21 January was spent driving to Terrali. AMAZING scenery -- right next to the rivers, between them and the desert, were these lush fields of onions. Onions are a great crop to grow when you have poor soil, little water, and need SOMETHING to flavor your food.
To get to the village, we had the opportunity to either hike down the escarpment OR ride in the vehicles. We all were physically capable and chose to hike (with guides). And we saw young kids running up and down, women carrying water on their heads walking up and down, all in flip flops. So much for being impressed with our own physical fitness! To be honest, it wasn't that difficult of a hike (for me, or my dad), but there were some trickier footings amongst the rocks/boulders, and no marked trails at all. Within the cliffs are ancient cave homes of the Tellem people. There are several legends regarding the fact that these people no longer exist, but regardless, I can't figure out how they reached their homes! Obviously they lived there for safety (no one else could reach them!), but did they use ladders/ropes/strange trails to get home? And what about small children? How many fell to their deaths. Go figure! Hard to see from the photo, but maybe you can make out the homes.
After about 45 minutes, we arrived at our "hotel". This was our first rather "rustic" hotel. One toilet, and it didn't work (you had to pour water into the tank to get it to flush, and then it was mostly by gravity). One "shower" as well. Mmmmmm. Mud buildings, cots for beds. We freshened up a bit and headed up to the patio (above the rooms) for lunch which was great -- couscous, grapefruit soda, meat sauce). Then we headed down to the school for planting of trees. Though first we were treated to our first masked dance. WOW! The costumes were amazing, and seeing some of the dancers on stilts on the sand. I can barely walk on my own two feed on solid ground!
After the dancing and various speeches, we headed to the school garden to plant trees. I took pictures, and once I started EVERYONE wanted their picture taken! I counted and have about 50 photos of the boys planting trees! They can use the fruit that will grow (a couple years) for food and/or to sell to purchase supplies for the school.
Trees planted, we headed back to the hotel verandah for dinner -- spaghetti noodles with a veggie sauce and an apple soda. Due to the warm temperature, we all decided that we'd set up "mattresses" on the verandah and sleep there, so we got those set up. Then we headed back to the school where the children (teenaged) performed a play for us about idols being stolen and how the thieves were punished. It was fun. Then we had to get back to the hotel in the dark (no electricity!). For me, that was more of a challenge than climbing down the escarpment! So we all camped out on the verandah and I, for one, slept quite well.
I did receive a compliment from the man who teaches English at the school -- he (bless his heart!) thought I was about 20 years old (despite the white highlights in my hair). He's my new best friend.....
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