Safari

May 19

The party bus drove all day long and did not stop until sunset. We stopped for a while to view Ngorongoro crater from the top. The scenery was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. After driving around the crater, we made our way to the Serengeti. Being a witness to the true nature of the Serengeti had to be something that most people will never endure in their lifetimes. The animals are so unique and different from anything I have ever seen in Canada. We arrived at the lodge around 7:00 pm in the middle of the dessert. The drive was definitely worth it, because it was the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. There were no fences around the compound and each of the rooms were designed like modern day straw huts. The best part of the rooms were the robes that were in the shower. I think we all felt like kings and queens that night. After dinner, we listened to some performers who started doing hardcore acrobatics. When the act was over, William got ahold of a sweet 12-string guitar and played some music. Later on, the guitar owner came to play us an incredible Kiswahili song. He had a great voice and I found it interesting to hear a different type of music. I saw some sort of scorpion-crab type insect scurrying around the patio, so I decided to pursue it. It was a transparent, red colour and was very quick. One of the hotel employees saw me on this pursuit and squashed the thing with his feet. I asked the man some questions about what it was out of curiosity and he told me it was a spider. Apparently they were very poisonous and cause any affected area to swell up. Umm no thank you.

May 20

In the morning I was awoken by the sounds of song birds amidst the Serengeti lodge. We had to call the security guards to escort us to the main hotel where we actually had bacon with breakfast! Being one of our earlier mornings, we left in the jeeps by about 7:00 a.m. The top of the jeeps were already down and the chilling wind called for a light jacket. The first animals we sighted for the day were some grand gazelles. That was just the beginning to a day with almost too many animals. Our group ran into a herd of giraffes, a quarrel of hippos, a plethora of elephants, a pinch of zebras, and about 14 billion wildebeests. We even saw a hyena for a second on our way out of the desert. The lions are seen every once in a while, but they just chill out on top of trees or in the grass. They appear to be comfortable with humans staring at them. After lunch, the remainder of our day was spent driving through the Serengeti finding animals in the sweltering heat. I learned that hippopotamus's smell like sewage and they enjoy sleeping in the water together as groups to cool down in the African heat. I also observed many zebras that have integrated with the wildebeests. We were fortunate enough to witness the great migration of the two animals! 

May 21

For our last safari day, we drove into the crater for a few hours to find some more animals. Most of the animals were the same, but we finally saw a male lion. I can see where the name "King of the Jungle" comes from. The lion was just grazing in the grass next to his most recent kill. It appeared to be a water buffalo with hundreds of flies all over its exposed rib cage. The smell was vulgar and rank. Mid-way through the day, we pulled up next to a jeep and had a lovely conversation with one of the ladies in it. It turned out that she was an Olympic athlete sponsored by Oakley. Her name was Georgia Simmerling from Vancouver, BC, so it was awesome to meet a famous Canadian skier! By lunch time, the trio climbed their highest tree yet over a pond of hungry hungry hippos. I just wish that the next tree we climb is not infested with rabid spiders. To end another beautiful day, our jeep randomly fell upon a sleeping female lion just 5 feet from the road. She was definitely a peaceful animal. I was glad to end the day with such a majestic sight of a mis-understood creature. By mis-understood I mean that they sleep way more than I expected.

Written by - Peter Johnson

Wild Kingdom!

After a sumptuous buffet breakfast, we piled into the jeeps and set off to find some animals. Saw lots of impalas right away, but very little else for quite a while. Driving around the dusty roads stretched the patience of a few, but all was forgiven as we began seeing animal after animal. Stopped by a hippo pool (they stink) and also saw a cleverly disguised crocodile sunning itself. It's no wonder that unsuspecting prey is easily fooled - they are expert hiders.
Other perfect scenes include the giraffes striding gracefully across the plain to munch on the acacia trees; elephants  meandering through the bush; herds of impala and gazelles in meadows or on plains; the sleepy lions that were completely uninterested and uncaring of the spectators in jeeps.
Then we hit the jackpot. We came across a wildebeast migration. Wildebeast as far as the eye could see all moving puposefully in one general direction. Mixed in were zebra, elephants, gazelles, and even birds soaring overhead. It was reminiscent of the scene from the beginning ofThe Lion King where all of the animals join togetsher to welcome the new cub. It was difficult to know which direction to watch - cameras were clicking madly, trying to capture this amazing scene.
We then headed back to Ngorongoro, seeing colourful Masai along the road either herding cattle or goats, or just striding along, miles away from anything. Strangely, you will often see one in the traditional shuka and sandals talking on his cell phone.
The Serena Ngorongoro was a welcome reward after the tiring and dusty day. Warm showers before supper did much to rejuvenate us. After dinner, we sat in the lounge to access the free internet and watch the live entertainment - a group of African singers dressed in voodoo masks dancing on stilts while singing La Bamba.

