Kuuliza si ujinga

I'm currently on a trip that will take me through several regions of Tanzania. In the last few days I've travelling, I've gotten a good reminder of just how varied this place is.

First day: my site. Corn fields and cows as far as the eye can see. A hazy, bluish Ngorongoro in the distance.

Second day: Masai land. The classic African bush. Plains spotted with low shrubs and the occasional trees, Masai herders who look like they could have come out of National Geographic in their traditional shukas (though they probably have cell phones as well).

Third day: The slopes of Kilimanjaro. A banana tree jungle, steep windy roads, so much vegetation that you never know what's around the corner or what's past the nearest house. And--had it not been hidden by clouds--the peak of Kilimanjaro, watching over the scene.

Now: The coast. Dar es Salaam: large buildings, traffic jams, crowds everywhere. Passing by the Indian Ocean in the morning on the way to the Peace Corps office. Palm trees, humidity. Mall grocery stores selling Kelloggs' cereal and American candy, at double what they would cost in the U.S. A world away from my cows and corn.

Next: Dodoma and the desert. And then back to my site, passing from the desert to the coast to the bush to my cornfields again. Magazines may show Africa as all jungle, or as only an endless savannah. But in Tanzania,you take a three hour bus ride, and you're in another world. And not only is the landscape different, the tribal language and customs could be worlds away from the place you just left.