don't like dirty things, so the joke was on them. The thing that really sucked was that my nice camera was in my bag I forgot to talbot out because it was at the bottom of my bag, also my small computer charger was in the bag. I took out my computer but forgot the charger so that's going to make life rough for the next few weeks in the village.
Over all though I feel like the joke was on the thief because our stuff wasn't really that nice and they are going to have a hard time selling most of it. We have had a good time rocking the only swimsuit we could find which was boys swim trunks and our second hand clothes, I have learned I can survive a week with only one skirt and three shirts, ohhh Africa More to come soon about all the stuff we have done here in Zambia
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