Kilimanjaro...the elusive beauty. Most days you can look in her direction and see no sign whatsoever that she even exists among the clouds. And on days like today when she stands so clearly visible, it is sad to see so readily how her fabled snows have continued to decline. It is difficult to realize that we have done this...with our foolhardy bickering over the reality of climate change and our endless contribution to it. I shudder to imagine what it will mean when those snows are gone...what the implications will be for this already thirsty, no, at times parched, country.
Perhaps Kili's role is to continue as the beautiful siren...the mermaid luring so many to come to Africa, hoping that they will look beyond the well-oiled tourism machinery and take the time to get to know and love a more real Tanzania far from the souvenir markets and multi-star hotels.
There is a tree that obstructs the Kili view from my porch. I must stroll around camp a little to see the summit. They have offered to remove or radically prune the offending tree and I continue to decline. I have more than adequate compensation in the fact that Mount Meru is at the very center of my porch view. It is Meru, a little less shy than her big sister, and graced with far more intriguing lines, that will be permanently etched in my dreams of Africa.
I have cooked the pups their daily pot of maize porridge and little dried stinky fish. They are contentedly curled up together for an after breakfast nap. My tent is swept, as are the kitchen and latrine. The dishes are washed and I'm as well showered as I get. Each day I seem to get through my necessary morning chores a little faster, as they become more and more routine. I am trying, by cellphone text messaging, to sort out logistics for a small building project we need to undertake at camp...to get confirmation about necessary materials, find out if there is a vehicle available to bring them to camp, when, how much...and while I know that as in most projects here it will all somehow come together, it is difficult to keep the frustration level down at this point.
Kathrijn and I were alone at camp last night and indulged ourselves with a wonderful vegetable (and vitamin) filled meal--A plateful of cucumber and tomato slices, and a side dish treat of boil-in-a-bag curried potatoes and peas that I brought from home. The wind came up strong by 8pm and Johana was late getting back to camp, so we decided to calm the little bit of anxiety we both felt, with steamy mugs of hot chocolate (something I must remember to bring more of next time as it's an expensive luxury item in Arusha) before hunkering down in our respective tents.
And now, off to the LOOCIP Centre to see what I might be able to contribute today. So far, this really has felt like the promised 'vacation' but I know that within the coming week I'll be begging for some concrete jobs to sink my teeth into this time around.
Friends and family...I miss you all and hope you're well. I hear the snow has already started to fall in Ottawa – I don't miss that!! Thank you Mike for my first phone call from home. Thanks to all of you who've taken time to write. Your emails never fail to make my day.
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