The lodge

Today, let me tell you about my future place of work an residence. In 1907, when Tanzania didn't exist yet, a German woman rode several hundred kilometres from the coast on an ox wagon to start a farm at the foot of the mount Meru. Her name was Margarete Trappe (no relation to the Von Trapps) and her spirit still inhabits the hearts of many to this day. Researching her, I have come across many a nostalgic account of Mrs Trappe and her 4 children. interestingly, I have not found much about her husband. I've read hints that he was not the greatest person, but that's it. Oh well, I'll just have to read the book about the farm to find out. Anyway, Margarete was a strong woman. She and her husband built a horse and cattle farm with their own hands and she became the only female professional hunter in Africa. She had such a perfect aim that she could shoot a hole through the middle of a coin, without fault, every time. She brought her children up to love and respect animals, and many of her descendants still live in the area today. Margarete was apparently very close to the Masai and they nicknamed her mother of the Masai. After the first world war, Germans were evicted from Tanzania and their properties were confiscated. Margarete and her children fled to South Africa but were soon to return under British citizenship. She bought back the 5000 acre property and started again. Margarete died in 1957 and rumour has it that elephants gathered around her house to mourn her.

In the early 60's, Margarete's son Rolf Trappe leased out the Momella farm to Paramount pictures for the filming of the film Hatari!. During filming, Hardy Kruger fell in love with the place and bought the farm which he owned for 13 years (some sources say he ought it before making the film). The farm was transformed into a lodge called the OlDonyo Orok lodge which ran until 2002. The buildings were bought up by the current owners who personally renovated them to turn them into a boutique hotel with 9 gorgeous rooms. The garden has no fence or wire around it so wild animals are free to come and go and staff live just a short walk through the bush from the lodge.

Where the Wild Things are

Yesterday, I had a long phone converation with my future employers. We discussed my contract, salary, start date etc. But this is not what I want to talk to you about. There is one subject that has come up again and again when talking with lodge owners:

"We just want to make sure that you realise that you will be far away from urban areas and that there will be wild animals and creepy crawlies."

Of course there will be wild animals. Isn't that the point? As for the insects, spiders and scorpions, well Tanzania is the cradle of life, so obviously, there will be all sorts of it. The fact that this remark is so common brings up the question of how many people apply for jobs in secluded lodges lost in the bush and expect to have air conditioning and a fence?

So, what am I to expect from Arusha National Park? Well, let's start at the very beginning.

The lodge is situated on the east side of Mount Meru, which means two things. Firstly, it will get the morning sun, secondly, I'll have an uninhibited view of Kilimanjaro turning pink every evening. The lodge is indeed in the wilderness. However, This wilderness is alive and fertile. It is exciting. Compare a scenery of giraffes and monkeys frolicking in the undergrowth to this:

This is Dartmoor National Park in England. It is cold, rainy, full of in-breds and rapists and wild ponies that have a nasty bite.

In his book "Glorious Devon", Stuart Petre Brodies Mais states that the locality of my hotel (which shall remain nameless) : ' [...] is not a place one would choose to live in. It is grey, bleak and grim and overshadowed by the prison." Yes, the prison. Rumour had it that this prison was famous for two things. Number one, the highest suicide rate of all the British correctional institutions. Number two, the lowest rate of successful escapes in all of the British correctional institutions. Escapees would be found in the morning aimlessly wandering about on the moors, or at the bottom of a mine shaft that they accidentally slipped into in the night. Anyway, suffice to say that I survived, and that really, it wasn't that bad. So when they warn me about isolation in a lodge with 40+ staff where I shall mingle with customers on a daily basis and be allowed to receive guests, I'm really not too worried. However, one must not forget the advantages of living in the wild: Zero light pollution, starry nights, wildlife, no crack-heads (which are wildlife in their own right), no traffic, no irritating drunk students singing at 3 in the morning (urban equivalent to night birds), no dog shit, no concrete, and no advertising!

