Day #2 continues: Gibb's Farm

We were pretty happy to arrive at Gibb’s Farm after a long day of bumping along the dusty roads of the Serengeti. It was a wonderful day though. We did a lot of bird watching and animal spotting. I even took the time to take pictures of some beautiful acacia trees, which I think are my favorite tree on earth. Gibb’s Farm is a small eco-tourism resort situated down a long bumpy road in the town (maybe it’s a village) of Karatu. The area is quite poor and the farm employs about 150 local villagers. Gibb’s is a working coffee farm that has over 100 acres of coffee trees and some beautiful gardens. They grow almost all of their own food and everything is certified organic (if that is important to all you granola eaters out there!). We were just really happy to have some wonderful veggies (even broccoli) and fresh bread. In case I haven’t mentioned it before, Tanzanians aren’t known for their bread. Roman’s mom has been desperate for a good loaf of rye but that has proven to be almost impossible. The farm is owned by an American who runs a huge tour company here called Thompson Tours and Safaris. They are high end from the tour perspective and super high end if you are climbing Kilimanjaro. I have mentioned to Roman on several occasions that the only way he will get me to the top of Kilimanjaro is if we go with Thompson. You see, its not that they have a great record of climbers summiting or anything, but, they bring their own toilets!! Yes, a porter actually carries a nice looking (and probably sanitized ) port-o-potty up the darn mountain; on his head no less. For all those of you who have had the pleasure of camping with me, you’ll recall that I hate outhouses!! Nevertheless, our wonderful African adventure has left us rather broke and when Roman and I climb Kili next week it will be with the ‘middle of the road’ climbing company so alas, no portable toilets, just wonderfully stinky outhouses or really nice looking bushes.
As you approach the farm on foot from the parking area it feels like you have actually left Africa. The farm house is quaint and cozy and sits atop a ridge that overlooks a valley that borders on the upper edge of the Ngorogoro Crater. Looking out and watching the sun set felt like I had left Africa and arrived in Napa (yes, California). The guest rooms are situated off the main farm house and are really rustic and comfy cottages. The foliage is awesome and there are more than 200 bird species in the area. There are daily nature walks and theyhave a holistic Spa and a Masai artist in residence who paints daily up in the main farmhouse. We were sorry that we only had a day there. It is a wonderful place. The workers also benefit because the farm gives back to the community by supporting the school and local health clinic. It makes sense because healthy workers who can educate their children probably make better workers!
We all slept well that night and headed out the next morning for the Kenyan border town of Namanga.