Reminiscing about Tanzania

Just doing some reminiscing about an old Tanzanian adventure, while stuck at home during Covid. So as not to embarrass anyone, my friends' names are redacted. In no particular order:

We were adventurers!

• It was the start of the rain season- our car almost got stuck in a river bed that was refilling with water.
• We also got stuck in mud just 5 min after seeing lions, and had to get out of the car to push. It was easily 30+min of pushing, staring at the long grass, and planning my course of action in case a lion leaps out of the grass.
• F changed the direction of the great gnu migration.
• Deciding one wants to get out of the car to pee == a potentially life or death decision. I once peed close to hippos, because I have a small bladder? It can be strenuous enough that it merits a dance and a photograph to commemorate the moment afterwards!
• We heard a lion chewing meat and the cracking of the bones. Chills.
• A wanted to feed a banana to the lions, and to give them water.
• We went to Zanzibar and swam with dolphins- I destroy A's hat.
• We discover ostrich eggs; albino rhinos; cheetahs.
• The guide got stuck in the bathroom with a leopard.
• I thought I had left my luggage and we almost had to make a 3hr drive back to retrieve it; instead we finally find that it had gotten crammed into a crack in the car; perhaps I should have brought a hard shell luggage!
  

We were photographers!

• We discover D's photography talent; but that apparently iPad photos are better and we should use iPads instead (according to M)
• D realizes that 5am lions look the same as midday lions.
• We make D take portraits for us for the whole trip.
• This is also where I really first played around with a dslr camera- this is part of my artist/photographer origin story!

We enjoyed ourselves, perhaps too much!

• V went back and fell asleep while we were drinking- I am rooming with him and end up being locked out of our treehouse and almost had to sleep with elephants. I had to get guards in the middle of the night to bring guns and escort me. I then guess at which other treehouse D was at to go sleep there. There was an elephant pooping underneath our treehouse the next morning when we wake up.
• A had a huge hangover and almost opened the door to throw up on a group of lion cubs.
• Mid-autumn festival celebration with local Tanzanian beer:
• "Is the moon the same size in Africa?" 
• "D you are malnourished, you should eat more"
• Pili pili hot sauce was a godsend for some of us, less so for others

We were impressed by some local customs, less impressed by others

• Tire shoes!
• Jumping with the Maasai!
• We withdrew ~usd 100 from the bank and almost had to get escorted out / it really seemed like we were in danger of getting robbed.
• We learnt to be a gemologist, bought some Tanzanites, and then our stones got confiscated. D may or may not have needed to save V.
• Hunting already dead birds with arrows, at these "indigenous" tribes who were still "keeping the traditional ways".
  

If you enjoyed reading about my trip and my sense of humour, check out my Brazil trip here! 

Brazil Trip

Each bullet pt is a day

1. I arrive at Sao Paulo, which is kinda like the NY of Brazil. There were some interesting architecture as well...
2. I had to do some unforeseen work and stayed in the hotel the whole day... I was literally so busy I had to order room service for a burger at 3pm for lunch. It was actually surprisingly good. Then I go eat Churrasco (all-you-can eat Brazilean bbq) for dinner.
3. Everyone arrives, we go shopping in Sao Paulo and Chico and I get Havainas slippers (a famous Brazilean brand of slippers?). The Havainas chafe my toes. I experience buyers regret. We take the overnight bus to Rio.
4. In the morning, Andy almost mistakenly sits on a homeless person sleeping in a tarp while smoking cigars at a beach; then we hike up a 2000m elevation mountain to look at the Jesus statue; at night we learn how to dance samba at a night club
5. We went biking and I had explosive diarrhea- that was an interesting combo, and the first of my epicly bad biking experiences. We then flew to Fortaleza that night
6. We stayed in Cumbuco (a 2000 person beach town close to Fortaleza) and learned kitesurfing for 3 days. It was very nice and peaceful, and we had very great learning conditions. We all got epicly tanned and burnt. In the afternoon, we go on a sand buggy ride, sand butt boarding and highlining and take lots of failed selfies because we lack the technical expertise... I manage to do work after all this...
7. After kite surfing, I stay and eat street food while Andy etc go to explore Fortaleza. I try to get Korean fried chicken and fail. I sleep all day and feel happy.
8. On the last day of kitesurfing, we manage to get up and surf for ~10-20 meters. We go demolish an all crabs meal and then bus to recife
9. Recife is where we learn how to mountain bike... from Andy... on urban streets because it was so bumpy... and Andy only teaches us what to do after we have spent 3 hrs dodging NYC-type traffic, cycling on highways and riding through potholes and going up and down huge pavement ledges. We are talking about a 15cm wide by 10cm deep drainage systems. A moat between the car traffic lanes and every single pedestrian pavement that we need to somehow vault across each time... We have totally worked in our Havainas- perfect fits and no more chafing. Unfortunately Chico's Havainas breaks. We also contribute to a bike imbalance between the islands of Recife. We eat Churrasco to replenish our energy.
10. We go to Porto de Galinhas (a beach 2hr bus ride away) and molest seahorses. I drive a manual sandbuggy. I see somebody wakeboarding with a jetski and I am green with envy.
11. We go to Olinda (lots of baroque/1600s-1800s buildings that then got burnt down by the dutch). We stumble into a school parent teacher open day. I realize that we are going to have to walk up and down steep hills for 3+hrs to look at churches. I become dejected and gloomy. Then I become delirious. We sit down for a beer and then lunch and have good philosophical discussions about goats. I become happy again. Then we fly to Salvador. We bring beer and also try to mix our own Caipirinha's on the flight and learn that domestic flights in Brazil don't serve/allow alcohol. When we get to Salvador, we eat the most epic hotdogs ever (according to Andy).
12. We visit a market place, learn Capoeira (dance fighting), and watch epic dance shows about Brazilian gods. We go eat Moqueca stew.
13. We go to a beach. Tuesday night is the designated party night for our region, so we mix our own Caipirinha's and go watch real life Capoeira and party in the streets. We watch a drum group and join a rave.
14. The rest... is interesting as well. My phone gets stolen. We almost get robbed. I am traumatized. I miss my flight.
    

If you enjoyed reading about my trip and my sense of humour, check out my Tanzania trip here!