Mount Meru, at the foot of which the lodge is situated and around which wraps Arusha national park, is a very large volcano. Standing at 4566 metres, it is the second highest mountain in Tanzania after its brother the Kilimanjaro. It was once much taller than the Kilimanjaro, but hundreds of thousands of years ago, a huge explosion completely ripped its top off. Apparently, the explosion was so huge that enormous hunks of it flew up to 70 kilometres through the air. The volcano is no longer active and the surrounding countryside is now thriving thanks to the rich volcanic soil and the many lakes and rivers etched into it.

So what about the climate? Well, most of the time, it is hot and dry during the day and cool at night. Then, in the rainy season, which goes from november to december and march to april, just replace the dry by humid. Not too bad really. Apparently, the maximum temperatures are lower than those in ottawa (32C max). So never again will I experience days where opening the front door at 7 in the morning is exactly the same as walking into a hammam.

These elements combine to make the ideal habitat for hundreds of species. You won't find any lions in the park since they were all hunted down before the area was made into a protected zone. Arusha National Park is famous for its giraffes which have prospered in the absence of lions. I have read though that around the Momella lakes (the area my lodge is in) there is a new phenomena of giraffes without tails. Apparently, the lack of competition has made the hyenas daring and they've been snipping the tails off giraffes in way of a quick snack.

On top of giraffes and hyenas, one can find water buffalo (which I've heard occasionally roam onto the lodge property), a few leopards, lots and lots of warthogs, which are like very nimble wild boars, and the odd family of hippos. I've also read that there are Black rhinos and elephants (the scene I linked to was filmed at the lodge). It seems from my research, that I'm also going to be surrounded by monkeys and ridiculously brightly coloured birds. The insects seem pretty normal, albeit more varied in shape and colour than what I'm used to, and the number of different moth and butterfly species seems near infinite. Now for the creepy crawlies that we all love. Apparently there are scorpions, since they were brought up in my interview. This is exciting. I've never seen one in the wild. There is also a spider called the baboon spider. Apparently, it is quite aggressive and has a hallucinogenic bite. I can't wait until a guest finds one in their bathtub.

On which note, I must end this post because it is late and I have much to do.

To be continued...

In the beginning.

Well, tonight I saw A. for the last time on this continent. We went out for booze (Ale for me, 'vodka martini straight up a little bit dirty... with the olives' for her) and duck legs. We talked, we laughed, we shared our hopes, fears and african job anecdotes and horror stories. I told her about the resort that stipulated in its contract that as soon as I arrived, my plane ticket belonged to them and she told me about the lodge that offered to pay her 700USD per month and make her share her room. As we sucked our fingers clean f sticky glaze and laughed, I realised: This is it. We're really going. This is actually the direction our life is taking. One year ago, I had no idea what was awaiting me down the road. But now, with only two weeks left, I'm having a minor panic attack each time I think about all the things I still have to do. Not a single bag or box is packed. None of my belongings are sold. My appartment looks very lived in and I have a pile of paperwork similar in scope to War and Peace to wade through and fill in. Life is looking glorious.

Oh, and did I mention that I haven't even bought a plane ticket?

On the other hand, I look out of my window right now and this is what I see:

-Rain. Lots of it.

-The night sky-purple because of light polution and no stars because of light pollution (and because of rain, but really. even if there wasn't a cloud in the sky, it would still be purple and starless)

-About 5 traffic lights

-A neon sign for a budget pizzeria

-A yellow hummer parked in front of said budget pizzeria

-A crackhead zig-zagging through the middle of the crossroad.

I'll look out of my window in 1 month, and this is what I'll see:

http://picasaweb.google.com/TheAfricanEmbassy

It'll all be worth it.

As the british posters said, 'Keep calm and carry on".

See you on the other side A.

And it happened just so...

There once was a place, a far away place, at the foot of a mountain. This mountain was no ordinary mountain. It was a huge volcano that had once spat fire and smoke and ash. This volcano is now quiet and serene and the land around it is green and lush and thrives with life. Giraffes, warthogs, flamingos, leopards and hundreds of other species now live here in harmony. On this land, more than one hundred year ago, arrived a white lady. This lady built a farm and in that same building today is a luxurious boutique hotel with the wilderness as its back yard.

This is the story of another white lady. This lady is about to embark on the adventure of her life as she prepares to pack up and leave for the land of Arusha National park in order to work and live in the hotel that was once the Momella farm.