Safari Njema 1/1
Safari.
For most ‘safari’ means going to see lions and giraffes and such. Though it can and does mean that, ‘safari’ in Swahili means, more generally, a journey, expedition or trip. This past week we had one of our first safari’s as a family. The first leg of the journey was taking an 8hr bus ride back to Dar es Salaam. The second leg was driving back in a car. A car we were hoping to pick up in the city.
Njema.
‘Njema’ means something like very good. Good, but better (there’s another word for the ‘regular’ kind of good). Safari njema is something you might say to someone who is going on a trip, like many said to us. It’s also on a lot of signs and billboards. If there was a word that meant even better than njema, I would use that. That’s because our trip was so very good.
Buying a car in Tanzania is not easy. There are a host of things to think and worry about on top of the usual checks of buying a (used) car. (New cars are very expensive and taxed heavily. Most cars here are imported from Japan at some point. Probably 80% are Toyotas). We had scoured the various import lots during our first few weeks. No luck there.
Then, about a month ago a Swiss family came passing through the campsite. They were on their final safari through the country having spent three years here working. Part of leaving meant selling their car. That weekend we agreed to purchase the car and arranged to meet a month later in Dar. But there were many things in play like, would the car be in good shape still? Would we be able to transfer the money? To make a long story short, it all went njema. We are so grateful to God who made our path smooth. Thank you for you prayers and your support to allow us to do this.
So, having a vehicle we drove back to Iringa on Thursday. Leaving at 5:30 am to skip the morning rush hour, we made back in time for lunch at 1:30. Plus Judah slept almost the whole way!
Safari njema indeed.
Here are some pics from our one stop at a Tanzanian-Swiss guest house and restaurant just outside of Mikumi National Park.
