Life's a Breezes

Okay, small confession. I treated myself to two days at an expensive resort. It's, technically, way over my budget but I wanted to reward myself for three months living in Tanzania, enjoying the highs and putting up with the lows. Of course, I have my lovely parents to thank for the loan but when I get back I will repay every penny.

The place is called Breezes Beach and Spa Resort, located north of Bwejuu on the east coast of Zanzibar. Before I arrived, I was picked up from Paje to head off on a dolphin tour with three other volunteers, who were also staying at the resort and who convinced me to stump up the money for the two days. The dolphin tour was a great experience, seeing the dolphins and swimming with them but the trip was marred slightly by two factors. Firstly, I had not had any breakfast and, secondly, there were so many boats filled with wazungu chasing these amazing creatures that when you did get in the water, visibility was almost impossible due to the spray thrown up by the motors. That said, hearing dolphins communicate underwater was incredible.

Anyway, back to this resort. The place is a collection of classy bungalows and two story houses, all in a Swahili style. There is a computer room and TV room but no TVs in the actually rooms themselves, a nice way to leave the commotion of Western life behind (also this is really a place for couples and honeymooners so they probably have better things to do).The rooms all had air conditioning and double beds, with a couch and coffee table as well as some seats on the porch to enjoy the cooler evening air but I spent most of the time down by the beach or pool, crashed out on a sunbed, either chilling or reading my book.  There is Wi-Fi access around the lobby, bars and pool, a fitness centre with tennis court and a spa. All this right on the deserted section of beach. Being on the east side the differences in the beach at high and low tides is amazing. High tides crashing agains the wooden steps, low tide revealing hundreds of meters of sand, rock and seaweed that you can take a walk across.

The first thing we did when I got to the resort is head down to the beach just to chill out and get rid of my horrible t-shirt tan lines. Luckily, my time in Kendwa had all but done this for me, so now was the finishing touches. Also, it gave me the chance to crack on with the book I've been reading. For the record the book is called Why Black Men Love White Women by Rajen Persaud The story behind this is that we were walking by a bookstore one day and they had this proudly displayed in the window. My friend found it hilarious and I vowed to buy it and read it. So I did. Billed as a comedic look into the relationships between black men and why they covet the white woman, the book is actually a lot more serious than that. It has its funny moments and it doesn't really tell you much more than anyone else with an interest in race and media. That said, having just finished it, it was an amusing read. It must have looked extra strange, though, when both my friend and I were reading the same book at the same time. The book itself was of great interest to me, especially as an ethnic minority and although the Chinese race has not suffered in the same sense, historically, as black people in the Western world, we still have to put up with being negatively stereotyped in media and culture. It was interesting because I could look at the book from a completely different perspective than, for example, my white friend.

Anyway, while at the resort we played an hour of tennis and the girls went for massages but mostly we just chilled at the pool, swimming and sunning ourselves. We were half-board and dinner was a posh affair, no shorts, preferably a shirt. We were seated by a waiter and given an introduction to the set four course menu.The food on the first day was sublime, with crab cakes to start, followed by grilled aubergine with courgette puree; we had grilled fish and risotto cake for main and a tropical fruit puree with ice cream for dessert. The second day was a Swahili buffet with the usual chapatis, ugali, nyama choma, samosas among other stuff.

It was great to just relax for a couple of days in a posh resort. I could really get used to staying in places like that. Gotta get a well-paid job first, I think.

Sun in the sky, sand under my feet.

Zanzibar is beautiful. That is pretty much all you need to know.

For the first two days I stayed with some other volunteers in Stone Town, the heart of Zanzibar. The town is a maze of little alleys enshrouded on both sides by tall three story buildings. On one side, you have the water; on the other, you have the market and dala stand. We arrived in Stone Town in the morning, taking a one and a half hour ferry from Dar Es Salaam, costing us 20,000 shillings (£8) as we were residents with our Permit Cs. I arrived in Stone Town to a phone call from my roommate telling me that the previous night, there had been riots and a church had been burned down. The authorities were advising people to stay away from the place. Always good to get off to a positive start. We met our guide outside the harbour and he took us to the hostel we would be staying in called Jambo Guest House. The hostel was really nice, triple rooms with fans and mosquito nets. We paid $15 per night each including breakfast. We dumped our stuff and proceeded with a tour of Stone Town, with the guide showing us the different ornate doors that front some of the houses. The doors are huge rectangles boarded by carvings, sometimes chains to signify slavers, sometimes circles to signify pearl divers. Across the Indian influenced doors, metal or wooden spikes jut out three to four inches in order to prevent elephants destroying the door.

