AMICK’S AFRICAN ADVENTURES
I had a guide named Alex, a guy who was raised in one of the villages and is also an official guide for climbs up Kilimanjaro. He spent a couple of days escorting me all over the place – to man-made caves that were used during tribal battles in the past, to see traditional blacksmiths in action, to waterfalls, and to the local market. On Sunday, I asked him to take me to the local Lutheran church that his family attends. The service was in Swahili, so I didn’t understand much of it, but I knew a couple of the hymns by the tunes. At the request of the pastor, Alex stood up and introduced me to the congregation.
Thanks to Alex, I was able to greet them in their local language (Chagga), which they really liked. After the service, everyone walked outside and formed a circle while singing the last hymn. Once we were outside, they auctioned off some sugarcane, eggs, and fruit that had been brought as offerings by people who didn’t have money. Much to the amusement of the congregation, the man who was running the auction called out the bids in English every now and then for my benefit.
After church, Alex and I decided to go to visit a lake that’s near the border of Tanzania and Kenya. That trip involved 2 trips in matatus each way. Matatus are van-like minibuses that pack as many people in as possible and then stop whenever they’re flagged down to pick up even more people. It’s not uncommon to have 25-30 people squashed into a matatu with a 15-18 person capacity. After 2 matatu trips, Alex bargained with some bicycle riders to take us for the hour-long ride to the lake. It was a really fun ride, perched on a seat that’s attached over the back tire. We rode through a very rural area, and I was the only white person in sight. In fact, I was the only white person around for most of my time in the villages. That caused a lot of excitement, especially among the children. They would either start calling out “Mzungu!” (which literally means “European” but is used in general for any white person) as soon as they saw me, or would stare at me with a combination of surprise and hesitation. Even the adults would often call out, “Hey mzungu!” to me and try to call us over to where they were.
That evening, Alex’s mother invited me to her house for a traditional African dinner. She prepared banana soup (which has bananas, but is in a meat broth and tastes more like a meat soup), chapati, rice, and a meat stew, and served fruit for dessert. She didn’t eat with us (she was waiting for her husband to return to eat with him), but she sat and talked with me, along with Alex, his 14-yr-old sister, and his cousin. They were incredibly friendly and treated me like a guest of honor. They all speak at least some English, so we didn’t have any problems communicating. We talked a lot about our families and about differences between Africa and the U.S. As I was leaving, Alex’s mother told me that if I’m ever back in the area, I should stay in her home. She also gave me a present to take to my mom (one of the wraps that the women use as a skirt or scarf), and said that she wants my mom to know that a mother in Africa is thinking of her and sends her regards. How nice!
The next day, I went back to Arusha. I’d enjoyed that cultural tour so much that I made arrangements to stop for another cultural tour in a Maasai community on my way from Arusha to Nairobi. It turned out to be another interesting, fantastic experience (and again, I was the only white person around). I have a lot to write about the Maasai culture, but I think I’ll
save that for my next update since this is already so long….
I’ve been in the Nairobi area for the past 5 days or so. Over the weekend, I visited the Lake Naivasha area, and went bicycle riding and hiking through a couple of the parks. I also went to a big Maasai market yesterday with a Maasai guy (Moses) who works at the backpacker place where I’m staying and has become a friend of mine in Nairobi. I’m leaving tomorrow morning for a 5-day trip to the Maasai Mara National Park. For the first few days, I’ll be doing game drives with a safari company. For the last couple of days that I’ll be there, Moses has helped me arrange to visit a Maasai village that is supposed to be having a ceremony at the time. It’s a little unclear which type of ceremony will be going on – he thinks it will either be a wedding or a circumcision ceremony. In any case, it should last for a few days and involve a lot of feasting, singing, and dancing. I’m really looking forward to it!
When I’m back, I’ll try to send a message with descriptions of the Maasai culture and the ceremony. In the meantime, I hope you’re all doing well.
Keep in touch!
Love, Sharon
> Read More Information About Us
> More Articles Written By Our Staff
- One Last Delivery After 25 Years Of Dedication To Community News - December 19, 2025
- 400 Kids Enjoy A Festive Afternoon - December 19, 2025
- Local Radio Stations Help Families With ‘Letters To Santa’ - December 19, 2025