Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hey guys...so i don't have long but im going to try and get this all done!so i appolagise for any mis-spellings or typoes.
so as i said, safari was AWESOME! we started in lake manyara national park and saw plenty of giraff, elephants, flamingoes, pelicans, buffulo, hippoes, baboons (that would just sit in the road untill they felt like moving), dik-dik (a kind of tiny deer), monkeys, wilderbeest and loads loads more. we thought an elephant was going to charge at one point becasue her baby crossed the road right in front of the car so when she followed, she stopped and just started at us for about 10 minutes.
turned out we ere only a group of 4, all of whom ended up helping me out in some way! the food was the best i've ever tastedand the next day, we made our way throught the highlands of the ngorogoro crater to get to the serengheti. we stopped for lunch on the way cos apparantly you can't eat lunch once you;'ve crossed into the serengheti incase baboons try and steel you lunch, there was a maasai boy where we stopped who just stood there and stared with his spear bigger than me, a massive stick and a huuuge knife. It was a little disconcerting but our driver explianed that their main way of getting money is from tourists taking picures cos they then make you pay. They don't usually use money otherwise.we ended up giving some of our lunch boxes away as credit in order to take some pictures of a tiny boy who later came round the corner with about 400 goats! how they dont lose them all i have no idea but apparently they'll know every single one individually so they'll know exactly which one has been lost or stolen. the maasai are the most famous tribe in northern Tanzania.On the way to the serengehti, we passed one maasai village (of which ill put up potoes when i can, possible only possible once i get back tro england) with 150 people living in it...2 brothers and all their wives and children. We found out that they tend to share their many wives and that the wives get chosen buy the man at birth. The man has to pay for the baby with a cow and if he doesnt have a cow, he has to go and kill a lion!
we also saw our first zebra and osterich on the way.
Once in the serengheti, we saw our first lion, hyena, and plenty more giraff, elephants, buffalo, wilderbeest, gazelle, hippoes and crocodile, voltures, 2 leopards, 20 more lions (!) and we were camping in the middle of nowhere. The campsite had no fence so we got a bit worried by the lion roars during the night and we were told that in no circumstances were we allowed to leave our shoes outside out tents or go to the toilet during the night...apparently the hyenaa like to play with your shoes and carry them off.the 2nd night we were there we had a giraff very close to our ttents too.
the last day int eh seregheti was incredible. we had got up extra early in order to go animal searching before heading back to the ngorogoro crater. with8in the first 5 minutes we stumbled accross a whole pack of 5 lions (1 male with his females) having just killed their breakfast just feet from the road! We also had a pack of 6 hynenas circling the feast (and the car), tyring to get a peice of the wilderbeest.The funniest thing was that one of the female lions then bit off the wilderbeests tale and started wearing it as what looked like a hair piece! they were haviong great fun fgampboling around, tyring to catch eachother with it. during the day, we also saw loads od impala, heartybeest and millions and millions more zebra, gazelle etc.
However, the 2nd night of campingnin the seregheti campsite, Eric, our driver, had taken our camera batteries to a lodge near by so that we could charge them. It must have fallen out of the window on his way back because when he got back, he handed me an empty charger. We thought we'd at least tryb an retrace his steps back to lodge in the morning and we actually found it on the road! I don;t think he could have been more relieved but when he got out to pick it up, we found it had been chewed! No idea waht by or how or why, out of the whole of the serengheti this animal decided to choose this as its food but either way...this means i no longer have a camera. so im afraid no pictures for now peeps. But i guess its one of the most original souvebirs of sfari i could ask for! and by this point, we had all agreed that when it comes to travelling i africa, your moto has to be 'its all part of the adventure' or you'll never get anywhere.
it just so happens that one of the girls on safari had a spare camera so i was able to put my memeory card in that for the rest of sfari :). Jess continued to be a life saver cos i came to africa thinking it would be hot...BIG mistakje. safari was freezing! she lent me clothes and blnakets throughout the trip and she even gave me free food and lodging once back in arusha. I had a bit of another panick when we got back becaiuse my card wansnt working yet again but she sorted me all out and got me on the bus to Dar es salaam safe and sound by the next morning...seriously a lifesaver.