We were shown the old palaces and the beach front before being taken to the market. There were three parts to the market. Fish, fruit and spices. The fish market reeked to high heaven, the fruit market smelled like heaven and the spice market was an amazing assault on the senses. Our guide took us straight to one stall, which he said was the cheapest one. The owner, Saleem, was extremely friendly and the prices were unbelievable. 1000 (40p) Tsh bought you a small bag of coffee, tea or spices. 3000 (£1.20) bought you a big bag. I didn't have enough money on me at the time so I told him I would come back the next day with some other friends and, as a gesture of good will, he gave me a free small bag of coffee. Sure enough the next day I went back and bought 28000 (£11.20) shillings worth of spices, including some garam masala, fish masala, a big bag of saffron and twenty vanilla pods for 10000 shillings (£4) each. I also bought some spice boats as presents for 2000 shillings each and got one free. When I went back the next day to buy some stuff for the girls, he gave me two packets of chilli powder. What a nice guy!

On the second day in Stone Town, we went to Prison Island, a small island used as a quarentine centre in the past. Nowadays it is a luxury hotel and tortoise sanctuary. Again, due to our permit Cs, we only had to pay 2000 shillings to get in. Seems like I'm making some of that $500 back! After taking in the island we headed out into the rain and rough seas for a bit of snorkeling. Now I've never been snorkeling before, so it was a new experience for me and, being pretty much blind, I realised that if I ever take up snorkeling or diving as a hobby, I needed to get my own stuff made. However, it was a great experience and seeing all the brightly colour fish and starfish was brilliant.

The third day, I joined two of the volunteers on a spice tour where we visited a plantation and were provided lunch. As it rained heavily during the tour, we were forced to take shelter and it gave us time to meet some of the other people on the tour. There were three British lads who had just been to Kendwa with the other volunteers and they could not speak highly enough of Kendwa. They and the volunteers pretty much convinced me to go. Anyway, the spice tour was a good waste of a day; it was interesting enough but not anything special.

In the evening on all three nights we went to the night market, which was a collection of stands out by the harbour selling food. I tried the Zanzibar pizza, multiple seafood kebabs (baby shark, tuna, kingfish, lobster, octopus), samosas and a shwarma kebab. The prices were not particularly cheap for Tanzania, the market clearly being aimed at the huge number of tourists that grace the island, but the food was good enough and didn't make me sick at least.

On my fourth morning being in Zanzibar, I parted ways with the remaining two volunteers who were heading back to Dar and over the border to Kenya before one of their permit Cs ran out. I headed north on a privately hired shared taxi, which was pretty much a luxury dala. Pulling up in Kendwa, I headed to Kendwa Rocks where I was told to book a dorm in order to avoid paying an entrance fee to Saturday's full moon party. I booked my dorm and was given a card. The card was the way of paying for everything while using the restaurant, bar or internet while staying at Kendwa Rocks. Its is extemely handy, that I can leave all my money in my bags, but also, for some, it can be a very easy way to spend a lot of money. Thankfully, it's not all irresponsible as the resort does give you receipts with every purchase letting you know how much you are spending.

The first day I was there, I met a local guy from Usa River who showed me up and down the beach, where to eat locally and where the supermarket was. At lunch, I headed to the restaurant with my book to finally have some sushi again. I had eight pieces of tuna sashimi and eight pieces of kingfish nigiri for 15500 shillings (£6.20). I read my book some,while trying to rid myself of my T-shirt tan, and then met two Danish girls who I had gone on the spice tour with when I headed to the bar for happy hour (or four as it lasts from 3-7pm, cocktails 5000 shillings (£2)). For dinner, I had soup and chicken chapatti, which is basically a chicken wrap with chapatti replacing the tortilla. We then headed over to the neighbouring bar which had music and people. When I say music, they played Rihanna's discography separating each song with another European chart hit from six months ago. I left at about two and got back to my dorm where I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

