I didn’t think this day would come; I have reached my last day in Africa.
The past few days have been a good end to my time here in Cape Town. This past Sunday Jessica and I made a trip out to Robben Island to visit the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. It was a beautiful boat ride out and I got some awesome pictures of Cape Town. Once we arrived on the Island everyone from the boat was piled onto buses to have a tour of the island (it is quite a small island). Robben Island has quite the history and contains remnants from all of its uses and inhabitants. It had been used as a prison for criminal prisoners and political prisoners for quite some time, the army also used it at one point as a prison for military prisoners. In the mid 1800’s Robben Island was home to a hospital for people with leprosy, to keep them in isolation from the general population, graves and an old church remain from this period. The island was taken over as a military base in the Second World War for training and costal defense; three extremely large guns remain around the island from this period. Robben Island’s most famous purpose came during the Apartheid Regime when it contained a maximum-security prison for political prisoners such as Nelson Mandela. The entire Island has been now named a World Heritage Site. The only people that now live on Robben Island are some of the ex-political prisoners and wardens of the prison, as well as their families, they were kept on the island for so long that it became their home.
After a tour of the island we were given a tour of the prison by one of ex-political prisoners that was held there. It was amazing to hear about what life was like in the prison and how they managed to continue their political education and discussions behind bars. We were shown Nelson Mandela’s cell, as well as the site where he wrote and hid the manuscripts to A Long Walk to Freedom. It was amazing to see and hear about the conditions that the men had to live in, and to see that racism was even built into regulations of the prison (black men were placed on a different food allowance then coloured and Indian men). It was a very educational excursion, I am so glad we had a chance to see such an important historical site.
The boat ride back to the mainland was not nearly as nice as the way there, the waters had become very choppy and a lot of our fellow passengers were getting sea sick, it was not a pleasant environment, but we made it back in one piece.
Monday morning we woke up bright and early to go on a wine tour through some of the best wine lands in South Africa. A shuttle bus (the backpackers bus) picked us up at our bed and breakfast to transport us to Stellenboch where we met up with the tour group. The first stop on our tour was Simonsig Winery in Stellenboch where we had a cellar tour and our first wine tasting. We then moved on to Fairview vineyards in the Paarl region where we had our second wine tasting and a delicious cheese tasting before lunch. For lunch we stopped at a little restaurant in Franschhoek and had quite a good meal of chicken schnitzel with a mushroom sauce. After lunch we quickly moved on to our third and fourth wineries; Dieu Donne Vineyards and Boschendal. The Dieu Donne Vineyards were high up on the hill providing us with an absolutely incredible view of the surrounding farms (though it was our least favorite stop in terms of wine), and the Boschendal Vineyards are the second oldest Winery in all of South Africa. It was a very fun day of wine tasting, it was nice to be able to taste so many different wines at the same time to really get a feel for the differences between them.
Tuesday was a low key day, it was very very hot so we lay by the pool and caught up on some reading.
Yesterday we went for high tea at one of the oldest hotels and Cape Town (the Mount Nelson Hotel). We had some delicious tea and an amazing assortment of sandwiches and cakes, though it definitely threw me out of my comfort zone again. I couldn’t help but think of Tanzania and the extreme contrast that I had experienced in just two weeks. Despite my feeling uncomfortable I quite enjoyed the tea and food and tried to put my feelings behind me.
That brings me to this today, I am not sure what we will get up to on my last day here, I think I will start by packing up my things before heading out to breakfast. My two weeks in Cape Town went quite quickly and I am both happy and sad to move on to my next stop (Toronto). I cannot wait to get back and see everyone; I have been missing my friends and family a lot over the past few weeks, though I am very sad to be leaving a continent that I have called home for the past four and a half months. I hope to be back soon, I don’t think I can stay away too long.
Kwaheri Africa, Tutaonana Badaaye
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
A Holiday in the South
I apologies for the lack of posting and the length of this message, a lot has happened my first week in Cape Town.
After a very difficult goodbye to Arusha I hoped on a plane to begin my journey to the South. I arrived in Cape Town at 6 pm and found Nolo and Jess waiting for me outside the baggage pick up. The drive from the airport had my mind spinning; flat roads with multiple lanes, street lights and signs, cars that were not manufactured by Toyota, and lights all over the city. I knew the culture shock was beginning. After dropping my bags at our very nice bed and breakfast we went out for an amazing sushi dinner. The restaurant we ate at was just opposite a shopping center, the whole area was alive and bustling, I had forgotten what western cities were like. Dinner was amazing; I had forgotten how much I missed sushi. I also drank water from the tap, paid for my meal with a Visa card, and the food took just minutes to arrive, I had a hard time believing that I was still in Africa. After dinner we went out to a party hosted by one of Nolo’s friends, the bar scene was nothing like what I was used but I pushed past the culture shock and had a good time.
The next morning we went for a delicious breakfast at a café down the street from the bed and breakfast and took a public taxi (cape town’s equivalent of a dalla dalla) to a shopping center. The shopping did not last long, as none of us had anything we wanted to buy and were not in the mood. We were soon on our way to see Nolo’s residence before lunch. We had lunch in a section of Cape Town called Observatory, which seemed quite funky and artsy, it was a very neat environment. The rest of the afternoon we rested at the bed and breakfast reading, playing cards and planning out the coming weeks.
On Sunday we headed down to the area called Waterfront. As soon as we stepped out of the public taxi I was reminded of Granville Island; the whole place was alive, there were shops and street performers and delicious smelling food. We ate our fish and chips and wandered around before hopping on a boat for a tour of the harbour… oh I forgot to mention, Sunday was the day that Cape Town decided to show us how windy it can get. The boat was caught in very choppy waters and the wind made it a rather cold and wet harbour cruise, but we laughed and had a good time. We took a public taxi back into town and ate dinner on Long Street. Long street is where all of the action happens in downtown Cape Town, during the day it is a street for shopping and dining, and at night the restaurants apparently turn into night clubs, it was a Sunday though so we did not see this happen.
Monday morning we lounged by the pool at our bed and breakfast while Nolo studied for her exams, we met up with her and a couple of her friends at lunch and all decided to go on an adventure to Simonstown. Simonstown is about a 45 min drive away from Cape Town and is one of the Navy Bases of South Africa; it is also home to a large colony of South African Penguins (yup, penguins!!). After visiting the penguins we had dinner and drinks at a restaurant on the water. The entire town was so beautiful and quaint perched on the rocks next to huge crashing waves of the ocean.
Tuesday was a rather dreary day so we decided to check out some of the museums in town. We started with the District Six Museum. District Six was a busy and lively section of Cape Town that housed people from all different racial and religious backgrounds. The people of District Six lived harmoniously together until the apartheid regime forcibly removed the 60 000 residence from their homes and divided them among different townships in the Cape Flats. The entire district was then bulldozed; two religious building were the only structures spared. The area is still an undeveloped piece of land. The museum was amazing, it told the stories of a lot of the old residence of District Six and showed pictures of what the area used to look like. After spending some time at the museum we made our way to The Castle of Good Hope. This is the oldest building in Cape Town and used to be the Castle that defended the city. We had an interesting tour of the Castle and made our way to a delicious lunch near green market square (the large craft market in the center of town). After lunch we caught a taxi and met up with Nolo for the evening.
Wednesday we made our way back to the Waterfront to explore a little bit more. We wandered around the shops and made our way to the Two Ocean’s Aquarium. We decided to spend a few hours at the Aquarium and it was time well spent. Soon after we arrived we watched the penguins being fed and learned about the Aquarium’s program to increase the penguin population in the wild. The population of South African Penguin’s rapidly decreased before their habitat became protected, so the aquarium started a program in which they have been successfully introducing the penguin pups that are born in captivity back into the wild. After the penguins were fed we made our way to the predator tank to check out the sharks and dangerous fish. It turned out it was lunch time in their tank as well… scuba divers entered the tank to selectively feed the rays and turtle; due to different feeding schedules divers go in to ensure the slower and less aggressive animals are fed, most of the others are fed once a week by having their food dropped into the tank. We spent a while looking at the sharks and then toured the rest of the aquarium. Nolo met up with us at Waterfront for dinner and then we continued on to a going away party for one of her friends (it is the end of year for Universities here so a lot of her friends are graduating and leaving).
We enjoyed our rest on Thursday morning and went to the Kirstenboch Botanical Gardens for a picnic in the afternoon. The gardens were absolutely amazing; they contained hundreds of flowers and trees as well as herbs and plants used in natural medicine. We chose a nice spot of grass to eat our picnic while looking out at Table Mountain, the only disturbance we had was a gimped pheasant who decided to continuously hobble up to us and try to steal our food… Jess chased him away at one point and he continued to come back.
I have finally reached the past two days. Yesterday and today we went on city bus tours that took us all over the city and the surrounding area, it was a great way to get from one place to the next, and had some interesting commentary, haha. Yesterday we got off the bus at Table Mountain and took the cableway to the top for lunch. The top of the mountain had the most amazing views of the city and the Cape; it was definitely worth the trip up. Today we got off the bus at a bird and monkey sanctuary and Camps Bay. The bird and monkey sanctuary housed over 3500 animals from all over, people used to bring injured birds to the man who started the place and he would nurse them back to health at his veterinary practice. We were able to walk through some of the aviaries with the birds flying freely around us… slightly nerve wracking at times, as the large birds can be startling when they take off. After the sanctuary we hopped off the bus at Camps Bay, one of the wealthiest parts of Cape Town and home of some of the most beautiful beaches. We had a late lunch/early dinner on the main drag and people watched while we sipped our cocktails, it was a lovely end to the day. We got back to the bed and breakfast about an hour agao and are contemplating what to do on this Halloween evening.