The final nihgt was spent in a campsite looking over the Ngorogoro crater. the view was incredible and despuite it being the most criowded campsite we'd stayed in yet, there were so many animals just miandering through as they liked. the most terrifying experience of the trip is easily the elephant adventure in this camp-site. he had wandered in to get a drink form the water trough (agin, will; put up pictures when i can) and everyone go9t rather excited and started surounding him, taking pictures. Ofcourse he got a bit mad when he looked up and realised he was trapped and started trumpeting around. everyone had to sprint cos he did not looked like he was going to head for the tents at one point but luckily headed into the treas in the end.
the last day was spent in Ngororgoro crater. we saw plenty more hippoes, heard animals, flamingoes and what looked like a very old lion with an amazing main! he was actually on his 'honeymoon' and so apparenlty this means they stay away from the rest of the pack for a week and mate about every 10 mins. seemed like less to us! lol
we didnt get to see any Rhinos in the crater which is a shame but all the lions shinanigans made up for it. We were really lucky.
I didnt want it to end, especiually as i had no iodea what i was doing once i was back in the real world but as I said, Jess helped me out 2 happened to also be travelling to Zanzibar. Im forever gratefull i could treavel with them because i could not have dealt with the mobs of taxi drivers that dont even let you off the bus once you get to Dar.
The rest of dar and Zanzibar I think i've mentioned in my first update so I'll try not to repeat myself.
Once back in Dar es salaam (after a very rough boat ride), I had one night on my own before meeting some other voluneers.
turned out there were 19 of them and that we were going to be staying in dar for another 3 nights. this was pretty good as it meant we were having sawahili lessons in the morning and got to go to the beach one evening and Judy, the lttitude rep., got to show us the massive shopping complex. sadly found out that they didnt do camera batteries and therefore no where in tanzania wouls either. We also went to Judy's shop which was in the middle of a shanty town. this was the closest i had been to the poverty in africa as i had stuck to the towns so far.
Wednesday morning, we all travelled to out different placements. I am with one other English giurl but there is another plavcement quite near by so we are going to try and meet uop this weeknd and I think we will be spending miost weeknd travelling to eachoths placements.
Mama Bakita (who will be refered to as mama B from now on) was there ready to pick us up. The centre is actually far more well off than we had been informed and we were surprised tpo find that we had showers and that the main school doesnt start untioll this coming monday. I still dont really feel like i know what the amani centre is about but i think iots just going to take time because you dont really get told anything ar9ound here. in fact we just bumped intoi some guy at the pub the other day who sai he was supised to be a project co-oiordinator,. but we hadnt been told anything about him or that he even existed. he didnt seem worried about the fact that he ahd totaly failed to organise any of out proiject so far either!
right, thats all i have time for for now but im not even close to finfishing so i will try be back soon!
IN the meant itme, take care!
Kwaheri sasa
xxx
ok, got another couple mins...
so there were already 2 other volunters at the centre when we gfot there but each of them were only staying a couple weeks.they ahd apparenly gone round the village the day befoire to see if any of the children wanted to come in anyway as they had both come all the way from england to fijnd that there was no volunteering top be done! we got told the next mronign that we wree suposed to be t4eachiong that morning. thinking up a maths lkesson in 5 moinutes before the lesson was suposed to be happening was not a comforting task but we ended up having to amke the lesson easier and easier as the choildrens abilities became more apparent. we hand't been told what age the choildren were, how many there would be or how severe their disabilities were.
they do seem to already have some very good teachers and the place doesnt seem to be falling to peices. there are also another 20 volunteers coming from england for a week in a 2 weeks time! so i was considering fining another orphanage or school that might need the help a little more. but we will really see how the place runs once school starts so swe'll see.
that thursday, Nicola, one of the other volunteers, had been feeling ill so we took her to the doctor who toild us she had maleria(a complete lie we later found out).
