Monday 20 August 2007
The time of my life
Almost last thing I do before heading to airport! Was going to try some kind of clever summing up of the whole trip with my thoughts on Africa etc but am short of time and am yet to cultivate such thoughts so just news from the last stint of travels...last stop in Uganda was a trip up to Murchison Falls on Lake Albert in the North west - breathtakingly stunning views, an amazing safari game drive (during which a leopard RAN BESIDE OUR CAR!!! - esp exciting as they say there are incredibly few leopards at Murch now), boat trip up the Nile to the falls and a hike around them - apparently some jokers like to raft down them but I think more than a torn ligament would come from that! Then met up with a Tz friend and took the most hard-to-the-core bus journey from Kampala to Nakuru in Kenya - 17 hours over arguably the worst road in Africa. Lacking Valium, a copy of Harry Potter that they found was the only thing that got me through. A bit of a mission through the Rift Valley and we got to Lake Naivasha, with incredible views across and a beautiful campsite right on the shores. We'd planned a mountain biking day in Hells Gate NP but my knee was feeling a little dodgy, so instead took a boat out on the lake for the day and thoroughly chilled in the sunshine and peaceful scenery. Amazing meal last night (crayfish in garlic and white wine sauce followed by Amarula cheescake!! Tz people will know how good that is) and now in Nairobi, about to catch our shuttle bus to airport that we've winged for free through the Hilton hotel...out to partaaay tonight in Dubai during our 10 hour stopover and then I guess I'll be seeing you all soon! To finish, this trip has without a doubt been the best thing I've ever done, and the experiences and friends made along the way will last forever - or at least until I get round to the next african adventure!
Tuesday 14 August 2007
It's the final countdown
Utterly BIZARRE that a week today i will find myself in heathrow..incredibly mixed feelings about the whole thing, and am seriously going to miss life as it currently is. But rather than tearful anticipation i need to update you all on recent events which have been immensely cool, mainly featuring antics on the Nile river with a raft and the best grade 5 rapids in the world! Spent a day in this little boat with a Russian, a Croat, a Ukranian, an Irish guy, an American, a Canadian and a serious Italian Stallion (going wild as opposed to mild over the rapids), flipping the boat as much as possible,getting caught up in whirlpool things, messing around, having lots of fun and wound up with a tear in a ligament in my knee! But all so very very worth it, as usual met amazing people, maxed out on the free food and alcofrolics and had a great weekend. Bujugali falls also very beautiful. Then found my way to Kampala by a string of interesting transport and went down to Entebbe yesterday to the very beautiful botanical gardens (saw lots of colobus monkeys including the cutest mama and baby!). Spent last night with the Bells (friends of Jeremy and Barbara) in their amazingly beautiful house on the hills surrounding Kampala - the novelty of good food and a comfy bed never wears off it seems!Off up to Murchison Falls in Northern Ug tomorrow (will try very hard not to get caught up in any violence..) for more safari etc..then to Kenya for a flying visit through the Rift Valley pre Nairobi!
Friday 10 August 2007
Uganda
After much drama at the border where the nasty people terrified me and made me pay double the visa price just because they could, meaning i had $0 left, and a lovely ugandan lady adopting me and taking me to her home,feeding me and paying for my bus to kampala, and from there onto mbale (during the latter journey the bus broke down twice and i ended up travelling 2 hours with my huge hiker-sack on the back of a moped!) i met up with Richard Hide and went off exploring coffee farms on Mt elgon! honestly had no idea what a long process coffee-making was, and was so overwhelemed by the commitment of all te owmen in the village to the work (obviously the men do very little.) Hve very little internet time and can't really do justise to what an amazing experiece i had with these people and in the stunning surroundings. Next i went off to a small village a few hours away to meet an old school friend who's working for the NGO little big africa, building water tanks etc. I got to make bricks! Have definitely decided i am not cut out for hard physical labour! Really enjoyed being a part of village life again, although uganda style this time. And now have just returned form a trip to Sipi falls, highest in East africa which i absailed down, about 10m from the falls all the way..absolutely INCREDIBLE views! Hate having to rush these things so will update properly soon when i find a decent computer..until then 10 days till im home!
Thursday 2 August 2007
Rwanda continued
After a few days pretending to be a loaded ex-pat in kigali (which, incidently, all the ex-pats hate - well they seem to think Rwanda in general is the most disfunctional of places (clearly they havn't seen tz!) and are all kind of depressed to be there..bizarre as i thought it was brilliant!), i headed off to Gyiseni, in the northern most part of lake kivu. Pretty panoramic setting and at dusk you can see across the lake over to the hills of Congo..very nearly added that stamp to my passport as reports of Goma and the surrounding area were pretty positive, but luckily i didn't, seeing as last week 4 Gorrillas were killed by rebels pretty close to the volcano i was going to climb. Anway, managed to pull an AMAZING deal at the Kivu Sun 5* hotel,staying there for just $20!! Partied hard until dawn with my kigali pals and lots of Rwandans, after most incredible buffet in the world (sticky toffee pudding in rwanda?!). After that i found my way to Ruhengeri national park where Gorrillas play amongst the 7 volcanos. Seeing as gap year = uuuber budget i couldn't afford the $500 to spend an hour with those beasts, but instead did some volcano trekking - the top of Bisoke volcano is home to a vast crator lake with incredible views out across Rwanda. My legs are still ruined though, even 4 days later!
