Photos from France

Fires in Athens

Thank you all for your emails and concerns about my whereabouts and the Athens' fires. I have just returned home from France and fortunately at this time I am not near them. I can't see them, although I know they are about a 40 minute drive away. There is a smell of smoke in the air though. I will keep you posted if anything changes.

Road Trips in Provence

Suzanne and I had a great time in Provence, France for 6 days. We took full advantage of our fantastic location and did 4 full days of road trips. Day 1 - Aix - we really liked this city with the lanes and lanes of shopping - court yards of restaurants and fountains at key intersections and wine vineyard.

Day 2 - Salon - went to a soap making museum and a chocolatier and Arles and a wine vineyard.

Day 3 - best day- went to St. Remy, Les Baux de Provence and Tarascon. Les Baux was my favorite place and we spent about 4 hours there. It is an area of no cars just shops, restaurants and the ruins of a castle village - one of those tours with English commentary on audio guide. It reminded me of Monavesia (sp?) in Greece but better! Then we drove up to Tarascon to see the medival festival!

Day 4 - Avignon to walk through the Palace of Papes then a quick tour through Bonnieux - quick because I was running out of gas and was very stressed that on a Sunday at 6pm I would run out of gas! Then a wine vineyard!

Pretty Provence

Suzanne and I successfully arrived in Marseilles - got a cute little convertible car (no extra money) and headed to Lambesc. A quaint town - a little dead last evening but bustling this morning. We got a coffee then headed to the supermarket with a basket/bag in hand. Stopped at the bakery for fresh bread (84 cents a baguette) and now home having some breakfast.

Today we are going to venture to Aix for the day - nothing like starting with a good shop! There is a good chocolateer (sp?) there where we plan to swing by as well. Tomorrow the only thing we have planned is going to the local farmer's market in town in the morning.

Suzanne (Visitor #4) has arrived

My good friend and colleague from Stone Ridge arrived on Sunday, August 16. She and I both left Stone Ridge the same year -me to move to Greece, she to move to up state NY.

For the next 3 days we did the typical tourist events. Went to the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, National Gardens, saw the change of guards, stopped in James Joyce for a pint of beer, went to the sandal maker's store, etc.

Have Arrived in Africa

I safely arrived in Kilimanjaro Africa last night (July 31, 2009). My flight to Amsterdam from Athens I sat beside a woman from Texas who has been to AFrica multiple times and gave me so points about Arusha. The flight from Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro was a full plane and after about 12 hours of complete flying I arrived! We went through the paper work, bought my Visa for $50 picked up my bag and when i walked out of baggage there was Alfred holding a sign "Welcome Jill Rivers". He and his friend led me to a small blue car and we started our one hour journey to Arusha in the pitch blackness.
The starry night was amazing - there were so many people walking along this dark road or riding their bikes I am surprised no was hit. Saw no animals - possible a bobcat looking thing but couldn't tell you for sure.
The Arusha Centre Tourist Inn was nothing i would have voluntarily chosen myself but since I was meeting the tour here today - agreeed to stay. I was so tired but had difficulty sleeping b/c I think my hotel is right beside a muslim building and I heard singing through a PA system until about 3 am.
This morning had breakfast, showered and now typing away at Cybernet Cafe. Although there really isn't any time zone change i am tired.
I think I will find the tourist market and a coffee cafe and read.
I am really not sure when I will be able to get online again - or where there will be electricity for that matter. Oh my goodness! But keep checking this rather than email. this is like my mass emails.