My second day in Kendwa began with a buffet breakfast, which wasn't much of a buffet because I arrived too late to get more than one helping. No matter. Spotting the two Danes again we hung out for the day, lying in the sun and swimming for a bit. I got burned but not badly. I had tuna teriaki for lunch and a few cocktails at happy hour, ginger mojito being highly recommended. The Danes left to continue their travels and I headed back to the dorm for a rest, a shower and to get ready for the full moon party. Back in the dorms, I met two Canadians and an Australian, who invited me down to dinner with them where we joined a few others. It reminded me somewhat of when I had first got to Arusha. You find a bunch of people with something in common, language, living arrangements, how little time you've been in the country. The night started with a special barbeque grill, where I treated myself to half a lobster and buffet for 38000 shillings (£17.20) which was delicious. Then the table took it turns to get to know each other and what we were all doing in Zanzibar, which turned out to be a mixture of volunteers, travellers and people on breaks after business trips. Traditional dancing, drumming and an acrobatics show followed, which wasn't anything I hadn't already seen in Arusha or on safari at Lake Manyara. Then there was a dance crew or three and a Michael Jackson...dance-a-like? He was okay, though it was annoying that he mimed everything. Why pretend to sing like MJ if you can't? Just give up the pretense and conentrate on dancing. However, once that had concluded the party really got started as the DJ broke out dance classics like Karma Chameleon and various songs by Wham.  The full moon party began to get going at midnight or thereabouts; I've taken to leaving my phone back in my bags so I had no idea what the time was. Before I knew it is was three o'clock, or at least that's what my last receipt says. I think I went to sleep pretty shortly after but it might have been anywhere from 3:15 - 4 a.m. It wasn't what I had expected. I think I had expected it to be one of the Greek islands, possibly due to the number of Brits in Kendwa, in Africa. But in fact it was a lot more chilled out than that. Most of the people here were here to chill rather than get blind drunk.
I've really enjoyed my time in Zanzibar so far, and on Monday I head off to the east coast to join the other volunteers. From what I hear the east is devoid of people and a great place to just chill and relax. All that I need to do is find a cheap place to stay. Until then.

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

One day. One day and it will be over. Credits will roll and my job is done. Tomorrow morning I will be on the bus to Dar Es Salaam and my time with Projects Abroad as a volunteer will be over. Well, I will be in Arusha for four more days in June and will probably attempt some work in that time but, for the most part, I am done.

I will look over my work in another post but, for now, I will focus on what became an integral part of my stay: the volunteers. Before I left the UK, I assumed that I would be working most of the time, seeing volunteers once a week at the Projects Abroad organised socials. Indeed, in my first few weeks, that was the case. I worked 7:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. everyday and then went home. Occasionally, I would head into Arusha to go shopping but I had everything I needed at home. Food, my bed, internet access for my laptop were all available to me. It was an easy, sedentary life. Not particularly exciting but I was not spending much money either, which pleased my parents.

Then, in late March, we went on the day trip to the hot springs, which kick started my Tanzanian social life. Fast forward through two months of amazing times and we get to the point where I am having to say goodbye to all of my friends. Coincidentally, as it was the start of my social life, it was the end as well for yesterday we took another trip, my third, to the hot springs and it was just as amazing as the first. But that is also another story.

It began in April when I began working more and more in the office. Every day around two in the afternoon, three volunteers would drop by the office and they'd check their e-mail and Facebook, then we would head to a cafe called Stiggbucks, which did amazing salads and guacamole. We would sit, eat, chat for hours until it was time to head home, usually around 6:30 p.m. if you wanted to make it home before dark. That was my life for two months. Seeing the same people every single day. It was like being at university, in halls, living with the same people for an entire year. I knew that most of the people I would meet in Tanzania would have similar personalities to my own. Most volunteers do what they do to help make a difference in a developing country; they all want to experience a different culture and they are all outgoing people. I knew that before I came and, in fact, it was a big deciding factor in my decision to volunteer abroad but, like I mentioned earlier, I still thought I would only see them once a week at the Projects Abroad organised socials. As it turns out, I became so close with the other volunteers that it feels like I have known them for years not months. We constantly arranged our own dinners out, lunch gatherings, drinks on a warm evening. We go on nights out every Thursday night to Via Via and Saturday night to Empire and dance until 4 a.m. I now count some of the volunteers among some of my most valued friends, not only because we have a great time together but also because we have the same principles.

It makes a huge difference to your entire experience when you do something like this. You never experience anything like it when backpacking or while on holiday. You don't get the same in-depth experience that all of the volunteers share at some point. In Tanzania, we have all experienced beign the centre of attention, being called mzungu in the street. We all have our own opinions on ugali  and nyama choma. When you volunteer, you join a community of people and it is especially noticable when your volunteering period coincides with other volunteers. You go through the same good days, the same bad ones. You all get the same sense of realisation that you are actually living in Africa at the same time. You all get horrible dawning that your time is at an end at the same time.

The social life I have had in Arusha has been better than anything I have had at home. The knowledge that your time is limited and the fact that you might never see some of the other volunteers again means that you fully appreciate the time you have together. It is strange that, in reality, most of the European volunteers live fairly close together. Most of the volunteers come from Holland (£37 on Easyjet) or Denmark (£32 on Easyjet), places that are not expensive to get to from the UK. In fact, I've already made plans to travel to Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen in November with some volunteers. It is a comforting notion, knowing that I will see my friends again but for the ones who live further afield, Canada, USA, Australia, it is devastating that I may not ever see them again.