And of course then there was the Genocide Memorial back in Kigali..an incredibly fair and informative documentation of history. Throughout the exhibition are a series of short interviews on video with survivors who lost close family members which is pretty horrific - but for me by far the most harrowing part came at the very end : First of all you enter a dark circular space with 3 rooms coming off it each with a different Rwandese voice-over; the first room contains maybe 500 photographs hanging from strings of faces of people who were killed; the second, has preserved clothes that were found on disintegrating bodies; and the final room contains bones and skulls that have been unearthed. After that you go on into the children's room..asided from the many photos of young people all over the place, there are maybe 12 bill-board-things,each with an enlarged photo of a child and underneath, their name, age, favourite activity, favourite food and how they were killed ('beat around the head with a club', 'machette through the chest' etc). Absolutely horrendous. There is another large memorial in the city of Butare which apparently holds preserved bodies in the room they were killed in - really didn't think i could handle that one.
But it really seems to me that Rwanda is looking to the future in a big way - very firmly, the people maintain that 'The past is the past and the future is now'. It is unheard of to ask whether one is Hutu or Tutsi and 'PK' is doing lots (by the sounds of it) to try and being people together as far as possilbe - for example, whilst i was there, and on the last weekend of every month, 'Umuganda' takes place..a day when nobody works and everyone does some form of community serivce (most commonly cleaning up the streets).
A huge emphasis is put on understanding and learning from the tragic history of Rwanda, in the high hopes of creating a secure and stable environment fo rhte next generation.
And of course then there was the Genocide Memorial back in Kigali..an incredibly fair and informative documentation of history. Throughout the exhibition are a series of short interviews on video with survivors who lost close family members which is pretty horrific - but for me by far the most harrowing part came at the very end : First of all you enter a dark circular space with 3 rooms coming off it each with a different Rwandese voice-over; the first room contains maybe 500 photographs hanging from strings of faces of people who were killed; the second, has preserved clothes that were found on disintegrating bodies; and the final room contains bones and skulls that have been unearthed. After that you go on into the children's room..asided from the many photos of young people all over the place, there are maybe 12 bill-board-things,each with an enlarged photo of a child and underneath, their name, age, favourite activity, favourite food and how they were killed ('beat around the head with a club', 'machette through the chest' etc). Absolutely horrendous. There is another large memorial in the city of Butare which apparently holds preserved bodies in the room they were killed in - really didn't think i could handle that one.
But it really seems to me that Rwanda is looking to the future in a big way - very firmly, the people maintain that 'The past is the past and the future is now'. It is unheard of to ask whether one is Hutu or Tutsi and 'PK' is doing lots (by the sounds of it) to try and being people together as far as possilbe - for example, whilst i was there, and on the last weekend of every month, 'Umuganda' takes place..a day when nobody works and everyone does some form of community serivce (most commonly cleaning up the streets).
A huge emphasis is put on understanding and learning from the tragic history of Rwanda, in the high hopes of creating a secure and stable environment fo rhte next generation.
Wednesday 25 July 2007
Kigali, Rwanda
All this is really to say is i'm now in Rwanda safe and sound..amazing flight in (was not feeling the 40+ bus journey effort and infamous boarder crossing) over a totally different landscape to Tz..the ground is very ver red - people say its because so much blood has been spilled here, but to be honest that is a line used in Uganda,DRC..and from very first impressions, this country is well and truely back on its feet - for a starter, they have TRAFFIC LIGHTS!Now there's a sight never seen in Tanzania!
But all i relaly wanted to say here is i'm spending a few days with some lovely lovely French people in a beautiful house with amazing food, a BATH, and Desperate Housewives boxset! Am i still in Africa? More when i've actually seen some of this tiny little country.
But all i relaly wanted to say here is i'm spending a few days with some lovely lovely French people in a beautiful house with amazing food, a BATH, and Desperate Housewives boxset! Am i still in Africa? More when i've actually seen some of this tiny little country.
Trying so hard to squeeze Victor and Felister into my backpack!!!
