LOST---An Adventure in Tanzania

We headed out this week to visit an OMEGA project at Sambasha, in the foothills of Mt. Meru. Having been there for several consecutive days a year ago, we were confident we could find our way this year. Ed had taken a different route once or twice and felt strongly he could find his way. After driving through a village, where it was obvious moving vehicles were not welcome, we finally found our way to the road and headed up the mountain. Still climbing higher, into less inhabited areas of Mt. Meru, we realized we had taken a wrong turn somewhere and began looking for a place to turn around. Several Maasai warriors were standing on the side of the road and laughed when Ed asked for directions to Sambasha. Now you must know that Maasai men always dress traditionally, wrapped in their colorful blankets, be-decked in their beads, and sporting their "weapons" . They are not referred to as "warriors" for nothing. One young man (in English) offered to take us back down the mountain and show us the road to Sambasha. As he settled into the backseat of the car he adjusted his clothing and brought out his "panga" (a knife about 20 inches long). Now, I'm sure it was just so he wouldn't be sitting on it, but it was as though he had "taken up arms". I looked at Ed and whispered, "this isn't good". Just as I said this 3 other guys piled in beside the first passenger and adjusted their pangas. I repeated again, "Ed, this isn't good". I will digress a bit and let you know we had a bunch of bananas we had moved to the front seat. Now, to make the situation even worse, I am currently reading "Half of a Yellow Sun", a book about a war and MASSACRES in Nigeria, so you can imagine what is going through my mind. Again, I repeat, "Ed this isn't good". Ed grabs the bunch of bananas and hands them over the seat to the warriors and says, "Have some bananas. God bless you!!!". I'm thinking, "these guys have pangas and you are offering them 'bananas'!!!" Well, I want to tell you those bananas did the trick. There was no massacre and about 30 minutes later, one warrior says "acha hapa" (stop here), gets out and points down the road leading to Sambasha.

Realizing we are late for our 2:00 appointment, I text message our friend and write, "we are lost". She answers, "where are you"........and, I regret to tell you, but my response was, "I don't know, but we will be there soon."