Tanzania Photos
Here are some pictures from my time in Tanzania!
5/9/23
MCO Airport
Jacob and I at the airport getting ready to board our first flight! I was wearing a UF sweatshirt and got many 'go gators' throughout our travel :)
5/11/23
First Bajaj!
On our first day in Dar, Megan took Jacob and I on our first bajaj (tuktuk/automated rickshaw) ride! Tanzanians use an uber-like app called Bolt where you can choose to be picked up by a motorcycle, car, or bajaj (cheaper than a car, safer than a motorcycle).
5/11/23
Cafe Woodberry
For lunch on the first day, we went to the Woodberry Cafe, which is also an internet cafe. It was a beautiful place and we enjoyed watching hens, roosters, and rabbits milling around this yard.
5/11/23
Indian Ocean
We took a long walk over the Tanzanite Bridge near sunset.
5/12/23
Dar at Night
Dar es Salaam from our hotel window the night before leaving for Iringa.
5/13/23
Kombucha 4ever
Delicious kombucha from a shop in Dar that I drank on the 10 hour drive to Iringa. My friends and family know I will find kombucha anywhere :)
5/13/23
Made it to Iringa!
The view from the terrance of Saivilla—the Indian restaurant we went to our first night in Iringa
5/13/23
Sunset in Iringa
The view from my balcony at the house in Iringa.
5/14/23
Gangilonga Rock
View of Iringa from a hike we took up Gangilonga Rock.
5/14/23
squeeze!
To get to the top of Gangilonga Rock, we had to climb up this steep and narrow crevice—fun but kind of scary!
5/15/23
First day at TDH
The Emergency Department at Tosamaganga District Hospital, which is the hospital where I am conducting the first half of my fieldwork. The picture also shows a blue bajaj similar to the ones we take on a bumpy 30 minute ride to and from the hospital every day.
5/16/23
Morning Meeting
This is the room at TDH where the morning meeting takes place at 7:50 am every day. The doctors and nurses who were on-call and in charge during the night sit at the table at the front of the room and give a summary of what happened overnight.
5/20/23
Kisolanza
The cute cottage we stayed in during a weekend trip to a farm in Kisolanza
5/20/23
Farm walk
We walked around the Kisolanza property for two hours trying and failing to find lakes we'd heard about, but we didn't really mind because the walk was so beautiful
5/20/23
Dinner at Kisolanza
Our stay included a dinner and breakfast made of food from the farm. This was the main course at dinner: lamb (we saw the surviving sheep on the farm the next day), potatoes, beans, pumpkin, and greens.
5/21/23
breakfast!
Part of breakfast the next morning was an assortment of fruit. The fruit in Tanzania is very good, and even the kinds of fruit that are also common in the US taste different here. The slices on my plate are watermelon, pineapple, mango, banana, two kinds of oranges, guava, passionfruit, a kind of grape, and papaya.
5/22/23
Mbwa
The owners of the place we are staying have many puppies. Pictured here are Soksi on the left (the favorite), Mzungu on the bench (Mzungu is common slang for white person/foreigner), and the one we call Bitey (the reason for that should be clear) on the bottom right.
5/24/23
Beauty Standards?
Many clothes mannequins in the market in Iringa have extremely wide hips, which is one of the traits seen as attractive here. Another Tanzanian beauty standard different from those in the US is that hair on a woman's chin is considered an attractive sign of toughness.
5/25/23
Dinner at Ruksana
We had dinner with some friends at an Indian restaurant in Iringa called Ruksana. I ordered Malai Kofta, jeera rice, and garlic naan. Yum!
5/26/23
Ugali etc.
A doctor from the hospital came over and taught us how to make some Tanzanian food. Ugali is the national staple food—cornmeal boiled with water until it reaches a pliable consistency that you use to scoop up stews. We also cooked beans, an okra eggplant stew, sardines, and greens.
5/27/23
Rugby at Kisolanza
We went back to Kisolanza for a rugby tournament and it ended up being a very weird very white event. We went with some of Megan's friends though and it was still fun. Here are Megan, Jacob, and I at the 'afterparty.'
5/28/23
Duka la Dawa
We were invited to a doctor's house for lunch and were also shown her Duka la Dawa (pharmacy). Many doctors and nurses also run small pharmacies out of their homes as a side business.
5/30/23
Nyumba
Our beautiful house! We are staying in a new house in a compound built and owned by a German/Tanzanian couple. The house we are in is actually their dream home and is still kind of being built on the inside, and they will be moving into it when it is finished and we are gone.