The Group - Aug 2

After a day in Arusha on my own, I finally met the 5 other “tourists”, plus our guide, cook and driver. Gwen and Ian were from Perth, Australia; Jill from Cornwall, England; Keith from Liverpool, England; and Marianne from Switzerland. We all got along fantastically throughout the trip. We all enjoyed our beers at the end of the day (although most of the time the beers were room temperature) and we laughed a lot!
Having such a close knit group really made the experience that much more enjoyable.
Naizeri was our cook – he was African but not Maasai. It was unbelievable what he made “out of nothing” every day. We had 3 huge meals a day. Every morning we began with porridge, fruit, toast and eggs. Lunch was either a box lunch – chicken, fruit, sandwich, cookies and a drink or if not travelling we would have soup and sandwiches or soup and rice with some meat sauce. Similar meals at dinner, always beginning with soup. We definitely consumed our share of the daily intake of fruits and vegetables. Usually around 4 we would have tea/coffee/hot chocolate with popcorn. We never went hungry.
Kingu was our driver. It was incredible how he got us through sand, water and uneven roads. The van/bus was a 4WD vehicle with 9 seats. We were definitely packed into the van with all our luggage and tents and such. But the pop-up roof was great – a great way to see and take photos of the animals. While he was driving he was also able to spot out lions, birds and other difficult animals. Kingku was also knowledgeable about most animals and birds and shared this information with all of us.
Laizer was our tour guide. His real name is Olotumi Laizer but everyone just called him Laizer. He is a Maasai warrior. Although quite quiet, Laizer was the “rock” of our group. He was a good listener and tried his best to make all our situations the best. He was also knowledgeable about the animals but if he didn’t know he would look it up. Laizer’s English was pretty good but some others had a difficult time understanding him. I think since I am a teacher I had a better time understanding and hearing him. I thought he was 32 but I think he is 22! He works for Imaginative Traveller (http://www.imaginative-traveller.com/) and Oreteti Cultural Discovery (http://www.oreteti.com/) .

Hot-Air Balloon Ride - Aug 3

This was totally worth every penny – what an unbelievable experience! The other Jill and I had both signed up for it and so in the morning of Day 3 (second day in the Serengeti) we were picked up at 5 am and taken to the launching area. The Serengeti Balloon Company flies balloons every morning every possible day of the year! Each balloon basket holds 16 people plus the pilot and there were 3 balloons launching this day! The basket is divided into 8 compartments therefore 2 people per compartment. The basket begins at 90 degrees and therefore we begin in a somewhat horizontal position holding the rope rings. They fill the balloon up with cool air and then hot air and as it rises it lifted us up to a vertical position! It was so graceful and absolutely fabulous! Quite a smooth transition. And only took about 3 minutes to get up in the air. Our pilot, Nick from South Africa, was able to fly us 1 km to 1 cm above the ground. It was fantastic! We saw herds of buffalo, tons of Thomies as they ran away from us. We flew over hippos and hyenas. The land was wide and vast. We saw the sun rise – a huge red ball of fire coming over the horizon. We flew for a good hour. The landing wasn’t too bad either – we sat in our seats like take-off and put our heads back and had a few bumps along the way and then just stopped. Once all three balloons had landed another pilot gave the history of hot-air balloons and the significance of having champagne after a successful ride! Then we got back into the jeeps and went to have a beautiful breakfast under an acacia tree in the middle of the Serengeti. Here the champagne continued to flow! What a breathtaking experience!

Animals Galore - Safaris

Initially, I did regret not buying a camera with a better zoom as the first encounter with animals was quite far away; HOWEVER, as we got further into the parks the closer to the animals we got. The first national park was the Serengeti National Park – it is the largest park with heaps of animals. No one is allowed to get out of their vehicles in any national park and the vehicles must stay on the dirt roads. Again I was a little nervous that the animals would be too far away – but there are no fences or restrictions of where these animals can roam (I had to keep telling myself that this was natural not a zoo or animal sanctuary!) On the first day we saw a leopard feeding upon some unfortunate animal while hungry vultures awaited the leftovers. There are the Big Five – buffalo, rhino, elephant, leopard and lion. These are the big 5 because these are the animals which people should be frightened off. Most animals will run away from people but these are the 5 which will attack you if felt threatened and therefore are called the Big 5! I was lucky enough to see all of them. I saw many female lions but no male lions. I saw tons of elephants – including many baby elephants; zebras, giraffes, hippos, wildebeests, hyenas, baboons, gazelles, Thompsons, waterbuck, tons of different birds, warthogs, private monkeys, lions, water buffalos, one cheetah, three rhinos. I also went to Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park. The Ngorongoro Crater was the largest mountain (larger than Kilimanjaro) it was a volcano and then one day (1.75 million years ago) it erupted and for some reason the mountain collapsed causing the largest natural crater in the world. In the middle of the crater is a salt pool and some fresh water. It was quite cool to drive on the crater through herds of wildebeests and zebras and see the whole area surrounded by mountains. This is also where male elephants come to “retire.” This is also the only park to have rhinos – there are a total of 17 in the crater and we saw 3 of them. At first we only saw one and it was difficult to see as it was lying down but then the ranger of the park drove close to it and it got to its feet and it was huge! Quite cool! In Tarangire Park, it was smaller and the terrain was different than the Serengeti. It had more bushes and trees which makes it more difficult to see the animals. It is also famous for the large balboa trees. These trees are humongous. This park is also known for the large amount of elephants. And there was certainly tons (no pun intended) of elephants here. They seemed to travel in herds of about 15-20 and they came very close to our vehicle – I got some good video of them too. Pretty spectacular! The view from where we had lunch was magical too. We looked upon a windy river with zebras and elephants drinking from it and crossing the river – incredible!

