Much of my time in Tanzania was filled with just usual daily-life activities. But once in a while something exciting and/or out-of-the-ordinary happened. And usually when something like that took place I was so busy enjoying it that I neglected to take the time - then or later - to document it on my TZ blog. So it's high time I actually share some of those events and pictures with people. :)
(Note: Although there are tons of pictures of these events that I could post here, I'll try to choose just one or two of the best ones to showcase. I might consider doing an actual post about some of these events in the future, as there are some great pictures and stories I do want to share and have recorded for posterity. If you're interested, let me know in the comments!)
While I was in Tanzania...
- I went on safari, twice. The first time was with three other volunteers over a long weekend. We had an absolute blast, and saw so many amazing animals during our three-day trip to three different national parks: Tarangire NP, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and Lake Manyara NP. (I'll share about the second safari later on in this post.) ~ 10.15-17.2010
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| Kezia, Anika, me, and Danielle in our safari Land Rover in the Ngorongoro Crater |
- I learned about the plight of the albino people in Eastern Africa. (Throughout my time in TZ, ADRA was working on programs to help them, so I had the privilege to meet quite a few albinos and learn more about their stories.) ~ Mukidoma School Presentation ~ 10.23.2010
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| Primary students from Mukidoma School singing a song with their teachers. The school's primary and secondary students presented their albino awareness campaign to the ADRA staff one Saturday afternoon. |
- I randomly got a roommate for two weeks. Ann-Marie was traveling throughout various parts of Africa, and spent two weeks at our ADRA campus to do some volunteer video work for us, concentrating on the albino people in our area of Tanzania. I was sad when she left to continue on with her travels. (Sadly, I don't have a single picture of or with Ann-Marie - how did that happen?! If any other volunteer has a picture of her, please do send it to me so I can add it to this post...) ~ 10.13-27.2010
- I, along with Ruth and Jordan, two other volunteers from Southern Adventist University who worked at nearby Havilah Children's Village, Skyped with our school's chaplain and missions director for a Friday night vespers program. Although the internet wasn't the best that night, we were able to talk for a few minutes. Seeing some familiar faces and being able to talk to a few friends after vespers was so nice! ~ 11.05.2010
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| Ruth, Jordan, and me Skyping with Pastor Kirstein for SAU vespers |
- my little sister Bryn, who was spending that year working as a preschool teacher in Cairo, Egypt, came to visit during an Egyptian national holiday. It was so great to see her again since she had left for Egypt at the end of June that year. This was the first time we had seen each other in five months! We made the most of our time together as I showed her around the Usa River/Arusha area. ~ 11.15-18.2010
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| Sisters in Arusha NP with our safari driver |
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| Sisters hanging out at Mt. Meru Game Lodge (Outfits in both pictures courtesy of each other's wardrobes...what are sisters for, eh?) |
- Shae, one of the CoL volunteers, headed up a wonderful and delicious Thanksgiving Dinner for US Thanksgiving (being the only Canadian on campus, I didn't have my own Thanksgiving, so I was happy to join the resident Americans in celebrating with them). ~ 11.21.2010
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| Our group of volunteers gathered around the Thanksgiving table |
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| 12 volunteers from 3 organizations (ADRA, CoL, & Havilah Children's Village), and from 6 countries (USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, and Denmark) |
- my Christmas present from my parents was financial help to travel to Egypt to spend Christmas there with my sister Bryn and her new friends!