Cape Town is a very beautiful and diverse place, I still cannot believe that it is a part of Africa, but I have accepted that and moved on. I am excited to continue to explore over the next few days before heading back to Canada.
xoxo
After a very difficult goodbye to Arusha I hoped on a plane to begin my journey to the South. I arrived in Cape Town at 6 pm and found Nolo and Jess waiting for me outside the baggage pick up. The drive from the airport had my mind spinning; flat roads with multiple lanes, street lights and signs, cars that were not manufactured by Toyota, and lights all over the city. I knew the culture shock was beginning. After dropping my bags at our very nice bed and breakfast we went out for an amazing sushi dinner. The restaurant we ate at was just opposite a shopping center, the whole area was alive and bustling, I had forgotten what western cities were like. Dinner was amazing; I had forgotten how much I missed sushi. I also drank water from the tap, paid for my meal with a Visa card, and the food took just minutes to arrive, I had a hard time believing that I was still in Africa. After dinner we went out to a party hosted by one of Nolo’s friends, the bar scene was nothing like what I was used but I pushed past the culture shock and had a good time.
The next morning we went for a delicious breakfast at a café down the street from the bed and breakfast and took a public taxi (cape town’s equivalent of a dalla dalla) to a shopping center. The shopping did not last long, as none of us had anything we wanted to buy and were not in the mood. We were soon on our way to see Nolo’s residence before lunch. We had lunch in a section of Cape Town called Observatory, which seemed quite funky and artsy, it was a very neat environment. The rest of the afternoon we rested at the bed and breakfast reading, playing cards and planning out the coming weeks.
On Sunday we headed down to the area called Waterfront. As soon as we stepped out of the public taxi I was reminded of Granville Island; the whole place was alive, there were shops and street performers and delicious smelling food. We ate our fish and chips and wandered around before hopping on a boat for a tour of the harbour… oh I forgot to mention, Sunday was the day that Cape Town decided to show us how windy it can get. The boat was caught in very choppy waters and the wind made it a rather cold and wet harbour cruise, but we laughed and had a good time. We took a public taxi back into town and ate dinner on Long Street. Long street is where all of the action happens in downtown Cape Town, during the day it is a street for shopping and dining, and at night the restaurants apparently turn into night clubs, it was a Sunday though so we did not see this happen.
Monday morning we lounged by the pool at our bed and breakfast while Nolo studied for her exams, we met up with her and a couple of her friends at lunch and all decided to go on an adventure to Simonstown. Simonstown is about a 45 min drive away from Cape Town and is one of the Navy Bases of South Africa; it is also home to a large colony of South African Penguins (yup, penguins!!). After visiting the penguins we had dinner and drinks at a restaurant on the water. The entire town was so beautiful and quaint perched on the rocks next to huge crashing waves of the ocean.
Tuesday was a rather dreary day so we decided to check out some of the museums in town. We started with the District Six Museum. District Six was a busy and lively section of Cape Town that housed people from all different racial and religious backgrounds. The people of District Six lived harmoniously together until the apartheid regime forcibly removed the 60 000 residence from their homes and divided them among different townships in the Cape Flats. The entire district was then bulldozed; two religious building were the only structures spared. The area is still an undeveloped piece of land. The museum was amazing, it told the stories of a lot of the old residence of District Six and showed pictures of what the area used to look like. After spending some time at the museum we made our way to The Castle of Good Hope. This is the oldest building in Cape Town and used to be the Castle that defended the city. We had an interesting tour of the Castle and made our way to a delicious lunch near green market square (the large craft market in the center of town). After lunch we caught a taxi and met up with Nolo for the evening.
Wednesday we made our way back to the Waterfront to explore a little bit more. We wandered around the shops and made our way to the Two Ocean’s Aquarium. We decided to spend a few hours at the Aquarium and it was time well spent. Soon after we arrived we watched the penguins being fed and learned about the Aquarium’s program to increase the penguin population in the wild. The population of South African Penguin’s rapidly decreased before their habitat became protected, so the aquarium started a program in which they have been successfully introducing the penguin pups that are born in captivity back into the wild. After the penguins were fed we made our way to the predator tank to check out the sharks and dangerous fish. It turned out it was lunch time in their tank as well… scuba divers entered the tank to selectively feed the rays and turtle; due to different feeding schedules divers go in to ensure the slower and less aggressive animals are fed, most of the others are fed once a week by having their food dropped into the tank. We spent a while looking at the sharks and then toured the rest of the aquarium. Nolo met up with us at Waterfront for dinner and then we continued on to a going away party for one of her friends (it is the end of year for Universities here so a lot of her friends are graduating and leaving).
We enjoyed our rest on Thursday morning and went to the Kirstenboch Botanical Gardens for a picnic in the afternoon. The gardens were absolutely amazing; they contained hundreds of flowers and trees as well as herbs and plants used in natural medicine. We chose a nice spot of grass to eat our picnic while looking out at Table Mountain, the only disturbance we had was a gimped pheasant who decided to continuously hobble up to us and try to steal our food… Jess chased him away at one point and he continued to come back.
I have finally reached the past two days. Yesterday and today we went on city bus tours that took us all over the city and the surrounding area, it was a great way to get from one place to the next, and had some interesting commentary, haha. Yesterday we got off the bus at Table Mountain and took the cableway to the top for lunch. The top of the mountain had the most amazing views of the city and the Cape; it was definitely worth the trip up. Today we got off the bus at a bird and monkey sanctuary and Camps Bay. The bird and monkey sanctuary housed over 3500 animals from all over, people used to bring injured birds to the man who started the place and he would nurse them back to health at his veterinary practice. We were able to walk through some of the aviaries with the birds flying freely around us… slightly nerve wracking at times, as the large birds can be startling when they take off. After the sanctuary we hopped off the bus at Camps Bay, one of the wealthiest parts of Cape Town and home of some of the most beautiful beaches. We had a late lunch/early dinner on the main drag and people watched while we sipped our cocktails, it was a lovely end to the day. We got back to the bed and breakfast about an hour agao and are contemplating what to do on this Halloween evening.
Cape Town is a very beautiful and diverse place, I still cannot believe that it is a part of Africa, but I have accepted that and moved on. I am excited to continue to explore over the next few days before heading back to Canada.
xoxo
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Uganda - The Trip of a Lifetime
I just returned from the best weekend of my life.
The seven of us adventurous enough to travel to Uganda headed off to the bus stop at 2 pm to catch the Kampala Coach to Jinja. Due to the fact that everyone and everything is on Africa time here we departed at around 4:30 from Arusha. The bus ride was quite the experience… 18 hours on the way there and 20 on the way back, but it was not nearly as bad as I expected it to be, we actually had a pretty great time. The bus took us from Arusha to Nirobi and then on to Jinja. As soon as the sun came up in Uganda we were blown away, everywhere we looked was lush and green; it was one of the most beautiful places I have seen. We arrived in Jinja at 11 am and were taken to the backpackers hostel where we had a delicious lunch and settled into our room.
2 pm rolled around and we anxiously waited for the bus to take us to the source of the Nile for our bungee experience. We rode in an open back truck through some of the local areas to the Adrift bungee site. It was interesting to see the differences between Jinja and Arusha in terms of the local atmosphere. After arriving at the site and signing our lives away we climbed the stairs to the platform 145 feet above the Nile. Andrea and I jumped first holding on to each other for dear lives. It was so much fun we both got out of the raft at the bottom and ran up to do it again. Everyone had a blast jumping, I was the only person who had ever jumped before so it was fun to see everyone’s reactions after their first bungee. After jumping and a quick drink we walked back to the hostel and hung out for the evening, played a few games of ‘lasti kardi’ and talked about our amazing day.
The next morning we woke up, packed and got ready for rafting. After a delicious breakfast and quick brief on the day we found life jackets and helmets and hopped on the bus. There were 7 rafts on our trip; our group filled one. As we passed over a bridge just before our starting point we saw a huge crocodile hanging out on a rock… luckily there was a rapid between him and where we were getting into the water. We arrived at the starting point, chose our guide and got into the raft. Our guide, Alex, was awesome, he started off by briefing us and training us in the calm water; we jumping into the water and practiced getting back in, went through all of the commands he would be yelling at us through the rapids and covered all of the safety stuff. Our first rapid was a class 5 and really kicked the excitement up for the day. Throughout the day we went through 8 sets of rapids ranging from class 3 to 5. We had a light lunch in the middle of the day (consisting of half a pineapple each and some cookies), and took a short swim in the water. The rafting trip was way better then anything I could have hoped for, it was by far one of the best things I have done in my life. We went through crazy rapids, flipped the raft, swam in the Nile, it was a blast. At the end of the day we were taken to the company’s campground for an awesome barbeque before going to Kampala for the night. We took the shuttle to Kampala and stayed at a hostel for the night, in the evening we played cards and hung out chatting about the day.
The next morning half of us decided that we would go back to Arusha that afternoon so we headed to the bus station to buy our tickets. The bus back was fine, I did not get as much sleep as on the way there, but the hours seemed to pass quite quickly. We were all so excited to get back into Tanzania, it definitely has become home for me. As soon as we crossed the border and I realized how happy I was I became sad to think that I had to leave again in a few days. It was the best weekend I have had on this trip and possibly the best and most adventurous weekend of my life.
I have now come to my last day in Arusha and am very sad and slightly scared to leave. It does not seem real that I am leaving tonight; it is going to be a difficult adjustment. Arusha has become my home; I cannot believe that I do not know when I will be returning. Despite my leaving anxiety I am very excited to go to South Africa now and spend some time in Cape Town, and I am excited to get home and see everyone, I have missed you all so much. I will write again from Cape Town, assuming I have internet access.
