Gibbs Farm - Coffee Plantation

As we were leaving the Tarangire lodge, we saw a curious collection of critters that couldn't seem to decide which direction they wanted to go. The ostriches below were marching determinedly to the left when we first saw them, but suddenly turned around and marched right. Perhaps they forgot something.
What's better than an ostrich?
A whole line of ostriches with a Masai hut in the background.
A Black-headed Heron strutting proudly.
A Yellow Fever tree. We have a better example later.
We next drive farther into the country of Tanzania. The famous Rift Valley slopes very gently in this direction, and the picture on the left shows a sign out of the front of the bus where the deepest part of the Rift valley is at this point. On the western slope of the valley, the rise is much steeper and is our destination from this point on. We climbed steeply up to the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater and Conservation Area. The vegetation became much more jungle like.
We had a stretch stop at the top of Lake Manyara which is so shallow, (2 meters average) that it's frequently dry.
On the right is the Lake Manyara Serena Lodge, which might have been where Bob and Liz stayed. Right, Bob?
We arrived at Gibbs Farm and this is the front of our abode.
This isn't too shabby. Note the fireplace to the left. It really worked.
These are coffee plants. We had a very interesting tour of this entire process and it is recorded on the video.
These are coffee beans. The red ones are ripe and the green ones aren't.
Then we left for a rather strenuous walk up to a hidden waterfall high up in the jungle.
At the top, we saw an elephant cave. Elephants rooted it out in search of salt. It used to be much bigger.
All we could see is the water rushing down from the right and the pool below.
But from the road coming to Gibbs Farm, we were shown the falls way in the distance.

This is our whole group in the dining room at Gibbs Farm. If you are having trouble seeing the group in the back, the picture below it might help.

After a cheery fire in the fireplace, we turned in for the night. Tomorrow is another day.

 

Today, we leave for the Serengeti National Park. It will be a very long day, but we will conclude this page when we get into the national park itself. But first, we had a preview of the Ngorongoro Crater from its rim. We will spend a whole day here three days hence. .
On the way to the Serengeti, we stopped in another Masai village. Aren't the kids cute?
Mother and child seem perfectly happy with their life in this village.
First the warriors treated us to a session of their ritual dancing and singing.
This was followed by the women and a few of the children presenting their singing and dancing.
We were deeply moved by this ritual singing. It reminded us very much of a composition by David Fanshawe entitled "African Sanctus" in which the composer recorded some actual African primitive singing in Kenya and Uganda and wove the African singing into a Mass using an orchestra and chorus. Elaine and I were privileged to be able to perform the work in Washington with the Paul Hill Chorale. If you wish to listen to a brief snippit of a 1994 recording of this work, just click on the name FANSHAWE to the below, scroll down to "Listen to Samples" and click on "African Sanctus" or any of the other selections. To return to this page, just click "BACK" on your browser. FANSHAWE . David Fanshawe was actually in attendance at our concert and he autographed Elaine's score with the very interesting signature below.

Next, we will be off to the Serengeti National Park. Please tell us if there are inaccuracies, misspellings or such in these postings. We really appreciate your Comments.

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