Around Tanzania by BUS!

Some notes about bus travel in Tanzania:

* When a bus seems full, there is always room for more. Four seats across = five bums, regardless of size.
* Monkeys like to sit by the side of the road and watch buses go by.
* Roads are paved by prisoners - Chinese prisoners. This is a little strange.
* Tarmac roads are not as safe as they look. Buses like to drive at rampage speeds downwards - this so they can actually make it to the top of the hill on the other side.
* Wide-mouthed waterbottles will not give you success in drinking while driving on unpaved roads. Bumps create havoc and you will usually look like you've had an accident.
* Every stop includes vendors holding cooked bananas, bags of juice, and sometimes shishkabobs (kind of - meat may be questionable).

We traveled to Karagwe and Muleba, two villages within 200 km (west) from Bukoba. In Karagwe we lived with families - Bob and I stayed in a poor home with no electricity or running water, and a cho (toilet) covered in bugs (including slugs). The family was incredibly warm and hospitable, as are almost all people here. The toilets, however, were not so welcoming. Most toilets in the area were shallow enough to see the maggots swarming over the bottom. No toilet reading here.

We drove to several orphanages to visit children and were amazed by the different way of running orphanages here - it is more like a cooperative where several children live in a home with several widows, most of whom are widowed from AIDS and themselves are HIV positive. They get together - everyone from the cooperative - to sing and dance and encourage one another. We got to spend time singing and praying with them, and sharing testimonies to encourage them. As we prepare to leave, we are exploring areas that we would like to support, and it is awesome to see so many different opportunites and get to know them.

This area of Tanzania is very hilly, full of valleys and lakes and rivers, and lined with banana plantations and coffee trees and small huts. Beautiful.

Last weekend we traveled to Muleba with the church from Bukoba. WHAT an experience! It was an evangelistic outreach driven by the choir of Bukoba, which is an incredible singing and dancing group. We shared our stories, visited homes in the neighbourhood, and just had a fantastic time getting to know the choir members and encouraging the local church. I also had the privilege of seeing a fortress where a king of Africa used to live - including the round hut in which he is buried (only wife of dead king has the key - she is still living and very old. Met her).

And today was an incredibly special day as we have been working with teh Bukoba church to build the roof, and today the trusses went UP! 20-30 church men came up, and we, together with them, "raised the roof" - and are thankful for only minor injuries.

Time is again ticking away, so we shall post. Plan to put some pictures on soon!

PS. Rice and beans sometimes contain bits of gravel and small rocks. Chew with care.