Hello from Tanzania,
We have now finished our volunteering and thought we'd update you guys on what we have been up to over the last few weeks...
Journey to Tanzania
After our safari, our driver dropped us at Namanga, the border town between Kenya and Tanzania. After collecting our visas, we were hounded by touts trying to taxi us to Arusha, our next destination. A man pointed at a nice looking taxi and we haggled a price. Unfortunately, after we agreed, he took us to the dilapidated minibus parked next to the sparkling taxi. It was already crammed full of people and luggage, but they managed to find us a few "seats".
The journey lasted 2 hours and at one point there were 23 people to the 12 seats. It did only cost us a fiver between us though!!
Our African Family
We are staying with a host family during our time volunteering. They are Mama and her 4 girls (Aisha, Zubeda, Haiman and Zaineb). They have been so welcoming and made us feel very safe in a place where "Mzungus" (white people) are hounded everywhere they go.
The food has generally been amazing, with the odd traditional Tanzanian speciality thrown in. Ugali (tasteless porridge / semolina eaten with your hands) was good, but fried bananas were revolting.
Andy and Linnea are the other volunteers staying at the house. They are a really nice couple and we have a lot in common. It's nice to be able to tell others are stories after a day at the orphanage with people that understand what it is like here.
Karim Care Centre
Our orphanage has 10 kids: Salma (13), Lucy (10), Saumu (9), Sabrina (7), Babu (6), Antonia (5), Mwana (5), Maggie (5), Toshi (4) and Hawa (2). They are adorable kids and it is so sad to see how they are living.
The orphanage consisted of two small rooms with 3 bunk beds and 3 school tables inside. The walls and floor were filthy and the area smelt damp. On our 2nd day we were asked to tidy their clothes and were shocked at the state of them. Very few had no holes and not a single piece was clean. Some of the underwear had been soiled and then just put back on the shelf. It's so sad.
Our days mainly consisted of playing with the two youngest kids who did not go to school. They were so cute and loved to sing and colour. Their favourite was "Row, row, row your boat". They also thought the light and beeps on our watches were incredible!! We never thought such simple things could excite them so much!!
On Elliott's birthday we took them some cake and they all sat down and scoffed it. They were so grateful just for something different.
Our main gift to them was a new set of school uniforms for 4 of the kids and a new outfit for the 2 smallest. A full uniform cost 8 quid, which is a bit embarrassing given the prices we pay in the UK. They were so happy. Who'd have thought someone would get so excited about a school uniform!!
On the last day the orphanage moved to a slightly larger building across town. It was hard to leave them as 2 of the girls showed us signs of abuse that they get from their Mama. One had a black eye and the other a cut in her leg. We just wanted to pack them all up in our bags and take them home. They deserve so much better. We hope we can return to help them in the future.
Church
We were fortunate enough to be invited to a church service at Andy and Linnea's orphanage. We arrived and were greeted as angels from heaven!!! They were so welcoming and offered us everything they could, despite them having so little.
The service went on for a whopping 3 1/4 hours!! There was lots of singing and dancing and even a few people fainting and rolling around on the floor while the paster exorcised some demons!! Very weird!! We had to introduce ourselves to the whole congregation, which was cool and they were clearly appreciative that we had come over to help those less fortunate than ourselves.
Next up...
We are leaving Arusha tomorrow on a 10 hour bus ride (it didn't take us that long to fly here!!) to Dar es Salaam, where we will get the ferry over to Zanzibar for some sun, sand and sea!!
Hope everyone's well and we'll post again soon.
Love Ells and Gem xx
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Monday, 12 January 2009
Anyone for an African massage?
We've had an amazing 6 days of Kenyan safari with lots of stories to tell. We visited three different national parks: the Masai Mara, Lake Nakuru and finally Amboseli.
Masai Mara:
We travelled down from Nairobi in a small minibus across some terrible roads. The journey lasted about 5 hours and ended with two very sore bums. We drove through the famous Rift Valley and the landscape views were spectacular. We arrived and started a game drive immediately. We saw the first of the big 5, the buffalo, and were also extremely fortunate to see 3 cheetah sunbathing on a rock.
Lake Nakuru:
We made the long drive north to Lake Nakuru the following day. This was by far our best day. We arrived mid afternoon and hit the trails straight away. The lake shore was covered with flamingo, which were beautiful. We drove on and saw a massive white rhino sleeping under a tree and also a female lion resting on a small cliff.
Our driver, John, then started motoring off. He had been informed by another driver of a leopard sighting a few miles away. About 15 mins later, we slowed down to see a large number of minibuses gawping up in the trees. Indeed, there was a leopard lazing on a branch, eyeing up dinner. This was so lucky as they are a very elusive animal. That was all the Big 5 ticked off!!
Amboseli:
The drive down to Amboseli was long and bumpy. The second most popular national park in Kenya is served by nothing more than a dirt track!! I think they call it an African massage and we've certainly had enough of those for a while!!
We headed through the park to our campsite with the sun setting in the background. The beautiful image, however, was destroyed as we entered the campsite and saw loads of Maasai people running around. There was a rogue male elephant in our camp. We pulled up and were very nervous. Our driver even told us he was a little scared the next day, but he certainly didn't show his fear like Gemma did!!! Eventually it got bored and left us to sleep.
The final day's driving involved a sunrise drive with Mt. Kilimanjaro as our backdrop. Families of elephant were making their way down to the lake for a drink, which was quite a spectacular sight, although by then Gemma had had enough of elephants!!