My days at Nk have finally drawn to a close!! And on what a high did they end. of teaching were simply brilliant,and for the first time really (although i've probably said it before,i now can truely believe it myself) i feel like i've made a significant difference to the level of English of some of my children, and really got them to value their education. So many fantastic moments, but to highlight the best...SPORTS DAY!!!! 150 children doing egg and spoon races, sack raches, wheelbarrow races, 3-legged races...they were the best behaved i've ever seen them and just had so much fun! Even the teachers looked on with amusement (quite an achievement!). That afternoon, our teachers held a small party for me and Lizzie (only remaining teachers at the primary school), Geapson (our legendary teacher) made a speech and we were presented with beautiful Kitenge fabric as a leaving giftie. Our little house was then stormed by all our classes (and token random children obviously) and mass reading/drawing/recorder club took place for the last time. And when it was time-to-go-home-time there were ALOT of tears all round..fond the whole thing very emotional and wound up with a bizarre paradox of feeling insanely guilty for leaving them and just returning to my comfortable Muzungu life back home, but also feeling pretty proud to have had such an effect on them that they value our teaching and friendship that much.
Lots of you will know by now that my last weekend of partaaaay-ing in Arusha ended terribly as me and Daisy were mugged on saturday night, loosing everything (money,phone,most importantly camera and all my photos). More devestated about the pictures than i can write but just in case you wonder why theres a lack of recent photographic evidence on here..
Lots of you will know by now that my last weekend of partaaaay-ing in Arusha ended terribly as me and Daisy were mugged on saturday night, loosing everything (money,phone,most importantly camera and all my photos). More devestated about the pictures than i can write but just in case you wonder why theres a lack of recent photographic evidence on here..
Saturday 7 July 2007
'Throw your heart away' - Bagamoyo
This is probably the most interesting place in Tanzania historically, as its the port from whcih the majority of the African slave trade routes were established. About an hour north of Dar es Salam (the unofficial capital), its a beautiful, very french/german/generally colonial looking town with meandering streets with vines growing up all the buildings and a white sand beach with plam trees..the sad part is that the 'ruins' are in fact really not that old but incredibly run down as there is just no money or real insentive to preserve them. The first Catholic cross planted in East Africa is located here, as is the first Catholic chuirch, established by French Missionaries (now accompanied by a very very small museum claiming that these missionaries basically put a stop to the slave trade single-handedly) and also the remains of the first Mosque,established in the 13th Century. The old German Boma ('British Overseas Managment Authority in English' - 'Enclosed area' in Kiswahili) is architecturally very impressive from the outside,but is so run down inside that it has received no tourism for the past 20 years and so much of the history has been lost. Equally the Old Fort (originally the Sultan of Zanzibar's home, then a prison, then a police station, then intened as a college but total lack of funds meant this was a no-go:info we got from a passing man who lives in the town) could be somethign really special but as it stands, has no infomation documenting its interesting past.
It seems to be a fairly common theme i'm picking up whilst spending more and more time living here that Tanzania's major problem all stems from the rocky education system - so so few young people are able to attend secondary school because of the cost, let alone university. With so little education it can be understood why so few people ask questions as to why potential tourism ploys like this arn't made more accessible. And for that matter, where all the money from American's back pockets spent on Kili and the Northern Safari Circuit doesn in fact end up, because it certainly isn't where it needs to be.
And mother, DMC stands for deep and meaningful conversations, standards are obviously slipping in my absence!
This is probably the most interesting place in Tanzania historically, as its the port from whcih the majority of the African slave trade routes were established. About an hour north of Dar es Salam (the unofficial capital), its a beautiful, very french/german/generally colonial looking town with meandering streets with vines growing up all the buildings and a white sand beach with plam trees..the sad part is that the 'ruins' are in fact really not that old but incredibly run down as there is just no money or real insentive to preserve them. The first Catholic cross planted in East Africa is located here, as is the first Catholic chuirch, established by French Missionaries (now accompanied by a very very small museum claiming that these missionaries basically put a stop to the slave trade single-handedly) and also the remains of the first Mosque,established in the 13th Century. The old German Boma ('British Overseas Managment Authority in English' - 'Enclosed area' in Kiswahili) is architecturally very impressive from the outside,but is so run down inside that it has received no tourism for the past 20 years and so much of the history has been lost. Equally the Old Fort (originally the Sultan of Zanzibar's home, then a prison, then a police station, then intened as a college but total lack of funds meant this was a no-go:info we got from a passing man who lives in the town) could be somethign really special but as it stands, has no infomation documenting its interesting past.
It seems to be a fairly common theme i'm picking up whilst spending more and more time living here that Tanzania's major problem all stems from the rocky education system - so so few young people are able to attend secondary school because of the cost, let alone university. With so little education it can be understood why so few people ask questions as to why potential tourism ploys like this arn't made more accessible. And for that matter, where all the money from American's back pockets spent on Kili and the Northern Safari Circuit doesn in fact end up, because it certainly isn't where it needs to be.
And mother, DMC stands for deep and meaningful conversations, standards are obviously slipping in my absence!