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| Bryn & me being tourists at the Pyramids of Giza. (We were ambivalent about riding a camel, but that actually got us a great deal on the ride, so we jumped at the chance.) |
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| Me playing Santa Claus for Bryn's preschool students (just the boys pictured) |
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| Bryn & I planned to see The Nutcracker in Cairo, but decided it would be fun to invite some of Bryn's friends and pay for their tickets as Christmas gifts. Those tickets were absolutely the most fun Christmas presents we've ever given. They were so thrilled and enthralled with the whole evening and thanked us over and over. It was simply a pleasure to spend that special time with them! L-R: Anita, Manal, me, Mervat, and Bryn outside the Cairo Opera House |
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| One of Bryn's friends, Mervat, took us to Alexandria for a day. It was a whirlwind tour, but we thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Here Bryn and me are at the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria near a ancient seaside castle. |
- my then-boyfriend Jonathan surprised me with a visit, just a few weeks after I got back from Egypt. I had known he was going to be coming to visit sometime during my time in TZ, but he kept the date a total surprise! He then whisked me away for a two-day safari trip, then a trip to the coast and to Pemba Island off the northern coast. It was quite a spectacular trip, for a few reasons. :) ~ 1.11-27.2011
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| Jonathan and me on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater on our safari |
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| Cheetah on the prowl in the Crater. Just after this picture was taken we got to see it burst into high speed to chase a small gazelle. It was thrilling to see, but I was secretly glad the gazelle managed to get away. |
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| On our first evening on Pemba Island, Jonathan surprised me further by asking a certain question. :D I said, "Yes!" |
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| Twirling from happiness (the day after our engagement). We did a self mini photo shoot for Save the Date pictures. |
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| Traveling by wooden boat from Pemba Island to small Masali Island for a snorkeling day trip |
- the other volunteers and I went on a day adventure, driving up the slopes of Mt. Meru, then hiking to a freshwater pool at the base of a tall waterfall where we spent the afternoon swimming. ~ 1.30.2011
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| Waterfall and pool on Mt. Meru |
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| Darren, me, Danielle, and Kirsten enjoying the cool water |
- a group of volunteers from another organization invited some of the CoL volunteers and me to a beautiful back-country freshwater spring where we spent the day swimming, swinging from rope swings into the spring, eating yummy food, and enjoying each other's company. We took another trip out to this spring a few weeks before I left Tanzania as well. Both were delightful! ~ 2.6.2011 & 4.16.2011
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| Majimoto spring - kinda, sorta near Moshi |
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| Danielle, Kezia, Darren, and Liz relaxing after a swim and lunch |
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| Stopping for a picture during the drive on our second trip out to Majimoto L-R: Natasha, Amina, Danielle, Simon, Kezia, and me |
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| Friends watching Kili come out for the evening |
- I traveled with Jordan, a volunteer friend from Havilah Children's Village, to Nairobi, Kenya for a long weekend to meet up with two of her friends from our university who were in the process of traveling around the world, from cape to cape. (I blogged about this trip - read more about it here.) ~ 3.4-6.2011
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| Feeding a giraffe at the Nairobi Giraffe Center |
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| Bjorn, me, and Jeremy eating a delicious breakfast at a little shack restaurant we found behind our hostel |
- the volunteers and I went to Arusha for an evening of fun to watch the Mama Africa circus. One person in our group had seen them perform before and told us that they often grabbed people from the audience to help out with various acts, so throughout the entire performance I was trying to make myself as invisible as possible, and thankfully, I was never pulled onto the stage. All in all, though, the acrobats were amazing, and it was a very memorable evening! ~ 3.26.2011
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| Acrobat and his trusty sidekicks |
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| Final circus number |
- I traveled with ADRA for some albino support programs. Our travels took us to Tanga, a city on the northern coast of Tanzania, and Moshi, a city an hour and a half-ish south of Arusha that is right on the edge of Kilimanjaro National Park, as well as to Arusha for a day. ~ Tanga - 4.1-3.2011 | Moshi - 4.9-10.2011 | Arusha - 4.17.2011
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| Crowd listening to speeches at the Albino Registration Day in Tanga |
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| School children singing at the Albino Registration Day in Moshi |
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| Volunteers at the Albino Registration Day in Arusha |
- I took a weekend trip with another volunteer, Kezia, to the gorgeous town of Babati, a few hours east of Arusha and met a friend there who showed us around the area, and let us see the progress of some ADRA wells and latrines being built in various surrounding villages and schools. (I blogged about this trip - read more about it here.) ~ 4.18-19.2011
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| Gorgeous Babati countryside |
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| Trying out one of ADRA's wells in a village near Babati |
So those are the special events that happened during my SM year. Tune in again soon to read my final post in this series with my take-away from my time in Tanzania.
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Read Part 1 here - Before I left for Tanzania...
Read Part 2 here - While I was in Tanzania... Part A
Read Part 3 here - While I was in Tanzania... Part B
Read Part 5 here - Since I've come home from Tanzania...
Yet another gorgeous entry. Well done friend. I had forgotten about some of your adventures. I remember reading about them when you blogged or hearing about them when we skyped. Fun times to remember indeed.
ReplyDeleteStill love it that you got engaged there in TZ.
ReplyDeleteSo glad for all the friends you made there and the people who you got to see while you were there.
Thanks for writing all of this down.