That said, I think that the group of friends I have made are dedicated to staying in touch, especially as we have already got plans for a Eurotrip in the summer of 2013. At least, I hope so. Lots of things can happen in a year and who knows what circumstances life might throw at us but, hopefully, we will all make it for reunions in 2013 and beyond. At this time, and probably to anybody outside our group, it might seem ambitious to be hoping for a Eurotrip next year when all of us have already spent so much on volunteering this year, as well as having our studies next year, but I really want it to work. The volunteers have played such a massive part in making these last three months the best months of my life.

Saying goodbye is hard. Both when it comes to the people you know you might not see again and to the people that you know you will. While volunteering abroad, you build such intense relationships that you feel like you've known each other for years when, in actual fact, you know very little about them, what their favourite song or colour is for example. However, you get to know their personalities. I know that, out of my three friends I mentioned earlier, one is a really happy-go-lucky kind of guy who is up for anything, another is a kind, caring, non-confrontational girl who just wants to enjoy herself, and the third is a feisty character who will give as good as she gets when someone wrongs her or her friends.

I wish we all lived in the same city or country but such is life. Some people say that saying goodbye becomes easier as time goes on. For the staff here, they have such a huge turnover in volunteers that they are saying goodbye to someone every week. I hope it never becomes easy for me to say goodbye. When it's difficult, that's when you know you've had an amazing time. Life is short, make the most of it. You realise that when you do something like this. Three months has passed in a flash.

I think all that's left for me to say is a huge THANK YOU to the volunteers in Arusha, you've given me the best three months and enriched my life. Stay in touch and you've always got a place to stay in London.

EmE, CK, MB, JO, EJM, EK, EL, JGr, TL, ElE, ASVGN, PH, JN, AB, RS, CD, JGl, CM, FS, MJ, YE, AA, AL, SU, QN, JV, VB, JB, SB, PF, LS, HP, AS, ES, IH

You know who you are. If I've missed anyone, I apologise, let me know and I'll edit the list.

Safari!

Day 1

Lake Manyara

We got up at 7:30 am for breakfast at Backpackers, which was the usual disappointment, showered and changed to get ready for the safari. We were all refreshed and ready to go at 8:20am even thought we were told we'd be picked up at 8:30am, which is about 9 am Tanzanian time. As we sat down waiting, I was talking to my Tanzanian rafiki Sake and soon after he left we were approached by a small Chinese woman asking if we were going with African Smart Safaris. We said we were and she told us that she would be joining us. First fail. Actually, we weren't entirely bothered but when four close friends are spending four days cramped up in a Land Cruiser together, it must be hard for a fifth stranger to come in. It meant she had to make an effort to get to know us and we had to make an effort to include her in conversations. As bad as it sounds, the precise reason I was looking forward to the safari was to get away from all of that. Out of the three volunteers I was going with, I lived with one, saw another almost every day for the last month and a half, and had my induction way back in March with the final member. I knew that I would not have to make an effort to talk with them, because I knew I liked all of them and conversation came naturally. I would not have to portray a side of me that was always fun and talkative. I could change from the person everyone thinks I am. I could enjoy some peace and quiet, while also having time to mull over things in my mind. It sounds bad but, as much as I love the other volunteers and have hopefully made some friends I will keep for a lifetime, I just needed a break from it all, for various different reasons. But in the end I was not too fussed. She turned out to be from Hong Kong, was 34 (although she looked 12) and had been travelling in the Middle East and South America.

As we set off, we were all tired and a little frustrated that we had not, at least, been told we were having someone join. We were told before that we could have invited volunteers on the day of departure and that would have been fine. Apparently not and luckily we did not bring any last minute additions. The drive to Manyara was long and bumpy. The Tanzanian government has this great idea of putting the same speed bumps, that are painted yellow and black and put in car parks in England where the speed limit is 5mph, on their highway. The drive to Manyara was about two and a half hours and we went straight to the camp site to deposit our things. Afterwards, we opened to roof of the car and drove down to the national park and began our safari. Almost immediately, we were surrounded by baboons, including mothers with their children, and blue monkeys and the picture taking began.

