By Maureen Mescall
Once again I am here in beautiful Suji. The five Irish teachers are leaving this very scenic mountainous area following one year teaching in Suji Malindi Secondary School. Jim, Aaron, Aine, Aisling and Belinda return to Ireland on October 26th and I came over from Ireland to meet with them and with the headmaster and the members of the school board to ascertain the feelings of all parties following the end of the school year. More of that at a later stage but now I want to tell you of a trip I took to Same on Tuesday.
Suji is situated at an elevation of 8,000‘ in the Parẽ Mountains and is about a good hour’s journey from the main road which connects Arusha to Dar es Salaam. The mini bus trip from Suji to Same takes Same, the nearest large town, takes about an hour and a half. Mavura the driver, leaves his on a home in Suji on a motor cycle ( or Piki Piki as it is known here) around 4.50a.m to collect the bus, which is owned by Suji High School. Johnnie the luggage organiser is on board by now. At 5 a.m. he collects the first passengers, and then proceeds to Gonjanza where he picks up students for the High School, passengers for Makanya or Same and the bus conductor and Mr. Moneybags, Timo. The final passengers are on board by 6.30a.m.and they may comprise of men with suits and briefcases, students in school uniform, women carrying babies on their backs, chickens, bananas, potatoes, mineral crates, oil drums and small bags, big bags, suitcases and assortment of plastic bags which contain unknown hidden treasure.
Mavura shouts instructions to everybody while he answers his phone and blows the horn at the same time. Johnnie and Timo hop on and off the bus to let people board, to greet people and to pick up those large plastic bags which are there on the side of the road but are destined for ?? - only Johnnie and Timo know the destination. Everybody is chatting and laughing and it is one of those great sounds that stay in one’s memory. Mavura is shouting back to Timo, Johnnie is pushing that man further in so that another person can squeeze inside, but can we close the door though? Even though I do not understand Swahili, I know some of the passengers are asking and wondering who the Mazungu (white person) is and why she is one the bus. People are so friendly and want to make me feel comfortable and therefore endeavour to engage me in conversation which I truly appreciate. The talk, the laughter and even some singing continues down the mountain.
The road is un tarred, muddy, sharp stones protrude through the earth, and extremely sharp bends with drains cut across the road in many places to take away the water. At the moment the area looks barren and lacks water and the river beds are dry. Even though it has rained each day for the past six days the area still looks as if it needs a very good watering. The scenery is spectacular. To our left we see a vast plane in the distance and to the right we see a very fertile valley. There are many other hills in the distance and the galvanize roofs of the village houses may be seen in the early morning light. As we look to the rear of the bus we can see that Suji village is shrouded in mist, which is drifting toward the villages situated to the west.
The bus stops along the way to drop off a parcel, person or bag and to pick more people or goods. The mini bus seems to be bulging at the seams as Mavura crunches the gears and slams on the brakes while all the time talking and shouting back to either Timo or Johnnie. There beside me in the front seat sits Mamma Nardi, the woman who could easily run a country. We have a great chat on the journey and I get to understand a little more of the culture of Tanzania under her tutelage.
We arrive at Makanya at 7.30 a.m., this is the first major stop on route so there is a lot of alighting from the bus, moving of material ( some goods taken off the bus and more put on), and Timo has a chat with somebody while Mavura honks the horn at an alarming rate. Finally we are ready to proceed on the final leg of the journey to Same. Again we are treated to magnificent scenery. Sisal fields at both sides of the road, lone hills standing proudly in the distance to the left of the bus while the Pare range continue on the right hand side. A group of ten donkeys cross the road at leisure ignoring the lorries and coaches speeding toward either Dar or Arusha. The coaches carry such names as “Glory to God”, “Chelsea for Life”, “Be a good Person” etc., we see many herds of goats of goats with the goat herder sitting and watching as his stock graze. Some sheep of unusual colours and size accompany some goat herds. I think we only passed one herd of cows. The cows here are very small and consequently the calves are miserable looking.
The lorry and coach drivers flash their lights at our mini bus and each vehicle we meet seems to know Mavura who in turn flashes his lights, honks the horn and puts his hand out the window and gives a sort of twist of the hands which is accompanied with a shout to the oncoming driver. Of course if he sees a goat, cow or person who might even think of crossing the road in front of him they get the horn treatment with venom! The tarred road finishes abruptly at each side and the embankment slopes off into a drain. Periodically Mavura pulls off the tarred road to pick up or drop off a passenger. On many of these occasions I had visions of the bus keeling over into the drain and I being on the left hand side would be underneath, the chickens, bags, potatoes and people, but somehow we all arrived safely and without incident.
As we approach Same, the roads became busier with many people walking, driving in cars and lorries and many, many Piki Piki’s. We pass the Elephant Hotel on our right hand side which is the scene of many Heineken with my friend Professor Kilonzo. We arrived at a large bus station which must have about fifty mini buses, coaches and jeeps either standing at bays, or coming in/going out to/ from either Dar or Arusha. It is very busy and the sounds of traffic as well as the voices of sellers fill the area with air and sound pollution. Mamma Nardi and I decide that breakfast is the first thing on the agenda so we head for the Parrot Hotel. This is not really hotel at all. It has an eating area at the front of the building with red plastic chairs and tables. Just inside that is a shop which has a good selection of goods for the traveller and each item has a price tag which is unusual as most goods in the region are without this important detail. The coffee is good and for a change very hot. We get chapatti’s and ????. The ???? is a hardboiled egg covered in lightly spiced mince meat and then coated with mild bread crumbs and then fried. Delicious! We had two each!
We parted company and I carried out the business that took me to same. The mini bus would not leave Same for Suji until 1p.m so I thought it would be good to watch life go by in this town. I took up position at a large pub/restaurant and with Coke in hand watched the colours of Africa pass by, the lilting sounds of voices shouting and singing in Swahili, the aromas of coffee and spices, the flirting of the women with the well upholstered bottoms with the men on the nearby building site and the constant ringing of the multi tonal mobile phones. Everybody has a mobile! There goes a man, woman and a little girl dressed in the robes of the Masaai. The little girl spots the Mazungo and stares for a second and when I smile at her, her face lights up in a broad grin. Her father then returns and waves to me. What a lovely gesture?
I returned to the bus to find people loading up their goods. A man arrived with a box of chickens and a hen. Periodically the hen stuck her head up through the hole in the top of the box and had a good look around. The owner of this consignment of fowl proceeded to check the chicks at intervals and then gave them a good feed of meal. The interior of the bus was getting hot and an overpowering stink began to ascend from the box. Luckily I had a few facial wipes with a nice perfume which I stuffed under my nose. Then I thought to myself “you are reneging on your rural background girl” so I threw away the wipes and suffered the consequences! The bus gradually filled up with bags of maize, rice, wheat, potatoes, bags and people. The laughing and talking continued all the way back to Suji while Mavura laughed, honked the horn and flashed the lights. Of course it is all up hill this time so the mini bus creaked, groaned and at times objected to the load of people and goods but finally Suji was in sight. Goodbyes, handshakes and see you again from everybody for the Mazungo and a little hug from Timo. Great trip but tiring. How do the staff do this every day of the week?
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