there a huge tree in the garden, growing in all directions. The branches kill the light to the house, engulf the power cables, touch our roof and the neighbor’s. Though for a tree touching 2 roofs at the same time is no big deal in TZ as the builders and architects have that weird and despicable habit of building houses 2 meters away from side walls or hedges but leaving up to 30m of empty garden in front. The windows on that side are just unusable. Not only that, in our house, the space between the hedge and the wall is bigger on the garage side than on the bedroom side!!
anyway we finally(!) got the 2 guys to take care of the tree. They refused our saw, preferring their machetes, only borrowing the blade sharpener and the ladder from us. I was surprised: it’s not uncommon at all to have to provide tools to the workers, like a jack and spanner when you have a flat tyre. They even brought a long thick rope. Great I thought, they’re concerned about their safety high up there. Hmmm not really, the rope is only there to control the cut off branches on the way down. I must say I was a bit nervous to see the guy climbing up the tree, bare feet with the machete in his teeth. To see him at work was not better feeling. I always thought he was in unstable position. The machete is an impressive tool. I realised I had been totally ignorant to offer the saw…sooo much quicker with the machete. No wonder the Rwandan genocide had been so efficient. initially Karine was a bit uneasy when she arrived here. Her job is all about the Rwanda genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and here we are, in Tanzania with many people casually walking in the streets with machetes held in hands. And I’m not even talking about Masai or other tribal people, these have spears, clubs, sticks and their own knives. The formers are just gardeners.
in the end, the tree is now well pruned, all cleared around, the guys are safe, they only trashed one power cable and the flowers underneath the tree. Not too bad really. Light comes in the house, though still not enough but that is because of the weird concept of the house, again. Small windows made of tiny pieces of glass held together by thick posts or heavy metal frames, add a large roof with thick posts again for the verandah…. Good combination to kill the light. National disease again as if the locals were hating the sun and the light…I visited and envied my friends’ house last week, they built their house with their own specifications and in the bedroom for instance, 3 walls are totally covered by large windows!
and some pictures during the rainy season…
an early biker and Mount Meru
Mount Kilimanjaro
some of the numerous hills around Arusha.
I just love clouds…
sunset on lake Manyara. The orange little bright spot is a reflection on the water.
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