The park itself was beautiful as you would expect, with the lake being surrounded by rolling grassland, which was in turn enclosed by dense forest. As we drove through the park closer to the centre the forest dropped away and was replaced by shrubbery where the Kirk's Dik-Diks hang out. Dik-Diks are tiny antelopes, growing to about 40cm high, and are pretty much like a safari version of a chihuahua. They were scattered around the park in pairs and we my favourite animals that we saw that day. We then visited a hippo pond, passing by zebras, wildebeest and water buffalo on the way. In the pool were some hippos and we stopped for some pictures and lunch. In the distance, as the shrubbery turned to open grassland, the lake was full of flamingos turning the horizon pink. It's hard to pick out certain highlights to tell you about. I am of the opinion that in order to fully experience the tranquility of being out in the vast open grounds of a national park, one must really escape from the images broadcast with Sir David in the background. Everyone should go on safari at least once to see the magnificence of all the animals from the giant elephants to the tiny Dik-Diks, the famous flamingos to the innumerable, yet no less beautiful, smaller birds.

As the day drew to a close we made our way out of the park towards the camp site, passing a couple of baboons getting down and dirty on the way. Always interesting to see. At the camp site, we were given dinner and were entertained by some dancers and drummers as well as an acrobatics crew. As we walked to our tents, we took some time to sit on the edge of the camp site, enjoying the clarity of the sky, unfamiliar stars dotted around the blackness.

Day 2

Serengeti

For the second day we had a long drive from Manyara through Ngorongoro Crater through to the Serengeti where we would do an afternoon game drive before settling down for the night at a campsite in the middle of the Serengeti. The drive to Ngorongoro was unremarkable. Long but on a smooth road which allowed us to get some sleep. The entrance to Ngorongoro Crater is a huge gated archway, without making any attempt to blend in with the natural beauty that lays behind it. After passing through the gate we were immediately faced with a cliff face dropping off to our left as the trees plunged into the crater. The drive itself was unremarkable, slow and cold but once we passed through the clouds and the rain we were granted a glorious view over the crater as the sun lit up the grasslands and the lakes. That was for the final day though and we continued past en route to the Serengeti. I had heard different things about the Serengeti, that it was the place to visit when doing a safari in Tanzania but also that it was too big, that the vastness of it meant long drives seeing nothing.

On the drive to the gates of the Serengeti, we drove past a herd of giraffes, long necks poking out into the blue sky but the most impressive viewing was the annual wildebeest migration. Hundreds, if not thousands, of wildebeest and zebras dotted the landscape, giving the horizon the impression of being a distant forest. Dotted among the vast numbers of wildebeest and zebras were pockets of Grant's and Thompson's gazelles. And then the dense herd opened up, forming a sizable circle around a lone male lion. He was just lying there, a fairly young male judging by his mane. As we approached the gates to the Serengeti we stopped for lunch, surrounded by dazzlingly bright blue and yellow birds. They were so used to humans and didn't shy away when approached. In fact, they seemed quite bold in trying to steal your food. One negative aspect of the trip to the Serengeti was the Maasai children and women who approached your safari car saying, "give me my money" and "give me my lunch". Having met and worked with some proud Maasai men and women, watching them ask for free handouts in this way was shocking and it was a good example of the negative aspects of Western tourism. These Maasai boys only do this because there are some Western travellers who do give them $10 or a bit of their packed lunch because they have rich man's guilt about having lots of money and flushing toilets and Nike trainers. Knowing the Maasai men and women that I do, few, if any, of them would resort to demeaning themselves by begging foreigners for food and money.

Anyway, we ate lunch and began our game drive. We saw many more elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and a few water buffalo too. But the inevitable highlight of the day was driving past a single lioness munching away on a recently killed wildebeest. We arrived as it finished feeding and began following it when it stalked off, heading through the tall grass before climbing up a tree. As we marvelled at a lion in a tree, off in the distance two more lioness had appeared out of the grass and were walking towards our car. As they moved across to the road, they were followed by six adorable lion cubs. Watching the cubs play and feed on the wildebeest was one of the best moments of the whole safari.

As the day drew to a close we headed for the campsite located in the Serengeti. On the way we were able to see a herds of elephants and impalas settling down for the night. Seeing over thirty elephants grouped together was an awesome sight to behold. However, one bull elephant took exception at how close we stopped to him and seemed agitated, ears flapping, stamping on the ground, our driver took us away at the request of the girls.

We drove into the campsite as the sun was setting and I helped put up the tents before dinner. As the sun set and darkness enveloped the campsite, a lightning storm periodically lit up the background. Flashes of purple and blue illuminated the dark clouds on the horizon in an awesome showcase of natural beauty. Apparently, there was a giraffe eating about 20 yards away from our tent in the middle of the night but I was too tired to go and have a look.

