Africa 28: We Explore Village Life in Karatu, Tanzania

We spent the night at Karatu Village in Tanzania.  Karatu Village is roughly half way between Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater.

Karatu Village has a thriving market and shopping district.

Its retail spaces aren't quite what we're used to, but they get the job done.

We visited areas in what one might call the suburbs and found a slightly higher living standard than in Kenya.

People grow sunflowers for cooking oil.

We walked through tall fields of corn.

And saw lush fields of produce.

Many houses looked more or less like this.  That's corn drying in the front.

Kitchens and out buildings were more roughly constructed.

Consider the prospect of building your house with no milled lumber, no nails, no electric saws--because there aren't any of those things there.  How would you do it?

You would do it with unfired clay bricks and mud for mortar.  Except on the corners and lintels, where precious bags of cement would be used to create a stronger bonding mortar and sill plates.

You would get your clay bricks from local quarries like this.

Many of you would have Russian built motorcycles.

Unlike what we saw in Kenya, you would have access to a local clinic where you could get assistance with family planning and simple medical issues.

Potable water would be available down the street.  Electricity would be spotty and you would do your business in pit toilets.

But, you would be able to sell some of your extra produce and animals at the market to earn a bit of money. Which would allow you to send your children to school and purchase other necessities.  

Next time, we visit a coffee plantation.

Continue on to Post 29: Have You Ever Seen Where They Actually Grow Starbucks Coffee? by clicking here.