The Urban Tea Merchant

As we approached our first African destination in a small eight-seat plane, the hills turned to small mountains. The wooded peaks of Mount Losimingur were directly below us and the cool forested slopes of Ngorongoro were off to the west. The Great Rift Valley sliced through the landscape – a dramatic picture of sheer cliffs and stepped terraces. The glassy surface of Lake Manyara, dusted pink with thousands of flamingos, lay at the base of the escarpment. As we approached our first African destination in a small eight-seat plane, the hills turned to small mountains. The wooded peaks of Mount Losimingur were directly below us and the cool forested slopes of Ngorongoro were off to the west. The Great Rift Valley sliced through the landscape – a dramatic picture of sheer cliffs and stepped terraces. The glassy surface of Lake Manyara, dusted pink with thousands of flamingos, lay at the base of the escarpment.

 

Our personal guide at Maji Moto, greeted us with a warm smile, and ‘Jambo’, hello in Swahili. After settling in, our guide took us to the entrance of the reserve where we stopped for a picnic lunch. The atmosphere was silent, yet rich with sound.  And the smells ... there was a bouquet of so many scents.  This one sensory element I remember most of my first impression of Africa - the scent of the magnificent natural surrounding.

 

This weekend the new Baobab candle collection arrived at The Urban Tea Merchant and all of those beautiful smells and memories of Africa came back to me.  These candles are all hand made in a reusable cut glass container.  Each candle burns with the various gentle scents representative of different parts of Africa. Come visit The Urban Tea Merchant at the Park Royal Village in West Vancouver or our downtown store at 1070 West Georgia.  Explore for yourself this imaginary exotic sensory journey of Africa.