Day 3

Serengeti

We woke at 6 a.m. so we could experience the sunrise in the Serengeti. As we drove through the chilly morning air we managed to catch the unexpected speed of the sunrise. One moment it was but a bright speck on the horizon, the next a blazing ball of fire in the sky. We drove around the Serengeti in the cool morning air, the only car visible in the vast plains. We saw the lion family we had seen feeding yesterday and passed the remains of the wildebeest being stripped clean by huge vultures. We carried on driving through the endless plains.

And then we saw them. Three leopards walking down the open road towards our car. Three magnificent creatures, sleek, patterned skin, hiding rippling muscles perfectly designed by mother nature for to serve their purpose. Our driver was immediately on the radio letting the other safari groups know that there were three leopards here. In his six years of driving he had never seen this before, he told us. We watched and followed as they walked past, eventually stopping, two climbing into a tree and the mother searching the surrounding area.

As we left, we were all aware of how lucky we were to have seen these three creatures together. We drove some more, seeing hartebeest along with the usual wildebeest, zebras, elephants and giraffes before coming across two impalas fighting. Watching this was like being part of the crew filming a BBC wildlife programme. It wasn't long until we had to begin our drive back to Ngorongoro. As we drove back through the gates of Serengeti, we were able to truly get a grasp of the sheer numbers of wildebeest and zebras that were completing their annual migration towards Kenya. Like ants in your garden, hundreds if not thousands of animals littered the plains, occasionally allowing some green to show through the sea of brown, white and black.

As we drove back towards Ngorongoro, we could see dark rainclouds on either side of the road and rain pouring down, even though it was sunny along the road. When we got to the campsite, my camera ran out of battery and my phone was close to doing the same. Disaster on the crucial last day of the Premier League season! I was getting updates on my phone until it ran out of battery in, roughly, the 90th minute. Having to borrow one of the other volunteers phones, I almost cried when one particular staff member texted me that Arsenal had lost, Tottenham had won and we were 4th. That despairing feeling lasting for ten minutes as he texted me again to tell me he was just screwing with me and we had made it. I think I disturbed a good number of people by jumping in the air yelling "I'm going to kill him!"

As we lay down to sleep in our tents, we heard something seemingly pull up some grass, followed by munching. It turns out that about fifteen water buffalo had made their way into the camp and were having a midnight snack. An odd way to drop off to sleep.

Day 4

Ngorongoro Crater

The drive down was cold. And wet. Driving down through the clouds, the car was cold and visibility was low. All of us were tired. The morning was slow going, seeing the same animals again, zebras, wildebeest, a few elephants in the distance. Rain surrounded us, while never quite falling on us. Hyenas dotted the landscape in between the herds of gazelles. We were on the lookout for a cheetah and a rhino. The morning was taken up by seeing much of what we had seen before as we drove around the crater. It was suprising how accustomed the wildlife here was to the noise and presence of the safari cars. On the way to the Serengeti, the zerbras would run away as soon as the car pulled up; in Ngorongoro they would simply stand there and watch you. One cool thing that the zebras would do though was stand side by side facing opposite directions so they can watch each other's backs for predators.

As the early morning cloud dispersed, the sun began to shine over the crater and the view opened up. When in the middle of the crater, one could see all the way to the edge in a three hundred and sixty degree arc, all eight and a half thousand square kilometers of it. Green grass stretched from one side to the other, encircled by the high remains of the mountain that once stood, rivalling Kilimanjaro as the tallest peak in Africa. It was a truly undescribable experience.

We continued with our hunt for a cheetah and a rhino and, on two separate occasions, we thought we had spotted them. Or at least, our guide thought he had seen them. For the rhino, the driver told us he was driving round to get us a better view, which never materialised and, for the cheetah, the driver kept pointing and telling us it was lying down in the grass. Now, as we are not professional safari guides, it was going to take us much longer than it took him to find it. However, he decided to just drive on. Either he was frustrated at us for not seeing it, or what he saw was actually the rock we saw.

Finally, we spotted two rhinos about 200 meters into the distance. From the car, they simply looked like a big rock but on closer inspection with the binoculars, you could make out their features, although you couldn't see the tell-tale horns. Until they stood up. Then they were clearly rhinos. There was something about being unable to take any pictures, due to the lack of batteries. that allowed me to really focus on seeing the animals for the brilliant creatures they were.

As we moved into the latter part of the day, we ate lunch at a hippo pool. Moving swiftly on, we headed to see the flamingos and went on one last drive. We stopped the car to view a herd of wildebeest. Then, to the left, three lions appeared, stalking through the grass. We followed them; until they vanished. Eventually, we caught sight of them once again as they popped their heads out of the grass, much closer to the herd than when they disappeared. This continued for about half an hour when we noticed that four other lionesses had been approaching from the rear. It was fascinating stuff. Watching, waiting. Unfortunately for us, the driver told us that the lions would wait until one wildebeest made a mistake and, if the wildebeest didn't, the lions might just go home without starting a chase.