After breakfast we went out again as the temperature hit 35degreesC. The drive was quite uneventful until we drove past a zebra with a strange looking sack hanging out of her behind. We stopped and saw her give birth to a small furry baby zebra. Within 20mins it was taking its first tentative steps. Incredible!!
After lunch we went to a Maasai village, where we were shown round by the chief. We were welcomed by the community with a dance and a prayer by around 20 Maasai people. It was quite intense and a little weird. We went into the village and were shown round a home made from mud and sticks. It was very small for a family of seven. They showed us how they make fire from elephant poo and sticks, which was clever and also tried to tempt us into buying their crafts. It was a very interesting insight into how they live, but it's certainly not for us!!
We got back to camp that evening without the drama of the previous night and went to sleep for our final night of safari.
Heard it's cold back home!! We'll soak up the sun for you here. We'll blog again from Tanzania.
Love Ells and Gem xx
Masai Mara:
We travelled down from Nairobi in a small minibus across some terrible roads. The journey lasted about 5 hours and ended with two very sore bums. We drove through the famous Rift Valley and the landscape views were spectacular. We arrived and started a game drive immediately. We saw the first of the big 5, the buffalo, and were also extremely fortunate to see 3 cheetah sunbathing on a rock.
After the drive we headed back to our campsite. We had a dribbling hot water shower and a hot meal. We met two other couples who were also staying in the camp with us.
The next day we got up early for another full day of game driving. We had a long journey to Hippo Pools. On the way we saw an elephant really close up. After a while he decided he didn't want us to take any more photos, so he charged at us. It was at this point that Gem no longer liked elephants. The hippos were awesome. Massive beasts that made a lot of noise. We were taken on a walk around the pools by a ranger with a big gun.
Lake Nakuru:
We made the long drive north to Lake Nakuru the following day. This was by far our best day. We arrived mid afternoon and hit the trails straight away. The lake shore was covered with flamingo, which were beautiful. We drove on and saw a massive white rhino sleeping under a tree and also a female lion resting on a small cliff.
Our driver, John, then started motoring off. He had been informed by another driver of a leopard sighting a few miles away. About 15 mins later, we slowed down to see a large number of minibuses gawping up in the trees. Indeed, there was a leopard lazing on a branch, eyeing up dinner. This was so lucky as they are a very elusive animal. That was all the Big 5 ticked off!!
Amboseli:
The drive down to Amboseli was long and bumpy. The second most popular national park in Kenya is served by nothing more than a dirt track!! I think they call it an African massage and we've certainly had enough of those for a while!!
We headed through the park to our campsite with the sun setting in the background. The beautiful image, however, was destroyed as we entered the campsite and saw loads of Maasai people running around. There was a rogue male elephant in our camp. We pulled up and were very nervous. Our driver even told us he was a little scared the next day, but he certainly didn't show his fear like Gemma did!!! Eventually it got bored and left us to sleep.
The final day's driving involved a sunrise drive with Mt. Kilimanjaro as our backdrop. Families of elephant were making their way down to the lake for a drink, which was quite a spectacular sight, although by then Gemma had had enough of elephants!!
After breakfast we went out again as the temperature hit 35degreesC. The drive was quite uneventful until we drove past a zebra with a strange looking sack hanging out of her behind. We stopped and saw her give birth to a small furry baby zebra. Within 20mins it was taking its first tentative steps. Incredible!!
After lunch we went to a Maasai village, where we were shown round by the chief. We were welcomed by the community with a dance and a prayer by around 20 Maasai people. It was quite intense and a little weird. We went into the village and were shown round a home made from mud and sticks. It was very small for a family of seven. They showed us how they make fire from elephant poo and sticks, which was clever and also tried to tempt us into buying their crafts. It was a very interesting insight into how they live, but it's certainly not for us!!
We got back to camp that evening without the drama of the previous night and went to sleep for our final night of safari.
Heard it's cold back home!! We'll soak up the sun for you here. We'll blog again from Tanzania.
Love Ells and Gem xx
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
And the journey begins...
So, after much talk and preparation, we are finally on our way around the world. Our flight over to Nairobi was great after we were upgraded to premium economy class. Thanks Dave!! We arrived late in the evening at our hotel, which is much more flashy than what is to come in the next few months.
Today we walked around the city in the searing 30 degree heat (haha), taking in that unmistakable odour of a nation that is so against the use of deodorant. The traffic here is crazy. Trying to cross the road is like playing dodgeball with matatus. They are the minibuses crammed full of families. We look forward to taking one of those soon!!
Other than a few touts spotting the white guys, Nairobi seems a fairly nice place to visit, particularly the Kenyatta Conference Centre, from which we saw spectacular views of the city. However we can't wait to head off on our 6 day safari tomorrow morning at 9:15am.
Hope everyone is well back home, we will post again after the safari.
Love Ells and Gem xx
Today we walked around the city in the searing 30 degree heat (haha), taking in that unmistakable odour of a nation that is so against the use of deodorant. The traffic here is crazy. Trying to cross the road is like playing dodgeball with matatus. They are the minibuses crammed full of families. We look forward to taking one of those soon!!
Other than a few touts spotting the white guys, Nairobi seems a fairly nice place to visit, particularly the Kenyatta Conference Centre, from which we saw spectacular views of the city. However we can't wait to head off on our 6 day safari tomorrow morning at 9:15am.
Hope everyone is well back home, we will post again after the safari.
Love Ells and Gem xx
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