Monday 2 July 2007
4 days on a train
Title pretty much sums up this entry!Took a train form Lousaka to Dar with the girls im travelling with, and picked up some strays along the way..lots of DMC-ing late into the night about the state of africa with some not-as-racist-as-you'd-presume africaaners..ok they were called Villi,Fritz and Antoin does that prove their africaan-ness?! But they were travelling with a little stove and lots of food which,i'm sure you'll all know,went down very well. Also with two finnish ladies and a girl from DRC. Not much to say about the train really, apart from stayed in pj's the whole time, ate lots of cereal,nearly fell out of the bunk as one of the carriges kind of de-railed, and how nice it was to finally get back to Tz and be able to write on our immigration slips 'returning residents'..and speaking Swahili again!
Now in Zanzibar (yes, for the third time)for the international film festival of the Dhow Countries-which is amazing! Stone town is really buzzing with live music and art exhibitions everywhere. Last night went to see a Mexican film (wasn't aware Mexico classed as a Dhow country but anyway)called 'The other side' - really beautiful and made even more so by the incredible atmosphere in the open air ampitheatre crammed with people under a full moon and starry sky. Thsi mornign saw a series of short films, one called Kiboko Kid set in a slum outside Nairobi and is set to be made into a feature film..very cool to understan the swahili without subtitles. This was followed by lots of shopping and kangas have been bought for you all :) more soon, big love x
Now in Zanzibar (yes, for the third time)for the international film festival of the Dhow Countries-which is amazing! Stone town is really buzzing with live music and art exhibitions everywhere. Last night went to see a Mexican film (wasn't aware Mexico classed as a Dhow country but anyway)called 'The other side' - really beautiful and made even more so by the incredible atmosphere in the open air ampitheatre crammed with people under a full moon and starry sky. Thsi mornign saw a series of short films, one called Kiboko Kid set in a slum outside Nairobi and is set to be made into a feature film..very cool to understan the swahili without subtitles. This was followed by lots of shopping and kangas have been bought for you all :) more soon, big love x
Wednesday 27 June 2007
Zambia
Actually ended up illegally in Malawi for 3 days as the visa expired but got away with it no problem..eventually got from Lilongwe (a really pretty capital,certainly the nicest i've seen although very very ex-pat) to Chipata, a small but quite lovely town about an hour from the boarder. From there we took a hilariously entertaining taxi trip to SOuth Louangwa National Park (7 people, 6 backpacks, a dirt track and one toyota carolla..) where we stayed in possibly the craziest campsite in Africa! Platforms built into trees on which campers can pitch their tents while elephants, hippos and even lions stroll around below!i kid you knot, the campsite has no boundries and there were lions footprints outside our tent on morning. Same morning we watched from our side of the Louangwa river bank a family of elephants swimming across (inc a baby), climb up the other side and dry themselves off with dust showers, accompanied by a soundtrack of 3 male lions clearly marking out their territory. Did a night safari here which was a totally different experiene form our serengetti etc extravganza..the drivers shine UV torhes all around so as not to damage the animals eyes. Honestly the first hour and a bit i was doubting how good this would turn out to be as we saw little other that Poku (like gazelles) and birds of various varieties. BUT THEN we 'stumbled across' a pack of wild dogs, apparnelty only found in some parts f southern afric - and they were really surprisingly beautiful. BUT THEN even better we spotted a lioness on the hunt and followed her for about an hour on her chase for Poku. In our completely open roofed safari cars it was a little disconcerting when one ran right up beside our car!The whole experience was entirely different from our big Tz safari..far less tourists with few set paths to follow etc.
Back to chipata and then a longlong bus ride to Lousaka - i'm cnvinced by the end of this trip a world record is in order for time spent on african bus trips. There we were met by the Nowa's and treated like absolute princesses for 2 days, shown round Lousaka (shopping malls included!) and taken to church and the Kafue Misson..what a treat to see it all at last after so many stories and photos. ALthough a boarding school along the same lines as the secondary school in our village the differences were huge..they have so much space there! Met lots of teachers and were shown round the health centre..all very special and so lovely to see the Nowa's again.
And today i threw myself over the Victoria Falls!! And absailed down the cliffs of the Zambezi gorge and generally have turned into an adrenaline junkie overnight! WHat can i say about the falls..truely spectacular (and we got absolutely drenched!)
On friday we're taking a ptentially 4 day train trip back up to TZ and then to zanzibar when i'll do some more blogging - we have free internet here but there's an insanely long queue and i'm being shouted at!Lots of love xxxx
Back to chipata and then a longlong bus ride to Lousaka - i'm cnvinced by the end of this trip a world record is in order for time spent on african bus trips. There we were met by the Nowa's and treated like absolute princesses for 2 days, shown round Lousaka (shopping malls included!) and taken to church and the Kafue Misson..what a treat to see it all at last after so many stories and photos. ALthough a boarding school along the same lines as the secondary school in our village the differences were huge..they have so much space there! Met lots of teachers and were shown round the health centre..all very special and so lovely to see the Nowa's again.
