Reminds me of my safari in Africa. Somebody forgot the corkscrew and for several days we had to live on nothing but food and water.

Fortunately there is an abundant supply of good beer in Arusha and I have not been forced to live on food and water alone but, if you want a nice glass of wine the struggle begins....

This week has been relatively uneventful, so far, although my first chicken coop is now very nearly complete and work on the second coop was started this morning which is the most momentous occurrence since my last update on here.

I embarked on a hike up into the hills outside of Ngaramtoni to see one of my grant recipients, earlier in the week, and was rewarded with an amazing look at some of the truly spectacular scenery on offer in Tanzania. Because it is rainy season here it is very green and the banana trees that seem to grow everywhere are advertising their sweet fruit all over the hillsides and fields, the grass is long and lush and the cows and goats are making the most of this short-lived natural bounty. The deep and barren gorges that scar this otherwise uninterrupted carpeting of greenery, are a reminder that in a couple of months the whole area will be stained a muddy brown as the grass dries in the summer-sun and the livestock will have to rely more and more on human assistance to find good grazing.

I will not be here to witness this transformation and I have been in Tanzania in a period of harvest when food is plentiful and the heat is not nearly as stifling as I suspect it will be by the start of August. Conditions here are basic for most of the local inhabitants but, I think, this time of year provides more relief from the basic discomforts than any other period of a twelve month cycle. To really take in the full feeling of Tanzania I will have to come back in the middle of *summer and experience the most challenging climatic conditions, imposed on the flora and fauna of this country, by its geographical positioning. I know I won't be doing it this year but, the place must be growing on me because I really would like to come back *again in the summer months.

Below is a picture taken from hole 3 at the Arusha Gymkhana Golf Club. Like I said.... it's tough out here.

Have to go now as I don't want to keep the tennis coach waiting.


*The grass isn't so high and there is a better chance of seeing the animals on Safari too!
*(see above) If only to see more animals than during the rainy season.