Wikiendi Safari

Ijumaa (Friday)

Time seems to move quickly here in Tanzania. It has been almost a week since my last post, and I have so many new experiences to share it's overwhelming.

On Friday, our group traveled to Mt. Meru Hospital in Arusha to spend our first day attempting to fix broken equipment. The hospital was fairly large and mostly outdoors, consisting of several run down buildings connected by open walkways with coverings. The hospital was full of energy. Busy people were everywhere, moving patients and tending to the hospital rooms packed with people. When we arrived at the front office, they already had a pile of equipment waiting for us. 

Working with Ollie and Miguel to fix our first
oxygen concentrator. 
Photo cred: Morganne Gagne

We got to work right away on an oxygen concentrator, which upon opening found that the problem was merely a few loose wires. It seems that many of the problems are caused by improper use or lack of maintenance. Biomedical technicians in the developing world are few and far between. The hospitals cannot afford to hire people to maintain the machines, even for simple fixes. Another oxygen concentrator was deemed "broken" by the staff, but upon brief inspection I found that the tube leading from the water chamber to the patient was clogged with mold, because nobody bothered to clean it. 

One of the biggest frustrations we encountered was that it was almost impossible to find even the simplest supplies. We brought all our own tools, the hospital had none. In order to clean the oxygen concentrator tubing, all we needed was some soap, a bucket, and water and maybe a sponge or towel. The nearest water source was a small ground water spout around the backside of the hospital. Soap, bucket and a sponge were never found.

Stephanie tests out our newly fixed wheelchair

Despite these difficulties, we were surprisingly successful on our first day in the field. We fixed a total of two oxygen concentrators, one surgical light, several hospital beds, three wheelchairs, three blood pressure cuffs, and started work on an autoclave, among other things. A few things were beyond a day's repair, such as the autoclave that had a family of rats living in it. 

After returning some of the fixed equipment to the floor, I realized how heavily the hospital depended on us. Stephanie and I had just finished repairing a wheelchair with a broken wheel by replacing it with a wheel from an old hand truck. On our way to return it to the maternity ward, we saw a woman with a broken leg struggling to walk using makeshift wooden crutches. We offered her a seat in our newly fixed chair, and wheeled her off to the surgery ward. She didn't speak English, but it was clear from her smile that she appreciated the help. Another wheelchair we repaired was immediately taken by a nurse who seemed very pleased to have it. Wheelchairs are in short supply here. 

Scrub Buddies! Daria, Oriane, Me, & Keerthighaan at Mt. Meru Hospital

Between repairs, I wandered around the hospital to look around and find more broken equipment. The hospital was full to the brim with people. I walked into a building labeled "Children's Ward," and was disappointed to find that while every single bed was full, there were no children in the Children's Ward. I guess they ran out of beds in other rooms. Patients were all together in big open rooms, with no curtains. Privacy was nonexistent. The bathrooms were, well..... slightly disgusting. Though I am fortunate to have a clean flushing toilet in my home at Mama G's, most of the toilets in Tanzania are what we have deemed "squatties." Basically, a stall with a ceramic hole in the ground that you flush by pouring a bucket of water down. No big deal. 

Walking around the hospital was the first time I began to experience a slight culture shock. The conditions were so poor compared to US standards, it was hard to process mentally. It was good to get a taste for what the next month working in the hospital would be like, and feel like I was actually able to make a real difference for these people. Our first visit was all about building up trust. The staff have seen so many people like us come and go, with big promises and little results. It is understandable that they are apprehensive about our work here, but hopefully as we continue to successfully fix things they will warm up to us. Every time we brought something back in working condition they seemed surprised and pleased, for the most part.


Jumamosi na Jumapili (Saturday and Sunday)

Now for the good part: our weekend safari. 

Safari Part 1: Nzuri Sana (“very good”)

On Saturday morning, our group boarded these old-school LandRover safari vehicles and headed for our first stop: Lake Manyara. Part of the park was densely forested, with monkeys and exotic birds inhabiting the trees. Within 15 minutes of entering the park, we passed by a group of elephants feasting on the foliage by the side of the road. The animals seemed oblivious to our existence, totally at home in their natural environment. Much better than any zoo. By the day’s end, we had seen zebras, giraffes, baboons, elephants, flamingos, hippos, many strange birds, wildebeest, and impalas.

We arrived at our “hotel” that night, which was really a glorified campground. The rooms were outdoor camping tents underneath grass roof coverings, with small beds inside. The view from our hotel was absolutely breathtaking. African plains, forest, and mountains as far as the eye could see. It was perfect.

We ate dinner cooked for us at the campground, complete with an unexpected dance and acrobatics show, which was unbelievable. These people could start their own African Cirque du Solei.

