November 27, 2012 Morogoro Mountains

Putting my housing and employment issues aside for now, I am doing my best to enjoy the place I am in.  Morogoro offers some lovely opportunities for hiking and people/culture watching.  So I thought I’d take this chance to tell you a bit about this place.

 

Morogoro is a cross-roads town located about 3 hours (in a mechanically dependable car with no traffic), directly west or inland, from Dar Es Salaam.  It is famous for it’s double range of Uluguru Mountains which rise up to peaks of 1500 M to 2,600 M.   They make a lovely southern backdrop to the town itself and vast reaching plains or valley beyond that.   As I write this the mountains look like they are wearing a thick layer of cotton batten across their rolling backs, like they are snuggling in for the approaching night.

The vast array of trails that meander deep within the tropical vegetarian, are the footpaths for the people living on the mountain sides.  These people tend to be farmers and so as I have been hiking, I have been passed by  many women carrying, on their heads of course, fruits or vegetables down to sell in town, and then men tracking upward with unwieldy gigantic bags of manure or coal.  These trails pass closely to their homes and so we try to be respectful as we pass, not taking pictures (without permission) and always saying the series of greetings which are so common-place here. 

 

The typical trees hold bananas, mangos, papaya, and breadfruit (or Jackfruit).  There are of course lots of trees that are not fruit bearing, which remain nameless to me.  The underbrush ranges from ferns, to cassava (one of the staples) to bushes with berries (Boysenberry and something they call Raspberries but are brighter red and a little bigger, less sweet to the ones I am familiar with).  Up higher on the mountain side I can see rows of corn, greens (most of which they call spinach or Chinese spinach), tomatoes, green peppers, onions and strawberries.  Apparently the berries have always grown wild and the Africans did not eat them.  Once they reallized that the Mzungus had an appetite for them, they wisely started cultivating them. 

 

The farmer who often acts as our guide, Mustafa, takes his berries all the way to Dar on the bus when they are plentiful.  Although there are several markets in greater Morogoro, you can find many of the fruits and veggies being sold by “Mamas” sitting along the roadsides.  However, you’ll only find the berries being sold out front of the two or 3 small grocery stores where the Mzungus shop for dry goods.  The price is fairly dear, but well worth it!!

Mustafa lives up there as do his various family members.  His mother, his younger brother (a Rasta wanna-be) and his older brother with his young family.  The older two share the land, which they lease, far up the mountainside where they primarily grow berries.  The trek up to his plot and back is quite treacherous, especially during the rainy season so he has rigged up an irrigation system (when needed).  On one outing we made it up to his lower Choma to admire and sample his strawberries, but the higher ground was another hour away and over the nearest peak.

 

There are several streams, waterfalls, and springs along the mountain sides however, this is the height of the dry season.  The town’s water reservoir is almost depleted and everyone watches through daily water outages and big winds only threatening, waiting for the rains to come.  I was hiking only once when the rain did come.  We managed to hike up and out of it, but the paths had turned to almost vertical tracks of loose red soil and mud.  I did, what I am told, a “very graceful” face plant when my spinning feet could no longer get purchase.  The rain stopped and the sun dried my muddy clothes.  Unfortunately, on the way down, we hiked back into the rain and I was a mess by the time we reached the bottom and headed for cold drinks at a local café!  No-one even batted an eye at my muddy face and clothing…I guess whatever we Mzungus do is considered exotic or weird or both.

 

 

 

The birds and other wildlife on these hikes are elusive.  I did see a couple of monkey (mom and young) and then the larger male came along a bit behind.  I hear lots of interesting bird calls but rarely see them during the heat of the day.  The cicadas are usually serenading and later in the day, closer to sunset, the frogs and crickets will take over.  I have even seen the odd toad jumping along the path.  I have seen a few dragon-flies and some gorgeous turquoise and black butterflies, but the most prolific of all the bugs (besides mosies) are the grass-hoppers.  These have emerged since my arrival and I have seen groups of them munching down an entire plant!  But mostly, they are happily in the fields and along the roadsides.  I am relieved to say that I have not seen any creepy crawlers in the house.  There are several resident Gekos, a couple are quite sizable, and they keep the house clean and safe.  I always greet them when I catch them off-guard by turning on a light or entering a room quietly.  I like to think of them as ‘friends of the house’. 

On a final note and as you may well imagine, there are a lot of interested parties involved in the country of Tanzania, from humaitarian aid groups, health and social welfare, mining and oil companies, to enivronmental organizations.  One such group that is present in the Uluguru Mountains, is Jane Goodall's "Roots and Shoots" program.  She was here in February and there are signs that her program is alive and well in this area.  The program helps both young people and the environment.  For more information look go to www.rootsandshoots.org/

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