Plight of the visa

The view of Mt. Uluguru from the bottom

Most of the time, I am full of awe at the wonder and beauty of this country.  Other times, I am completely disgusted and saddened by its condition.  The past week has been a whirl wind.  So I’ll start with the good:  last weekend Scott and I climbed Mt. Uluguru with two German girls who are volunteering at the orphanage.  This amazing mountain overlooks the town of Morogoro and is a treasure chest of bio-diversity- hundreds of species of flowers, plants, fruits, and butterflies live there, and many of them cannot be found anywhere else in the world.  So needless to say, it’s pretty awesome.  Scott has been dying to climb this mountain ever since we were in Arusha last year and we finally got our chance. 

Just one of the many beautiful plants we saw.

Sophie and Miriam knew a guy who would take us up the mountain for free and since it was only a 6 hour hike, we figured we could do it all in one day.  Now, I am not a mountain climber (and should never become one) so the trek was a bit much for me.  Uluguru is incredibly steep and rocky, not to mention I haven’t been to the gym in three months so am pretty out of shape.  I was huffing and puffing all the way up, Scott even had to get behind me at one point and literally push me so I would continue on.  It was rough to say the least.

This view made every painful moment worthwhile!

But as hard as the hike was, I will say it was TOTALLY worth it.  The views were breath taking, we saw the most stunning plants and flowers, and I felt really accomplished when we made it to the top (well it was almost the top, to go all the way we would have had to rock climb up a vertical cliff and that was not gonna happen for me).  But I was pretty excited that my first mountain climbing experience was on one of the most beautiful and flourishing mountains in Africa.  That is, until Scott and I got lost on the way down, took the wrong trail, and almost ended up dangling off a cliff.  Thank goodness two little boys saw us and pointed us in the right direction so we could finally make it back down the mountain.  We sure did make it interesting!

What a public toilet (or choo)  looks like in Tanzania...

Now to the bad part of last week:  our status became illegal.  When we landed in Tanzania, they gave us a 90 day visa that was supposed to last until our work permit was approved.  Well, we realized a little too late that we were on the last day of our visas and had to rush to Morogoro to the office of immigration to get an extension.  Everyone was saying it would be no problem, they would just give us a stamp and we would continue with the work we were doing.  But of course, nothing in Tanzania is ever that easy.  The officer at the department of immigration saw us as cash cows and wouldn't give us a visa extension unless we paid him $400.  Now this is not the first time I’ve seen corruption and bribery around here.  Twice, we have been riding in cars that got pulled over by the police (or flagged down because police stand on the side of the road) who then took our drivers' licenses and refused to let us go until we paid them off, even when the driver didn’t do anything wrong.  I also found out someone I know had his teaching degree stolen and duplicated, and now he cannot get a job because the thief is using his credentials- and most people here think this is a sufficient way to find employment.  And then there is this guy, a supposed trusted government official, trying to steal from us when we are workijng toward the betterment of this country.  It was so frustrating and disheartening.  Of course, we did not have that kind of money, and honestly did not want to give in to his bribe, so our only choice was to leave Tanzania.  Without a change of clothes, deodorant, or toothbrushes, we were in for a rough couple of days. 

A nice welcome into a new country.

We hopped on a bus to Malawi the next morning and for the next ten excruciatingly painful hours me and Scott feared for our lives.  For some reason, people like to drive like maniacs here.  Our bus driver, who had 100 people, including children, in his care, drove 90 miles an hour on the worst roads I’ve ever seen.  We literally came within inches of slamming head on into a petrol truck because he did not feel like checking if someone was coming before he tried passing the car in front of us.  We went so fast around corners that luggage and people were flying out into the aisle.  The bus ended up getting pulled over because the driver was acting like evil canevil, and a cop came on the bus to check everyone’s passports.  My heart started thundering like crazy because a.) we were one day over our visas and b.) we were headed to Malawi to renew it which is technically not allowed.  But the man looked at my passport, asked why I was going to Malawi, and I said we were going for vacation, just to travel.  He looked at me real hard, I said a silent prayer, and then he just walked away.  I was so relieved.  We have already seen what corrupt officials do here, I did not want to see what would happen if they caught two illegal white people.  So we made it to the border safe but of course, it was closed so we had to stay in one of the most disease infested motel rooms for the night.  I’m sure I got TB just by sitting on the makeshift bed.  But thank goodness, we were so exhausted we didn’t notice the hundreds of biting mosquitoes or the smell of manure coming from the choo.

A dala dala.. Personal space is obviously not an option here.

In the morning, we met up with one of the girls I met on the bus, a really nice lady who spoke good English, and she agreed to help us.  We crossed the border, got our Malawi visas, and then we decided to stay a few hours.. I mean, we had just traveled two days to get to Malawi, it would be nice to at least see some of the country.  We found out that Lake Malawi was only 30 km away so we grabbed a dala dala (super packed and uncomfortable) to get to the lake, and I am so glad we did. 

You can't tell, but we both smell really bad right here.

It was just as beautiful as any beach we’ve ever been to… there was pretty white sand and clear blue water, but you could still tell it was Africa because there were people bathing and washing their clothes in the fresh water.  Me and Scott had a few drinks in the sun, and walked along the beach, finally getting a moment to relax.  We had a wonderful time.  So after our bask in the sun, we went back to the border, got across to the Tanzanian side with a new 90 day visa, and made our way to a hotel to wait until our next 5 am bus.  Another unbearable 10 hour bus ride back to Morogoro, a 3 hour cramped trip in a Noah, and we finally made it back to Berega.  I have never been so happy to see our house!!  Five days of unexpected traveling, fear of immigration, dreadful buses, and the same pair of clothes (I have never been so filthy before), and we were so glad to settle back in to the village. 

Not a bad place to run away to though.

Now you would think that since we had been through a lot the past week, we would finally catch a break.   But unfortunately for us, that was not the case.  Both me and Scott were woken up at 3 in the morning, overcome with the worst bouts of vomiting and diarrhea.  For the next 24 hours, we were violently ill, fighting over the toilet, and unable to keep anything down.  It was absolutely disgusting. Thank goodness it passed so we could both go back to work the next day, I did not want to miss another day with my kids.  This week has been wonderful though, besides a little bit of exhaustion and dehydration, mostly because I am so filled with gratitude- gratitude for a feeling of safety and for my renewed health.  Plus, I am so thankful for Scott because I don't think I could have made it through all that chaos alone. And hey, as bad as things seemed at times, we did have a pretty awesome adventure!  Until next time, tutuonana!