And today i threw myself over the Victoria Falls!! And absailed down the cliffs of the Zambezi gorge and generally have turned into an adrenaline junkie overnight! WHat can i say about the falls..truely spectacular (and we got absolutely drenched!)
On friday we're taking a ptentially 4 day train trip back up to TZ and then to zanzibar when i'll do some more blogging - we have free internet here but there's an insanely long queue and i'm being shouted at!Lots of love xxxx
Sunday 17 June 2007
Tales from Malawi
And now i'm in Malawi! AFter a hectic month back at school, Mummys trip out to see me (and take me to a luxury hotel in zanzibar again!), a craaazy football tournament between our various schools in Arusha, lots of laughs,nights out,teaching,clothes-making etcetc and now its the school summer holiday. 3 long days travelling through TZ (thorugh 2 National parks in the south, v beacutiful - although bings about a completley new conception of the country..its just so vast and seemingly sparcely populated in the south) and we arrived in time to take the ferry down Lake malawi and to Likoma island..we were practically the only people staying and we camped on a beautiful beach about 10m away from the lake, on the horizon of which is the amazing mozambiquian (?) coast line. THe lake is so incredibly clear (largest freshwater lake in the workd i think), and basically looks just like the sea. After a weeks indulgant chillage, we made our way back to the mainland and Nkhata Bay. One sunset cruise and a few drinks later a girl i'd just met pursuaded me to do a weeks Naui ocurse (same as Padi..ie scuba diving) begining the next day and how glad am i that she did! Absolutely loved it, was with a great group of people form all over the place and i honestly never knew how much i like pretty little fish!also did lots of pot-holeing..but 18m underwater!vair vair cool i'm sure you'll aggree.Travelled down to Lilongwe yest with some new amigos and have managed to negociate a visa waver into zambia so moving on on tuesday..and will update more soon!
Exploring the East Coast and Zanzibar
So this is insanely out of date for which i appologise muchly..haven't actually been able to get onto this thing in ages. Lots to catch up on but will begin by filling you all in from where i left off a few months ago..over easter we had 3 weeks off school for travels and so did lots of exploring in Tz..first went across to the NorthEast and Usambora Mountain range and a small town called Lushoto..seriously beautiful and much more authentically african than the ex-pat-ed and touristy Arusha. Went hiking through a rainforest and up to IrenteView point (via a farm house with CHEESE!!)..reportedly a stunning view across the expansive valley, although, typically, when we got to the top it was entirely covered in cloud..turned out to be quite special in the end though as the clouds randomly parted giving little snapshots of the incredible view below.
Headed next down the East coast via Tanga to a beachy place called Peponi..camped practaically on the beach,swam in the warm bath that is tjhe indian ocean, took a Dhow saling to a sand island in the middle of the sea, ate amazingly for the first time in a while (to be fair it wasn;t that oong after safari but the importance of yummy food on this trip should not be 'mis-underestimated').
THen it was ZANZIBAR!!!!! Stone town was fab,totally mixture of cultures and great fabric shopping,night market foodi etc..met up with lots more of our mates and headed all together first to the East coast and Paje..long stretches of white sand and tourquoise sea and a site all to ourselves, followed by a trip up into Nungwi on the northernmostpoint of the island, where i celebrated my 19th with Africa's finest! Massive meal out with everyone, duringin which the girls negociated lots of free food for the birthday girl (although the next day i realised that no fool gives away decent Lobster for free) followed by cocktails and antics on the beach..details and photographic evidence when i get back!
Headed next down the East coast via Tanga to a beachy place called Peponi..camped practaically on the beach,swam in the warm bath that is tjhe indian ocean, took a Dhow saling to a sand island in the middle of the sea, ate amazingly for the first time in a while (to be fair it wasn;t that oong after safari but the importance of yummy food on this trip should not be 'mis-underestimated').
THen it was ZANZIBAR!!!!! Stone town was fab,totally mixture of cultures and great fabric shopping,night market foodi etc..met up with lots more of our mates and headed all together first to the East coast and Paje..long stretches of white sand and tourquoise sea and a site all to ourselves, followed by a trip up into Nungwi on the northernmostpoint of the island, where i celebrated my 19th with Africa's finest! Massive meal out with everyone, duringin which the girls negociated lots of free food for the birthday girl (although the next day i realised that no fool gives away decent Lobster for free) followed by cocktails and antics on the beach..details and photographic evidence when i get back!
