Also during the hikes, we passed by dukas (shops) and shambas (farms), learned about the dangers of erosion and challenges of the rainy season and found the locations of clan and village lines. The primary goods produced in the area are bananas (the cooking kind, more starchy and used the same way we use potatoes at home in recipes), milk and eggs and sugar cane. There used to be many coffee farms, as the climate is conducive to their growing, but the government began imposing severe taxes a few years ago so farmers were forced to cut them down.
At one stop, we came across a huge boulder that Mama Macha said had been tossed by a volcanic eruption long ago, although Grandpa Westby will be pleased to know that it was no match for the rock he pulled out of his field this summer! :) We also visited local schools (which, to get to, we had to hike up the steepest hill ever, pulling ourselves up the side using the banana trees) and the ELCT (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania) Northern Diocese church (which has a spectacular view out the back doors). We then circled around down to the chimcham, or the spring where the family gets the drinking water each day. There were wildflowers everywhere and mini waterfalls and lots of angel trumpets (a white lily-type flower that grows right along the streams).
Every night at supper, Shimeji (Mama Macha's brother-in-law; “shimeji” is the Swahili name for brother-in-law and men of that position are referred to as such) brought us freshly ripened bananas from his banana tree grove. I have decided the sweet bananas here (the yellow kind similar to what we eat at home) are going to ruin me; I will never be able to eat another banana in the States again without lamenting audibly to whatever sorry soul happens to be nearby about how much better the bananas in Tanzania are.
*Picture was taken inside the ELCT Northern Diocese Church, one of the most beautiful churches I have seen in all of Tanzania. I really enjoyed visiting there!
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