That friday, we spent 5 1/2 hours in a very squashed truck traveling to a small village called Mpwapwa near Dodoma, the capital. we were to be spending a weekend there campaigning for a special needs centre their. I think we were mainly there to be white and to have money because we couldn't contribute much else. We hadnt been told anything about why we were r4eally their or what we would be doinfg there so you can imagine ourt surprise when we got gretted by 60 dancing, drumming and yelliong Tanzanian women giving us a traditional welcome. it was all a bit overwhelimg., especiually when we had to stand up beh9ind a high table to introduce ourselves to a hall full of poeple who wree looking up at us as though we were going to solve all their problems. Just because we were white, they auromativclly asume we know whet we're doing and we re vbasicaly told to say we do mama B just to give these mothers hope. they wre all there, looking up at us as though we were gods about to magiclally cure their child of their disability.
turned out it was an aweness and fundrasiung cmpaigne.
ok, so apparenly school doesnt start till NEXT week. you gota love africa.
after a long introduction and welcoming ceremny of more drumming and dancing, we were lead donw the street in a parade to the local church where we had to introduce ourselves all over again to the vicar and the congregation. we'll be pros a public speaking by the end of this. though the great thing is, not manynof them spoeak engflish so if we went horribly wroing, Mama B could always translate something different.
We finallygot aback to our host family's house where we would be staying. They are so welcoming and friendly here in the villages, especially seeing as they have no running water or electricity.
the conference itself was petrifying! It was like the introduction ceremony but in a bigger hall, with quadrouple the amount of people and lasting 5 hours. we had also been told the night before that we were each expected to make a 5-10 minute speech about disability in england. the rest was spent trying to understand as much swahili as posdsible and not fall asleep! We were sat at the high table again while all the children and mothers were made to sit on the floor in front of us. .it felt pretty awekward and hypocrytical seeing as we were there because we were trying to get these children and mothers more rights and be treated like normal citizens.
we walked to the conference hall as a parade again but it was even bigger and louder than before. the women were giving us their drums and we were asked to walk at the front. I think it gives the campaigne a lot of credibility if 'wazungu' are also taking part. a lot of children in the village and never seen a mzungu before and so the train of people got larger and lager as we trailed through the village. most were children who would stand as close to us as they dared and and stare. occactionally one would be brave enought o shake our hand and then run away petrified but it was an incredible experience to be part of the march.
After feeling very tired afetr a long day, we stopped off at the meat market on the way home (you can imagine my excitement as a vegetarian). lol, no, it was actually a really good experience. we spent it getting to know some of the pole we were with (generally connected to the amani centre in some way). we went for a samll walk just in the shrubbery surrounding it and once the locals saw our cameras, they got really excited and started wanting picture after picture with us! it was so sweet to see their reaction eachtime they saw themselves. I'm pretty sure most of them had never seen themselves in a mirror before and their certa9inly hadnt been many tourists around this area before. We watched a beatufulol africa sunset there too.
We also went to the local market on sunday, before heading back to morogoro. they sell everything from blankets to food and shoes and the cries of 'mzungu' kept following us as we wandere4d rounnd the stools.
Monday we finaly got some of the toys we had broiught form england out and started playing with the children in the street. It's such a small village that most of them know us by now but it was nice be greeted by our names rather than 'mzungu' or 'give me money' after that! the number of children seemed to quadrouple after we got the efirst couple baloons out and so we got a big game oif skipping going and brought the footballs out. they were amazed by our sunglasses and spent hours just taking pictures of themselves too :).
Nicola ( one of the oth volunteers) had been ill while we were in Mpwapwa and waht we had thoughtb was malaria had started to turn into a really nasty rash that meant she couldnt sleep so by tuesday we decided that she needed to go to the hospital in Dar. Bianca went with her and left early as she was supiosed to be leaving to go travelling on the thursday anyway so me and Stacey tried out best to fil out time untill Nicola came back in time to go to Mvomero (another centre of the amani centre about an hour away form Morogoro).
