Captured nature and fresh fruit.

The view from Irente Viewpoint. 

A week or so ago we went on an adventure to check out the local look-out spot. Mariko and her Peace Corps friend had been there years ago and were telling me about the amazing view. When we got up to where they thought it was, we couldn't find it. We asked around for a while and discovered that the ex-president had purchased the narrow bit of land leading up to the view point and constructed a hotel. Now they charge you to walk through their tacky hotel to get to enjoy this amazing view. Funny how that works. No value added, just a sneaky way to capitalize off of the inherent natural beauty. That's politics and economics around these parts.

On our way home we ducked into a thatch restaurant on a biodiversity reserve to eat lunch and wait out the monsoon rains. They served amazing fresh bread, homemade cheese, fresh butter, cottage cheese, vegis straight out of the ground and passion fruit juice. Our entertainment was the drum of torrential rains on the thatch roof and a slow dance performed by the little guy in the picture below. I will have to arrange to get waylaid there again soon.

Some of this grass is not like the others. I get paranoid to walk on grass now, looking down at most steps. So many beautiful things hiding, blending in, that I wouldn't want to step on. This is yet another local chameleon. 

Our village Beauty Saloon.
Right now I'm letting my hair do it's thing. But when it's time for a cut, I'm going to the beauty saloon. At my barbershop in Denver they would offer me a beer or a shot of whiskey. I imagine this place serves banana wine. It helps take the edge off of a bad haircut. Notice the shoes in front of the door. Yes, the floor is dirt, and you take your shoes off. Some dirt is dirtier than others. Many buildings are built in this style. Use whatever you can find and put a roof on it. I like it.

A favorite hangout for the local Colubus Monkeys. Fractal treetops.

Magamba forest reserve. Giant fern trees. 

 Due to forces beyond our control, we have been exploring as much of the local forests as possible. These forces are inherent in Mariko and I and probably almost every other human being, whether they recognize them or not. We must spend time in nature to feel balanced. We need to experience beauty on a regular basis. It's nice to feel the interdependence and interconnection that are the essence of natural ecosystems. Not to say that interdependence isn't everywhere, but in the forest it speaks of a deep balance. Unfortunately there are very few natural ecosystems left, even in this part of the world. 95% of the forests in the Usambara mountains have been deforested. It's a complex situation. Much of it happened in the 1970's when Finnish logging companies looted these beautiful ancient forests. The local water supply was poisoned for over 200,000 people. Nobody really cared until the 1990's when NGO's started noticing that the Usambara mountains were one of the worlds great biodiversity treasures, and they were almost entirely gone. The foreign logging companies moved out and Finnland donated money to help set up park systems to protect what was left. Yet the situation isn't that simple. Population growth has been steady increasing, and subsistence farmers need land to grow food. There is also either no access or no affordable access to any source of fuel for cooking and heating, so people cut down the forests for firewood and charcoal. They know that it's not sustainable, they just don't see any other way to feed their families. What to do? Even the local forest reserves and national parks are being cut down for fuel and farming. It's a sad situation. We will do what we can, and I am looking into some ideas to make little changes. I am fascinated by the idea of biomass charcoal making. For more info check out the work of Amy Smith. She has a wonderful TED talk on the subject.

"According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the country’s forests are disappearing at a whopping rate of 4,200 square kilometers (1,620 sq. miles) annually. That’s about four times the size of New York City."

Nature also eats. But this little seething mass of grasshoppers will give back all that they devour.

A happy day of bush whacking. The only trails through this forest are from illegal logging. Our guide spent his childhood sneaking into the reserve with his parents to cut down trees to sell charcoal.

We met a few monkeys in the Magamba reserve, some incredibly strange bugs, and this Two horned Eastern Usambara Chameleon. He's looking good in his bark browns.

An idyllic little home by a stream. 

Small villages steadily grow and expand into the forest reserves. 

Local ladies sell their wares at a bus station on our way down the mountain. The woman in front is waiting for her bus. Her luggage consists of a bag of charcoal, a bag of vegetables and a goat immobilized in a basket. Now I know how to travel with a goat.

Mariko and a Baobab tree. Apparently this is a small Baobab. 

A successful market day. Every Thursday and Sunday farmers bring their wares from the surrounding villages.  The gems of this harvest are the passion fruits (amazing juice) and the furry looking tubers in the bottom left known as Cocoyams. The cocoyams melt into a rich and creamy base in stews. I love market day.