Tanzania Green Beans on the Drying Bed
Green beans being loaded onto a truck at the farm.
When I arrived at the Tembo Coffee Company, they greeted me like an old friend, and we had dinner and parties with the expats in the area. It was great fun! Tembo's knowledge and choice of coffee was wonderful too! The manager took me out into the fields, I learned so much from him! We spend all day visiting farms, and we even invented for lunch at one of the farms! Everyone was so giving and friendly.
I didn't want to leave, but the final part of the trip was ahead, a SAFARI! It was like a dream. James from Tembo has showed me where and how to do this safari. We had to fly into the very rural Ruaha National Park and land on a tiny dirt airstrip. As soon as we landed there were elephants and giraffes there to greet us. It was amazing!
My First Lion
As we approached the lodge, I saw my very first lion! I felt so lucky to be where I was was. The lodge was right by a river where all the animals would come to drink. Just looking out the window I could see monkeys, giraffes, hippos and elephants. it was like a nature special in real life. After dinner at night we had to be escorted by a local tribesman called a Masi just in case we ran into any animals. They would know what to do! We were really way out in the African Bush!
A Hippo in Ruaha National Park
For the next three days all I did was look for animals all day long! I saw everything, except for the elusive cheetah. I even saw a hyena in broad daylight, a very rare sight. It was like a dream and it was never boring! There was always something just around the corner.
Ruaha National Park -Baby elephant.
I left vowing to bring Mike back to all the wonderful places I had visited. The coffee, the land & the people were amazing. So much to see and learn. I have never felt so lucky to be in coffee & be able to do things like this!