Written by Sian Kou-Giesbrecht, Christie Lau and Lindsay Potts
Oh, Lushoto. The view was glorious, the air fresh and the forests enchanting but what really captured the hearts of the students was the cheese. There was gouda, quark, rosemary tilsiter and mozzarella. There was also homemade plum jam, mango chutney, freshly baked rye bread and local coffee. Upon our arrival after our long, sweaty journey from Tarangire National Park, we sat and feasted while overlooking the beautiful valleys and peaks of the Usambara Mountains. We immediately placed it among our favourite sites of the trip so far.
The Usambara Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc Mountains. They are one of twenty-five global biodiversity hotspots and are known for their rich animal and plant life. Overhead, we could hear the frequent whooshing of air through the beaks of the Trumpeter Hornbills, at dinner we were accompanied by the Usambara Eagle Owl and as we hiked we crossed paths with a horned chameleon. This area has unfortunately lost 70% of its original forest cover and logging activities are still present in the region. However, there is increasing effort and pressure to conserve these old growth cloud rainforests as we learned in a panel discussion with several of the locals and government officials.
The Lushoto region is dominated by agriculturalists, who harvest maize, bananas, sugar cane and beans. Because of the cool climate at this high altitude, they also grow pears, plums and apples. We had the chance to visit the Lushoto market and purchase some of this fresh produce. In the Geography class, we took this opportunity to investigate local experiences and perceptions of climate change. This exercise entailed the finding of our own translators by playing up our oblivious tourist personas to attract attention, which proved to be both fun and challenging.
One morning, the Anthropology class hiked up a mountain to a village and met with its chief. He was the sweetest man and was proud to relay to us the history of his royal lineage, dating 200 years back to Zanzibar. He explained to us that his role is to mitigate conflict in the village and that the challenges he faces are vast because traditional authority is not recognized by the government.
Meanwhile, the Geography class visited various homesteads and offered our labour services in exchange for information on local coping strategies in a time of famine and low food security. We helped carry water from the well to the homestead on our heads, hoed a field, cut down a tree, ground cassava into flour and did laundry, all while learning about several aspects of the local lifestyle. The families were very welcoming and found our incompetence at many of these chores thoroughly amusing.
On our last day here, some of the local women engaged us in a traditional Wasamba dance. The Wasamba are the predominant tribe in the region and are a Bantu people. The crazy booty action of their dance would put our awkward moves to shame. Later that evening, we hiked to a lookout point to witness the magic of a mountain sunset and celebrate the end of our time here with beers and pops in hand.
Canadian Field Studies in Africa - 2015 Edition 