Kwaheri! xoxo from Africa
The seven of us adventurous enough to travel to Uganda headed off to the bus stop at 2 pm to catch the Kampala Coach to Jinja. Due to the fact that everyone and everything is on Africa time here we departed at around 4:30 from Arusha. The bus ride was quite the experience… 18 hours on the way there and 20 on the way back, but it was not nearly as bad as I expected it to be, we actually had a pretty great time. The bus took us from Arusha to Nirobi and then on to Jinja. As soon as the sun came up in Uganda we were blown away, everywhere we looked was lush and green; it was one of the most beautiful places I have seen. We arrived in Jinja at 11 am and were taken to the backpackers hostel where we had a delicious lunch and settled into our room.
2 pm rolled around and we anxiously waited for the bus to take us to the source of the Nile for our bungee experience. We rode in an open back truck through some of the local areas to the Adrift bungee site. It was interesting to see the differences between Jinja and Arusha in terms of the local atmosphere. After arriving at the site and signing our lives away we climbed the stairs to the platform 145 feet above the Nile. Andrea and I jumped first holding on to each other for dear lives. It was so much fun we both got out of the raft at the bottom and ran up to do it again. Everyone had a blast jumping, I was the only person who had ever jumped before so it was fun to see everyone’s reactions after their first bungee. After jumping and a quick drink we walked back to the hostel and hung out for the evening, played a few games of ‘lasti kardi’ and talked about our amazing day.
The next morning we woke up, packed and got ready for rafting. After a delicious breakfast and quick brief on the day we found life jackets and helmets and hopped on the bus. There were 7 rafts on our trip; our group filled one. As we passed over a bridge just before our starting point we saw a huge crocodile hanging out on a rock… luckily there was a rapid between him and where we were getting into the water. We arrived at the starting point, chose our guide and got into the raft. Our guide, Alex, was awesome, he started off by briefing us and training us in the calm water; we jumping into the water and practiced getting back in, went through all of the commands he would be yelling at us through the rapids and covered all of the safety stuff. Our first rapid was a class 5 and really kicked the excitement up for the day. Throughout the day we went through 8 sets of rapids ranging from class 3 to 5. We had a light lunch in the middle of the day (consisting of half a pineapple each and some cookies), and took a short swim in the water. The rafting trip was way better then anything I could have hoped for, it was by far one of the best things I have done in my life. We went through crazy rapids, flipped the raft, swam in the Nile, it was a blast. At the end of the day we were taken to the company’s campground for an awesome barbeque before going to Kampala for the night. We took the shuttle to Kampala and stayed at a hostel for the night, in the evening we played cards and hung out chatting about the day.
The next morning half of us decided that we would go back to Arusha that afternoon so we headed to the bus station to buy our tickets. The bus back was fine, I did not get as much sleep as on the way there, but the hours seemed to pass quite quickly. We were all so excited to get back into Tanzania, it definitely has become home for me. As soon as we crossed the border and I realized how happy I was I became sad to think that I had to leave again in a few days. It was the best weekend I have had on this trip and possibly the best and most adventurous weekend of my life.
I have now come to my last day in Arusha and am very sad and slightly scared to leave. It does not seem real that I am leaving tonight; it is going to be a difficult adjustment. Arusha has become my home; I cannot believe that I do not know when I will be returning. Despite my leaving anxiety I am very excited to go to South Africa now and spend some time in Cape Town, and I am excited to get home and see everyone, I have missed you all so much. I will write again from Cape Town, assuming I have internet access.
Kwaheri! xoxo from Africa
Thursday, October 15, 2009
One Week
I have reached my final week here in Tanzania; I can not believe my trip is coming to an end. I leave for Uganda tomorrow and will be finishing my trip off by rafting down the Nile, bungee jumping, exploring Kampala and hopefully a stop at Lake Victoria.
This past week has been a good wrap up to my time in Arusha. Last weekend we returned to Magi Moto for an amazing day of swimming in the springs. Sunday a couple of the volunteers and I went shopping for supplies for our makeshift Thanksgiving that happened on Monday night, we all over the city and stopped at some of my favorite places – Central Market (the most amazing fruit and veggie market) for veggies, walked up Soqoine, and took a dala dala to Ngiro for groceries. Sunday night we went to one of my favorite restaurants L’Oasis… I have been trying to fit in meals at all of my favorite places this week.
Monday we left placement early because our doctor’s brother passed away so he was not at work, it ended up working out well for us because it gave us more time to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun and surprisingly not too stressful… the oven ended up turning off for about 30 min before we realized so dinner was a little late but delicious. We ate 4 chickens, my home made mac and cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, rice casserole, carrots and green beans, and ice cream cake for dessert… a little different but amazing. After dinner we all pilled onto the couches and watched movies, it was an awesome night.
Tuesday night a few of us went to see Mama Afrika, a circus that is in Arusha for the month, it was awesome… Africa’s version on Cirque du Soleil. Halfway through the show during the clown act I was called up on stage with four other members to perform an air band… slightly embarrassing, but fun at the same time. It was a great thing to do on a Tuesday night.
The rest of the week has been pretty low key. The doctor has been off all week so work has been very quite, most of the staff have been away at the funeral (which last 3 days) so Andrea, Nancy (the other two girls at my placement) and I have been filling in where we can and spending more time in the laboratory. Andrea and I have been going into town a lot after work getting last minute things done before leaving for Uganda. We leave tomorrow and get back next Wednesday, the day before I depart for South Africa. I now have a mere 3 weeks before arriving back in Canada
Kwaheri Rafikis!
This past week has been a good wrap up to my time in Arusha. Last weekend we returned to Magi Moto for an amazing day of swimming in the springs. Sunday a couple of the volunteers and I went shopping for supplies for our makeshift Thanksgiving that happened on Monday night, we all over the city and stopped at some of my favorite places – Central Market (the most amazing fruit and veggie market) for veggies, walked up Soqoine, and took a dala dala to Ngiro for groceries. Sunday night we went to one of my favorite restaurants L’Oasis… I have been trying to fit in meals at all of my favorite places this week.
Monday we left placement early because our doctor’s brother passed away so he was not at work, it ended up working out well for us because it gave us more time to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun and surprisingly not too stressful… the oven ended up turning off for about 30 min before we realized so dinner was a little late but delicious. We ate 4 chickens, my home made mac and cheese, garlic mashed potatoes, rice casserole, carrots and green beans, and ice cream cake for dessert… a little different but amazing. After dinner we all pilled onto the couches and watched movies, it was an awesome night.
Tuesday night a few of us went to see Mama Afrika, a circus that is in Arusha for the month, it was awesome… Africa’s version on Cirque du Soleil. Halfway through the show during the clown act I was called up on stage with four other members to perform an air band… slightly embarrassing, but fun at the same time. It was a great thing to do on a Tuesday night.
The rest of the week has been pretty low key. The doctor has been off all week so work has been very quite, most of the staff have been away at the funeral (which last 3 days) so Andrea, Nancy (the other two girls at my placement) and I have been filling in where we can and spending more time in the laboratory. Andrea and I have been going into town a lot after work getting last minute things done before leaving for Uganda. We leave tomorrow and get back next Wednesday, the day before I depart for South Africa. I now have a mere 3 weeks before arriving back in Canada
Kwaheri Rafikis!
Friday, October 9, 2009
The other side of Arusha
Mambo Vipi Rafiki’s
My trip may be narrowing down but the new experiences and adventures continue. This past week I have been exposed to a new side of Arusha. We met a local mzungu (white person) named Lupo who introduced us to the whole community of local white people… as strange as that sounds it has been really cool. The first night we went to a restaurant where one of his friends was playing with a band. The whole place was a hidden paradise that, although seemed somewhat out of place in Arusha, was amazing. The music was fantastic and the company was interesting. The next night he invited us to an open mic night at his friend’s music school, there was once again awesome music and we met some great people with interesting stories. It has been crazy to be exposed to such a different side of Arusha especially after being here for so long, it has really shown me what life would be like if I were to live here for a longer period of time. There is quite a mix of interesting people that have gathered together from all corners of the world. I met one girl, Liza, who is 26, grew up in the United States and moved here when she was 22. She is a professional violinist who opened up ones of Arusha’s only music schools and teaches underprivileged children to play a variety of instruments. She goes back to the states each summer to tour for a couple of months and make money for herself and her school; it was amazing to see what she has done here, and neat to hear her story… I can almost guarantee that every local white person has a pretty interesting story about what brought them to live in Arusha, it takes a certain person to be able to pick up and move to Tanzania and it has been cool getting to meet some of them.
In other news… another new group of volunteers have arrived and are going through orientation, they of course seem great and look like they will fit in well. It is always fun to see a new group arrive and watch them adjust and fall in love with the city… it doesn’t take long to love this place. I have a mere 2 weeks left until I fly down to Cape Town and am trying to pack them as full as possible. This weekend we are heading back to Magi Moto hot springs, next weekend is Uganda, and I am trying to fill my afternoons with whatever I can.
Can't wait to catch up with everyone in person!
xoxo love from Arusha
My trip may be narrowing down but the new experiences and adventures continue. This past week I have been exposed to a new side of Arusha. We met a local mzungu (white person) named Lupo who introduced us to the whole community of local white people… as strange as that sounds it has been really cool. The first night we went to a restaurant where one of his friends was playing with a band. The whole place was a hidden paradise that, although seemed somewhat out of place in Arusha, was amazing. The music was fantastic and the company was interesting. The next night he invited us to an open mic night at his friend’s music school, there was once again awesome music and we met some great people with interesting stories. It has been crazy to be exposed to such a different side of Arusha especially after being here for so long, it has really shown me what life would be like if I were to live here for a longer period of time. There is quite a mix of interesting people that have gathered together from all corners of the world. I met one girl, Liza, who is 26, grew up in the United States and moved here when she was 22. She is a professional violinist who opened up ones of Arusha’s only music schools and teaches underprivileged children to play a variety of instruments. She goes back to the states each summer to tour for a couple of months and make money for herself and her school; it was amazing to see what she has done here, and neat to hear her story… I can almost guarantee that every local white person has a pretty interesting story about what brought them to live in Arusha, it takes a certain person to be able to pick up and move to Tanzania and it has been cool getting to meet some of them.