5/31/23
Bajaj
A view from the inside of Tito's bajaji. He picks us up every morning at 7 and drives us the 30 minutes to the hospital. As evidenced by the school bus in front of us in the picture, this is also the time that kids leave for school, so we get to see lots of cute uniformed kids on their way to school.
6/2/23
Maharage
A woman who works as a housekeeper in the compound taught us how to cook some more Tanzanian food. The first step was cooking these beans on a wood stove.
6/3/23
Ruaha Sunset
Ruaha is a national park near Iringa known for its beauty and its population of animals, and so we planned to go there for a safari drive. We stayed at the Ruaha Hilltop Lodge the night before the safari. This was the beautiful sunset from the deck of the lodge!
6/3/23
Dinner at Ruaha
This was the meal we were served at Ruaha Hilltop Lodge. It was preceded by a 'cucumber' soup and followed by crepes and chocolate sauce. All delicious!
6/4/23
Safari Sunrise
The sunrise over Ruaha as we left for our safari at 6:30 am!
6/4/23
Safari! Safari!
Us in the safari vehicle. We went with some friends of Megan's and it was super fun! The vehicle only broke down twice (and luckily not right next to the lions)!
6/4/23
Ruaha Landscape
We drove around the park for around 12 hours (sunrise to sunset) and saw so many different kinds of landscapes, but this river-ish area with the mountains in the background was my favorite! Rainy season is over here, but the river-y areas haven't dried up yet.
6/4/23
bffs
Me with a lion! We stopped by a pretty big pride for a little bit—scary but cool.
6/9/23
work hard play hard
During the week, our work at the hospital continued. I love this plant-filled hallway outside the medicine storage area.
6/10/23
road to Dar
We left Iringa for Dar early in the morning and saw so much beautiful land during the 11 hour drive.
6/11/23
view from airbnb
Our airbnb apartment is on the 12th floor, so we are blessed with a beautiful view! Unfortunately, we have also been blessed with an abundance of tiny cockroaches that are everywhere in the apartment. Common for a big building in this climate, but annoying!
6/12/23
city living
The apartment building we're in has a lot of families, so we get to see cutie kids in the elevators and also the classic signs of family city life: bikes and clotheslines.
6/13/23
goodwill 4ever
along with kombucha, I apparently can find Goodwill anywhere! Nothing to miss from the US! (unfortunately, this is not a thrift store, but I did get my hopes up)
Also pictured are a couple of bajajis on the road.
6/14/23
Ocean Road Room
A standard ward room at this hospital. When the beds are occupied, they are covered with sheets from the Medical Stores Department and the sheets are then covered with brightly colored kanga and kitenge fabric brought by patients and relatives.
6/18/23
a changamoto!
A palliative care patient requested that we make him American food—specifically fried chicken, mac and cheese, and cookies. I was in charge of the cookies, which was a changamoto (challenge) because the apartment has no measuring cups and the oven only has one setting (on!), but they turned out well!
6/18/23
brunch
We went to Epi D'or for brunch. It was delicious! Best breakfast I've had in Tanzania so far.
6/20/23
thali !!!
Dar has in abundance what Tallahassee and Gainesville are sorely missing: daily thali at Indian restaurants!! Perfect for someone like me who loves trying everything and hates menu decisions. Dar Thali Lesson: Although they have the same owner and are across the street from each other, Chili and Lime is superior to Chowpatty.
6/21/23
rooftop yoga
Apparently, June 21 is International Yoga Day! We went to a rooftop yoga class. It did get cold near the end, but watching the sun set and the moon and bats come out (Dar special) was beautiful.
6/21/23
dawa ya maji
Liquid morphine bottles in a cabinet at the hospital. These are passed out to in-patients and to patients or their relatives who come to the hospital with morphine cards to get their refills.
6/22/23
National Museum and House of Culture
We took a day off from the hospital to go to the National Museum and House of Culture (and to do some shopping). This was a beautiful building (sadly under renovation) and we enjoyed learning more about Tanzanian history in the rest of the museum.
6/22/23
street level
Classic Dar building: a mix of beautiful old architecture and new businesses, not to mention the bajaji passing through!
6/22/23
bye bugs
Our bug nightmare may soon be over (for better or for worse). This sign was posted in the elevator warning us of the impending fumigation. Luckily, we will be in Zanzibar!! and plan to pack up all of our belongings in advance, as we are moving to a different apartment when we return from Zanz.
6/24/23-6/26/23
zanzibar!
6/26/23-6/30/23
last week at ORCI
7/1/23-7/4/23
Lushoto!
