Mount Meru Game Lodge and Sanctuary

After spending the night attempting to sleep on the floor of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, we boarded an 8:30am flight to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.  We commend Mabret and Roman on adapting to the circumstances and getting some sleep on the floor. 

We arrived in Kilimanjaro at 10:30am on Thursday December 5th and were met by Ali who will be our guide on safari for the next 12 days.  The first two nights in Tanzania will be spent at Mount Meru Game Lodge and Sanctuary. 

 

The Lodge sits on 33 acres of gardens, trees and the tranquil waters of the Usa River.  The Lodge is home to a variety of animals who have arrived for various health and safety reasons and will live out their lives within the Sanctuary.  The animals residing within the Sanctuary include eland, ostriches, waterbucks, zebras, buffalo, crocodiles and monkeys. 

Below are some of our new friends.

While getting to know Ali, he took the time to explain the cultural background of the three largest groups of African People.  We all learned from his "lecture" and at its conclusion we were able to identify the general cultural group to which Mabret's Ethiopian Family likely identifies.

A summary of what we learned follows.

Bantu people is used as a general label for the more than 300 ethnically related groups in Africa who speak Bantu languages.  Today, they inhabit a geographical area stretching east and southward from Central Africa to the African Great Lakes and Southern Africa.  There are about 650 Bantu languages spoken throughout Africa. 

Nilotic people mainly inhabit the Nile Valley, the African Great Lakes region and southwestern Ethiopia.  They speak Nilotic languages.  They constitute the second-largest group of peoples (behind the Bantu) living in the African Great Lakes region as well as Ethiopia.  According to Ali, Mabret's Ethiopian Family is almost certainly of Nilotic origin.

Khoisan people refers to two groups of people of Southern Africa.  The two groups of Khoi people are culturally distinct and often identify themselves by those who are hunters, referred to as Bushman, and those who are farmers.

Having not slept on Wednesday night, Mom and Dad were lacking their usual energy on Thursday.  As a result, we decided to take it easy and hang out at the lodge enjoying the animals and the view.  

Roman and Mabret were able to feed the porcupines.

They also made friends with a pregnant eland.  The eland spent a long time just standing and observing the boys and occasionally brushing up against them for some love.

While playing some soccer, Roman and Mabret decided to leave the ball and observe whether the monkeys would come out of the trees to inspect the ball.  Much to their delight, the monkeys were happy to oblige.

After enjoying a home cooked meal for dinner, we walked to the rooms and laid down for what would become 12 hours of sleep.  

We all awoke Friday feeling back to our "normal" selves.  Friday brings the arrival of Katie Downey who was responsible for organizing all the school work for the trip. Katie did an amazing job of communicating with Jen Valerio and Kevin Kromko and placing the work in easy to access electronic folders.  Without her efforts, the first 5 weeks of the trip would not have run as smoothly as they did.  Katie just graduated from Temple University and will assume the day to day responsibilities of educating Mabret and Roman.  She has very creative plans to incorporate our travels with writing and critical thinking assignments.

After breakfast, we drove to the airport to await the arrival of Ethiopian Airlines Flight  815.  Katie boarded a plane in Philadelphia at 6:45am on Thursday and traveled for 22 hours before landing in Kilimanjaro shortly after 1pm local time.  Mabret snapped a picture of a surprisingly fresh looking Katie as she walked out of customs while Roman hid behind a wall waiting to surprise her.

We returned to the Lodge to have lunch and give Katie a chance to decide whether she wanted to fight through the day and wait for much needed sleep until evening or head immediately to sleep.  It seemed an easy choice for Katie...head for the local market.  

The market was a 10 minute walk up the road and it was definitely worth the extra attention that was required as cars raced by us along the narrow stretch of road.   We purchased two Tanzania Football jerseys after successfully bartering with the shop owner.  The final price was 18,000 schilling. The exchange rate is approximately 1500 schilling to one dollar.  Therefore, the jerseys were approximately $6 each. The jerseys are made by Adidas and are fully authentic.  It is astounding how inexpensive most items are in Africa. The cost of living in Africa will be the subject of upcoming posts but needless to say family travel in this beautiful continent is quite affordable.  

After purchasing the jerseys, we found a local spot with a pool table and cool beverages.  Below, Roman and Mabret sit with a new friend awaiting winners on the table.  Their new friend was serious about his pool.

After further bartering and exploring (including hardcore bartering over the purchase of nail polish), we returned to the Lodge for dinner, planning and packing as we roll out Saturday morning for the first official stop on our safari, Kambi Ya Tempo, a small tented camp looking directly at Mount Kilimanjaro.  The camp lies in Sinya which is a private wildlife reserve.

We look forward to reporting from Kambi Ya Tempo.  Posts may run a day or two behind as we will be frequently on the move for the next 10 days and the signals varies greatly from stop to stop.

Several Tanzanian Newspapers are reporting that the Paupack Power continued their undefeated run with a big 8 - 2 win on Friday night.  You guys are making international headlines. Keep up the great work.  Give Coach Strong some extra focus at practice this week.  Tough games against the Snow and North Pocono coming up.