In other news… another new group of volunteers have arrived and are going through orientation, they of course seem great and look like they will fit in well. It is always fun to see a new group arrive and watch them adjust and fall in love with the city… it doesn’t take long to love this place. I have a mere 2 weeks left until I fly down to Cape Town and am trying to pack them as full as possible. This weekend we are heading back to Magi Moto hot springs, next weekend is Uganda, and I am trying to fill my afternoons with whatever I can.
Can't wait to catch up with everyone in person!
xoxo love from Arusha
Saturday, September 19, 2009
An Overdue Update
Hello all!!!! Mambo Vipi?
I realized today that it has been a long time of no communication and maybe time for an update! A lot has happened in the past few weeks and I am officially past the halfway point of my stay in Tanzania. Leah left me three weeks ago, along with all of the other July volunteers. The house was very quite for a while, with just one other volunteer and Moses (our country coordinator). As soon as the last July volunteer left we actually packed up the house and moved. White House (where Basecamp has been based for the past 3 years) is too big for the number of volunteers during the school year so head office asked us to move! It was quite an experience to move in Tanzania, they are incredibly efficient, it was in total a two day process. We packed up the house on Saturday and a HUGE truck came on Sunday and moved everything in one load to the new place, by the end of the day we were pretty much moved in and unpacked.
The new house is very nice, it is much closer to my placement then the old house (20 min walk rather then 45), though it is much farther from town, which is a slight inconvenience. It is nice to be in a smaller house, it feels more ‘homey’ compared to the old house. It also has a beautiful front yard and garden that I have been enjoying after work. It is in a nice neighborhood with a lot of friendly people on my road to work.
The new group of volunteer arrived 2 weeks ago, and has just had their first week of placement. I have two girls working with me and the first week went very well! I am loving work and finding myself more and more useful as the time goes on. My Kswahili has been improving enough to run reception, I run the nursing station (blood pressure and body weight) and have been getting experience in the lab. Our hospital is quite short staffed at times so we fill in wherever we can! I have seen many C-section and a few appendectomies so far, this experience has definitely confirmed my desire to be a nurse.
This past Thursday I was invited to my first local celebration! My friend Editha from the clinic invited the new girls and I to her younger brother’s graduation. It was lots of fun and so interested to be at such a local and momentous event… We were definitely out of place, but everyone was happy to see a few Mzungu’s there, it was a little like we were an attraction at the zoo that everyone wanted to have their picture with. We had a great time though and the school grounds were in the most beautiful area, it was so lush and green. Everywhere I go here I am constantly amazed by how beautiful the city is. I am truly going to miss Arusha (and Tanzania) when I leave.
5 weeks left, I know it is going to go very fast, which makes me excited but nervous and scared at the same time. It is going to be very hard to leave this place, but I truly am missing everyone at home! … Heading off to Uganda as my last trip before leaving, I am going to Raft the Nile with a couple of friends and Bungee Jump into the source of it. I will try and post more often but I no longer have internet at home and the closest internet is too slow to access the blog site… Next weekend check back!
Xoxo Love from Arusha!
I realized today that it has been a long time of no communication and maybe time for an update! A lot has happened in the past few weeks and I am officially past the halfway point of my stay in Tanzania. Leah left me three weeks ago, along with all of the other July volunteers. The house was very quite for a while, with just one other volunteer and Moses (our country coordinator). As soon as the last July volunteer left we actually packed up the house and moved. White House (where Basecamp has been based for the past 3 years) is too big for the number of volunteers during the school year so head office asked us to move! It was quite an experience to move in Tanzania, they are incredibly efficient, it was in total a two day process. We packed up the house on Saturday and a HUGE truck came on Sunday and moved everything in one load to the new place, by the end of the day we were pretty much moved in and unpacked.
The new house is very nice, it is much closer to my placement then the old house (20 min walk rather then 45), though it is much farther from town, which is a slight inconvenience. It is nice to be in a smaller house, it feels more ‘homey’ compared to the old house. It also has a beautiful front yard and garden that I have been enjoying after work. It is in a nice neighborhood with a lot of friendly people on my road to work.
The new group of volunteer arrived 2 weeks ago, and has just had their first week of placement. I have two girls working with me and the first week went very well! I am loving work and finding myself more and more useful as the time goes on. My Kswahili has been improving enough to run reception, I run the nursing station (blood pressure and body weight) and have been getting experience in the lab. Our hospital is quite short staffed at times so we fill in wherever we can! I have seen many C-section and a few appendectomies so far, this experience has definitely confirmed my desire to be a nurse.
This past Thursday I was invited to my first local celebration! My friend Editha from the clinic invited the new girls and I to her younger brother’s graduation. It was lots of fun and so interested to be at such a local and momentous event… We were definitely out of place, but everyone was happy to see a few Mzungu’s there, it was a little like we were an attraction at the zoo that everyone wanted to have their picture with. We had a great time though and the school grounds were in the most beautiful area, it was so lush and green. Everywhere I go here I am constantly amazed by how beautiful the city is. I am truly going to miss Arusha (and Tanzania) when I leave.
5 weeks left, I know it is going to go very fast, which makes me excited but nervous and scared at the same time. It is going to be very hard to leave this place, but I truly am missing everyone at home! … Heading off to Uganda as my last trip before leaving, I am going to Raft the Nile with a couple of friends and Bungee Jump into the source of it. I will try and post more often but I no longer have internet at home and the closest internet is too slow to access the blog site… Next weekend check back!
Xoxo Love from Arusha!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
I made it!
I have returned safe & sore from Mt. Kilimanjaro. Both I & the girl I climbed with made it to the top: a.k.a the roof of Africa. The trip was amazing, with wonderful scenery that was ever changing. I will be home on Saturday & I am looking forward to seeing everyone & explaining everything in person. See you all soon.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Hi All,
I am coming down to the last few days at my placement. I finish working at the hospital on Wednesday & then begin climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro on Thursday. It will take me 6 days to climb (4 days up & 2 days down) so I will be out of touch with everyone until I return.
I can't believe I have less than two weeks left, time has flown by. I think leaving will be bittersweet, happy to be home but sad to leave.
I have now been to 2 of the nurses house for a meal. They are very hospitable; you go to their house, they make you food, & then they give you a gift: kind of the opposite from home. Their houses were quite nice, but very different from one another. Though they both tell me they are very poor & they don't have much they are willing to give me the world. The people are what I will miss the most.
Just wanted to touch base before I leave for the mountain. I love & miss you all & thank you for keeping up with our blog.
xo Leah
I am coming down to the last few days at my placement. I finish working at the hospital on Wednesday & then begin climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro on Thursday. It will take me 6 days to climb (4 days up & 2 days down) so I will be out of touch with everyone until I return.
I can't believe I have less than two weeks left, time has flown by. I think leaving will be bittersweet, happy to be home but sad to leave.
I have now been to 2 of the nurses house for a meal. They are very hospitable; you go to their house, they make you food, & then they give you a gift: kind of the opposite from home. Their houses were quite nice, but very different from one another. Though they both tell me they are very poor & they don't have much they are willing to give me the world. The people are what I will miss the most.
Just wanted to touch base before I leave for the mountain. I love & miss you all & thank you for keeping up with our blog.
xo Leah
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Lion King
We both returned intact from Safari and had the most amazing experience. We woke up Thursday morning and quickly finished packing our bags before breakfast. Our guides arrived at 8:00 packed up the Land Cruisers and we were off. Our first stop was Tarangire National Park, which has more elephants per square kilometer then anywhere else in the world. Tarangire is also know for the boabab trees, they are very unique and look like the roots are coming out the top of the tree, the legend is told that a long time ago the boabab angered God so he planted the trees upside down for eternity. This park was a great first stop; we saw lots of elephants, zebras, antelope, warthogs and wildebeest (Leah’s favorite). One elephant came so close to the second car everyone had to duck their heads in so it would not get angry and charge. We spent the first night at a campground just outside of the park, ate an amazing dinner cooked by our chef Albert (also known as kibu kuli which means small cup).
We got up bright and early on day 2 and started our long drive to the Serengeti. It was about 2 hours to the gates of Ngorogoro Crater and another 3 hours on a very very bumpy dirt road to the Serengeti campsite. We stopped for lunch in the Great Rift Valley (on the other side of the crater) at Olduvai, which is ‘the birth place of mankind’; it is the site where they have discovered the oldest bones and fossils of our ancestors. It was very cool to be in a place with so much history, we checked out the museum that described a lot of the findings and different digs that took place. After lunch we proceeded on to the Serengeti. Serengeti is the Masai word for endless plains, which is very suiting. It is such a beautiful park that goes on forever. As we were driving to the campsite we stopped to see a large group of hippos and a leopard sleeping in a tree, from that moment on we knew it was going to be an awesome place to safari. We were one of the first groups to arrive at the campsite and quickly set up our tents in a row claiming our spots. We had spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner, with one of Albert’s fantastic soups – and, of course, a heaping plate of mango and papaya for dessert. We finished the evening with ghost stories in our tent before settling to sleep.
