Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Sunday evening, March 20
Marvelous weekend. It was the Graduation Weekend for our seniors, but I skipped out on it. I don’t teach any of them, attending somebody else’s graduation festivities is a long drag, and the evening party they throw for the teachers is a bore. So Ryan and I cut out on Friday afternoon for Musoma, where we met PCVs Meena and Sarah for a good Indian meal (Chicken Tikka Masala), washed down with beer, at the AfroLux Hotel. Sarah and Meena had been out to Lukuba Island Lodge in the past, a resort on an island off Musoma that they said was fabulous and that they had wanted to share with us. And because Sarah knew Alicia before she left the Peace Corps, who had known the Manager, Mike, we got 2/3 off the going rate. Can’t pass up a deal like that!
It was everything that was promised. Beautiful modern-rustic cabins in a cove with a good beach, excellent scenery, and Mike is an environmentalist who knows and likes to share the whole history of the region and the changes that are going on in the lake because of the invasion of exotic fish and water hyacinth. He has catalogued some 84 species of birds on the island, and led us to the top of the island to watch the sunset. But the really big draw there is the food (and, for us, hot showers). Spaghetti with dried tomatoes. Tilapia fillets with fresh green beans. Good wines and name brand alcohol. Coffee. Fried eggs with thick bacon, fresh toast, sausage, fish, and beans.
The island is free (mostly) of the snails that are endemic along the shores of the lake and support the shistosomiasis parasite. So I went swimming for the first time in Africa, other than at the pool at the American Club in Dar, and it felt delicious. This morning it was cloudy and threatening, but I still wanted a good swim before breakfast – one that my muscles would remember tomorrow. So I started out toward these rocks offshore that Mike thinks are about 700m away. I got about ¾ of the way there when it started to rain. Swimming in the rain is kind of a kick, but it felt a little lonely out there and I decided that it would be prudent to turn back. Water taxis had gone by, closer to the shore than I was. On the way back I saw a couple of strong lightning bolts hit the water. They were off in the distance, but still I was glad to be getting out of there. And I had had enough exercise to be quite ready for their large and succulent breakfast.
It rained all morning, which justified sitting on the porch of the lodge, drinking coffee and reading. The rain stopped just before we had to leave in their open boat for the 45 minute ride back to the mainland. But the water was still choppy, and the boat took some impressive splashes on the way. We used umbrellas to ward off the spray, and Mike slowed the boat down so that the 45 minute ride took twice as long. But we stayed a bit drier, I’m sure. Sarah thought she would be seasick, but it was Ryan who fed the fishes.
On the mainland Mike gave us a ride to the bus station in the Land Rover and we caught the last bus back to Mwanza. So now I am back. Ready, more or less, to teach my classes tomorrow, having had this luxurious touch of rest and relaxation to break up the routine of Peace Corps existence here in Africa. What a tough life.