Rhino

This is a video of elephants crossing by our van. Amazing!

Maasai Experience

While living at the school for 5 days we also learned a lot about the Maasai culture. We visited 2 villages (I only 1 b/c I was sick). The huts were very dark and smoky and were full of fleas. This hut housed a man, a woman and 3 children. I learned how and participated in the traditional Maasai women’s dancing. When I arrived I was garnished in many beaded necklaces and belts and encouraged to join the circle of women who were singing (one leader would call something out and others would respond – in the language of Maa). We would make small up and down jumps and thrust our shoulders forward making the large beaded necklaces bounce around our necks. Then we watched the men dance – the warriors. These were men ages 16-35 who were out with the cattle every day. Maasai people wear red clothing (cloths) so from far away other people can know they are Maasai people. The red represents blood from the warriors who fought other tribes to gain the land for their cattle.The men came in holding their spears followed by young girls (who had not been circumcised/married off). The Maasai use only their voices to make music (no instruments) and so the men had a deep grunting noise as part of their dance. Their dance was for showing off their jumping skills and their ability to move their jewelry around their necks (the better one can do this the more appealing to a girl he is). These guys could jump quite high. Then when the dancing was over the young girls would choose the man she wanted by going up to him and putting one shoulder forward and then the man would put the other shoulder towards her (like a hug). We participated in this part too! After learning about the dances we all went with a Maasai woman and learned how to make beaded jewelry (although men don’t really make the jewelry – Ian and Keith did participate). I made a small ring. All the colors have different meanings. Before most of the beaded jewelry had a red base of color – representing the blood shed for the land by the warriors and also for the cow’s blood they drink. But now the main color is white which represents peace. The blue represents the sky; yellow=the sun; green = grass which the cattle graze; orange=someone likes you; black=the color of their skin; silver/gold beads= someone loves you. I did support the women by buying one of the large beaded neck pieces. Of course some negotiating was done! After the beading we went into the small hut to learn why women/girls are circumcised. I will not post here the details I learned. Although in the Maasai culture men have more than one wife – each wife has their own hut to live in with their children. The women’s job is to collect fire wood, cook, clean, care for the children and the elders while the men go out with the cattle every day. Maasai culture revolves around their cattle. This tribe began in Egypt and realized there was not enough grazing room for their cattle so began moving south. They went into Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and finally settled in Tanzania. Most Maasai tribes live in Tanzania not Kenya. Since many Maasai people are leaving the village to get an education and job and living more like “westerners” there is a concern for the health of the Maasai people. AIDS is not an issue among the Maasai at this time. However the concern is there are more people marrying other ethnic people. Maasai are worried that other diseases will impact them due to this. However, they do like the fact that “white” people do a drug test before they get married so everyone knows the health of the people. I learned that most Maasai people die of old age (although some from pneumonia and tuberculosis). They use many trees and plants for their medicine. They boil different parts and drink it for medicine. We walked around with one elder who showed and explained how different trees and plants were used. From clotting a cut to healing a cough to settling a stomach to stopping bleeding for a woman who just gave birth to healing a gallbladder. I felt it similar to the Aborigines in Australia. Actually when I was not well, Naizeri (our cook) gave me water, sugar and salt to drink and also squeezed a lot of lemon into my tea – and miraculously my intestinal problems became better quicker than the Imodium-AD I was taking!