May 28, 2018
We went to the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro to a Chagga village called Materuni. On the way up, the car I was being driven in ran out of gas(1), so Alan (my guide) and I got out and walked the last mile or so up the slope. As we left the road and followed the trail to the falls, we were joined by Maze (Mah-zay), a dog who stuck to me like glue the whole day. The falls were about 300 feet high and were thunderous.
Alan showed me the wide variety of foods grown by the Chagga here on the lower slopes if Kilimanjaro, including bananas, yams, cassava, avocados, quinine, etc. The Yucca plant has particular significance in Charge social life. Tying the plant in a knot and presenting it to someone is a means of apology. If the other person unties the knot, you are forgiven.
We then hiked to the village to make coffee (from raw beans that had recently been picked). We were joined by Flaviana (Alan's daughter and some uoung men from yhr village. The process goes something like this (all accompanied by singing and dancing):
a. Twanga, in whuch the bean are pounded go remove the outer shell.
b. Pepeta to sort out the beans from the husks in a wicker tray.
c. Kaanga, roasting the beans over an open fire.
d. Saga, crushing the roasted beans.
e. Chemsha, the first and second sifting of the crushed and roasted beans to get the outer portion, then the inner portion of the beans.
f. Kunywa, boiling water over an open fire.
The coffee was quite tasty in the end.
After Alan's Aunt Agnes made lunch, some local boys found a baby gecko and put it in my hand. As it wandered off, the bous were careful to find it and put it back in the branch from whoch they had taken it.
We enough fuel to make it back to town because the driver coasted in neutral most of the way
(1) The driver said the slope was so steep that the gas all went to the back of the tank. A guy came along later with a whiskey bottle that presumably contained fuel.
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