Saturday turned out to be a very adventurous day…Just when things started to not go as planned...with a bit more time, patience and perseverance, it eventually worked out. The transportation no show meant we had no other choice but to resort to plan b. This meant a call Mr. Chipe to renegotiate a rate for 2 cars ….this exercise took approximately 2 hours to organize and hammer out to everyone’s satisfaction. One thing I have learned and (actually have become comfortable with!!!) is that things just don’t happen here at the speed of light…it simply takes time. There is no sense really in getting too attached to any plans since they will, without a doubt, change. My colleagues were praising me for being ultra patient and working through the deal without having the smile leave my face. (…indeed, my friends and family at home would also be duly impressed… me, patient???) .
So we worked out a deal with Mr Chipe…(thanks so our key negotiator Sean) -80,0000 Tshs for 8 of us (2 cars) to drive 16kms outside of town (near Bihewana) to climb some unkown hill, trekking through some unknown farmlard….sounds like a solid plan, right?
Mr chipe refused a lower rate (“this will kill me…” he says) and explained that the reason for the higher rate was because he would guide us right up to the top of the hill (nice) and protect us from any wild animals or unsavoury types (yikes! Got a little nervous again). Everyone agreed a little protection with a guide who spoke swahili was not such a bad idea.
So off we go. The ride out was interesting….all was going well until the 2nd car had to pull off the road due to an unknown source of smoke emanating from the dash. As you might expect, this appeared to be the beginnings of a mild panic session (ie where there’s smoke, there’s fire?) however after further discovery it looked like the electrical problem only caused a few items under the hood to melt (no flames) and didn't cause any engine problems...this is good! As it turns out, the panic was more around the fact that there were no inside door handles to get out of the car quickly if required. Quick decision making meant car 1 would take group 1 to some yet to be determined location and drop us off at the side of the road, preferably under a tree and wait for group 2 to arrive.
So we worked out a deal with Mr Chipe…(thanks so our key negotiator Sean) -80,0000 Tshs for 8 of us (2 cars) to drive 16kms outside of town (near Bihewana) to climb some unkown hill, trekking through some unknown farmlard….sounds like a solid plan, right?
Mr chipe refused a lower rate (“this will kill me…” he says) and explained that the reason for the higher rate was because he would guide us right up to the top of the hill (nice) and protect us from any wild animals or unsavoury types (yikes! Got a little nervous again). Everyone agreed a little protection with a guide who spoke swahili was not such a bad idea.
So off we go. The ride out was interesting….all was going well until the 2nd car had to pull off the road due to an unknown source of smoke emanating from the dash. As you might expect, this appeared to be the beginnings of a mild panic session (ie where there’s smoke, there’s fire?) however after further discovery it looked like the electrical problem only caused a few items under the hood to melt (no flames) and didn't cause any engine problems...this is good! As it turns out, the panic was more around the fact that there were no inside door handles to get out of the car quickly if required. Quick decision making meant car 1 would take group 1 to some yet to be determined location and drop us off at the side of the road, preferably under a tree and wait for group 2 to arrive.
Finally got en route trekking through several farmer's fields with Mr Chipe leading the way speaking swahili to any non english speaking farmers (translation = all of them) explaining our desire to get to the of the hill. Apparently we were to be climbing about 1000metres (harder than Simba Rock). We passed some hearty tomatoe gardens, and vineyards (likely for the Dodoma Presidential wine we like so much) and various village homes (made out of baked red clay and mud – very fascinating and usually a tin roof kept on with rocks of various sizes. )
Got about 30 minutes into the trip and one of the gang started feeling unwell and realized that a back to the car to was required. The rest of us carried on. It took about an hour and half from the time we started to make it to the top. It was pretty cool but unfortunately we could not make it the largest rock. We took a few pictures, called our colleagues to make sure they were ok and headed back down the hill. We saw many water holeswells used to water the crops where many of the locals we doing by hand. We also saw a couple of baboons, we met a farmer herding his cattle and goats somewhere and saw some sort of white snake, various multi coloured bugs, and what we think was a chameleon…very cool.
Got about 30 minutes into the trip and one of the gang started feeling unwell and realized that a back to the car to was required. The rest of us carried on. It took about an hour and half from the time we started to make it to the top. It was pretty cool but unfortunately we could not make it the largest rock. We took a few pictures, called our colleagues to make sure they were ok and headed back down the hill. We saw many water holeswells used to water the crops where many of the locals we doing by hand. We also saw a couple of baboons, we met a farmer herding his cattle and goats somewhere and saw some sort of white snake, various multi coloured bugs, and what we think was a chameleon…very cool.
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