Grass Wars !!

I received a text message one evening asking if I had heard of a "war between the Waarusha and Kisongo Maasai (two clans)" in a certain area of Tanzania.

I called some Maasai friends who confirmed that there had been a "war -- fighting" among these two clans in one of the Maasai areas.  The huge fight culminated at a small town -- Oldonyo Sambu -- on market day, when most of the people in the area are there.  First reports indicated that 40+ people were sent to hospitals in and near Arusha due to injuries.  The police and other officials were called in to quell this situation.

The whole reason for this altercation -- grass -- or the lack thereof.

The two clans were fighting over grazing areas for their animals.
Due to the lack of normal rains in 2012, the grazing areas have become prized possessions since there is not enough grass for everyone.
Even the traditional grazing areas are dry and many are travelling great distances just to feed and water their livestock.

So, tempers are short and spears, maasai swords,  and rungus are long as many vie for the survival of their animals and families.

You do not want to be around when these spears fly and the swords and rungus are being used to their fullest deadly potential.

When was the last time you fought with your neighbor over grass?

This is Africa (T.I.A.) for US citizens in Tanzania at the US Embassy

Recently, we needed to have extra pages added to our passports since we still have a few years before they expire and the visa pages were becoming fewer as we travelled to more places requiring visa stamps in our passports.  Some "stamps" use an entire passport page.  So, we investigated this process through the US Embassy Dar Es Salaam website.

This is what followed:

Step 1 :  We made copies of the form requesting additional pages in our passports

Step 2:  We filled out these forms with the required information.

Step 3:  You need to make an appointment on-line for any US Citizen service that you need at the US Embassy in Dar Es Salaam.

Step 4 :  We made our on-line appointments.

Step 5 : We printed out our appointment details which need to be presented for entrance at the US Embassy in Dar Es Salaam.

Step 6 : Due to increased security, there is no parking at the US Embassy for US citizens needing citizen services.

Step 7 :  We took a taxi to the embassy from the Baptist Mission compound where we were staying.

Step 8 : We were met at the entrance of the first security building by a Tanzanian guard who examined our passports and appointment papers.

Step 9 :  We went through this security building screening check-point which includes leaving all articles at the check point except your passport, the appointment application, and your wallet.

Step 10 :  We proceeded to another security check point.

Step 11 : We were screened again and admitted to the US citizen services waiting area.

Step 12 : We waited in a special room reserved only for US citizens.

Step 13 : We submitted our application forms and passports to get our additional pages.

Step 14 : We went to another room to pay for this service -- $164 for both passports.

Step 15 :  We left the US citizen service area with 2 pink cards which allowed the card holder(s) to pick up the passports the following day between 8 am and 4 pm.

Step 16 : We exited through the same two security check-points.

Step 17 : A guard called a friend of his who owned a taxi to come and pick us up.

Step 18 : We waited at a guard house with two armed guards until this "friend" arrived.

Step 19 : The guard verified this was his friend, we entered the taxi, and returned to the Baptist Mission compound where we were staying.

Step 20 :  The next day, I took Pam to the US Embassy, dropped her off at the gate, and waited for her to get our passports.  She finally emerged 30 minutes later with our passports in hand.  This was after I drove around, parked, and was eventually challenged by armed guards telling me I could not park in a particular area due to security measures.

So it goes in our part of the world.

We did wonder that in case of an emergency and we needed to enter the US Embassy in a hurry, would we still need to make an appointment?