Last Week in Africa

Today I will be boarding a plan and biding farewell to Tanzania, Arusha, and all of the friends I have made while I was here.  In lead up to this day I had one of the best weeks I've had my whole time here.  For our final week, Arcadia took us on a two day Safari of Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater.

On Wednesday all of the Arcadia student woke up at 6:00 am and piled into our Safari jeeps that were going to take us to Lake Manyara for a Game Drive.  Everyone was ready to see some elephants, which none of use had seen yet.  We were definitely not disappointed.  As soon as we entered the park we started seeing animals.  Probably in 10 minutes we saw a family of three elephants.  Shortly after that we saw one elephant that was right next to our car.  I literally could have reached out and touched the elephant if I wanted to.  It was so amazing seeing this wild elephant up close like that.  They are such beautiful animals!  After see the elephant right next to the car we went to the hot spring in the park.  The hot spring came out in little trickles downs the rocks.  The water was all sorts of weird colors because of the plant life that grew in the spring waters, and it was really hot.  It was a little hotter than you would want the temperature of your shower to be.

After the going to Lake Manyara we spent the night in a nice lodge.  The next morning we had to get up at 5:00 am to go to Ngorongoro Crater.  All of the students were grumpy and sleepy.  None of us are use to getting up that early and we were not happy about it, but then we got to the Crater.  The Crater was amazing in the early morning light.  It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen.  By far the most beautiful thing I have seen in Africa thus far.  Inside the Crater there were barely any trees so spotting animals was easy to do.  I saw water buffalo, hippos, lions, and more wildebeest and zebras than I can count.  It is hard to put into words how amazing that day was.
 

Last night we had our farewell dinner with all of our friends here in Tanzania.  It's hard to express what my time abroad has been like.  Africa is full of the most beautiful and horrific things I have ever seen.  Now it is time for me to come home so I can make since of it all.  I don't want to jump the gun on anything, but I think this trip has change my life in a significant way.  It would be hard to go home,  after seeing what I have seen, and not be changed in some way.  How this trip will inform by life in the future has yet to be seen, but for now all I can do is look back with wonder at everything I have experienced as I fly back home.

Arusha National Park

I had been in Africa for four weeks and I still hadn't seen any animals bigger than a dik dik.  There is something seriously wrong with that.  The school is taking us on a safari right before we leave to the ngorongoro crater, but who comes to Tanzania and only goes on one safari.  A lot of my classmates felt the same way so we decided to take matters into our own hand and plan a safari to Arusha National Park. 

Many of the other people going on the safari wanted to make the experience a weekend long event.  They wanted to camp out on Friday, have the safari on Saturday, and then go home Sunday.  As much as I hate camping, I had to admit camping near the national park sounded like it would be pretty cool.  We had to find a company that was able to take us, and we did end up finding someone who would take us for $80 each.  We were not really going to be camping with this company.  As we understood it we would be in some kind of cabin or hut, but that was perfectly fine with me.

On Friday we left to go camping.  The company took us a little ways outside of Arusha into a small village.  In that village we were taken to a large two story house.  This was apparently where we were going to stay.  The house was actually populated by a women and her children who owned the house and rented out as a home stay.  Many of the the people on the trip were disappointed that this was not really a camping experience, and they were upset that we were still so close to where we live.  We decided to stay for Friday night, but not Saturday night as was the original plan.  This was all fine with me.  I was happy as long as I had a real bed.

The house ended up being very nice and the family that lived there was very friendly.  The night we stayed there the power was out so it ended up being a lot more like camping than we thought it would.  The house had a fire pit so we made a camp fire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.  The family came out and joined us around the fire and made corn.  One of the perks of having the power out was that we were able to see the stars really well.  The night sky was gorgeous.  

On Saturday we got up bright and early to go out on our safari.  I was so excited to finally see some animals.  We had already looked up to see the sort of animals we would get to see in Arusha National Park and I knew I would not get to see elephants, which is what I most want to see, but there were suppose to be giraffe which was the next on my list of must see animals. 

When we first got to the park our company had to go get the park passes while we waited.  We waited for our guide to come back forever.  Numerous other groups came and left while we waited.  When I finally went to see what was going on, I found out that the bank card the company was using wasn't working and they were trying to call the bank to fix it.  For a while we thought we would just have to leave and come back on Sunday, but finally the problem was fixed we were able to go into the park.  

