AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I haev much to tell, so let me begin by firstly explaining that rather sudden outburst - on Sunday I am heading off to Zanzibar! Kinda crazy!
Ok, the last week has been, to put it simply, AMAZING!!!!!!!! FANTASTIC!!!!!! STUPENDOUS!!!! etc etc etc. We went on Safari on Monday waking up at 5 am to head out with Bobby tours, driving six hours to the Serengeti! what a magical place it is, truly amazing!!!!! we also stopped at Oldupai Gorge which was great to see again.
As we entered the serengeti and were driving towards our campsite, we saw elephants, gazelle, giraffes and lioness' which was uberly cool! the next morning we headed out and were given one of the best experiences of my life - I saw elephants, a young elephant calf, leopard in a tree, a large pride of lions, hippos, a cheetah and then watched a lioness stalk and kill a thompson gazelle before taking off with her prize - it was truly amazing!!!!!
After we had finished with the Serengeti - though I could easily spend years there - we headed off to Ngorongoro crater, to Simba campsite where we spent the night. The next morning, we had zebras visit our campsite which was very cool and then we headed off into the crater where I saw more lions, elephants, zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, gazelle, and then a lioness with her two cubs which were ridiculously cute!!! We also saw rhinos and as we were leaving the crater, had a very very close encounter with a fairly ticked off bull elephant who was rumbling and flapping his ears at us, walking straight at our car as we backed up but then decided we weren't worth it. phew. Was sooooo cool though!!
Safari was such an amazing experience that was over all too quickly. And it also marks the beginning of the end for my time in Tanzania - I'm not quite ready to leaving Africa again just yet. I head off to Zanizbar on Sunday which is ridiculoualy close, and today was our last day on project which was very sad - the last time I would walk up to the school and see the kids - it was a very nice morning. I am in town this afternoon so that I don't need to come in tomorrow as the other half of the orphans are coming to the radio station tomorrow and then I want to spend the afternoon at the orphanage, saying goodbye to them. They are such wonderful children and I am really going to miss them all :( it is very ahrd to say goodbye, but at the same time, saying goodbye to someone means saying hello to someone else. But it is going to be very hard tomorrow afternoon.
When I think back on what we've done here and people say how proud they are, I don't really think I have done anything to be proud of - what we have done is hardly going to save lives or anything like that, or change the world - but hopefully our small contribution, even though it is tiny in the greater scheme of things, has been able to do a little bit of good, like employing a fundhi (builder) to help us on outr project and maybe help that school out with a bit of extra income that the dining hall may provide. All in all, I haven't done that much - I haven't saved the world or saved lives (not that I had that idea when I left for Tanzania - I knew my impact would be minimal). But maybe to just a couple people it has made a difference. It has certainly made a difference to me - I have gotten so much out of this experience. It has taught me so many things I will never forget
until my next post
Annie
Friday, August 13, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
previously on Annie's Tanzanian adventure ...
Jambo sana!! It's been two weeks since my last post so I thought I would give you all a bit of an update
the last couple of weeks have been fairly standard, working on our Mbokomu project (the dining hall) for the time we have been back since Kidia. I managed to fall ill - again, and unfortunately it ended being long enough and serious enough for a doctors visit which led me to experience my first Tanzanian hospital - it was quite an experience, privately owned so much better off than the government hospitals, and I met a lovely girl called Anita who sat with me while I waited for the lab to send back my test results - needless to say I am fine now, all better, they didn't find anything abnormal.
yesterday (friday) was the end of last week of project, bit sad for all of us - I cannot believe how quickly it has flown by - we head off on safari to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti on monday and this time next week I will be packing for Zanzibar and then all too soon having to say goodbye to my family of 3 months - it's really depressing to be honest and I am not ready to leave Africa for a second time just yet. But I am very excited for the next phase of this year's adventure, which is Europe - and I am looking forward to catching up with some of my friends in the UK.
Today was really good fun as we had paid for some of the children from the orphanage (Tuleeni Children's home) to come to our camp and then go to the local radio station - Moshi FM - and be on a program. We got to sit in there with them and ended up being on it ourselves, introducing ourselves and saying something about the orphanage, which was heaps of fun and the listened and didn't understand a thing as they all talked in swahili. But the smiles on their faces and the laughs were enough to let us know they really enjoyed the morning :)
I met a really nice girl at the Tuleeni last visit, her name is Liliani and we sat for quite some time, talking and learning about each other's past. She is a lovely girl who has defnitely seen some heartache in her time. but she has such a beautiful spirit. Another girl who has HIV hides away from us as she doesn't feel she has the right to talk to us - it is really sad, just want to find her and give her a big hug.
That's about it for me for now, will let you all know how safari and beyond goes!
Amani na Upendo
Annie
the last couple of weeks have been fairly standard, working on our Mbokomu project (the dining hall) for the time we have been back since Kidia. I managed to fall ill - again, and unfortunately it ended being long enough and serious enough for a doctors visit which led me to experience my first Tanzanian hospital - it was quite an experience, privately owned so much better off than the government hospitals, and I met a lovely girl called Anita who sat with me while I waited for the lab to send back my test results - needless to say I am fine now, all better, they didn't find anything abnormal.
yesterday (friday) was the end of last week of project, bit sad for all of us - I cannot believe how quickly it has flown by - we head off on safari to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti on monday and this time next week I will be packing for Zanzibar and then all too soon having to say goodbye to my family of 3 months - it's really depressing to be honest and I am not ready to leave Africa for a second time just yet. But I am very excited for the next phase of this year's adventure, which is Europe - and I am looking forward to catching up with some of my friends in the UK.
Today was really good fun as we had paid for some of the children from the orphanage (Tuleeni Children's home) to come to our camp and then go to the local radio station - Moshi FM - and be on a program. We got to sit in there with them and ended up being on it ourselves, introducing ourselves and saying something about the orphanage, which was heaps of fun and the listened and didn't understand a thing as they all talked in swahili. But the smiles on their faces and the laughs were enough to let us know they really enjoyed the morning :)
I met a really nice girl at the Tuleeni last visit, her name is Liliani and we sat for quite some time, talking and learning about each other's past. She is a lovely girl who has defnitely seen some heartache in her time. but she has such a beautiful spirit. Another girl who has HIV hides away from us as she doesn't feel she has the right to talk to us - it is really sad, just want to find her and give her a big hug.
That's about it for me for now, will let you all know how safari and beyond goes!
Amani na Upendo
Annie
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