Rain rain

I bought a little 125cc motorcycle.

The plan is to putter around to see the sights that are out of walking distance. This part of Tanzania is really geared for high-dollar tourism, which I frankly can't afford. Instead, I'll try to see the lesser known, and free things that only a few hours of puttering down dirt tracks can afford.

It's a little, cheap Chinese knock-off of a Honda design. As long as it runs for a year or two and I can keep up with all the little pieces falling off, I will consider it a win. The day I bought it, when I got back to the clinic and unloaded it from the pickup truck. I found a chameleon climbing on the front spokes. I have wanted to see one of these critters since I got here, so I will consider it a good sign.

So far the only problem (aside from little plastic bits breaking off) is that the exhaust is very loud. If anyone has cheap and easy suggestions for reducing the noise, I would love to hear them.

Oh, and it has rained every day since I bought the thing, so I haven't been able to ride it once. The mud here is unbelievably slippery, so I refuse to ride unless it is absolutely dry, as per Safe Motorcycling Rule #3: "Don't drive in mud."

The first trip I want to make is out to Lake Eyasi, the closest thing that passes for wilderness out here that you don't have to pay to get into. I went there the other day with a group of doctors who toured FAME and then offered to let me tag along on a visit to the Hadzabe bushmen who live in the area. I'm normally not into cultural tourism, but I wanted to see the area, so I went. It was actually kind of fun. The Hadzabe had a little routine that they did for tourists, walking through the scrublands, pointing out pretty birds and subsequently shooting and eating them, making fire via friction, shooting arrows, songs, dancing and a gift shop. We got there in the late afternoon and all men were just sitting around smoking marijuana or idly kicking one of their dogs. I wonder how much the flow of money from tourism has changed their lifestyle. I snapped a picture of the group of doctor-tourists watching the bushman in his element.

I also learned on that trip that the Japanese are by far the best at being tourists. We had three Japanese doctors in the group, and they were all super-interested in the cultural tour, they got their pictures taken with the little Hadzabe kids, they all wanted to try out the bow and arrow, and they jumped right in with the circle dancing. I think they had twice as good a time as any of the Germans who stood stiffly around and watched.

Meanwhile back at work, my office is filled with electronics and random pieces of medical equipment to be fixed, evaluated or thrown away. Dr. Frank is cleaning out his office, which means that he puts things in boxes and moves them to my office.

It's not as bad as it has been. When we have lot's of volunteers, the technical support duties escalate rapidly. Here is a typical day from last November:

Also, this morning I saw a couple of little frogs sitting in the flower garden. It would have made a great picture, but all the photographic equipment I had was the little camera on my phone. (Incidentally all but one of the photos in this post were shot on that phone.) I did my best, but I was wishing for anything with better focusing and resolution.