Saturday 7 April 2007
Tuesday 3 April 2007
Chui, Punda MIlia, Twiga, Mbuni,.Nyati, Tembo, Kiboko, Simba, Heroe
Our 5 day safari has definitely been the best part of the trip so far..felt like a five year old again being so excite by animals! Considering we saw the big 5 and much more besides, its quite funny how excited i was seeing the first babooooon in Lake Manyara - took millions of photos, clearly oblivious of how good things would get! Just a little further on our car (an open topped safari classic!) stopped suddenly for an elephant, literally about 10metres away on the side of the road. Bosco, our driver, was full of animal trivia..did you know tembo are pregnant for up to 22 months!!imagine! Also in Manyara we saw Giraffes, Topi, Zebra, Hippos, but close ups of all were to follow in Serengetti and Ngorongoro. Had my first decent nights sleep in 2 months in a nice hotel, although as with the animals, the accomodation just got better and better through the week.
Next day was a drive to Serengetti via ngorongoro view points - even without the wildlife the parks would be breathtaking. Serengetti just goes on and on and on, totally flat plains, low, clear blue sky, nothing but acacia trees to be seen..ph wait a minute that was when we first saw A LIONESS!!! She walked right up beside out car, on route to a wildebeast carcus surrounded by voltures. Got some amazing pics but none of these computers seem to want to upload\ them. Also that day got within touching distance of Twiga, Tembo and Punda MIlia..todays tembo trivia from bosco was "You will notice that he has 3 back legs...". Spent the night in a luxury tented camp - shower, tiolet and kingsize bed in a tent - genius! Beautiful sunset and up for Sunrise over the serengetti with Twigga strolling in the distance. A full days driving in Serengetti began with a real close up of hippos and crocs, both of which provided big yawns for photos - im sure we were closer than was actually safe. Lots more Twiga and Tembo (pretty standard by now), and some baby zebra - they're brown and white and fluffy! Then out of nowhere we were beside a tree with a babyleopard asleep in its branches. That night was spent in the most incredible lodge with stunning views across the plains and fab food (always a priority!). A pool at the front of the hotel meant maximum tannage and ultimate viewage at the same time..so un-roughing-it-gap-year it was unreal! Another days drive back through Serengetti to Ngorongoro took us past a big daddy lion again within metres..seriously the whole week was so sureal! Bosco said we'd been pretty lucky...people spend days driving around with no sightings at all. Another night of luxury and another gorgeous sunset over ngorongoro and another night of fattening up :) Rhinos were the main excitement the next day through Ngorongoro followed by, on the way home, that typical Tanzanian image of a Maasai tribesman in full dress, apparently also with full mobile reception. BIZARRRE!
Next day was a drive to Serengetti via ngorongoro view points - even without the wildlife the parks would be breathtaking. Serengetti just goes on and on and on, totally flat plains, low, clear blue sky, nothing but acacia trees to be seen..ph wait a minute that was when we first saw A LIONESS!!! She walked right up beside out car, on route to a wildebeast carcus surrounded by voltures. Got some amazing pics but none of these computers seem to want to upload\ them. Also that day got within touching distance of Twiga, Tembo and Punda MIlia..todays tembo trivia from bosco was "You will notice that he has 3 back legs...". Spent the night in a luxury tented camp - shower, tiolet and kingsize bed in a tent - genius! Beautiful sunset and up for Sunrise over the serengetti with Twigga strolling in the distance. A full days driving in Serengetti began with a real close up of hippos and crocs, both of which provided big yawns for photos - im sure we were closer than was actually safe. Lots more Twiga and Tembo (pretty standard by now), and some baby zebra - they're brown and white and fluffy! Then out of nowhere we were beside a tree with a babyleopard asleep in its branches. That night was spent in the most incredible lodge with stunning views across the plains and fab food (always a priority!). A pool at the front of the hotel meant maximum tannage and ultimate viewage at the same time..so un-roughing-it-gap-year it was unreal! Another days drive back through Serengetti to Ngorongoro took us past a big daddy lion again within metres..seriously the whole week was so sureal! Bosco said we'd been pretty lucky...people spend days driving around with no sightings at all. Another night of luxury and another gorgeous sunset over ngorongoro and another night of fattening up :) Rhinos were the main excitement the next day through Ngorongoro followed by, on the way home, that typical Tanzanian image of a Maasai tribesman in full dress, apparently also with full mobile reception. BIZARRRE!