When we stared out on the safari we quickly saw a groups of zebras, but then we didn't see anything for a while.  I was a little worried that we would not see anything and that we paid $80 to see one small group of zebras, but then I stared see the monkey's.  There were numerous species of monkey jumping around in the trees above us.  One cool monkey we got to see was the black-and-white colobus, which apparently can only be easily seen in this park. 

 

Next we went to a less wooded area with more open grassland. Again it took a while to see anything, but when we did see some animals, we saw a lot.  There were warthogs, waterback, impala, baboons, flamingos, water buffalo, zebra, and lots of giraffe.  The first giraffe we saw were very far away and we could barely see them.  Every time we saw giraffe from then on, they got closer and closer.  Finally at the end of the safari we moved into a big open plain with tons of different animals and the giraffe were right next to the road.

 

 

This Safari is by far the best thing I have done here so far.  I can't wait until the safari we are taking with Arcadia.  Hopefully I will get to see some elephants, hippos, and lions next.

Camel Safari

Going on a Camel Safari was one of the activities that many of the students here had been trying to do for weeks, but it never seemed to work out.  Thankfully, we called the company this week and the last opening until the end of July was this past Sunday. I was really excited to do something different this weekend.  I mean, I have loved going on hikes and seeing the waterfalls, but I'm not really that big of a hiker.  Also, while the waterfalls here have been beautiful,  there are waterfalls I can hike to at home too.  I wanted to do something totally different, and I'm pretty sure no one offers Camel Safaris in Oneida.

So I got up early Sunday morning to take the hour and a half drive to the Camel Safari.  The area where the Camel Safari was located was very different from Arusha, despite the fact it is so close.  Arusha is very lush and green,  it almost has a tropical look to it.  Where the Camel Safari is, the land is very arid and dry.  The land scape is very stark and more like a savanna.  It was so strange how quickly the landscape changed, but I couldn't really pinpoint when the switch happened.  One second it was green and wet, the next thing I know it's brown and dry.

 

When we got to the Camel Safari place the Masai people who run the Safari brought out our camels.  The camels were huge.  They must have been at least 7 ft. tall.  It was quite intimidating to stand next to these huge animals knowing you would be riding one soon.

The Masai had the camels sit for us, then we had to climb into the saddle.  Once we were all in the saddles they had the camels stand back up.  Easily the scariest thing from that day was when the camels would stand up or sit down with us on their backs.   It was fun, but also terrifying.

The first hour on the camel was really fun, painful, but fun.  I loved just getting to see the landscape around us.  It was so beautiful.  Unfortunately, the camel ride went on for another hour or so.  Granted there were breaks, but it still hurt to get back on that camel.  The landscape started to get a bit old, and we didn't really get to see many animals despite the fact it was a "safari".  We really only saw some gazelles from far away, some lizards and birds, and some dic dics.  Seeing those animals were cool, but I had expected more.   I did still have fun though, and in the end I'm glade I went even despite the fact that I now have a huge bruise on my tailbone.

Kilimanjaro

This weekend a couple of the students in the Arcadia program decided to go on a hike around the base of Kilimanjaro.  We went on Saturday with the same two guides who we used for our first waterfall hike, Baraka and Tosh.  Unfortunately, Saturday was a cloudy and rainy day.  Due to the low cloud coverage we were not really going to be able to see the upper part of the mountain, but we still decided to go.

Baraka and Tosh had rented a mini bus to get us all to the mountain.  The bus was not like the kind of buses you see in America, but judging from the number of similar vehicles we saw on the road, they are pretty common in Tanzania.  The bus was small and cramped, even though we didn't even fill the bus.  There was almost no legroom between seats, and the seats themselves were barely padded.  I can't imagine how uncomfortable the bus would have been if it was full.

The ride too and from Arusha was pretty eventful.  We were pulled over twice by the police.  Apparently there was some small issue with the car that needed to be fix, though I'm not sure exactly what it was.  At any rate, whatever needed to be fixed didn't impede the buses driving at all, but twice we were pulled over and twice the drives had to bribe the police to be let go.  It was really interesting see the corruption with the police first hand, since we had just talked about in class last week.

