Tuesday, March 3
It is a cool, breezy day. The sky is overcast with the heavy smell of rain in the air. Birds are singing, dogs are barking and the rumble of awakening life surrounds us.
We drive to Ketumbiene today in a 20 passenger van/bus. Sam is our driver for the week. He is tall and thin with a brilliant smile.
From my bus window, Arusha rushes by. I marvel at the hot tin roofs on the block houses gathered in clusters. They are yellow, black and red, some with a point, others mimic Kilimanjaro with their flat peaks. The driver ahead of us swerves abruptly revealing a calf sauntering down the middle of the highway unaccompanied much like the children.
There is a 4 year old child with a red backpack walking alone down a muddy dirt lane adjacent to the busy traffic. Another, slightly older boy, is running beside the shoulder of the road. It is so curious to me how often the small ones are left on their own, independent.
Further out, I hear the clanging, jingling sound of bells and see a herd of goats living their best lives within feet of our 50mph bus seemingly unaware of the peril.
As we leave the city with its shops, houses and bustle, the roadside becomes lushly green. The overcast sky has broken free into fluffy white clouds and blue skies. White goats and sheep dot the landscape and are brilliantly illuminated by the sun peeking through the clouds. They graze on the soft rolling hills with their natural fencing separating fields of crops and grazing. With my desert eyes, it is a sight to behold.
After a long while, we arrived at the next town, Longido. With a left turn, we reached the dirt, bumbly road to Ketumbiene as the thorn forest rises to meet us.
There is every shade of green and brown in the soft, sharp, prickly, muted, vibrant, shiny, dusty , light, dark cacophony of foliage that closes rank in dense pockets of brambly tangles. There are few other colors on the savannah floor as far as the eye can see.
Roofs are now thatched as we trade the paved road for the dirt one. We spot zebras, giraffes and Impalas on our way. I love this place.
My deep fatigue coupled with the mesmerizing scenery has me in la la salaam (Swahili for good night) mode. So off to la la I go.
TanziAnne
Tripping with God: Stories of Faith and Inspiration 