Leah and I slept soundly the whole night - other people we less fortunate (the wild animals kept them awake). Turns out baboons and giraffes visited the site at night (some even swear they heard a lion). We woke up and had tea and cookies at 6 30 and headed out for a morning drive. The day started off better then we could have hoped, we saw another leopard right away, then four cheetahs walking in the distance. We wanted to stop to visit the hippos again, but our guide Kisali told us he had a lead on lions. We saw a mom and her young son sitting in the grass, the eventually both stood up and walked straight in front of the trucks to the river to drink, we were able to follow them and watch them drink, it was unbelievable. We continued on our way back to the hippos, saw some zebra’s, more elephants and more wildebeest. Just before heading back for lunch we saw three more lions finishing a meal in the grass, their mouths were smeared with blood and they were licking their lips. We watched them for a while before heading back to eat. After lunch it was time to pack up and drive to Ngorogoro for the night. Our drive out of Serengeti was just as eventful as the morning. We spotted a young male lion perched perfectly on ‘Pride Rock’, another female on the side of the road, and finally a full-grown male lion with the most incredible mane. We were blown away by our luck. We thought the day could not get better, but on the other side of the gates we came across a family of giraffes right on the side of the road, so close to the truck, we had been waiting to see them all day. The rest of the drive was uneventful and incredibly bumpy and dusty, we were filthy and coughing up dirt when we got to Ngorogoro campsite. It was very very cold there, we set up our tents, put on our warmest clothes, wrapped ourselves in blankets and went to the mess hall for hot cocoa and pop-corn. As we sat down to eat one of the other cooks popped in and yelled at us to look outside, a huge male elephant had wandered into the campsite… I mean HUGE!! Apparently he stops by often to drink from the water tank that is conveniently his height, it was unreal, the perfect end to a fantastic day.
Our final day had arrived, we woke up and ate a breakfast of crepes, toast, mango, and eggs and started off into the crater. We were bundled up in our blankets, as it was still very cold in the morning. The crater was absolutely stunning; we stopped at the top and at various places on the way down to take pictures. We spent the morning driving around, enjoying the views and the animals. We were on a hunt for a rhino and a closer cheetah. We had a lead on a rhino and went to check it out but had no success. We were lucky with the cheetah though, and saw him just as he was heading away from the road. We also saw many birds, more zebra’s/wildebeest, hyenas, jackals, as well as water buffalo and pink flamingos. All in all it was another good day. We got back to camp after a picnic in the park and packed the truck to drive home. It was an amazing 4 days that we will both remember forever. We have amazing pictures that I cannot wait to share with you.
Love you all and look forward to telling you about more adventures!!!
xoxo - Sarah
We got up bright and early on day 2 and started our long drive to the Serengeti. It was about 2 hours to the gates of Ngorogoro Crater and another 3 hours on a very very bumpy dirt road to the Serengeti campsite. We stopped for lunch in the Great Rift Valley (on the other side of the crater) at Olduvai, which is ‘the birth place of mankind’; it is the site where they have discovered the oldest bones and fossils of our ancestors. It was very cool to be in a place with so much history, we checked out the museum that described a lot of the findings and different digs that took place. After lunch we proceeded on to the Serengeti. Serengeti is the Masai word for endless plains, which is very suiting. It is such a beautiful park that goes on forever. As we were driving to the campsite we stopped to see a large group of hippos and a leopard sleeping in a tree, from that moment on we knew it was going to be an awesome place to safari. We were one of the first groups to arrive at the campsite and quickly set up our tents in a row claiming our spots. We had spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner, with one of Albert’s fantastic soups – and, of course, a heaping plate of mango and papaya for dessert. We finished the evening with ghost stories in our tent before settling to sleep.
Leah and I slept soundly the whole night - other people we less fortunate (the wild animals kept them awake). Turns out baboons and giraffes visited the site at night (some even swear they heard a lion). We woke up and had tea and cookies at 6 30 and headed out for a morning drive. The day started off better then we could have hoped, we saw another leopard right away, then four cheetahs walking in the distance. We wanted to stop to visit the hippos again, but our guide Kisali told us he had a lead on lions. We saw a mom and her young son sitting in the grass, the eventually both stood up and walked straight in front of the trucks to the river to drink, we were able to follow them and watch them drink, it was unbelievable. We continued on our way back to the hippos, saw some zebra’s, more elephants and more wildebeest. Just before heading back for lunch we saw three more lions finishing a meal in the grass, their mouths were smeared with blood and they were licking their lips. We watched them for a while before heading back to eat. After lunch it was time to pack up and drive to Ngorogoro for the night. Our drive out of Serengeti was just as eventful as the morning. We spotted a young male lion perched perfectly on ‘Pride Rock’, another female on the side of the road, and finally a full-grown male lion with the most incredible mane. We were blown away by our luck. We thought the day could not get better, but on the other side of the gates we came across a family of giraffes right on the side of the road, so close to the truck, we had been waiting to see them all day. The rest of the drive was uneventful and incredibly bumpy and dusty, we were filthy and coughing up dirt when we got to Ngorogoro campsite. It was very very cold there, we set up our tents, put on our warmest clothes, wrapped ourselves in blankets and went to the mess hall for hot cocoa and pop-corn. As we sat down to eat one of the other cooks popped in and yelled at us to look outside, a huge male elephant had wandered into the campsite… I mean HUGE!! Apparently he stops by often to drink from the water tank that is conveniently his height, it was unreal, the perfect end to a fantastic day.
Our final day had arrived, we woke up and ate a breakfast of crepes, toast, mango, and eggs and started off into the crater. We were bundled up in our blankets, as it was still very cold in the morning. The crater was absolutely stunning; we stopped at the top and at various places on the way down to take pictures. We spent the morning driving around, enjoying the views and the animals. We were on a hunt for a rhino and a closer cheetah. We had a lead on a rhino and went to check it out but had no success. We were lucky with the cheetah though, and saw him just as he was heading away from the road. We also saw many birds, more zebra’s/wildebeest, hyenas, jackals, as well as water buffalo and pink flamingos. All in all it was another good day. We got back to camp after a picnic in the park and packed the truck to drive home. It was an amazing 4 days that we will both remember forever. We have amazing pictures that I cannot wait to share with you.
Love you all and look forward to telling you about more adventures!!!
xoxo - Sarah
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Zanzibar Vacation - Amazingly beautiful!
Sorry we have been out of touch for a while. We just returned from a 6 day, 5 night vacation just off the coast of Tanzania to the island of Zanzibar. It is technically a part of Tanzania, though it is kind of like Quebec, except more extreme. They have their own government and all the documentation is completely different.
Sarah, Steph (another girl from the house) & I flew out on Friday morning & arrived in Stonetown. There is a lot of history within the walls of Stonetown. Friday we wandered the streets, which are a bunch of confusing small alleys with shops, hotels, & restaurants on every corner. We went for lunch to Freddy Mercury’s which was right on the beach & located beside the port where we waited for the other 4 people to show up. 4 of them decided to take the bus from Arusha to Dar es Salem & then the ferry across to Zanzibar in order to save money. We decided it was a vacation & we didn’t want to waste a full day on the bus (it takes 10 hours on the bus plus a 2 hour ferry ride).
Friday night we went to the “night market.” It is in an open field next to the Indian Ocean & there are a ton of vendors selling seafood, sugarcane juice, & Zanzibar pizza (a tin crepe like outside that they put beef, onions, & veggies inside then they crack an egg in it, fold up the corners & then fry it. It was quite delicious. I also had my fill of seafood for a while, & I tried shark & barracuda!
Saturday we woke up quite early & went on a Spice Tour just outside Stonetown. We saw a lot of different spices at the plantation & tasted a lot of different fruits. We also had a lot of boys following us making us rings, necklaces, bracelets & baskets to hold our spices out of leaves. Of course we tipped them at the end of the tour. We were then given an opportunity to buy a lot of spices, which of course I did! They all look so good, hopefully they will stay semi-fresh until I get home. We were then served a delicious lunch from the spices we had just seen. We were then taken to a beach for about an hour just to hang out & we also got to see one of the slave caves. It was quite emotional seeing the conditions they were forced to stay in & the lengths many of them went to in order to escape. Few made it out & many died trying. The beach was gorgeous, I love the Indian Ocean, the water is so blue & the sand is powdery white.
That night we ate at a delicious Indian restaurant with the best Garlic Naan. Stonetown has a large Arab background so the Indian food is very good. That night we went to The Africa House hotel & smoked Shisha as a group, it was very relaxing sitting on the balcony over looking the night market & ocean. There is also a woman who lives there & has a monkey who we played with for a long time. She is the cutest little thing & had so much energy.
Sunday we headed out to Jozani Forest in central Zanzibar to see the Colubus monkeys, which are only found in Zanzibar. They were not shy at all & walked right by us. There were also a lot of cool trees & we went to a Mangrove and could walk on the roots of the trees with swamp underneath. From there we went to the south east coast, called Jambiani where we spent Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning.
Jambiani was a lazy vacation spent lying on the beach with my book & music. We had a “family house” so all of us stayed together & it walked out to sand & 20 steps to the actual beach. The Pakachi Beach Hotel (where we stayed) is owned by a really laid back rasta guy so it was a really relaxing time. I got henna tattooed on my foot & even got a massage on the beach – amazing! Monday we also rented a Dhow (traditional wooden boat) & went snorkeling & fishing. There were a lot of cool small fish & nice coral & Sam & Steph both caught fish (not big enough to eat though).
Unfortunately on Tuesday we had to leave to go back to Stonetown. I wanted to stay on the beach forever. It was even nicer than the beach in Stonetown, with the clearest turquoise water & it was gorgeously hot (well all of Zanzibar is hot, especially compared to Arusha). I can’t wait to show you guys pictures. When we got back to Stonetown we walked around through all the alleys, got lunch, & real coffee which is a hot commodity here, where everything is instant. I also shopped & again ate at the night market.
All in the entire trip was amazing. We flew back this afternoon & are now packing for safari, which starts tomorrow until Sunday. We go to Tarangire, Serengeti & Ngorongoro national parks. I am looking forward to it & can’t wait to let you know all about it.