Written by - K. Athayde

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Well, not exactly. But we are on safari on the Serengeti. Today we saw baboons, elephants, gazelles, giraffes, hippos, lions, ostriches, wildebeasts, and zebras and zebras and zebras. So cool! There were times where we didn't know where to look first, there was so much going on. The scenery was equally amazing, changing from rolling green mountain valleys to rainforest jungles to lush green steppes filled with acacia trees to dry flat serengeti plains. Bouncing along in the safari jeeps was also a new experience once the drivers popped the tops up so we could stand and look out for the next animal sighting. We arrived after dusk at the Serengeti Serena Lodge, covered in road dust, hungry, tired, and very satisfied. We were welcomed with warm damp cloths to wipe our hands and a glass of juice. We were assigned our rooms in separate little cottages, and warned that we must be escorted as the lodge is not fenced and there can be wild animals nearby. The rooms are luxurious, the beds comfortable, and the showers inviting. We hustled off to the buffet dinner, which consisted of so many different items it was impossible to try everything. Following dinner, there was a live show in the bar, consisting of drumming, dancing, and acrobatics.

This has definitely been a very different and marvelous side of Africa that we have met today. Now we have to try to get up for a very early start to get on with day 2 of our safari.

Written by -K. Athayde

Elephant Hike!

We were up early this Saturday am for what we thought would be a quiet hike through the rain forest.
Nope.
Turns  out that wild elephants wanted to crash our hiking party.  We smelt poop. We heard rustling in the trees. We saw a flash of grey. The look on Mao, our guides face indicated that, Houston, we have a problem.  We all had to freeze, stop talking, stop taking photos - recommended behaviour when elephants are lurking in the bushes. A word about elephants - while they seem friendly (aka Dumbo), in these parts human trampings do happen.
After fifteen minutes of quietly, slowly creeping, the threat passed. Mr. Shute thinks, however, Mao was tired of listening to the mzungu (us) chattering for hours that he made the whole elephant debacle up.
Mao took us to a waterfall, where he came periously close to falling  150 meters below all in an effort to get Jessica the perfect waterfall photo.
A word about Mao -he's about 75, wore a mismatched business suit on the hike, is a natural medicine doctor who can cure anything from an ulcer to asthma with a plant. In fact when Mrs. M was bit he raced off into the bushes and came out with leaves that took away the swelling and pain.
At the end of the hike across the ravine we were treated to an elephant standing, majestically waiting for us. He was far enough away that Mayo coud breathe easy, have a cigarette and we could all snap a bunch of photos.
We rounded out the day by heading to Kudu Lodge to swim and indulge in a pretty decadent dinner. It didn't, however, go unnoticed by the students how privileged we are to escape to the lodge for a few hours when just down the street peoole struggle for basic necessities such as food and water. Will even mentoned that he preferred the hostel to the fancy smnancy lodge.
Another great day for Team Tanzania 2013!

Written by - D. Salamon

School Visit, Shopping, and Happy Days

The day began with a great start -some of the problem sleepers had a good night's sleep, so Mrs. P's drug pushing seems to be having a positive effect (herbal sleep aids). Eveyone has learned that if they are tardy to breakfast, all the crepes will be gone, so between that and the extra firm foam mattresses, there has been lots of incentive to get moving early.
Our walk up to CPAR turned into Close Encounters with Cows as we encountered a small herd being driven up the road. At the office we had a debriefing from yesteday's experiences at the farms and secondary school.  We discussed some of the difficulties faced by Tanzanian students that are not encountered as often in Canada.   Corporal punishment, sexual violence, gender discrimination, and language difficulties are all very prominent here.

While the students filled water bottles to be used for irrigating fruit trees, I managed to upload another blog entry. Internet connectivity has been a huge challenge here and many are frustrated tying to connect with loved ones back home.

We had a scenic drive to Rotia primary school where we were greeted by song and dance and very excited children. When it came time to introduce ourselves, Will impressed both the Canadians and Tanzanians by greeting them in a few Swahili phrases.
After proper instruction in fruit tree planting  and drip irrigation, we teamed up with some primary students and planted guavas, avacados, and papaya trees. With the dirty work done (or close - we left the last few seedlings for Ms. S and Ms. M), we were able to turn to our favourite activity -playtime! We hauled out the bag of sports equipment and started tossing out frisbees, skipping ropes, balls and a play parachute.