Soon after we began the long, long drive back to Arusha bringing an end to a truly spectacular four days.

My personal top five moments in no particular order:

The lightning storm in the Serengeti
The lion cubs feeding
The three leopards
The view around the crater when it cleared up in Ngorongoro
The Impalas fighting

Perspective From the Middle of Nowhere

It's 8 a.m. Thursday 26^th April. I leave the house wrapped up warm in my hoodie. There's a chill in the air and rain is beginning to fall. There is a mixture of feelings coursing through my body. Part of me is really excited to see the possibilities open to us after this meeting; part of me just wants us to abandon the whole idea that we are ever going to change the way the Maasai live. I meet with two fellow volunteers, enjoying a warming coffee at the place we were supposed to meet. Our ride has not shown up though, so we are left waiting, discussing our hopes for the day ahead. Our ride picks us up; we head straight to Sokonone in order to pick up the food.

The road is bumpy and the previous nights activities does not sit well with one of the other volunteers. Having picked up our food and deposited some other food behind a bush, we head from Sokonone west towards Nanja. The car ride is cramped, slow and we are stopped twice by the cops but nothing happens. We pull up outside a small unassuming village, we greet our co-ordinator who is going to lead us through the bush to the village itself. The road gets even more uneven. We are running behind schedule. Multiple times we stop, the driver disembarking to inspect the route we are taking. Multiple times he comes back shaking his head but still we proceed. As we make our way up a muddy hill we spot four Maasai men digging their vehicle out of the mud. Could be us soon. We climb higher and higher as we reach rolling hillsides, surrounded by farmland, a sea of green after the rains.

Suddenly, we have stopped and are told to get out of the vehicle. The road is too muddy here and we must proceed by foot with our co-ordinator ferrying our supplies by motorbike. Conscious of the time, I ask how far the village is. It is not far, I am told, we can see it over in the direction that our supervisor is pointing. It does not seem so far, which is reassuring. We begin to walk in that direction, along the soft mud path, taking care of where we step. I have worn walking boots which suit this task but one of the other volunteers is in flip-flops. We pass some Maasai children on the way who stare at us, confused and curious. We continue walking. As we pass the huts we had thought our supervisor meant, he motions to our actual destination, on top of a hill in the distance. Laughter floats across the hills as we joke about our predicament in order to prevent ourselves from succumbing to despair.

Eventually, we reach the bottom of the hill and begin our ascent. We are met at the top by four Maasai who welcome us to their village. We trudge a little further before being ushered into a school building. As we sit, grateful for the rest, twenty or thirty Maasai elders being filing in, sitting as children would at their desks, curious to see the travellers in their peaceful land. They stare and they talk. The food is distributed among those gathered, a welcome relief to myself and the other hungry volunteers. While we eat, the introductions are made, interrupted, and then made again. We do not take much notice. After a while, we finally proceed with our mission: to discover their attitudes towards FGM. They are open about their support for it and seem to us to have a distinct lack of education towards the dangers. It was a troubling meeting. We ask about the government ban on FGM and they laugh it off, the government can not reach them out here. It's like they are telling us we are banging our heads against a brick wall. There seems to be a colossal barrier forming between us and them. They are aggressively defending their way of life, though, and we expect this to happen. This is what we need to change. They tell us the government ban is purely to halt the spread of HIV, that the ritual is important in marking the passage from child to adult. Being circumcised is what earns one respect. They seems to have a vague idea of the health implications, or at least a vague idea is what the portray to us. We are told how they restrict the food a pregnant woman can have so the baby is underdeveloped, allowing for a less painful passage into the world. They describe the force they will use if the girls refuse and when one of the young men is asked if he would marry one of the female volunteers, he replies “only if she is circumcised”. They also tell us that removing a woman's clitoris helps control prostitution.

Then it is their turn to ask us about our culture. They ask how we tell our children from our adults. It is hard for us to explain that you are an adult when you start acting like one, so we give eighteen as the arbitrary age of an adult. The closest thing we think they can relate to is the Jewish Bar Mitzvah.

We leave, culturally rich from the experience but also with a real sense of how hard a human rights project on FGM will be. This does not bother us. We knew it would be difficult. It gives perspective, meeting with these Maasai with their traditions under a bright blue sky, miles from the closest town. As we walk back, we realise how privileged we are to be who we are, to have grown up where we did, but also how much we should respect these Maasai and the beauty that surrounds them.