We went hiking up Morogoro mountain and made several children cry! the smaller ones and never seen mzungu and as the track was so narrow, when they realised we were coming towards them, the just burst into tears and ran! never thouhgt we could be tyhat some of them.We aso saw plenty of monjkeys and a couple of snakes on our way up.
that evening, we went to the local outdoor mass aswell (there's one every morning and evening plus the normal sunday service here). It just so happened that they had american missionaries that night so we actually understood it but this meant that we felt even more uncomfortable again. the speeches were about no difference between colour, we are all equal but the second we walked up, people started staring and we got pushed to the froint where all the choldren were sitting. once spotted, a lady came over to us and lead us right accross the stage to the other side wehere they had laid out 2 stalls, just for us. this meant we were sat right at the front, and proped up above evryone else...not sure about equality. the missionaries speech was very emotional but in some ways i wish i hadn't understood it all. the speech ended with groups of the sick in the village coming froward and being 'healed' just as long as they beleived. this was kind of understandable but they then called the disabled of the village up to be told that they too would be healed, just as long as they believed.
once the missionaries had gone to take the details of the converted, the preist then asked us to come up on stage with him. Luckily we were able to refuse this offer without being too rufde and were able to stay with the locals. Of which im really gratefull because wonce the ceremony was over, thew music and dancing started again. all the women stated dancing with us in the crowd and the children started crowding around us, each trying to touch our skin or hair.
Nicola (the ill one) came back from dar on friday in time to come to Mvomero with us. She's still not entirley better but she was improving and as wer have no idea what she was reacting to, she decided to come back anyway.
Mvomero is another branch of amani, inbetween Mororgoro and Dodoma. It's a self-suffient centre, run by some orphans who look after the disabled children. the women there are soo lovely and really look after you, despite the lack of running water or electricity. it's an incredible community they have set up. We attended each of their evening prayers and meetings as they all help out with the farm work and have evening meetings to discuss what needs to be donme the next day and how they are all ghoing to contribute. Obviously we didnt understand much but the stars there enough to keep you occupied! I've never seen so many in my life.
If you have sponsored me, this is where the money might be going. The area is very very short of water and so they need to raise 2000 pounds to hire a drill so that they can dig their well deeper. But there are several projects amani are working on so I am waiting untill i kniow a bit more about amani before handing over the money.
the first thing we did once ion mvpomero was meet the priest who would be poracitcing that sunday when we would be introducing ourselves to the comunity in church again.
we then went to mama B's auntie's house on the way home, where we got invited to a wedding the next day. it was actually a wedding, baptism and confermation all in ohne ceremony but the bride looked so unhappy the whole way thr9ough! we later found out that's its traditoional to not smile at ypour wedding in ordre to shoew respect to your family. its emant to be seen more as a sad goodbye occation or something. we also saw mama B's mountain house behind the church after the service.
coming back wa the most enetertaing 2 hours of literally being squashed in a ball, wedged between a bag of rice and a sack of tomatoes. I'm going to miss the tanzanian style of travelling! the average daladala (minibus) has about 4 pepol hanging out the side door while you have as many people as possibel sat on your lap.
went to an orphanage just outside of morogoro. it's entirely run by nuns who do an amazing job but as day care at amani wio be fifnisdhing around miday, i think I might travel here a couple times a week to eholp out there.
the eveing was s-[ent going to sabasaba festival! it's the only bank-holidfay like fesival here and the security guard at amani was singing so we went along to support her. the afternoon was all locvsal bands and the evening was for the big names and dance competitoins. never seen dancing like it! the 2 locals we went with (Mama B's nephew and hid friend) tried to teach us but it's insane!
most mornings I've been helping out in physiotherapy room as the day care centre only starts next week. this weekend we met up with the other placement in morogoro and as they are living in an international school, we have been going there a coupole times to use their swimming pool and sports facilities! although it's a very nice place, I'm pretty glad we don't have tgheir placement. they have noty been able to get to know the communtiy that well as all the te4achersa there are english.
the other day, some previous volunteers turned up for a visit! they had been here 2 years ago and said it had changed hugely. it was great heariong about their experience and apparenly there's a local school near by that they used to terach at in the afternoons. they were only visitikng for a day but one of them is coming back in a week so hopefully she'kll be able to showe us around a bit. In which case, we might be spenined most afternoons doing that too.
think thats most of it for. really sorry for the bad english, typing and spelling!
hopefully i'll have a bit more time to make some sense next time.
Hopw you're all well!
lots of love,
Badai
xxx
- comments