Monday 19 March 2007
Tuesday 13 March 2007
11.03.07 Safari ya barrabarra!!
Moshi chapter: After a ride down our little mountain on the back of a truck full of empty cocacola bottles on their way to be refilled (no cans here), i had an hour of the most scenic dalladalla ride to date - flat plains and plantations broken up only by views of Meru and, as we neared Moshi, Kili.Checked into a $2 a hoste headed to a reccomended crafts market - having spent up on jewellery though, we then found the most incredible leather warehouse, awarded for being 'most ethical trader in tanzania' (20 of their 40 employees are seriously physically disabled - honestly this is the only evidence so far of any kind of equal oppertunites for people with disabilities out here. The general perception seems to be that they are a hinderance to society.) Back at the hostel much chilling was done with US volunteers, and we found a hideaway tv with OC and ONe Tree Hill re-runs..perfect :) The next day we met a guy called Rasta who took us up into the Rau forest - full of genu8ine mudhuts with banana leave-woven-roofs - by far the most impoverished area we've been exposed to. But what a place to live! A treck through the forest, with Meru on the left and Kili to the right was indescribably stunning - much helped by the clear blue skys and blazing sunshine no doubt,but honestly the views were unreal. Half an hour and a Coke later (yes, even in the middle of a forest in the kilimanjaro foothills - the extent of that companys expansion in Africa becomes daily more unbelievable) and we were swimming in the plunge pool of an 100ft Merangu waterfall, 2200m above sea level.Check the pictures!! (if i can get them on that is..will just try now :) )
Wednesday 7 March 2007
One month in...
I can't believe how fast time goes out here!! Esp. the past week - due i reckon to our initiation of about a million and a half after school clubvs!they tend to revolve around standard 6 (our class) but others always end up joining in. Mondays is art club ( now you all know my talents are not especially geared in towards that direction!) but we're hoping to paint the school buildings in a couple of weeks with them - not too much detail needed there :) Tuesdays is recorder club - nightmare! 50 recorders in 50 young childrens hands = at least 100 painkillers for the rest of the week. But the plan there is to get them playing national anthem which they sing every morning before school. Wednesday afternoon follows tradition of sports:Tennis,football (one guy has a Wednesday Shirt!!!!!!!),netball,general games etc. Am in the process of organising an inter-school tournament and a local wood-carver is making us a wooden world cup as the trophey!. Trying to get the netball team to play more of the real game and less of their rugby version but not going to plan so far..its a prettyy good workout though. After their big exams we're going to have a sports day (obv including all the classi egg and spoon, sack and 3 legged races :) ) Thursday is extra english..anyone want a pen pal?my little group are desperate to make friends with english children. And we finish off the week with choral harmony..well progressive harmony would be a more accurate term, but they can just about get Londons burning in tune now! So another week has flewn by. We;ve met loads more gappers this week from the US-a little standoffish but really nice after a few drinks :) Am getting more an more into Bongo Flava - Tanzanian 'clubbing music' - pretty awesome! I'm not too impressed that the rainy season has arrived a little early. Its incredible though - going from boiing heat to tennisball sized raindrops , thunder thats mroe like an earthquake and really long sheet lightening. Last night we were sat out under the stars (also stunning in the 'big african sky') when one began - the lightening lit up the sky for miles. And the leaves of the banana trees outside our house make the best umbrellas!
Friday 23 February 2007
Mwalimoo
I really need to pace my internet time better, i never have time to write this blog! annyway. Im growing to love the poli poli concept here - esp as it applies to teaching - chai (the mornign break where you eat sweet potatoe, pray and drink uber sweet tea) only ends whn you have had at least a few helpings, regardless of whether children are in calssrooms or not. obv we try to be as punctual as possible, but its enver a good idea to offend the terachers by explainging that its lesson time now! So now i've been miss cait for a whole 2 weeks! Im teaching form 6 with my pally Lizzie (for all those of you who know, lix is so like Deborah its untrue!and debs,in reply to the email im learning swahili dam fast!). I teach 60 children in a room with a hole in the wall for windows and door and a broken blackboard - prtetrty much a typical image of a v basic school. The kids are FAB! so ful of nergy and absolutely love english lessons (kn idea why since we're only doing grammer at the moment - papa you may laugh, i also swear i didnt have any grmamar knowledge in me!). had some hilarious homeworks to mark yesterday, tyhe classics being: What did you do at the weekend? My Cat pooed. We've taken over from a teacher called Gibson - legend and a half!hes vg at english and has invited us to his for meals etc, generally just being relaly freidnly. Today i saw my first caning - i felt so physically sick i hadf to leave the room. not much else to say about it apart from it was really horrendous to watch.
This week saw the beginning of Nkoaranga choir, art club, football team, netball tournament and recorder club (nightmare!). All the children hang around for hours after shcool anyway so its easy to get them involved - i think having muzungoo here is still such a novelty that wthey're up for anythign we offer.
This place is a haven for gappers.we live just next to a group of aussies and there are csome canadians at the hospital down the road as well. Its apparently the oldest hospital in Tanzania, set up in the 30s. Next week we're going in to learn how to do vaccinations so we can help out!
Must go now, off to plan out easter roadtrip to Kenya :) will plan my time better next week and write mroe!lots of love to everyone xxxxxx
This week saw the beginning of Nkoaranga choir, art club, football team, netball tournament and recorder club (nightmare!). All the children hang around for hours after shcool anyway so its easy to get them involved - i think having muzungoo here is still such a novelty that wthey're up for anythign we offer.