NOTE: Sorry if the style of this post bugs people. Was just attempting something a bit new.

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Walking has never been my deal. I mean, I like walking when I need to get from A to B and in Arusha I walk everywhere rather than take a dala-dala. However, walking for fun has never been on my list of priorities. Then came Projects Abroad's social to Moshi. Situated 80km east of Arusha at the base of Kilimanjaro, we had to meet at the office at 8:30 a.m. Earlier than at any other social. The first thing we did was stop of at a patisserie to get some bites for lunch. Being the quintessential English gentleman that I am, I let everyone else go first and there was not exactly a huge amount left when it became my turn, so I bought everything. Two vegetable samosas, two chicken pasties, a cheese pasty, two cheese croissants and a plain croissant. I figured someone else would have forgotten to buy food. The journey there was regular enough until we turned off the main road just before Moshi and began climbing the hill towards the coffee plantation we were to visit. The road was really steep and the previous night's rain had not helped matters. Multiple times everyone was required to disembark and the lads had to push, here is a tip though: when pushing a bus, do not stand behind the exhaust. When we finally reached our destination, it was lunch time and sure enough people had forgotten to buy food. We had a short demonstration of Chagga tools to grind coffee and maize, as well as their drinking gourds and weapons. It was not long before we were all handed walking sticks and sent on our way towards the waterfalls. The hike along the muddy paths took us past a bunch of trees with long thin leaves which our guide told us were, according to the Chagga, leaves of forgiveness. Any Chagga tribesman who receives one of those leaves must forgive the giver of any deed they have done to wrong them. Having given a leaf to one of the other volunteers that I'm usually a douchebag too, I can confirm that this does not necessarily work for wazungu (foreigners). After that we trekked further up the mountain, over streams and wooden bridges towards a small cave that the Chagga used to hide their cattle and women from the raiding Maasai. The cave was situated by a river, so that the noise of the running water would drown out any crying babies or loud animals. Entering the cave into the blackness we were only able to walk about ten metres in, but we were greeted by what seemed like hundreds of bats. They were hard to see in the darkness but you could feel them flying past your head and when I went to take photos, the flash from the camera would illuminate the cave allowing the group to get a glimpse of the sheer size and amount of bats in the batcave. After leaving the batcave, we headed to the waterfall. After another long hike, along muddy trails and many slip-ups later, we descended towards the bottoms of the waterfalls. It was not exactly Niagara but the waterfalls were pleasant enough and some of the volunteers even went for a swim in the cold water.

When we made it back to the coffee plantation we ate some more and were given the chance to grind and roast our own coffee, which was interesting and meant we could enjoy a cup of real coffee, a strange luxury in a country where one of the major exports is coffee. We were also entertained by some dancers showing us traditional dances and we were also invited to take part. Finally, we were given some banana beer to try. It was a lumpy, white liquid which had a slightly sour taste. It was not terrible but I would not be able to make it through a whole pint of that.

Not content with a whole day of walking at Moshi, a group of volunteers decided to go trekking up some hills on Tuesday 1^st May. We took a dala towards Usa River and got off near Nkoaranga where we met up with some Swedish volunteers from another company. In order to get to our starting point we had to pile thirteen volunteers into an estate, no easy feat in a car where the windows were transparent plastic and which broke down half way up the hill. However, we managed to arrive at our destination in one piece. We began the trek up the hill immediately and, although the path to the top was dryer than at Moshi, it was steeper and more difficult. Trekking up the hill was a long, sweaty affair but the views on the way were great, albeit marred by the hazy Tanzanian morning.

Once we neared the top, we came across a small farming village, remotely situated on top of this hill, and had to pass through an old couples land in order to continue. He kindly offered to show us the way forward and when we had passed we were again led in the right direction by some local children using the little Kiswahili we knew to ask for directions. The view from the top was great but the rain clouds were moving in and hunger got the better of us as we made our way down via the road before heading to Tanz-hands. Tanz-hands is situated just west of Usa River and is a residential rehabilitation centre for disabled Tanzanians. There, they help them create a sustainable living by making items for sale to the public. Additionally, they have a nice little café where one can order food that is cheap, delicious and the all the money gets pumped back into making the lives of these people better. I had half a feta cheese toastie and a ham, cheese and tomato roll with some coleslaw and a chocolate and peanut butter milkshake, followed by pancakes and ice-cream for dessert. All for about £8. I love Tanzania.

We Apologise For The Interruption, Normal Service Will Resume Shortly.

Haven't been blogging lately due my laptop charger being out of commission. That and because I'm having such a great time here, finding time to write a blog is difficult. However, normal service will resume soon as I have loads to write about. Until then...