Messages

I complained about my daughters' repeated use of "like" until they taped me and my use of "um" and "ah".  I have no future in broadcast.  KD

Thx HB.  My plan is 2016 after my final kid gets out of college.  I  want  to hit the Iringa and Sumbuwanga regions.  Both have folks I met  during this trip and the regions are far different than what I have  already experienced.  Yhey also both have National Parks nearby.  This in MY plan,of course, I havent really  received a North/South from the wife, just a "hmmmmmm, sounds nice".  I might have to  do this one by myself or with one of my daughters; my wife's fun meter  might have been pegged on this one, and without the incentive of  visiting a kid of her own, I might be outta luck.  

I would still  visit Uwemba, it was my introduction to Tanzania, thus my touchstone.  I  was impressed enough with what the Mission does there that I have  decided to annually subsidize a child from Uwemba to go to secondary  school.  I sent my daughter the money when I got home.  It isnt much by  our standards but a lot by theirs.  I'd like to go back and visit the school.

There are more area to visit, but I'll just plan 1 trip at a time.  KD

Thx very much Paul.  The whole process has been an education.  I dont know who was more frustrated: me or my daughter who was trying to help me with the blog.  KD

OK.  I have confirmed this link can be read.  My daughter Maureen gets the credit for getting me across the last 10 m of this. I really am a technological boob.  You should be able to click on the below link.  Some overlap with what I posted originally here, but Ive added more detail.  (Its the purple link above the map chip)  KD

http://wrbrownusmc.wordpress.com/2015/01/11/3/

wrbrownusmc.wordpress.com
wrbrownusmc.wordpress.co

Update:  I have been building my log for this but with pics and text, its over 150mb.  Even compressing and breaking apart doesnt seem to help too much.  Soooo, with the help of my oldest  daughter, who does her own blog, I have opened a Wordpress acct and I have built a blog.  Its done but we are having trouble having those to whom I have sent the link view it.  Once I get the bugs figured out, I will post the link.  Sorry for the delay, life and technological problems have taken their toll on my getting this out in a timely fashion.  Thx for the patience.  Almost there.   KD

And just a few more.  These show some of the Uwemba Mission.  The picture of me at the restaurant is the place HB recommended for dinner in Dar es Salaam.  Solid suggestion. I added the local toilet because it was a very big deal for my wife who I think experienced more self imposed discomfort than she needed to, but a new culture isnt always easy to immerse yourself in.  The view on the road from Mbeya (i misspelled the pic label) shows the Serengeti type environment I expected to see rather than the what we saw in Uwemba.   KD

More pics.  Again mostly from around the Mission.  The dark one is from the Mbeya Mission and shows broken glass on top of the cement wall.  Njombe is the town near Uwemba.  KD

I am going to post a few pics.  Lots of requests from multiple folks asking so my wife and I are going to open a blog in the next week or so.  I'll post a link to that.  The first couple of pics are from the local area around Uwemba.  The kilns are in the valley below the mission.  The chicken is what we got from the Dr in the clinic.  KD

Well, wife and I are about done with the trip to Tanzania.  This is just a short overview.  Once I get pictures sorted out, i'll post here.  Before I get started, many thanks to HB for sharing his knowledge of the country and providing some valuable points of contact.  It took much of the guess work out of the travel, saved us some money and allowed us to focus on the purpose of our travels: visiting our kid (no hunting).

Our daughter is doing volunteer work with the Benedictine monks in Uwemba TZ.  This is a very small village in the southern highlands.  We flew into Dar Es Salaam and then flew to Mbeya (Baya) further northwest.  The Benedictines arranged a driver for the 5 hour trip to Uwemba.  He did it in 4, giving us our first exposure to driving in Africa.  We stayed as guests at the Uwemba Mission and spoked out from there.  They were very gracious.  The Mission is made up of TZ Priests, Sisters and Monks with a few Germans sprinkled throughout.  We worked on our Swahili during the day, and at night it was room temp beer with a German priest & monk, and Swiss & German guests, where my German began coming back to life after years of dormancy.

The area around Uwemba is at about 6k m in elevation (kicked my butt when out walking the hills), rolling hills and heavily forested principally with pines and eucalyptus.   The ride from Mbeya started in what I expected of East Africa: relatively flat w/ scrub brush.  As we rose in elevation, that gave way to increasingly taller and denser vegetation.  Didn't see much wildlife, in fact around Uwemba, its scarce due to the intense farming and forestry practices there.  We did see a troop of baboons on the road to Songayea, but the driver (a monk) slowed to about 120 kph from 180 kph so no time for a pic as they scattered with baby baboons hanging on for dear life.  
 

