Trips

Sun., 8/13/2017 – Karatu
         We sort of had another “day in the life of...” today because we spent the morning at three Iraqu tribe operations.  The Iraqu are of Arabic origin.  They are the main agricultural tribe in Karatu.
         First we visited a large local government owned brick “factory” and quarry.  Since rain spoils the clay bricks, they only operate from May to October.  The rest of the year the men go farming.  Since it was Sunday, half dozen men were paid to come and show us the process.  The clay is dug mostly from the quarry walls with a hoe.  It is then pounded with a stick to make it into powder.  Water is added to the resulting powder and a man stomps on it until it sticks to his feet.  The muck is then put into a wood form, patted down and turned out as two bricks.  The bricks are dried for four to six days and then stacked until there are enough to make the kiln, which will be 20 to 30 bricks high.  A fire is lit in a tunnel at the bottom and is kept burning for 24 hours for three days.  Ten bricks sell for $1 US. 

Brick quarry and bricks	Varieties of bricks
Brick making - pulverizing the clay by hand	Brick making kiln
Brick making - mixing the mud	Brick making - a dirty job
Brick making - brick molds	Brick making - finished bricks set out to dry
Brick making - stacking the bricks to make a kiln	Tree roots growing down into the quarry
Next we walked about a half-mile to a farmer’s cornfield and “helped” shuck corn from the stalks.  The cattle will eat the stalks.  At his farmyard and house we saw the corn drying on the cobs after which the kernels will be knocked off by hand and be ready to be sold or ground into powder.  The farmer was making moonshine from millet and sorghum.  It smelled very strong. We sat in his house and tried the local banana beer or fruit wine.  No one had much as it was served in three shared glasses washed or rinsed in a bucket of local water.  Maybe 10% alcohol was enough to keep us from getting “travelers’ sickness” but not everyone wanted to push their luck.
Carrying the load	Water source
Husking Corn	Husking Corn
Husking Corn	Liquor still
Making banana wine	Banana wine
Home interior	Kids
Bicycle transport	We walked to a coffee plantation and watched that whole process.  Arabica coffee originated in Ethiopia so it grows well here.  The berries are hand picked, soaked to get the sugar out of the pulp, and separated into light and dark beans.  They are sun dried.  The shell is removed in a hand-cranked machine, and then crushed with a large mortar and pestle.  (We took turns trying this hand labor.)  The chaff is shaken off and then the beans are roasted for 45 to 60 minutes by a man continually turning the cylinder.  They are cooled on a screen bed.  We were served some of this coffee and it was delicious.  Some of our group bought some to take home.
Coffee trees and beans	Coffee plantation - the roaster
Coffee plantation - crushing the beans	Coffee plantation - separating beans from chaff
Coffee plantation - separating beans from chaff	Coffee plantation - beans in the roaster
Coffee plantation - kids	Coffee plantation -cooling the roasted beans
Coffee plantation - bee hive	Coffee plantation - getting the honey out of the hive
Coffee plantation - honey comb	We were driven to the local market and walked through the area being pestered the whole time by kids trying to sell us stuff.  It was very annoying.
Market in Karatu	Market in Karatu
Market in Karatu	Market in Karatu - dried fish
Market in Karatu	Market in Karatu
Market in Karatu	Market in Karatu
We rode in tuk-tuks to our next lodge in town, Country Lodge Karatu.  After a typical buffet lunch – the rice pudding and rhubarb crumble were delicious – we had the rest of the day off.	Gale in our tuk-tuk

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