Sarah, Steph (another girl from the house) & I flew out on Friday morning & arrived in Stonetown. There is a lot of history within the walls of Stonetown. Friday we wandered the streets, which are a bunch of confusing small alleys with shops, hotels, & restaurants on every corner. We went for lunch to Freddy Mercury’s which was right on the beach & located beside the port where we waited for the other 4 people to show up. 4 of them decided to take the bus from Arusha to Dar es Salem & then the ferry across to Zanzibar in order to save money. We decided it was a vacation & we didn’t want to waste a full day on the bus (it takes 10 hours on the bus plus a 2 hour ferry ride).
Friday night we went to the “night market.” It is in an open field next to the Indian Ocean & there are a ton of vendors selling seafood, sugarcane juice, & Zanzibar pizza (a tin crepe like outside that they put beef, onions, & veggies inside then they crack an egg in it, fold up the corners & then fry it. It was quite delicious. I also had my fill of seafood for a while, & I tried shark & barracuda!
Saturday we woke up quite early & went on a Spice Tour just outside Stonetown. We saw a lot of different spices at the plantation & tasted a lot of different fruits. We also had a lot of boys following us making us rings, necklaces, bracelets & baskets to hold our spices out of leaves. Of course we tipped them at the end of the tour. We were then given an opportunity to buy a lot of spices, which of course I did! They all look so good, hopefully they will stay semi-fresh until I get home. We were then served a delicious lunch from the spices we had just seen. We were then taken to a beach for about an hour just to hang out & we also got to see one of the slave caves. It was quite emotional seeing the conditions they were forced to stay in & the lengths many of them went to in order to escape. Few made it out & many died trying. The beach was gorgeous, I love the Indian Ocean, the water is so blue & the sand is powdery white.
That night we ate at a delicious Indian restaurant with the best Garlic Naan. Stonetown has a large Arab background so the Indian food is very good. That night we went to The Africa House hotel & smoked Shisha as a group, it was very relaxing sitting on the balcony over looking the night market & ocean. There is also a woman who lives there & has a monkey who we played with for a long time. She is the cutest little thing & had so much energy.
Sunday we headed out to Jozani Forest in central Zanzibar to see the Colubus monkeys, which are only found in Zanzibar. They were not shy at all & walked right by us. There were also a lot of cool trees & we went to a Mangrove and could walk on the roots of the trees with swamp underneath. From there we went to the south east coast, called Jambiani where we spent Sunday afternoon to Tuesday morning.
Jambiani was a lazy vacation spent lying on the beach with my book & music. We had a “family house” so all of us stayed together & it walked out to sand & 20 steps to the actual beach. The Pakachi Beach Hotel (where we stayed) is owned by a really laid back rasta guy so it was a really relaxing time. I got henna tattooed on my foot & even got a massage on the beach – amazing! Monday we also rented a Dhow (traditional wooden boat) & went snorkeling & fishing. There were a lot of cool small fish & nice coral & Sam & Steph both caught fish (not big enough to eat though).
Unfortunately on Tuesday we had to leave to go back to Stonetown. I wanted to stay on the beach forever. It was even nicer than the beach in Stonetown, with the clearest turquoise water & it was gorgeously hot (well all of Zanzibar is hot, especially compared to Arusha). I can’t wait to show you guys pictures. When we got back to Stonetown we walked around through all the alleys, got lunch, & real coffee which is a hot commodity here, where everything is instant. I also shopped & again ate at the night market.
All in the entire trip was amazing. We flew back this afternoon & are now packing for safari, which starts tomorrow until Sunday. We go to Tarangire, Serengeti & Ngorongoro national parks. I am looking forward to it & can’t wait to let you know all about it.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tanzanian Life
Hi all,
So three weeks have passed and I have settled into Tanzanian life. Work is going well, some days are very slow and there is nothing to do, but other days are very hectic. Monday, Wednesday and Friday the baby clinic is busy and Tuesday and Thursday the other volunteers and I float throughout the clinic between the nursing station where we take blood pressure and weight of the patients, reception, and the wards. This week we are going to try and get into the lab to test ourselves for malaria ect. I have seen three c-sections but no natural births yet (apparently most of the happen during the night, haha, I don’t know how they work that out). On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons I go to a school up the street to play games with the kids.
Weekends are peaceful, we tend to lounge around the house, do laundry and go out for food. Yesterday Leah and I went on a road trip to our friend Nelson’s village near Moshi. He is fixing up his old house there and turning into an orphanage with the help of one of the past volunteers. His village was amazing, absolutely beautiful, the orphanage is going to be awesome, he still has quite a bit of work to do but hopes to be able to move the kids in soon. We met a lot of the orphans that will be living there and gave them new clothes and toys that we brought over. Most of the kids are currently living with neighbors or relatives but are not being treated well so hopefully they will be able to move in soon. We also gave an HIV talk to the women and some of the men in his village, which went very well. They were very appreciative and hopefully will pass on the information to their families and friends. It was a long but wonderful day. The drive was stunning, it made me so happy to be here, Tanzania is one of the most beautiful places I have visited.
Today we all went for breakfast at one of the hotels up the road. It was so good to eat cheese and fruit and drink real coffee. The food at home is great, but there are a few things that we miss. Isaac (our cook) tends to only buy fruit once a week, and is eaten very quickly- luckily we pass orange carts all the way home from work so we can easily buy fruits ourselves, but it was a treat to have an endless supply at breakfast. The coffee was also amazing… at home we drink Africafe instant coffee (I drink a lot of tea instead), it sure makes real coffee taste amazing though! Haha. After breakfast a few of us went on a walk to the new Basecamp house, we are moving in September to a smaller house that is closer to most of the placements. Our house right now is too big for the low season because there are generally only 5 volunteers at a time, the new house is amazing though, it has a beautiful front yard and huge garden that the landlord is going to have maintained, it is all on one floor with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Moses (our country coordinator) has even agreed to get a dog (that I will have trained by the time I leave), our house right now has two dogs, but they belong to the family who lives next door. I am very excited for the move… and it means my walk to placement is only 20 min rather the 45.
That’s all that is new over here… Oh, Leah and I, along with 5 other volunteers, are heading to Zanzibar on Friday for 6 days and then 10 of us are heading out on safari when we get back!!! It should be an amazing week!!!
xoxo from Africa!
PS. I know you all probably want some photos, but the internet is very very slow here, so it might not happen, we might be able to put them up through the internet at one of the hotels, I will let you know if we manage to get it to work!
So three weeks have passed and I have settled into Tanzanian life. Work is going well, some days are very slow and there is nothing to do, but other days are very hectic. Monday, Wednesday and Friday the baby clinic is busy and Tuesday and Thursday the other volunteers and I float throughout the clinic between the nursing station where we take blood pressure and weight of the patients, reception, and the wards. This week we are going to try and get into the lab to test ourselves for malaria ect. I have seen three c-sections but no natural births yet (apparently most of the happen during the night, haha, I don’t know how they work that out). On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons I go to a school up the street to play games with the kids.
Weekends are peaceful, we tend to lounge around the house, do laundry and go out for food. Yesterday Leah and I went on a road trip to our friend Nelson’s village near Moshi. He is fixing up his old house there and turning into an orphanage with the help of one of the past volunteers. His village was amazing, absolutely beautiful, the orphanage is going to be awesome, he still has quite a bit of work to do but hopes to be able to move the kids in soon. We met a lot of the orphans that will be living there and gave them new clothes and toys that we brought over. Most of the kids are currently living with neighbors or relatives but are not being treated well so hopefully they will be able to move in soon. We also gave an HIV talk to the women and some of the men in his village, which went very well. They were very appreciative and hopefully will pass on the information to their families and friends. It was a long but wonderful day. The drive was stunning, it made me so happy to be here, Tanzania is one of the most beautiful places I have visited.
Today we all went for breakfast at one of the hotels up the road. It was so good to eat cheese and fruit and drink real coffee. The food at home is great, but there are a few things that we miss. Isaac (our cook) tends to only buy fruit once a week, and is eaten very quickly- luckily we pass orange carts all the way home from work so we can easily buy fruits ourselves, but it was a treat to have an endless supply at breakfast. The coffee was also amazing… at home we drink Africafe instant coffee (I drink a lot of tea instead), it sure makes real coffee taste amazing though! Haha. After breakfast a few of us went on a walk to the new Basecamp house, we are moving in September to a smaller house that is closer to most of the placements. Our house right now is too big for the low season because there are generally only 5 volunteers at a time, the new house is amazing though, it has a beautiful front yard and huge garden that the landlord is going to have maintained, it is all on one floor with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Moses (our country coordinator) has even agreed to get a dog (that I will have trained by the time I leave), our house right now has two dogs, but they belong to the family who lives next door. I am very excited for the move… and it means my walk to placement is only 20 min rather the 45.
That’s all that is new over here… Oh, Leah and I, along with 5 other volunteers, are heading to Zanzibar on Friday for 6 days and then 10 of us are heading out on safari when we get back!!! It should be an amazing week!!!
xoxo from Africa!
PS. I know you all probably want some photos, but the internet is very very slow here, so it might not happen, we might be able to put them up through the internet at one of the hotels, I will let you know if we manage to get it to work!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Exciting News
I am officially a nurse! My parents sent my results via e-mail. Now I can stop stressing. Thanks to everyone for their encouraging words.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Our Address
Oh I forgot.
Our address is:
P.O. Box 16963 Arusha Tanzania.
Just in case anyone wants to send anything. You can address it with our name also. Thanks!
Our address is:
P.O. Box 16963 Arusha Tanzania.
Just in case anyone wants to send anything. You can address it with our name also. Thanks!