Since the focus was our daughter, the itinerary was her's to develop and focused primarily on her life in Africa.  First, I want to say after only two months in TZ, she and her friend have a surprising grasp of Swahili and tried their level best to help us get by.  We visited the clinic and orphanage where they spend most of their time.  That was an eye opener to say the least.  I will rethink complaining when I go to the Dr office next time.  The local Dr she works with gave us a gift chicken to honor our visit.  That is apparently a very big deal in that tribe.  The mission cook, a German sister, served the chicken up the next day at lunch.  My daughter arranged a visit to a local tea plantation and a flower farm.  Both owners went over the top to give us a tour.  It is not a tourist destination, so it is not like they have hours and tour guides set aside.  They stopped what they were doing to walk us around.  
 

The monks arranged a visit to the central mission for their area at Perimiho, about 3 hours southeast.  There we visited their hospital ("best" in the region), secondary school and orphanage.  We were invited to the Secondary School's graduation.  Here, they last 6-7 hours with dancing, eating, singing and speeches.  The underclassmen honor the graduates with songs and dances.  While we only understood a few words, it was impressive.  As for the hospital, it has more than the Uwemba clinic, but falls far short of what is needed.  As the Mother Superior (from Colorado originally) says, "Don't get seriously ill or hurt in Africa, you may not survive it."
 

We went back to Uwemba and the next day began the trip home by going back to Mbeya.  We spent the night at the Benedictine Guest House there and the next day flew back here to Dar Es Salaam.  Much learned and experienced.  I will sum it up in a Good, the Bad and the Ugly manner:
 

The Good: wonderful people, incredible hospitality from the Benedictines and locals alike, gorgeous & exciting terrain, different foods and exposure to a far different culture.  Most of all, seeing my kid thrive in an environment far outside the familiar.
 

The Bad: room temp liquids, no salads unless you like Typhoid (my daughter got it), African driving, mosquito nets.
 

The Ugly: poverty, corruption and random police checkpoints.
 

This was my first chance to visit another culture not wearing a uniform, body armor and a rifle.  While the country is similar to what I have seen in Haiti, Central America, Asia and Middle East, it was different doing it as just a plain old American.  More to follow............KD

Thx Paul.  The wife and I are looking fwd to the trip!!  KD

Hey folks.  Will be going to Tanzania this fall to visit one of my daughters who is on a mission trip (no hunting on this trip).  she is in the southern highlands and the village she's in is about 12 hours out of Dar as Salaam.  My daughter says the bus trip is not something my wife would do well on, so im looking to rent a vehicle.  A search of the forums and other websites indicate I will probably have to hire a driver if I leave the city.  The various estimates indicate that it'lll cost about $15-$25 / day for the driver.  Does anyone have any ideas or comments?  Thx, KD

Your advice is always welcome!  I think youre right.  Most of the time I cut 'em off and put the borax on the opening and let them go from there.  Next time I touch them, its weeks later, and they are stuck in position.  I will seek "the sweet spot" time-wise this season and see what I can do then.  I see a new backscratcher in my future.  KD

Concur on a lot of ROs, Paul.  Many have come & gone here at this range, most for interpersonal skills or lack thereof.   Less likely to help and more to just yell.  The guy this weekend is the longest lasting here.  Ive only seen him raise his voice once (and it wasn't this weekend believe it or not).  He will pull someone aside unless it needs immediate action.  
 
 Ive cooled off a lot since yesterday.  Sunday 12 to 2 is my window to shoot, due to my sched.  I think I'll just start avoiding payday weekend now.   I enjoy the range and don't want to make it something to dread.  KD

Rick-  How soon after shooting the bird did you set it up to dry?  I tried it with a turkey foot but they usually are good and stiff and curled up by the time I get home to process the bird.  KD

