Safari Pictures

This is the Sanje Waterfall; we hiked to the top but stopped at each level along the way for pictures. We ate lunch at the very top and were able to swim in the small pools that were created by the falls.
The view from the top of the waterfall! Amazing!!




The 3 animals we saw the most. You can tell in the elephant picture just how close the elephant was to the car.

Safari

This past week the internet has been down so I have not been able to get online. This past weekend 4 volunteers and I went on a Safari in Mikumi National Park which is about 5 hours west from Bagamoyo. Monday was a national hoilday so we made it a long weekend and spent 3 nights camping. This allowed us to not only visit the park but also take a day and hike to the top of a waterfall in the Udzungwa mountains.
The weather was much cooler than Bagamoyo and it felt so nice to not sweat every second of the day. We went with a safari tour company called Wild Things that provided a driver and a cook that set up our tents and campsite as well as drove us around the park. We camped right outside the park at a campsite that had bathrooms! We were a bit worried about the shower/ bathroom situation (especially with 4 of the volunteers being girls) so it turned out quite well. The food was amazing and included a starter, soup, and main dish at each dinner.
We spent all day Saturday in the park and were able to see all of the animals we had hoped plus more. The main animal that everyone was eager to see was the lion. Not only did we see lions we saw their cubs as well. It was amazing to drive through the park and be 5 feet from an elephant or zebra. Needless to say the pictures we were able to take were great.
Sunday we drove 2 hours further west to the rain forrest in the Udzungwa mountains and had lunch on top of the Sanje waterfalls. The view from the top was breathtaking. We returned to Mikumi that night and spent Monday morning once more in the park before returning back to Bagamoyo.

Zanzibar!!

This past weekend six of us went to Zanzibar to relax and get some sun. Zanzibar is an island off the coast of Tanzania and since Bagamoyo is on the coast it was farely easy to visit in a weekend. From Bagamoyo we took a dala dala (there form of taxi bus) to Dar es Salaam then a ferry ride to Zanzibar. When we arrived we walked to a beach resort prior to being picked up by our own hotel bus. We ate dinner and enjoyed the beach front view and sunset.

We stayed at Pongwe Beach Resort which is on the eastern side of Zanzibar. The resort was amazing with an infinite pool, beach front huts, kayaking, fishing, snorkling, and delicious food.

This was the huts that were along the beach that we stayed in. Lorraine and I shared the first hut and Camille and Sarah were on the other side of that divider in the same hut.

The water was clear and the sand was white which made the bottom very visible even at twenty plus feet.

This was the view from my hut! AMAZING, I want to go back!

PICUTRES!

This is everyone that came on April 10th with me. We had just been picked up at the airport and were on the 3 hour bus ride to Bagamoyo! We were so nasty from our long trip to Africa.





Most of the houses are made of clay and rocks with thatched roofs.







Today we went to a families house who performed an Africa dance for us. They also played instruments that were made of goat skin, wood, bicycle spokes, and cow skin. This is their daughter Loas. She loved the camera and wanted to take pictures non-stop!

8:00 pm

I am having the best time; I could come home today and be so much more thankful for everything I have been given and blessed with. This morning we had an assignment where we were paired with a partner and we had to walk outside of our gates and do a scavenger hunt. Me and Jon had to go to (basically search for and find) the local market and buy avocados, bananas, and pineapple as well as find the local currency exchange and figure out the selling price from Dollars to Shillings. 1 dollar = 1,000 Shillings. So this morning when I bought a banana for 300 shillings I was basically paying 30 cents. CRAZY! Everything here seems incredibly cheap however you have to realize how much they get paid. A waitress makes around 48,000 Shillings a month which is one of the lowest paying jobs in Tanzania.

This afternoon we visited the hospital. We were first visited by a doctor who explained to us the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Africa. Afterwards he gave us a tour of the hospital which consisted of 4 wards (pediatrics, maternity, male, and female). Each ward is its own building but they are just big open rooms with about 20 beds each. It is unlike anything I have ever seen; very few resources, no sheets on the bed, no pumps to infuse drips, one nurse to each ward, and one bathroom for each ward. I will definitely know more about the illnesses they treat the most when I start volunteering. Tomorrow is my first day!

orientation

April 11, 2010

11:00 pm


I’m in love with Bagamoyo and I have only been here 24 hours. Today we visited the fish market, the Dr. David Livingstone Museum, Caravan Serai (where the slaves stayed before being sent to Zanzibar), the Catholic Church with a museum attached, and the Kaole Ruins. Since we arrived to Bagamoyo late last night we were not able to see the town so today was really awesome. This place is like nothing I have ever seen before. Clay houses, mud floors, people everywhere; maybe since today is Sunday people are not working and children are not in school. Little things we take for granted such as cutting the grass is done by a whacking at the grass with a long blade knife.
The food at the house is amazing. I found myself enjoying peas and carrots and I would not dare touch them at home. I do not foresee myself coming home looking smaller than when I left. Tonight after dinner all of the volunteers went to a local bar called Francesca’s and listened to live music performed outside of the bar. The Bar was just a hut that sold drinks and there was a sitting area on the lawn. The locals called white people “mzunga” which means “white person”, however when they say it they are meaning “foreigner” (it is not a sign of disrespect). The bar was 15 minutes away from our house and on our walk home the stars were so bright. They looked reachable.
Our house is taken care of and run by quite a few people. We have 2 housekeepers, 3 guards, 1 program manager, 1 country manager, 1 senior program manager, and 2 cooks. Our program manager, who led orientation, was saying how he wants to learn certain traits from us. For example, a volunteer in our group, Melissa, works at Google in San Francisco and he wants to learn how to use a search engine on is computer.
Tomorrow is the last day before we start work at our placements, mine being Bagamoyo District Hospital. During our last orientation day tomorrow we will get a tour of the hospital. I am really excited yet very anxious to see the equipment and resources I will be given.