This place is a haven for gappers.we live just next to a group of aussies and there are csome canadians at the hospital down the road as well. Its apparently the oldest hospital in Tanzania, set up in the 30s. Next week we're going in to learn how to do vaccinations so we can help out!
Must go now, off to plan out easter roadtrip to Kenya :) will plan my time better next week and write mroe!lots of love to everyone xxxxxx
Saturday 10 February 2007
The luxury is no more...
Have you ever slept under a tin roof during a thunderstorm? Mums idea of ear plugs turned out to be legendary!! So to continue where i left off.. we spent some of our 'holiday' period visiting the various schools where we're based..all pretty simular in size and filled our expectations of being ridiculously basic and under-funded. In Tanzania (like other African countries?) Primary school are state fuinded whilst seconday is private - the primary school where im teaching has 1200 pupils, only 10 of which per/year end up at the neighbouring secondary as its so expensive. So now we are all moved into our little house beside Nkoaranga School. My generic impression of this region being baron and dusty has been swept away by the incredibly lush landscape. Nkoaranga vbillage is on Mount Meru, and views up and down from here are just SO GREEN!!! A small enclosed garden surrounds the house with our own mango and banana trees. The house itself has its own definition of charming..but really it has everything we need (a little water dribbles from the tap everyday and electricity for around 40 minutes per day - the genius of candles).
The children in the primary school are hilarious, so very full of energy. Not starting actual teaching un til monday, but as of then i'll have form 6b (8-10 yrs officially but some older kids who have been held back a few years) to control. Some of the secondary school girls (which is literally just next door) set up a netball teram last term with no court and makeshift nets, but i umpired for them today anyway (fran you'd love it, footwork all over the place!) and we're hoping to get as involved as possioble in sports etc asap. The school day seems to be about 12 hours long so theres certainly plenty of time for it!\!
More will follow next week when i become 'Miss Cait' (not a chance anyone could pronounce CaitlinLove lots xxxx
The children in the primary school are hilarious, so very full of energy. Not starting actual teaching un til monday, but as of then i'll have form 6b (8-10 yrs officially but some older kids who have been held back a few years) to control. Some of the secondary school girls (which is literally just next door) set up a netball teram last term with no court and makeshift nets, but i umpired for them today anyway (fran you'd love it, footwork all over the place!) and we're hoping to get as involved as possioble in sports etc asap. The school day seems to be about 12 hours long so theres certainly plenty of time for it!\!
More will follow next week when i become 'Miss Cait' (not a chance anyone could pronounce CaitlinLove lots xxxx
Friday 9 February 2007
Karibuni Tanzania!
Its so impossible to explain the combination of people, scenery, heat, smells and general way of life here - although 'Poli poli' would be a fairly accurate attempt! (slowly, slowly in case your kiswahili is not that up to scratch). Everyone and everythign is just so chilled - the two most comon responses to 'i come from engl;and' are ' oh, but the climate is so terrible and it is so busy all the time!'.
Our first 4 days here fitted the polipoli idea really well - the 'outpost hotel' in Arusha is made up of abour 12 log cabind set inside a botanical garden with a pool, bar and restaurent in the middle. It seems to be a pretty common base for people climbing kili/ going on safari to the serengetti/ngorangora. As if you need to go on an official safari here! literally after 5 mins of leaving Nairobi airport we saw 2 zebras roaming ona strip of land by the main road; as we continued on the one (and only?) road between kenya and tanzania (on a 'minibus' with no windows and our bags thrown on top), 2 giraffews brought us to a halt as they casually strolled accross the road. For these first fwe days we've been living such an ex-pat lifestyle: Swimming, sunning it up, drinking and eating out with our rep and her husband who is the coach for the tanzanian rugby team ...HELLO! Bizarre living such a lifestyle in this country, although you cant really complain at the decent showers! totally run out of time, loads more to say but it'll have to wait for next week :)
Our first 4 days here fitted the polipoli idea really well - the 'outpost hotel' in Arusha is made up of abour 12 log cabind set inside a botanical garden with a pool, bar and restaurent in the middle. It seems to be a pretty common base for people climbing kili/ going on safari to the serengetti/ngorangora. As if you need to go on an official safari here! literally after 5 mins of leaving Nairobi airport we saw 2 zebras roaming ona strip of land by the main road; as we continued on the one (and only?) road between kenya and tanzania (on a 'minibus' with no windows and our bags thrown on top), 2 giraffews brought us to a halt as they casually strolled accross the road. For these first fwe days we've been living such an ex-pat lifestyle: Swimming, sunning it up, drinking and eating out with our rep and her husband who is the coach for the tanzanian rugby team ...HELLO! Bizarre living such a lifestyle in this country, although you cant really complain at the decent showers! totally run out of time, loads more to say but it'll have to wait for next week :)
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