Tashi Delek everyone! Tashi delek means ‘auspicious greetings’ normally used during Losar which is a coming of the New Year celebrated by Buddhist all around the world. Losar is the Tibetan word for “new year” and predates Buddhism that can be traced to early Bon tradition in Tibet. During Bon tradition, rituals were carried out to appease the local spirits and deities. The festival evolved into annual Buddhist festival and is now considered to be the most important of all Buddhist festivals.

This year 2012, Losar began on February 22, the first month of the lunar calendar. Similar to other New Year celebrations, the festival provides opportunity for families and friends to exchange gift, celebrate with feasts and dancing. Prayers and rituals are performed for world peace and to drive away the evil spirits and ensure that bad omens are not carried into the New Year.

The hardest part of being on this journey is not being able to celebrate the festival with my family and friends. After arriving in Tanzania, one of my eyes got an infection. I’ve been running fever for the last five days and have not been able to make much progress in cycling towards the capital Dar Es Salaam. Luckily, I ran into an Indian doctor at the lodge I was staying and he thinks I got some sort of bug bite in the eye. He prescribed an eye drop and anti-biotic which I was able to obtain from the local pharmacy store. I hope this will treat and cure whatever it is.

Tanzania has some of the best wildlife reserves and biodiversity forests in Africa. The forests and the plants and animals Tanzania helps to protect is not only for her people but for entire global humanity as they support our eco system including capturing and storing greenhouse gases. Unfortunately, it will cost $500 to journey and camp through Serengeti national park. To avoid incurring this cost, I would have to cycle 200 km around the park. This would result in three extra days to reach the capital Dar Es Salaam. Due my current condition and because I want to understand how Tanzanians are conserving their national parks, I have decided to go through the Serengeti national park starting Monday Feb 27th. I hope to see how people living around the forests and local institutions have been empowered to sustain and manage their forests. Tanzania can teach us and the world how people can leave in harmony with their natural environment.

Tashi Delek and wishing you all a very happy, good health and prosperous new year.

Furtemba Sherpa