roaming.kiwi

They only eat their own cows and goats. They don’t hunt wild animals to eat. But he told us they drink cows milk and blood.

My favourite room had models of girls on one side and boys on the other. It showed their different outfits.

At the end Daddy bought a t-shirt that says Mzungu. That means white person. We thought it should really say: That’s Mr Mzungu to you! I tried on some necklaces too.

Then we drove to the crater. We went past Lake Manyara and saw lots of storks in the trees. The bushes below the storks were all white because of the stork poo!

We stayed at a farm called Simba Lodge Farm. There were little mini blue cars that Vivi and I liked to play on. You had to pedal them. We also bought lots of fresh veges! We could see Mt Meru, which is 4,562m high.

Then we went to Arusha. We went to hundreds of different supermarkets, but they aren’t like English supermarkets. Mummy and Daddy said they were very expensive and didn’t sell all the things they wanted. We went to a market and bought lots of fruit from some ladies. We had to speak Swahili!

Then we went to stay at the Meserani Campsite. We went to the snake park there. It was very good. The guide showed us lots of snakes like: pythons, cobras, adders, black and greeen mambas and grass/water/sand snakes. There was a rhino snake with a horn, and one that had eyelashes! He told us all about their venom. They are the only place in all of Tanzania that keeps all the anti-venom here and if you are bitten they treat you for free. They had pictures of a python that ate a security guard who fell asleep, it got caught on an electric fence.

They had some spotted owls. He said that people here believe that if you hear the owl cry, then something bad will happen to you. They had a white backed vulture and a goshawk. They also had some nile crocodiles and some slender snouted crocodiles. There was a nile monitor, and lots of fruit bats in the tree.

They had some tortoises and we got to hold them. The tortoise hid its head and legs and then poked them out. At the end we were allowed to hold a grass snake. Daddy put it round his neck. I was scared, so I just held its tail.

Tomorrow we are going to a Masai Museum, then we are heading to the Ngorongoro Crater!

After we saw all the spices they showed us some perfumes and soaps. They smelled good, but we didn’t buy any.

Then another man climbed up a palm tree. To climb it he twisted a rope around his feet. He went really really high. I didn’t get very far up the tree when I tried! We tried the coconut water, but I didn’t like it. Daddy said it would taste better with some rum in it.

They also gave us some gifts made from palm tree leaves and flowers. I got a ring/bracelet, a necklace and a crown. Even Daddy got a tie and a hat!

Then was the best part and we had some fruit tasting. We tasted: pineapple, watermelon, grapefruit, mandarin, tangerine, orange, and cucumber. My favourite was the pineapple. They were delicious.

After the spice farm, we drove to see our friends on the beach. Then we drove down the coast and went to a forest where the Red Colobus monkeys lived. We didn’t think we would see them, because they are very rare. There are only 3000 in the world! But Mummy spotted some sitting in a tree!! They have red fur with white round their faces. They are different to other monkeys because they don’t have a thumb.

Then we went back to Stone Town. It was a really good day. I had a beef stir fry at the floating restaurant. We watched people jumping and doing flips into the water.

The next day we got the boat back to Dar es Salaam.

Then we went to the Palace Museum. A guide showed us round. The Sultan lived there, which is like a King. He had 4 wives. One was really fat and they had a special chair made for her! There was lots of ivory from elephants. And some of the chairs were made of a black wood called ebony. It was all hand carved, and it looked beautiful. I liked the love seat.

We also saw his car – though I don’t think he used it very often, because the streets were so narrow. Also he could just stand on his balcony and wave to people. He also had a carriage that was pulled by people.  But he had to stop using it.

We also learnt about the Arabian Princess Salme. She fell in love with a German man and ran away with him to Hamburg. (ed. She looks like Putin… deeply creepy)

We walked around the markets and Genevieve and I bought a sarong, called a kanga. Genevieve’s is purple and mine is blue and white. People here wear them, and they also use them to carry their babies. They also use them for curtains and seat covers. They are really pretty. The have a motto written on them in Swahili. I liked the markets, they reminded us of Morocco. My favourite shops were the ones with paintings. I liked the ones with lots of animals.

Then we went to the slave market museum. There were lots of information boards, with lots of words and pictures. Mummy read out all the interesting bits. We learnt that the slaves came from all over Africa and had to walk to the coast.  Some of them walked the same way that we drove! They were in slave caravans. The slaves were tied up in chains and it was hard for them to walk. After they got to the coast, the slaves were put on boats and taken to Zanzibar. Then they were marched down the street and sold. An adult slave cost the same amout as 3 yards of cotton. We went into the slave holding cells. There wasn’t much room, and there were no toilets.

One slave girl was buried alive. Another boy, who was 6, tried to run away. For punishment he had a chain to a log. The only way he could move was to carry the log on his head, and it weighed nearly 15kg. He was attached to the log for a year, before a missionary freed him.

Slavery was made illegal in the 1870’s, but there is still slavery around the world today. Such as children who are made to go to work, rather than school. I think slavery is bad.

After the museum there was a monument. Then we went into the Anglican Cathedral. It had an altar with gold mosaic, like the Basilica in Venice. It also had pictures of bible stories in brass.