January 21, 2015 - The History of Tanzania through Gibb's Farm and a Walk to Elephant Caves

When we chose Gibb's Farm as one of our destinations on this trip, it was primarily because its easy access to the Ngorongoro Crater.  And why we chose it over other lodges was because it was still a working coffee plantation and a throw-back to colonial times.  Little did we expect it to play a part in the rich history of Africa pre-dating Tanzania as a country.

During the Berlin Conference of 1885, Germany and England carved up East Africa's as part of their empires.  Uganda and Kenya came under British rule and the pre-cursor to  Tanzania, Tanganyika and Zanzibar, came under German rule.  Both empires would establish large coffee plantations and the Ngorongoro Game Reserve all of which flourished in the region.  As we know big game hunting was the sport of the rich and famous and  the term "The Big 5" was the successful killing by a big game hunter of a lion, elephant, rhino, cape buffalo and leopard some to the brink of extinction.  This practice is illegal today.

By this time the Germans had started the coffee plantation in the area and had built some buildings as sleeping quarters and for the manufacturing of coffee.  It remained  much that way until the end of World War I when the League of Nations declared it a British mandate and the territory served as a military outpost up until World War II.  The Germans left the region temporarily only to return in 1929 since the King of England and the Chancellor of Germany were on friendly terms and agreed to let the Germans farm the land. They built the first farmhouse where the reception area and gift shop sit today. 

Along comes WW II and by this time the coffee plantation is well established and has flourished.  The Germans lose the war and abandoned the coffee plantation and it declines into a state of disarray. James Gibb who was a war veteran who fought for the British in Egypt,  travels through the region on his way to South Africa and like so many former British military officers to seek his fortune.  The governor of Tanganyika meets with James in Arusha and convinces him to stay and rehabilitate the farm with the help of locals who barters their employment in return for food. In 1958 and pushing 50, James is encouraged to find a wife and marries Margaret, the daughter of two British missionaries who was born in Tanganyika. She becomes the driving force of the farm.  In 1961, Tanganyika gains its independence and in 1963 joined up with Zanzibar and they become one country called Tanzania.  In 1967, a socialist President nationalizes all industries but Gibb's keep their working farm because Margaret is a natural citizen.  She maintains good relationship with the socialist government and the Gibb's coffee plantation flourishes and she hires a local German experienced at running coffee plantations to work for them.  In 1972, the government encouraged Margaret to build a guest house for all the business people and diplomats that visit the region. She carefully expanded the lodge to 20 cottages and created large vegetable gardens to feed the guests. James dies in 1977 leaving her with 3 children so Margaret married her German plantation manager.  She remained owner until 2003 when she sold it and now in her late 80's lives on a hill overlooking Gibb's farm.

We did the tour walk of the farm property and were amazed at its size and diversity.  Our host is a Mbulu tribesman whose name is "Honest". Whatever vegetables that you know or you think you know, grows here.  No chemical pesticides and all vegetables consumed at the meals are freshly picked that day.  The vegetation is in such abundance that all staff on the lodge and plantation (120 plus)  have access to the gardens.  Insects are not a problem (they grow Marigold and spread ashes around the plant) but a couple of times a month they have to deal with baboons and elephants.  The elephants are easy to scare off by simply burning a fire but the baboons keep an eye on the plantation and raid when the farmers are not there.  They grow hedges of "nettles" around the favorite plants of a baboon and if you have never experienced the sting from a nettle plant, you're lucky. Apparently, not much is lost to these pesky night-raiders. Gibb's farming techniques are manual labor intensive and traditional plowing with oxen and donkeys.  The upside is it provides a lot of employment to the local region.

The Elephant Cave walk which we did in the morning with a Maasai warrior named Leskar was very interesting.  A little more than a 2 hour walk at 6,000 feet above sea level, we come to these dug out caves in thick red soil. The purpose of the caves is not for sleeping or hiding but instead elephants dig  with their tusks for much needed minerals - arsenium (spelling?), iron, magnesium and phosphorous.  This is particularly important to female elephants during gestation and they visit early morning and evening to dig for the minerals.