Food Selection
Hi All,
I realized we have not yet discussed our food selection here in Tanzania. We have a cook that comes to the house Monday-Saturday. He cooks breakfast & dinner & packs us a lunch each day. There is the same schedule of food every week. So Tuesday's, tonight, is Makande, which is beans & ugali (maise) balls. It is quite delicious but I am sure I will get tired of it soon. Other items on the menu include: Ugali, some sort of chicken in "orange sauce", vegetables in "orange sauce", & sometimes he throws in some random items. It is all delicious though.
We have also gone out for food quite a few times. When you have traditional Tanzanian food everyday it is nice to go out for Indian or just Pizza. One of my favourite things I have come across is call Chips Mayai. It is the most delicious thing ever & the first time I tried it was after a night out. We literally just told our taxi driver to take us to chips mayai & he finds a random street vendor for us. It is Tanzania's version of street meat. Though they usually have delicious beef skewers also. So, you are probably wondering what this chips mayai entails so here goes: it is french fries which go in a frying pan and then they pour egg over top. And that is it. It is a french fry omelet. Don't hate it until you try it.
On the weekend I also had something called a hairy sausage...not really sure what makes it hairy so mixture of spices & being deep fried but again delicious. Nothing here is remotely good for you, except the corn that the women cook & sell on street corners. I have it about every other day! That is about it for food.
Fenz & I booked flights to Zanzibar today so we are very excited about that. There is a group of 6 of us going so it should be a lot of fun.
Surgery day was cool. I was glad to see it was pretty legit, unlike some of the other things that go on at the hospital. I saw a C-section, a hysterectomy with suprise appendectomy & a guy with a badly broken tibia & fibula that was reset & casted. So, it was pretty fun, there is another C-section scheduled for Thursday so hopefully it will be while I am at the hospital.
I think that is all for now. Hope it starts to warm up there & stops raining.
xo, Leah
I realized we have not yet discussed our food selection here in Tanzania. We have a cook that comes to the house Monday-Saturday. He cooks breakfast & dinner & packs us a lunch each day. There is the same schedule of food every week. So Tuesday's, tonight, is Makande, which is beans & ugali (maise) balls. It is quite delicious but I am sure I will get tired of it soon. Other items on the menu include: Ugali, some sort of chicken in "orange sauce", vegetables in "orange sauce", & sometimes he throws in some random items. It is all delicious though.
We have also gone out for food quite a few times. When you have traditional Tanzanian food everyday it is nice to go out for Indian or just Pizza. One of my favourite things I have come across is call Chips Mayai. It is the most delicious thing ever & the first time I tried it was after a night out. We literally just told our taxi driver to take us to chips mayai & he finds a random street vendor for us. It is Tanzania's version of street meat. Though they usually have delicious beef skewers also. So, you are probably wondering what this chips mayai entails so here goes: it is french fries which go in a frying pan and then they pour egg over top. And that is it. It is a french fry omelet. Don't hate it until you try it.
On the weekend I also had something called a hairy sausage...not really sure what makes it hairy so mixture of spices & being deep fried but again delicious. Nothing here is remotely good for you, except the corn that the women cook & sell on street corners. I have it about every other day! That is about it for food.
Fenz & I booked flights to Zanzibar today so we are very excited about that. There is a group of 6 of us going so it should be a lot of fun.
Surgery day was cool. I was glad to see it was pretty legit, unlike some of the other things that go on at the hospital. I saw a C-section, a hysterectomy with suprise appendectomy & a guy with a badly broken tibia & fibula that was reset & casted. So, it was pretty fun, there is another C-section scheduled for Thursday so hopefully it will be while I am at the hospital.
I think that is all for now. Hope it starts to warm up there & stops raining.
xo, Leah
Friday, July 17, 2009
Placement - So different & a little scary
So, I have now started my placement. It is a general hospital with a white building in the front, housing reception, assessment rooms and the diabetic and outpatient clinics. As I walk further back there is a courtyard housing the laboratory, pharmacy, payment window & offices. And at the back there is a newer building with 9 rooms, 6 doubles & 3 private rooms. However, the private rooms are always empty because no one can afford to stay there. Room 7 is where I keep my stuff locked in the closet, so obviously there is never anyone in there. The operating theatre is also in the back building though I have not seen a surgery yet. Doctors come from other hospitals to perform all scheduled surgeries on Saturdays. Our doctors only do emergency surgeries such as C-section’s, appendectomy’s, etc. I am planning on going in tomorrow to view a few of the scheduled surgeries, however most of my weekends are getting filled up with trips I am planning.
The beginning of my week was quite boring, I sat in on report, which luckily is mostly in English, except for when they go on random tangents. I then did ward rounds and took part in a few of the clinics (diabetic & CTC an HIV clinic), however I just stood there as they spoke in Swahili the whole time and didn’t explain to me what was going on.
Yesterday I was paired with an amazing nurse in the Reproductive & Child Health Clinic. She explained everything to me & we had a few good chats about Canada & our health care system. The children were adorable, ranging in age from 1 month to 4 years. They came to be weighed, & get their immunizations. This also gave us an opportunity to discuss family planning with the mothers. The clinic is also for expecting Mother’s, though this is a little sketchier as we determine the fetal heart rate by placing a metal cone type thing to the women’s belly & putting your ear to it. In fact, I couldn’t hear the heart rate at all & the calculate beats per minute without even looking at a watch…???
Today was a good day, I felt semi helpful. I worked on the inpatient ward, did rounds, inputed patient’s charges (they have to pay for service) into the computer & dispensed medications. Unfortunately, giving medications was the most frustrating experience as it took over 1.5 hours to give out approx. 12 medications. Everything here is very disorganized & takes years to get any work done.
We are currently looking at flights for Zanzibar Island for the weekend of August 1st. So excited!!! No big plans for this weekend so far. One of the volunteers just had a play structure built at the orphanage he is working at so we may go to help paint it this weekend. Other than that, surgery day tomorrow & relaxing Sunday.
Love & Miss you all. Hope you are all enjoy the summer weather at home.
Xo, Leah
The beginning of my week was quite boring, I sat in on report, which luckily is mostly in English, except for when they go on random tangents. I then did ward rounds and took part in a few of the clinics (diabetic & CTC an HIV clinic), however I just stood there as they spoke in Swahili the whole time and didn’t explain to me what was going on.
Yesterday I was paired with an amazing nurse in the Reproductive & Child Health Clinic. She explained everything to me & we had a few good chats about Canada & our health care system. The children were adorable, ranging in age from 1 month to 4 years. They came to be weighed, & get their immunizations. This also gave us an opportunity to discuss family planning with the mothers. The clinic is also for expecting Mother’s, though this is a little sketchier as we determine the fetal heart rate by placing a metal cone type thing to the women’s belly & putting your ear to it. In fact, I couldn’t hear the heart rate at all & the calculate beats per minute without even looking at a watch…???
Today was a good day, I felt semi helpful. I worked on the inpatient ward, did rounds, inputed patient’s charges (they have to pay for service) into the computer & dispensed medications. Unfortunately, giving medications was the most frustrating experience as it took over 1.5 hours to give out approx. 12 medications. Everything here is very disorganized & takes years to get any work done.
We are currently looking at flights for Zanzibar Island for the weekend of August 1st. So excited!!! No big plans for this weekend so far. One of the volunteers just had a play structure built at the orphanage he is working at so we may go to help paint it this weekend. Other than that, surgery day tomorrow & relaxing Sunday.
Love & Miss you all. Hope you are all enjoy the summer weather at home.
Xo, Leah
Monday, July 13, 2009
Long over-due update!!
Mambo Rafiki’s
Sorry for the lack of communication, here is a long update about what has been going on! … we have been here for just over a week now, but it seems like we have been here for so much longer, Arusha is slowly becoming home and we are getting more and more comfortable around town. Orientation week is almost over, our last activity is a long hike up to a waterfall on Mt. Meru tomorrow.
The past few days have been very busy. We are become much better at Kswahili and are having fun chatting with the locals and bargaining at the markets. Our Swahili lessons are now over, so from now on we just have to practice!
Wednesday we went to a coffee plantation that had a jewelry workshop next to it. The jewelry was all made by deaf or disabled individuals, because they are rarely educated here and have a hard time finding employment. The place was gorgeous, we started off by having a tour of the workshop, then checked out the store next door. They then brought us amazing coffee and cakes in a couched seating area in the yard, just as we were finishing our cakes monkeys started coming out of the forest. There were tons of them that started running around and playing on the furniture, they provided us with great entertainment. Once we finished our snack we had a tour of the coffee plantation and saw how coffee was made, it was really neat to see the different steps of the process… I will definitely be going back to buy some coffee to bring home.
Thursday we checked out our placements, which we started today… I will go into more detail at the end. Friday we split up into groups and did ‘amazing race Arusha’ – basically we put to use everything we learned during orientation, we bargained at the market, road a dalla dalla down the street, and ran all over the city doing a variety of tasks, it was awesome and I feel so much more comfortable now. Saturday was the last official day of orientation, we did a 7 hour hike to a beautiful waterfall, it was tough but amazing once we got there.
Yesterday we had the day off and all went to a place called Magi Moto hot springs, it was absolutely stunning, we drove for 1.5 hours through very very dry land and all of a sudden there was a hidden oasis, we swam and hung out for a few hours before going back. On our way back however our engine started to over heat (a friend of ours owns a dalla dalla and took us there) so we had to pull over and he threw water on it which sprayed everywhere, once it cooled down a bit we hopped back in and were on our way, we were all very happy when we arrived home… a side note about the roads here - there are no speed limits so there are speed-bumps randomly placed along the road (including on the highway), the speed-bumps are so big though that the bottom of the cars scrapes them… hence the dalla dalla having trouble towards the end of our journey.
