September 1964: Tanganyika, East Africa

Trailed by a swirling cloud of dust, our bus, a snub-nosed blue and white Leyland with a ladder welded to its side, rumbled northward through the dry countryside. At high speeds–the driver’s preference, even for corners and bumpy detours–the bus sounded like a cross between a cement mixer and a World War II German Stuka dive bomber. Almost new, it sounded old. 

Buffaloes by My Bedroom: Tales of Tanganyika. 

After a few days in Dar es Salaam, those of our Peace Corps volunteer group with forestry, agriculture and wildlife jobs transferred by bus to an agricultural school near Arusha, four hundred miles northwest. Unfortunately, Cathy, the pretty nurse from Philadelphia, was headed to Mbeya, near the Zambia border, about as far from my posting at Ngorongoro as it was possible to get. (To locate Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mbeya, check the map in my previous post.)

For much of the way we passed through wooded, gently undulating country crossed by small muddy rivers. Many trees were leafless. Recent fires had left charred stubble and patches of exposed reddish soil; ashy silhouettes of fallen trees lay where the flames had consumed them. Occasionally, mud-and-wattle huts with thatch roofs appeared by the roadside, as did women walking with children in tow, balancing interesting loads on their heads–a bunch of bananas, a teapot, a bar of soap. Men sat in the shade or sedately pedaled bicycles, some carrying hefty loads, such as a gunny sack of charcoal. I saw an old man using a foot-powered sewing machine 

Buffaloes by My Bedroom: Tales of Tanganyika

We arrived at Tengeru Agricultural School after dark. Awakening the next morning, we were pleasantly surprised to see this:

Tengeru Agricultural School was situated at four thousand feet elevation in a lush landscape of small farms and large coffee plantations. We and some British volunteers were there for purposes of acculturation, which involved Swahili lessons, lectures on appropriate subjects, and field trips. I liked the field trips best. 

Buffaloes by My Bedroom: Tales of Tanganyika

Many of the coffee estates, one of which abutted the school (the narrow road leading to the school passed through coffee plantations) had been established by German colonial settlers when Tanganyika was German East Africa. The coffee plants grown here were the highland type (Coffea arabica), in contrast to Coffea robusta plants, grown at lower elevations in Uganda, which produce lower quality coffee. It was at Tengeru that I discovered “real” coffee . It took only a single cup brewed from beans grown on the adjacent estate to reveal how bland the (pre-Starbucks) coffee I had grown up with had been.

Plantations of sisal (Agave sisalana) grew at lower, drier elevations than coffee. A native to Mexico, sisal has large fleshy leaves with many long fibers that are used for making cordage, twine, rope and other products.

The visit to the Arusha Chini sugar cane estate was especially interesting because of the voluminously baggy khaki shorts worn by our expatriate guide. Standard field issue for the British colonial male, they were very practical for hot, tropical climates. To expedite the flow of cool air around the upper parts of one’s legs, they were approximately as wide at the bottom as they were long. Therefore, when in polite company, it was important to wear underpants and watch how you sat down. Our guide wasn’t doing either.

Buffaloes by My Bedroom: Tales of Tanganyika