Village of Njombe

I got up around 9am while Kayla was still sleeping and sat outside basking in the warm, glorious sunshine.A very nice change of pace from drab and dreary Cincinnati weather. I have found that the weather here is typically nice and sunny in the morning but then it gets cloudy, cold, and rainy in the afternoon because it is the rainy season. In Njombe instead of 4 seasons like we are use to in the sates, it is dry and rainy season here.

Once Kayla got up around noon, we chatted for a while and had coffee, a rarity in Njombe. We got ready to leave around 1pm but the rain had already started to hit by then so we waited it out while watching an episode of Brothers and Sisters.

At 2pm we left for the village. In order to get into town you walk up the main dirt road and then when you get to the paved main road you catch a taxi to take you into town there. It’s about a 15 minute walk. On the way there you see cattle grazing in people’s backyard, women tending to the land, people walking on the road going about their business, and a sprinkling of people building houses.

We got a taxi and Kayla let me sit in the front seat. Initially I said that I would sit in the back but luckily she insisted I sit in the front because several people pile in the back as we make our stops picking up people on the way to talk. Once we got into town, we had about 5 people squished in the back seat. The drive only takes about 15 minutes.

 The start of our walk to the main road, which is paved. On the left hand side is the housing for the police of Njombe and there families. 

 This is the local school. Every morning the children walk to school and beat drums along the way. Traditionally school runs from around 7am to 5pm. They wear uniforms and have about 2 hours of break/ recess time each day.

 Getting closer to the village. It is very typical to see cows grazing on the side of the road.

 A very accurate picture of how a lot of the rods look here. Bumpy and filled with rain-water pot holes. Driving down these roads can be quite the adventure.










In town, we went to the bank first then went to find Kayla’s plumber. Kayla is working on opening up a café here but has hit a few road blocks along the way. It seems that with every step of the process, she has a problem come up. Kayla tells me that the unofficial countries motto here is “Slowly, Slowly”, which opening her café has proved to be very true.

 This is the town hardware/ plumber shop. It is comparable to the US version of Lowe's/ Home Depot. Kayla's plumber helped to sort out all of the details of what we needed to purchase and transporting them to the cafe site.

Kayla’s plumber took us to buy some supplies and we got a water tank that she can use to put on-top-of her café’s roof. The water tank holds 1,000 Liters. We had to get a large work truck to transport our supplies to the site. Unfortunately this is when the second round of rain came and it started to pour, hard. We drove to her café site, off the beaten path and on unpaved dirt roads, where we came to her location. Its set more in a neighborhood-type area rather than in the heart of town. Kayla, her plumber, the driver, and I got out of the truck and ran to her café through the pouring rain. Her plumber and driver were able to hoist the jumbo-sized water tank over the wall to put it by the bathroom while Kayla showed me around the inside of her café. The café is a large, long rectangle-style room which has some tables, chairs, and pillows for now. Kayla told me about her plans for the café and I have no doubt that it will be a success. She wants to have tables outside for people to sit, a cork board on the wall to let people post news/ community updates, and a chalk-board featuring the daily specials. She is hoping for a March 6 open date as there is not that much more left to do. Fingers crossed, she doesn’t experience any more bumps in the road.

Once we were done at the café and we ran back through the rain to the truck, we headed back to a local eatery in town for lunch. Lucky for us we ran into 2 of Kayla’s friends who run the orphanage, Courtney and Corinne. We had a lovely lunch with them. Lucky for my Kayla has been in Tanzania for a year now and coincidentally left the exact same day I did one year ago, February 14. She has helped me navigate Tanzania in soooo many ways. She helps to introduce me to the local community members, converse a bit in Swahili, and know exactly what you should and should not do in Tanzania. For lunch I had a Miranda, an orange soda, and Chips Mayaei, it’s basically an egg-omelet with potatoes in it. It was delicious! Kayla had a ginger soda, which was good but is a little intense for my taste to have a whole bottle in one-sitting. For her entrée she had a soup called white soup, a chicken broth soup with potatoes and cabbage. Chapati is flat bread with veggies bakes into it for a side, its deliciously light bread. Yum!

 Chips Mayaei and greens. Yum! Cola or any kind of soda is very very popular here.













In addition to a delicious lunch, we picked Courtney and Corrinne’s brain about traveling to Malawi. Kayla and I are planning to go there at the beginning of next week. The thing that is different about traveling to Africa than most tourist destinations is that everything can be arranged and changed at the last minute. I have found this to be very helpful during my stay thus far. Before when I was looking to plan my trip, I was going to travel to northern Tanzania and to see Zanzibar but after a 4 hour bus ride on Saturday, no thanks. In order to get to Mt. Kilimanjaro from Njombe where I am it would take about 18 hours on the bus, yikes! Plus, I don’t get to see Kayla very often and would rather spend my time with her and exploring Southern Tanzania rather than the majority of m vacation on a bus.

Once lunch was over, the four of us headed to the local dairy shop to buy milk and cheese. They are able to get very fresh milk and cheese here because the dairy factory is actually just down the street from where Kayla lives. We bought some milk to enjoy for later and the other girls bought milk and cheese for the orphanage. I was standing outside and met suitor number 2 in Africa. As he tried to converse in Swahili with me, I just smiled, nodded and attempted to communicate to the best of my ability. Luckily Corinne helped me have a conversation with him by telling what to say. As all of this way going on a parade of goats appeared before us and started eating the flowers of someone’s garden in-town. Not a strange site to see goats grazing all over Tanzania. We said our goodbyes to Courtney and Corinne.

 This is the shop of the local dairy farm. you are able to get fresh milk, cheese, and yogurt daily. 

Next stop, the market. This is where Kayla does all of her grocery shopping. In Njombe there is no Target or Kroger’s to stop at, rather everything is an open-air farmers market. We bough peanut butter, bananas, and some dried fish for her dog, Basil. I attempted to take pictures but people seemed to get offended as I am a white, foreigner snapping away images of their life-style – an odd site in the small town. After the market shopping was done, we went to get internet vouchers to use later. Here you pay as you go for internet and it only lasts for 24 hours before you have to refill it. It costs about 500 shillings a day which is equivalent to about $.50USD. The exchange rate is ~1450 shilling to $1USD.

 The inside of one of the larger shops in town. They have tons of things you can purchase - coke, butter spread (similar to Country Crock), wine, and house items.

 The local market. Under the building are producer suppliers selling the harvest. On the right side is where other fruit is typically sold - pineapple and bananas.

Once at home I took a nap and Kayla headed next-door to talk to a friend. She was back and I woke up, we began our nightly ritual of watching Brothers and Sisters. We also made bread tonight. Kayla makes fabulous bread and I was lucky enough to help in the process. We called it a night around 1am.

On the way home luckily it was only Kayla and I in the taxi. Nice, quiet, and not crowded. :)