The Green Hills of Africa and Other Findings

"Now, being in Africa, I was hungry for more of it, the changes of the seasons, the rains with no need to travel, the discomforts that you paid to make it real, the names of the trees, of the small animals, and all the birds, to know the language and have time to be in it and to move slowly."

- The Green Hills of Africa, Ernest Hemingway

Here are a few pictures that didn't fit into the previous post.

"Mizungo, take our picture!" - Asali Camp #2 in Tabora

June/July honey (right) and October/November honey (left). The darker late season miombo honey has a distinctive, forest flavor, while the lighter honey is tasty, but more generic. Not surprisingly, exporters have found that consumers in the European markets prefer the light honey. If someone really wanted a taste of Tanzania, they would choose other.

One of the most challenging parts of selling honey from East Africa (apart from processing) is in acquiring suitable bottles. On the stret you will often find it in liter water bottles, which are sold for 10,000 TZS, though some companies, like Honey Care LTD package honey in what Americans would recognize as a syrup bottle. I met one man on the street who had a beautiful assortment of Konyagi bottles filled with honey and decided to support the local entrepreneur - it was 2,000 TZS for this, barely over US$1.

In case you are wondering, Konyagi is a spirit with the slogan "It’s not a vodka , It’s not a gin , It’s Konyagi - smooth at a strength of 35%."... and afterwards you don't even smell... (the Hennigans of Tanzania, I guess) - yeah right.

Me being very excited about an extra-curricular insect discovery!

This is the millipede a little bit closer... I wore the gloves because some species can leave a slight irritant on the skin and I didn't want to take an unnecessary risk.

The safari in my pocket. I am very appreciative of the Tanzanian currency. Apart from these animals, the face of Julius Nyerere dominates many notes and coins. I think it would be pretty cool if the United States had a wolf or a bison alongside Washington or Franklin.

Collection of modern hive styles being used in Tanzania. From top to bottom - Stingless Bee Hive (35,000 TZS), Modified Langstroth with 13 Frames (130,000 TZS),  Kenyan Top Bar Hive (no price listed), Tanzanian Top Bar Hive (75,000 TZS).

 I am leaving for Urambo tomorrow morning and then moving on to Kigoma.