First night in Bagamoyo

April 10, 2010

11:00 pm

I made it! After another redeye flight, one layover in Nairobi, 6 hours sitting in an airport waiting for other volunteers to arrive, and a 3 hour bus drive from Dar es Salaam to Bagamoyo, I am finally am at the house where all the volunteers stay. Quite to my surprise the house is very nice and the rooms are not sweltering . We arrived at the house around 8pm and met the other volunteers- there are 11 of us in total. After dinner and getting the grand tour we all unpacked and took very needed showers. Tomorrow is a day of orientation and becoming acclimated to Bagamoyo.

one more day....

11:oo pm

Tomorrow is the big day! Traveling to Africa will take around 8 hours from Amsterdam and we land Saturday morning around 9am in Dar es Salaam (the capital of Tanzania). Then the bus ride to Bagamoyo will take around 2 hours.

Camille, Lorraine, and I have all started our Malaria pills and we have discussed our feeling about the trip. We are all very excited about Africa, volunteering, and meeting the other volunteers but also very nervous about the unknown. We will soon realize what we take for granted in the States and Canada. We will be brushing our teeth with bottled water and washing our clothes in a bucket; showers may be taken without electricity and sleeping will be under a mosquito net. The electricity is unreliable especially during the rainy season. Also, not sure what to expect with the language barrier, the food, and the cultural differences.

I hope I keep an open mind and I am certain I will have an experience I will never forget.

pictures

9:30 pm



There are 800,000 people in the city of Amsterdam and 1,000,000 bikes. It cost 50 Euros a day to park a car in the city so most people ride their bikes. It is 100,000 Euros for a parking spot outside your house and Amsterdam supposedly has the most expensive parking in the world. This is a picture of a parking deck that is used for bikes rather than cars.




Amsterdam is famous for their Heineken and are proud of their Heineken Brewery. During the tour we learned that their beer is made up of 93% water, hops, barley, and yeast, as well as their "secret ingredient." It was a self guided tour that explained the history behind the family business. We were able to see, taste, and smell the barley and hops as well as experience the brewing and bottling process.






During the Candlelight Tour of the Red Light District we were taken through canals that were lined with houseboats. The houseboat itself is not expensive compared to the square meter price mentioned earlier, however the property, due to location, is insanely high.

bikes, bikes, bikes

5:oo pm

The popular way to get around Amsterdam is by bike so we decided to do a bike tour. We used Orange Bike Guided Tours and were shown the city in about 3 hours. Our group was composed of 2 Germans, 3 Spainards, 1 Canadian, and ME "the American." Although they claim the city is small, my legs were so tired after the tour. We went over bridges, beside canals, through city parks, and around city squares. About 800,000 live in the city and one square meter of property is around 5,000 Euros. The minimum wage is 10 Euros and another name for the Red Light District is Wall Street. One of the main churches we rode by had three X's on the top and the locals jokes it stands for the three things they are most common for: sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll.
The city is beautiful and I think the best way to see everything in Amsterdam is by bike. However, I will warn you, always watch where you are going when crossing a street and never walk in the bike lane. I am pretty sure I was cussed out in Dutch when another biker almost t-boned me when I was trying to cross the street on my bike. The picture above is of Lorraine and I; she is one of the sisters I am traveling with. Since both of the girls are from Canada they keep laughing at me when I say "yall" but I laugh right back when they say "eh." I am just waiting for the day when I have converted them and they use the word "yall."

First Night in Amsterdam

11:35pm

I am exhausted, I tried to stay up and allow my body to get adjusted but it is time for bed! Tonight we walked around the area near out hotel (which is right next to Amsterdam Central Train Station) looking for a good local spot to eat. We ended up at a restaurant in their China Town called Bird Thai Restaurant. It was voted Best Thai in Amsterdam so we had to check it out. It did not get dark outside until 9:30 or so which was nice walking around prior to dinner. After dinner we walked around China Town area and had our first encounter with the Red Light District (RLD). We did not realize how close we were to the RLD and came across our first window and were quite shocked. It was on the outskirts of the RLD so this particular window was the only one around, hence, we were not prepared. After walking for a little bit we headed back to the hotel, where I am now.
Tomorrow we have scheduled a "Redlight Candle Light Cruise." This tour starts at 8:30pm and takes us through the canals in the RLD showing us the canal-side houses, among other things. During the tour they serve wine and cheese while teaching us about the history of the RLD. They allow us a chance to get out of the boat and they provide a guided citywalk tour. Finally, we stop in a Dutch pub for a glass of jenever and then back to the boat for the end of the tour. As for in the morning/afternoon we have not planned anything.... we are looking into a bike tour as well as a tour of the Heineken Factory. That is all for now. Sleep time, finally!


PS- the post times on these blogs are wrong so I will write the local time in the blog.

Amsterdam

I am in Amsterdam! After a non-eventful flight and sitting in the airport for a couple hours I met up with the two girls, Lorraine and Camille, from Vancouver. We had to take a train from the airport to Center City and trying to buy a train ticket was more difficult than we thought. The machine did not take cards nor did it take Euros in paper form, so we had to go ask for coins. We got our train tickets but our next challenge arose when we had no idea which train to take. Everything was written in Dutch and there were six different trains to pick from. Finally, we gave in and asked a security guard. When we got off the train at City Center we had about a 20 minute walk to our hotel. Carrying large backpacks and luggage was not ideal however the site of the city was enough to make it bearable. We are in the heart of the city so there are so many bikers, walkers, and tourists (like me). The weather is around 55 degrees and sunny. We just got to the hotel to get cleaned up and unpacked. Glad I made it safely and without too many obstacles to jump over!