Many have heard the mantra "Every Marine a Rifleman".  Today I want to thank my fellow Marines at the range who tried their best to discredit that.  The following events have taken place over my last few trips to the range, but most happened today in a 1.75 hr period.  For those who don't know me, I am a retired Marine Infantryman who still leads and trains Marines as a civilian.
 "Every Marine a Rifleman" is a mindset, it doesn't mean every Marine is actually an 0311 Infantryman.  It means every Marine understands the basics of marksmanship, can handle their weapon in a safe fashion and understands how to employee it effectively.  It is not something you switch off when you go on libo and turn back on when you report for duty.  
 Now, lets get started with the thank you's:
 1.       Thanks to the Marine that doesn't know what "a complete safe weapon" means.  It doesn't mean bolt open with a full magazine inserted.
 2.       Thanks to the Marine who brings a loaded weapon onto the range.  Yes, when in Helmand Province, you spent a lot of time with a Condition 1 weapon.  You are very comfortable with it, but you cant do that back home, its actually illegal.  (No sarcasm here: Thanks for going into harm's way, and congrats for making it back alive; now I want you to stay that way.)
 3.       Thanks to the Marine who doesn't understand how his new firearm functions, or whether or not you can even lock the bolt to the rear.  The time to learn is before you come to the range so you are not labelled a safety violator after the range goes cold.  When the Range Officer shows you how to use an expended case to as a chamber flag, its OK to say thanks.
 4.       Thanks to the Marine who sent his bolt home while we were all down range checking our targets.  That is an unsettling noise coming from behind you.  When the Range Officer says "no handling of weapons or ammo while cold and stay behind the red line", that means you too, not everyone but you.
 5.       When you shoot on the retired Master Gunnery Sergeant's target, expect him to get angry and yell at you the way a MGySgt does.  He's right when he says "if you are too stupid to know which target is yours, then you don't belong on a live fire range".  Its OK to be embarrassed, apologize and make sure you don't do it again.  By the way, when you have done what he has done in his life and lived to 71, you'll have the right to walk slowly back from the 200 yd line and not care what a kid on his first enlistment thinks.  Next month remember to ask him how his triathlon training is going.  
 6.       Thanks to the Marine who clears a malfunction and flags the line.
 7.       Thanks to the Marine who uncased his loaded  weapon and flagged the line.  By the way, transporting a rifle in that condition is against the law in NC (yes, you could do it in OEF, but you aren't there anymore).
 8.       Thanks to the Marine who puts a scope on his AR/AK/Mosin/etc that doesn't t allow a solid stock/cheek weld and complains he cant hit the target.  Your drill instructor taught you better than that at PI or Edson Range.  
 9.       To the Marine who thinks its funny to shoot so badly that you hit the mud in front of my target and splatter it or ricochet rounds through it.  By the way, your buddy called you Corporal; as an NCO you should actually be setting the example.  
 10.   Thanks to the Marine who doesn't clean the cosmoline off his new Mosin Nagant and has it jam, holding up the line while the Range Officer fixes it.  
 11.   Your DI started you off shooting at the 25 yd line to get a BZO and your Platoon Sergeant does it now.  That same concept is still valid with a new rifle to get it zeroed.  It also saves you a lot of money, time & frustration, and I don't have to listen to you complain about it.  
 Now just a few for the rude ones:
 1.       Swearing in front of someone's wife or kid is not cool.  Don't get angry or surprised when someone says something.  Don't argue, its you who'll be kicked off the range, not me.
 2.       When you show up after the line goes hot, don't just shoot at someone else's target until you can hang yours.  Obama didn't come down and miraculously set it up for you, you actually need to do it yourself.
 3.       When you have a bench spot but all the target stands are taken (it happens on the 25 and 50 yardlines), don't randomly take down someone else's target and replace it with yours.  
 4.       If you have a car alarm and it goes off from rifle fire, don't turn it on.  Besides, some of your fellow shooters may have taken stupid pills but they probably won't steal your vehicle.  
 5.       When I am shooting a rifle with a light barrel, I will let it cool between shots, especially when Im working up new loads.  Don't keep asking me if I'm done yet; I'm not and, no I won't speed up my shooting.  Next time you want to shoot without waiting, get there an hour early, set up and drink some coffee.  It works for the rest of us.
 For those reading this and asking did anyone say anything, yes.  The Range Officer and most of the regulars/members are either retired or senior Marines/Corpsmen who have no problem applying corrective action or remediation.  In fact, on a busy day like today, with people waiting for bench space, the members like me assist the RO in running the line to keep it moving.  
 Sorry for the rant, the RO was too busy today to listen to my frustration so I turned to you guys.  Most shooters on the range are safe, focused and nice, helpful folks.  Paydays, especially on long weekends, bring out the knuckleheads.  
 KD