Tanzania Experience
My journey to Tanzania began at the crack of dawn, I’ve never been an early riser but this experience has sure helped me in that aspect. I then proceeded to jump into a crammed car and braced myself for the long uncomfortable ride. The night before I had to mentally prepare my self, being in a car for 12 hours and only having one other person I could properly communicate with, let’s just say it wouldn’t be easy. Back home my family and I have gone on several road trips, we’ve traveled to Montana, Wyoming, Texas, Alabama, and many other places that take about 18 hours or more. But that was back home. Where there are smooth roads, no language barriers, joking amongst each other is the main source of fun, and singing at the top of our lungs to our favorite music makes the trips seem not so long. However, that was not the case on this road trip to Tanzania, not even close. There were events that made this road trip an adventure to remember.
After four hours on the road, we made it to the Kenya-Tanzania border. Here is where the road trip began to become a bit interesting. My group and I went through security and reached Kenya’s Immigration Office, a procedure that didn’t seem out of the usual. Morgan and I handed our passports to the officers and this is when they pointed out there was an issue with our VISA’s. I felt like someone pulled a rug from underneath me. They then asked us to meet officers in the back behind some glass offices. As we’re making our way, blood is pumping throughout my body and multiple scenarios are playing through my head. An officer then informed us that we had overstayed in Kenya and he could immediately deport us back to the States and fine us. I was so nervous, I’ve never had to face such a hard situation alone. I was as polite as possible and kept my cool as best as I could. After that, he allowed our mentors to come into the office so that we could explain our purpose for visiting Kenya and Tanzania. Mind you, there’s no perfect English here, so we have to be careful and choose our words wisely. Morgan and I must’ve done a good job, because in the end the officer kindly let us pass with a warning. You see, initially Morgan and I had applied for a two-month VISA, but when we arrived at the Kenyan airport, we were only accepted for one month. No one informed us, and we didn’t ask. Valuable “adulting” lesson learned through this experience!
After the whole border fiasco, we continued the trip to our destination Mwanza, Tanzania with our newly acquired 90-day VISA. For 5 days we familiarized ourselves with the Tanzania Agriculture Institute (TARI) as their employers would take us to farms where we interviewed Push-Pull and Non-Push-Pull farmers. While there, I observed and experienced a little bit of Tanzania’s culture, and gradually noticed some differences between Kenya and Tanzania. Tanzania is outgoing but more conservative and quiet when compared to Kenya. Tanzania laws were also more regulated. They had speed limits that were enforced, unlike in Kenya were their speed limits are just recommended. There’s even a law that prohibits driving at night in Tanzania! These are laws that if broken can be punishable by fine or jail time. Also, Kenya’s infrastructure was a lot poorer compared to Tanzania’s.
However, there is one common culture characteristic between these neighboring countries, and that is the abundance of hospitality! People are amazing here! Everyone was welcoming us Mzungu’s (whites) to their farms and houses, and many would invite us to stay the night even though we had to kindly decline. But I can’t deny that I would have loved to experience a farmers’ life in Africa if even for a night.
Finally, the Tanzania experience came to an end and it was time to head home to ICIPE. We entered the border and applied for a VISA for Kenya for our last week with no problems. Yup, just like a grown up. As our research begins to wrap up I would like to give a special thanks to all the farmers who took time out of their day to spend it with us Mzungu’s. And I’d like to especially thank the young men who were kind enough to offer me their hand in marriage! It was sweet and kind but, unfortunately I must decline the offers!
I will forever be grateful for this experience! It has taught me so much more than I ever imagined it would. I am convinced that I will someday have to return to eastern Africa to revisit farmers and all the beautiful people I’ve met along the way. I would also love to go hiking up those beautiful mountains in Kenya and Tanzania. Thank you to everyone that made this trip possible. To the World Food Prize for having faith in me and my family for supporting me throughout this whole experience. I’m ready to see you all!!!
Wabetcha and Asante Sana (Thank You)