And finally today: our first day of placement!
I am working at Arusha Health Center for Women and Children, it is a very very small clinic that serves mostly women and children of low SES. Some of the practices are a little strange, and would shock most of the nurses that read this, but it is going to be very educational, and I am looking forward to it… They have a lot of good things going at the clinic as well, today I worked at the baby clinic weighing and helping vaccinate babies. They all have baby books, just like at home, and return every month to be weighed; we also graph their weight in the book so the mothers can see if their baby is over or underweight for their age. The most exciting part of my day however, was an emergency C-section this afternoon. We scrubbed in and watched the doctors cut through layers and layers, which was slightly gruesome, but very cool, and then all of a sudden there was a baby!! … We started to go into the other room to watch the nurses clean it up and weigh it, but then we saw another baby coming out!! … it was unreal, because of the lack of good ultra-sound equipment they did not know it was twins, both were healthy and happy, it was such an amazing experience!
Leah is working at the AICC which is the nicest and largest hospital in Arusha, most of other volunteers are jealous of her hospital, it is luxury compared to most of the placements… she will describe her experience more in the next post.
That is all!!! Sorry for the long post this time, but they will get shorter!! Oh and for all the Mulgravians reading this, I saw Nolo today!!! She has not change a bit, it was so good to see her!!
Xoxo
Sarah
Sorry for the lack of communication, here is a long update about what has been going on! … we have been here for just over a week now, but it seems like we have been here for so much longer, Arusha is slowly becoming home and we are getting more and more comfortable around town. Orientation week is almost over, our last activity is a long hike up to a waterfall on Mt. Meru tomorrow.
The past few days have been very busy. We are become much better at Kswahili and are having fun chatting with the locals and bargaining at the markets. Our Swahili lessons are now over, so from now on we just have to practice!
Wednesday we went to a coffee plantation that had a jewelry workshop next to it. The jewelry was all made by deaf or disabled individuals, because they are rarely educated here and have a hard time finding employment. The place was gorgeous, we started off by having a tour of the workshop, then checked out the store next door. They then brought us amazing coffee and cakes in a couched seating area in the yard, just as we were finishing our cakes monkeys started coming out of the forest. There were tons of them that started running around and playing on the furniture, they provided us with great entertainment. Once we finished our snack we had a tour of the coffee plantation and saw how coffee was made, it was really neat to see the different steps of the process… I will definitely be going back to buy some coffee to bring home.
Thursday we checked out our placements, which we started today… I will go into more detail at the end. Friday we split up into groups and did ‘amazing race Arusha’ – basically we put to use everything we learned during orientation, we bargained at the market, road a dalla dalla down the street, and ran all over the city doing a variety of tasks, it was awesome and I feel so much more comfortable now. Saturday was the last official day of orientation, we did a 7 hour hike to a beautiful waterfall, it was tough but amazing once we got there.
Yesterday we had the day off and all went to a place called Magi Moto hot springs, it was absolutely stunning, we drove for 1.5 hours through very very dry land and all of a sudden there was a hidden oasis, we swam and hung out for a few hours before going back. On our way back however our engine started to over heat (a friend of ours owns a dalla dalla and took us there) so we had to pull over and he threw water on it which sprayed everywhere, once it cooled down a bit we hopped back in and were on our way, we were all very happy when we arrived home… a side note about the roads here - there are no speed limits so there are speed-bumps randomly placed along the road (including on the highway), the speed-bumps are so big though that the bottom of the cars scrapes them… hence the dalla dalla having trouble towards the end of our journey.
And finally today: our first day of placement!
I am working at Arusha Health Center for Women and Children, it is a very very small clinic that serves mostly women and children of low SES. Some of the practices are a little strange, and would shock most of the nurses that read this, but it is going to be very educational, and I am looking forward to it… They have a lot of good things going at the clinic as well, today I worked at the baby clinic weighing and helping vaccinate babies. They all have baby books, just like at home, and return every month to be weighed; we also graph their weight in the book so the mothers can see if their baby is over or underweight for their age. The most exciting part of my day however, was an emergency C-section this afternoon. We scrubbed in and watched the doctors cut through layers and layers, which was slightly gruesome, but very cool, and then all of a sudden there was a baby!! … We started to go into the other room to watch the nurses clean it up and weigh it, but then we saw another baby coming out!! … it was unreal, because of the lack of good ultra-sound equipment they did not know it was twins, both were healthy and happy, it was such an amazing experience!
Leah is working at the AICC which is the nicest and largest hospital in Arusha, most of other volunteers are jealous of her hospital, it is luxury compared to most of the placements… she will describe her experience more in the next post.
That is all!!! Sorry for the long post this time, but they will get shorter!! Oh and for all the Mulgravians reading this, I saw Nolo today!!! She has not change a bit, it was so good to see her!!
Xoxo
Sarah
Still alive, Tanzanian internet
Just letting everyone know we are still alive. Our internet has been down for the last few days but is finally back up and running. A longer more encompassing blog is on it's way.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Daladala's, Snakes, Alligators, & Camel Humps
Basecamp is awesome! Everyone is really nice & orientation week allows us to really get to know one another & the town of Arusha. We are living in a four bed room (2 bunk beds) with only one other women. She is in her early 50's and was in Arusha last year with volunteer abroad, so she is a good resource of what to do & where to go around the town.
The house is gorgeous, it is called the "White House" and has a great balcony across the front of the house. We also have a small balcony off of our bedroom which is quite nice for some extra light. There is a small lawn out front which is great to lay on & read a book, or write in the journal.
Neither of us has started our placements, we have been involved in orientation activities including: language training, tours of the town, museums, and markets. Today we went to a poor area that is actually just down the street from our house. We went with our language teacher and attempted to speak with the people there, with some success and many failures. The children were adorable and yell Mzungu Mzungu (which is a tourist, or white person, esencially us) to get our attention. The also were grabbing at our skin and holding our hands, really just adorable.
In the afternoon we went to a snake park which had a lot of poisonous snakes as well as constrictors and alligators. We got to hold a small alligator and a snake. Afterward we were given a tour of the Massai (a local tribe) museum and their traditions and way of living. After which, we took a camel ride to a Massai village. The camels were very cool until we almost fell off a couple of times on the way back from the village. Luckily we had each other to hold on to. When we got to the village we were surrounded by smiling children. It was amazing to see them but also quite sad as some of the children did not have pants to wear, and there were flies all around.
We are having an amazing time and are looking forward to the rest of this week and the activities planned for us. We are thinking we will have a different account for pictures as we can only upload one at a time on here and the internet is far too slow to do that.
- Leah
The house is gorgeous, it is called the "White House" and has a great balcony across the front of the house. We also have a small balcony off of our bedroom which is quite nice for some extra light. There is a small lawn out front which is great to lay on & read a book, or write in the journal.
Neither of us has started our placements, we have been involved in orientation activities including: language training, tours of the town, museums, and markets. Today we went to a poor area that is actually just down the street from our house. We went with our language teacher and attempted to speak with the people there, with some success and many failures. The children were adorable and yell Mzungu Mzungu (which is a tourist, or white person, esencially us) to get our attention. The also were grabbing at our skin and holding our hands, really just adorable.
In the afternoon we went to a snake park which had a lot of poisonous snakes as well as constrictors and alligators. We got to hold a small alligator and a snake. Afterward we were given a tour of the Massai (a local tribe) museum and their traditions and way of living. After which, we took a camel ride to a Massai village. The camels were very cool until we almost fell off a couple of times on the way back from the village. Luckily we had each other to hold on to. When we got to the village we were surrounded by smiling children. It was amazing to see them but also quite sad as some of the children did not have pants to wear, and there were flies all around.
We are having an amazing time and are looking forward to the rest of this week and the activities planned for us. We are thinking we will have a different account for pictures as we can only upload one at a time on here and the internet is far too slow to do that.
- Leah
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy Birthday Brigid
Happy Birthday Brig,
We miss you, and hope you are having an amazing day.
... My (Leah) phone number is: 001 255 688 044 087
It is free for me if you want to call. Obviously I am not expecting you to call but if you feel the need to talk to me I will have it with me most of the time.
Fenzzi is probably getting a cell phone tomorrow, stay tuned for details.
xo Have a great day!
We miss you, and hope you are having an amazing day.
... My (Leah) phone number is: 001 255 688 044 087
It is free for me if you want to call. Obviously I am not expecting you to call but if you feel the need to talk to me I will have it with me most of the time.
Fenzzi is probably getting a cell phone tomorrow, stay tuned for details.
xo Have a great day!
We have arrived!
Hello All!!!
We are here!!! We arrived in safely last night and spent the morning walking around town exploring. Basecamp is beautiful and everyone is very nice. We have a busy week ahead of us getting to know the area. Tonight we are having a traditional African meal and a bonfire in the yard. We will keep you posted as the week goes on and we have more to say!
xoxo
Leah and Sarah
We are here!!! We arrived in safely last night and spent the morning walking around town exploring. Basecamp is beautiful and everyone is very nice. We have a busy week ahead of us getting to know the area. Tonight we are having a traditional African meal and a bonfire in the yard. We will keep you posted as the week goes on and we have more to say!
xoxo
Leah and Sarah
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Welcome to our blog!
Hello Friends & Family,
We made this blog to keep you all updated on our lives in Africa. Feel free to comment and keep in touch. We will most likely take turns blogging, trying to update it as often as possible. I hope you all enjoy our stories and photos that will begin in just over a week.
Love,
Leah & Sarah
We made this blog to keep you all updated on our lives in Africa. Feel free to comment and keep in touch. We will most likely take turns blogging, trying to update it as often as possible. I hope you all enjoy our stories and photos that will begin in just over a week.
Love,
Leah & Sarah
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