As many of my friends know, my mental health therapy in Moshi was not alcohol entirely, but Arusha National Park. Here is a little park that is small, loaded with giraffe and colobus monkeys, and interesting lakes and trees. Since John’s colleague Sarah had virtually no time to go on a safari, we managed to hire Carol to take us to the park.
Life always has to have dramas and ours was when Carol reminded us just as we entered the park that we had to pay with Visa Card or as a last resort USD and neither of us had a card with us. We had carefully counted out our Tshillings and happily set off. The hot flashes were steady with me as we waited for Carol to negotiate our entrance. Not surprisingly, Carol persuaded our way in and of course it was a wonderful day. The grass was so high, it was hard to see the animals, but they were there and we found the Colobus, Ververt monkeys, ngiri, twiga, buffalo, and the flamingos—wow the flamingos! I had never seen so many in my life.
We ate lunch at the regular spot, wind whipping around and the flamingos moving all around us on the Big Momella lake. It was amazing. There was a new way to the Fig tree, thank you for the loan of your car Jan (don’t worry we cleaned it before we left),
and we forded the river at a crazy diagonal, but easier than in previous trips. It allowed us to see a few more birds and buffalo as we drove up through the world of the “Lord of the Ring” forest until we came to the fig tree. Here is something that doesn’t change. You have to stand or sit on a car to show the height and uniqueness of the fig. (has anyone been to Sequoia National Park and is the big Red drive through Sequoia still there?
On this trip, we were racing, thus no leisurely exit from the park to look for more giraffe or warthogs but hurrying out and back through the crowded Arusha Road to once again arrive for a dinner planned to visit with our friends. I thought about all the other times in which some group or others of us said, “ I am going nuts, let’s go to Arusha!” It is a park rich in memories. Maybe the mountain will come out and we can see it right behind a giraffe. Maybe someone will remind us of Hatari, the movie (mostly Nicoli), and we get a good laugh.
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