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the cliff overlooking the view, enjoying each other’s company.

The next morning, we headed to the Ngorogoro crater, a world-renowned Safari site and one of the most popular destinations in all of Africa. I can see why: the Crater is home to a dense and diverse population of animals in a confined open area, making it ideal for close-range animal sightings. The crater is actually a caldera, caused by the eruption of a volcano millions of years ago. The drive into the crater was steep and treacherous, but the view was incredible. There were so many zebra and wildebeest they became boring towards the end. Lions, hyenas, warthogs, ostriches, gazelles, elephants, impalas, hippos, and rhinos were plentiful. It was truly unreal.

I arrived home safely that night, feeling happy to check African safari off my bucket list. 

Safari Part 2: Shagalabagala (“big mess”)

(Mom & Dad, stop reading here)

Okay…. so, everything in part 1 is 100% true, it’s just missing a few minor details.

On the morning we left for the Safari, I got food poisoning from a restaurant in Arusha. I was determined not to miss the trip, so despite feeling like I was going to die, I convinced myself that I was fine and got in the car anyway. The two hour journey over bumpy back roads was possibly the most miserable car ride of my life, but fortunately the sickness passed by the time we made it to Lake Manyara…..Phewww….

We hired a company to take us on a two-day all-inclusive Safari for the very cheap price $200/person. Lesson learned: in Tanzania, you pretty much get exactly what you pay for.

One of the three vehicles had to stop within a few minutes of leaving Arusha, because it had a flat tire. Throughout the trip, every vehicle had broken down at least once, and going up hills was nerve-racking as the engine whined loudly and often stalled. Up until we left Ngorogoro crater, these were only minor inconveniences. They merely added to the adventure. 

The climax hit on our way home. We left the park around 3:30pm on Sunday, fully intending to be home within a couple hours. One of the cars had broken down Saturday night, so our guides had rented a local vehicle and sent the car to get fixed during the day. They expected it to be ready by the time we left. Of course, it wasn’t. We spend about two hours waiting in Mbu Mtu (“Mosquito River”) for our drivers to figure out what to do. We sat on the side of the road singing Lion King songs to lighten the mood. It seemed appropriate.

Eventually, they found a dala dala driver on the street who agreed to take the third group home, and we were on our way.

About 45 minutes down the road, I get a call from someone in the other safari vehicle. They had broken down, and it was beyond simple repair. We decided to go back and wait with them, since the side of the road in rural Africa with a sketchy tour guide isn’t exactly an ideal situation. The dala dala vehicle was far ahead and continued to Arusha.

We ended up waiting on the side of the road in the dark for 3 hours. This made for great bonding time. It was literally the middle of nowhere, at least an hour drive in either direction to reach civilization. Our drivers attempted to fix the car by stuffing tea bags in the radiator (?), which was a fail. At one point we crammed all 16 of us into a 8-person car, and drove down the road about 10 minutes until we had to stop again (still don’t know why, our drivers always kept us in the dark about what was going on. “Don’t worry! It is ok!” was their favorite phrase).

After passing us once, the rescue car finally found us. We were about to drive away, when broken car #1 (the one being fixed in Mosquito River) pulls over next to us. The driver approached the back window of our car, and happy proclaimed that he had “fixed” the car and that we should all get in now. Thing was, he reeked of alcohol from 5 ft away. No way are we getting in the car with this dude. He also had three mysterious men in the back. The situation just kept getting weirder….

Meanwhile, I called the dala dala car to let them know what was going on and to tell them to keep heading home. They informed me that their car was currently stopped by a policeman. Their driver didn’t have a license.

Is this story getting confusing yet?

This is starting to get long, so I will end it here by saying we eventually did make it home safely, and learned many valuable lessons about Tanzanian culture along the way.

Lesson #1: as mentioned before, you get exactly what you pay for.

Lesson #2: people here live on “Tanzanian Time,” meaning nothing gets done when it’s supposed to. If someone says “be there soon” it really means be there in 2-3 hours. This can be frustrating for us fast-paced Americans. It has its good sides: people here are generally relaxed and friendly and low stress.

Lesson #3: Things that would be considered absolutely unacceptable in America (like drunk tour guides and cab drivers without a license) aren’t really a big deal here. Both are technically illegal, but the law enforcement is so corrupt it usually results in simply paying off the police officer and heading on your merry way. They don’t have the money to regulate things like this, and suing people is unheard of.

Lesson #4: sometimes, even in the worst situations, you just have to go with the flow and be like the Tanzanians—relaxed and laid back. Freaking out is so American. “Don’t worry! It is OK!”

Yes, it was certainly an adventure.

P.S. Mom & Dad: In case you read part 2 despite my warning, please don’t freak out. I promise you it was all worth it.