One lttle girl, Marya, had attached herself to me and was following me everywhere. As the bag was being emptied, she was trying to peer into the bag but would not let go of my hand to get close enough. She suddenly stilled, and then got very excited. I wondered what had caught her interest in this big bag of goodies when she turned to me and with awe on her face, simply said "shoes!" She had seen into the bottom of the bag here we had packed a few pairs of used soccer cleats. It was a very sharp reminder of how little these children have - all of the wondeful new toys emerging and she would be the most excited by something as basic as a new pair of shoes.

The children had a marvelous time playing and were equally amazed to see their teachers playing with the new equipment as well. Girls played together very well, but whenever a boy would enter a game, they would immediately defer and throw the ball to him.

At 2:00, the Rotia teachers decided it was time for a long overdue lunch and rang the dinner bell to summon the children for their lunch of maize and beans. We said goodbye and set off for a picnic lunch.

Shopping at a large craft store followed. Everybody managed to drop quite a few Tanzanian shillings or US dollars on souvenirs and gifts. Huge haggling ended the shopping spree with some convinced they got a good deal and others convinced they paid too much, but everyone seems to be happy with their purchases.

We ended the day with another excellent meal at Happy Days, a local restaurant that serves burgers and pizza. Everyone enjoyed their meals except for those that had the chicken knuckle pizza.

Written by - K. Athayde

Health Care, Tanzania Style

Today we visited Wayda Dispensary and FAME hospital to learn about some different health care options and challenges. The dispensary acts as the front line of Tanzania health care. The doctor sees everything and tries to handle every kind of medical situation, including emergencies. The doctor is pretty much on his own, and does not have the luxury of referring patients to specialists. There are no ambulances, and very few cars in rural areas.  The dispensary was well organized, but very poorly stocked. The place felt like something that might have existed in North America about 70 years ago. The microscope in the lab could have been in any junior high science classroom and was set up in front of a window with broken glass in one pane.
The FAME hospital is an American run hospital that is very new. Parts of it are still being built. Here the microscope looked state of the art and was connected to a computer in a fresh new lab. This hospital operates on a tiered payment system- lowest prices are for Tanzanians, mid-range prices for ex-pats and long term volunteers, and highest prices are for tourists. Tanzania has one doctor for every 30,000 people.

Later in the day we ventured into town for our first shopping experience. Separating into groups seemed to make more sense than trying to keep a large crowd of 25 people together, and we were also attracting a lot of attention. With one of the CPAR Tanzanians in each group, we set off to learn how to bargain and find our way through the market. Delphina, Mona, and Schola proved to be a valuable resource as they guided us around and help negotiate prices.

Back at the hostel, Ms. Salamon managed to convince a few people they should join her in a cross-fit workout on the lawn, while the rest of us sat and cheered them on from our deck chairs. After dinner at Happy Days, a nearby restaurant, the teachers headed to the CPAR office to try and Skype in for a staff meeting (it was 11:00pm Tanzania time, which shows how dedicated we were), while Delphina stayed to teach the students some Tanzanian dance moves. Pretty sure the students got the better bargain that night.

Written by - K. Athayde

Farm Day

Jambo from Tanzania,
We spent most of the day getting down and dirty on farms today.
We kicked off the day with a wild jeep ride that tested Mrs. Posthumus' stamina...she was looking a little green when she stepped out of the jeep.  We arrived at Agrafina Sikay's farm and were introduced to her goats; Agrafina is part of CPAR's Farmer Field School.  CPAR targets women who are unattached to men and provides them with goats or pigs. The women then breed the goats and pigs, pass one goat onto another independant woman and then are free use the meat and milk to provide for their families and community, as well as sell the surplus at the market.  This is a fabulous program that makes communities and families stronger. CPAR has really plugged into the idea of partnering with farmers, and they really working hard at empowering women as they are truly the change agents in Tanzania.

We also visited Globocazi Vegetable Field School where farmers come together three times a week to experiment with growing new crops, discuss social issues such as gender equality, HIV, family planning and how to improve overall quality of life. As a bunch of people who pick up their bacon and milk at Costco, it was a really powerful day of learning about food security for us.
At the end of the day we visited and toured a secondary school where we had an opportunity to meet the students and teachers and even play a little soccer and frisbee. It was a great conclusion to a loooong day; we left a 9 am and returned to the hostel at 6:30 pm-  only breaking for a midday picnic lunch in a field!

And Some Additional Field Notes...
An exciting update on Lindsay's luggage - it finally showed up yesterday! She was one happy girl!
Almost a week into our trip I'd also like to report that that this a smashingly, fantastic group of kids that we've shlepped half way around the globe. They have really bonded; they are kind and generous and often really funny. If I were the parent of one of these gems and was reading this blog...I'd feel incredibly proud.  (I am always open to parenting tips.)

Written by - D. Salamon