Dar to Kigoma to Kasulu – Thursday April 25th
Finally, a post from Cathy. You may have wondered if I was really along on this trip…
Yesterday morning started really early. Too early considering our still jet-lagged state. We had a 7:00 am flight to Kigoma and a mound of luggage to transport to the airport and check in. There was a minor concern that the airline would even let us check in a total of three large duffels, a guitar case that bears a resemblance to a small coffin, a server box, three boxes containing flat-screen monitors and Shaw’s not-insignificant suitcase.
The hotel procured two taxis for us. The luggage fit best if we put the computer boxes in the back on one taxi (in which all three of us would also ride) and all of the duffels, Shaw’s suitcase and the guitar case in the other taxi – with none of us riding in it. Then came confusion.
Bill and I were pretty sure that we needed to go to the same terminal that we had come in to on Tuesday. We didn’t even know that a “domestic” as opposed to “international” terminal existed. But the driver asked “domestic or international” and we thought, okay things could have changed, Kigoma is a domestic flight. We answered domestic. And proceeded to loose the cab with our duffels, suitcase and guitar, which wanted to drive much slower than our driver. We got to the domestic terminal. No second cab. Drove back to the international terminal, found the second cab, drove back the domestic terminal and proceeded to unload the cabs.
It must have resembled one of those clown cars at the circus. The expressions on the faces of the security guards at the entrance to the terminal as we unloaded were something to behold. They politely asked us what airline we were flying on. Turns out that the flights out of the domestic terminal are all the smaller safari type airlines. Air Tanzania flies out of the international terminal.
We reloaded the cabs, proceeded back to the international terminal, did the clown car thing again, this time into three luggage carts in the parking lot and proceeded thru initial security, where my watch and the large bottle of antacid tablets in my backpack raised eyebrows.
Needless to say, we were seriously overweight. Bill had had the three monitor boxes shrink-wrapped together so we had only increased out total luggage load by two packages. The Tanzanian airlines really only want you to fly with one piece of luggage when you fly domestically, but two pieces is not unusual, you just have to pay. As the pile of luggage grew on the scale we could see objections starting to form. We pointed to Shaw (who was wearing his clerical collar – they RESPECT priests in Tanzania), said we were all together, and the seven pieces of luggage for three people (as opposed to six pieces for two folks) seemed a little more reasonable. 275,000 Tanzanian Shillings ($170.00 USD) later, and we were checked in. And turned around to find Bishop Mpango’s wife, Margaret (aka Mama Rose) checking in behind us.
Margaret is a good friend and we were actually scheduled to have lunch at her house that day. She had originally been scheduled to come back to Kigoma on Friday, but moved her flight up when she learned that we would be visiting. We went upstairs for some coffee and samosas (little meat or vegetable filled pastries while we waited in a relaxed fashion for our flight to board.
Good thing we had gotten that early start. No sooner had we finished our light breakfast than our flight was called. They had changed the schedule to take off at 6:30 – not the 7:00 am that the travel agency had given us. The seating was “open” and we managed to sit with Margaret. We told her that she had to get off of the plane first, because she had lunch to cook!
All our luggage made it safely off the plane and even though we were early, our various forms of transportation arrived just as we had completed organizing ourselves. We went directly to Bishop Mpango’s home, which is a lovely gated house overlooking Lake Tanganyika. A breeze blowing off the lake kept the house delightfully cool. After some boiled eggs and toast, Mama Rose (Margaret), Shaw and I made a quick run to the market. Mama Rose was in search of fresh produce, Shaw wanted to see a local market and I wanted to get a katanga, a length of printed cloth that is cut into smaller lengths and used in much the same ways as a kanga. I had forgotten my pajama bottoms and the thin black sweater I thought that I had packed turned out to be a then black turtle neck shirt. The cloth will serve as culturally appropriate replacements for both.
We rounded out the time before lunch with a trip with the Bishop to Ujiji to visit the Livingstone memorial and then a visit to small soap manufactory in Kigoma. The soap is made from palm oil and caustic soda (lye) with blue dye swirled in. The palm oil is rendered from the palm oil seeds after the the cooking palm oil has been extracted and is created by other business on the same site. This soap was later given out to the poor who come to the Bishop’s home each Thursday afternoon for a short worship service and to receive small gifts that make their lives easier.
We at last headed off to Kasulu. We went into some beautiful mountains traveling first on a paved road and the a quite bad road. We have a new home this time, the house between the “German House” where we have stayed before and the Bishop’s house. It is sparsely furnished, but we have been made welcome and all efforts made to see to our needs. Dinner with the Bishop and then our first night’s sleep to get ready for the next day’s activities.