I woke early and had breakfast alone. We were scheduled to meet Phanuel at 9:00. When I checked out and sat in the lobby, I saw Mike and June getting in the Thomson Safari truck. The driver asked if I was with Thomson Safari and I said yes. He put my bags in the truck and said we should go. It was only 8:30 and I told him Joe and Clint were not down yet and he would have to wait. The driver was very fidgety and nervous. Mike and June were in the truck. When Joe came down with his bags, the driver hastily tossed them in the truck. Clint was running late. Then Phanuel showed up. The other driver was mistaken thinking we were going to the airport. So we offloaded our bags and put them in Phanuel's truck. I love that the hood is reinforced to prevent damage from the larger animals.
We drove through Arusha taking in the sights of a large African metropolis for about 45 minutes. We saw a huge farmers market. The people are bringing in the produce on huge human powered hand carts. It was really interesting to see.
Eventually we stopped at a building called the cultural heritage center. It sells lots of African arts, jewels and clothing. It is run by an Arabic fellow who knows a lot about jewels. However, it seems overpriced so I buy nothing hoping to find better deals later. Also, the proprietor never mentions how the local artisans are compensated so I am put off by the whole experience. Thomson should find local shops to which their patrons could go shopping. I think it would be a better setup. As I was shopping, I ran into Leah and Nicole from the airplane. They congratulated me for making the summit. They said they had a great Safari and hoped mine would be too. I found it odd to run into them in a city of 3 million people.
After shopping, we drove out to Gibb's Farm near Ngorogoro Crater. It is a 20 acre organic farm. They grow coffee, flowers and vegetables. We checked in and were each given a cottage room. The place was built in 1929 and is lavish. The main farmhouse is about a 5 minute walk through lush flower gardens and past small fishponds. The wifi works pretty good and I post the blog from a comfy seat near the fireplace.
At 3:30 we are given a private tour of the farm. We see the coffee plants first. The red berries are ripe and it has to be harvested by hand. Our guide picks berries and shows us how to extract the beans. We are told we can eat them, so we do. They are a little sweet but do not have much coffee flavor. The roasting brings out the rich coffee flavor.
Once the berries are picked, the shells are removed by a hand cranked machine. We see four farm workers taking turns operating the machine. The beans are then set out on large pans to dry in the sun. It takes about 2 weeks to dry them, then the farm roasts them. Later I buy a bag to bring home. The coffee tasted delicious.
That evening, we meet some cool people in the common room. Dave and Julie are from San Diego. Aaron and Olivia are from Australia but live just outside Beijing. We enjoy drinks and good conversation until dinner.
Dinner was delicious. They pick everything fresh from the garden. The veggies are more flavorful than you can imagine. After dinner we have a final drink near the fireplace on the patio then I head to my cottage. The bed is soft and the room is slightly chilled. I go straight to sleep.
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