When we got there we went on several different outings.  The first thing we did was go to see another waterfall.  This waterfall was even more beautiful than the last.  This one was smaller, but more powerful and much more private.  We were the only ones there at the time and it was just a really relaxing atmosphere.  The next thing we did was go to the Chagga Museum.  The Chagga are a tribe that lived around Kilimanjaro.  One of the things they did was build tunnels which they used to protect themselves from neighboring tribes.  We got to go into one of those tunnels which was really neat.  The tunnels were pitch black and you couldn't stand up in them at all.  It was a really cool experience, though, despite the fact it was a little scary.  Finally we went to the start of one of the major trails up Kilimanjaro.  We walked around the bottom for a little while and just checked out the mountain,  it was still overcast though so we couldn't see all that much.  All and all It was a very fun day.

Weekend Plans

This week we have a three day weekend at our school, so we wanted to do something exciting on the weekend.  We were considering going to Nairobi, Kenya, but unfortunately that didn't pan out.  Me and two other students went to the bus station to check out the price of tickets and the length of the ride.  The bus station was insane, and I definitely didn't feel safe there.  As soon as we got there five guys were trying to sell us tickets.  One person had a real desk area so we went to him and asked about the trip.  He told us that it would be 20,000 shillings, which isn't much, and 6 hours, which is a really long time on one of those cramped buses.  We wanted to look for other places who sold tickets, so we left that guys desk, but he followed us and told that there were no other companies that went to Nairobi.  I knew this had to be a lie.  I found another office, but they charged more money....then we saw someone get hit by one of the buses.  The person wasn't hit badly, and I think they were fine, but I was ready to leave at that point.  

So instead of Nairobi, the plan now is to go on a hike around the base of Kilimanjaro and maybe to go to Arusha national park.  Hopefully pictures of that will be coming soon.

Education & Dexter

These past few days have been pretty slow.  For the most part everyone has just been going to class and relaxing.  I walk around Arusha most days and go into stores to check stuff out, but nothing too exciting.  Honestly,my roommates and I have been filling our days with the show Dexter.  They had never seen it before, and me and a few other people were saying how great it was so we decided to start watching the first season. Now they are hooked.  I feel a little lame being in Africa and watching Dexter, but I guess even African Adventures require down time.

Class lately has been especially enlightening for me.  Today's class, in particular, focused largely on the right to development and conservation.  As a Human Service major and a Environmental Science minor, both human rights and environmental conservation are very important to me.  How to balance those two issues is extremely challenging.  It was very interesting to hear the East African students and their point of view on the issue.  Specifically looking at the Serengeti highway, we discussed the environmental and social implications.  The East Africans had the point of view that if the U.S. destroyed their environment in the name of development, who are we to say they can't put a much needed highway in the Serengeti.  Some, though not all, of the American students held the view that two wrongs don't make a right in this case and thus Tanzania should look for more sustainable ways of development.  I really enjoyed the discussion and I think I'm going to write my final research paper on the Serengeti highway issue.

Also today I went with a few of the other students to a local school.  As a part of our study abroad program we are suppose to do some volunteer work, and about 6 of us are going to help teach at an Arusha boarding school.  We went today just to talk with the headmistress and the academic director to see what we will do.  It appears most of us will be assisting with english classes in a 3rd or 4th grade class.  I am excited, but a little scared.  All the children we interacted with today were so nice and seemed really excited we were there.  On the other hand I have never taught in a formal setting before and I don't want to be a bad teacher for these kids.  I start working there next week so I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Waterfall Hiking

This Saturday many of the students decided to go out on a Waterfall hike.  One of the exchange students from last semester who decided to stay a few extra weeks has a friend who is starting up a business where he guides people to the waterfalls, so we went with him.  I knew this hike would be challenging for me, but I had no idea just how challenging.

At the beginning of the hike we were walking thru a small village on the outskirts of Arusha.  This village was much more like the Africa you see on television and in documentaries.  The road was not paved and the houses and shops looked sort of slapped together out of materials the people could find.  As we moved further up the very steep hill, the village became more and more rural and the houses smaller and more rickety.  It was very interesting to see this side of African life.  Many of these people surely don't have electricity or running water in their homes.

Throughout our hike upward we met little children who were living in the village.  Some of them said hello to us and smiled, while others ran away from us.  My friend Robert from Uganda, who came on the hike with us, said that he could remember the first time he saw a white people as a child and how he was afraid of them.  I had never really thought about the fact that we might be the first white people some of these children had ever saw.  Later on in the hike while we were resting, we talked, or at least tried to talk, to some of the children.  Most of them only spoke Swahili, so much was lost in translation.  One of the children came up and touched my fingers with his and then scuttled away.  I think he was just amazed at my paleness.

When we got out of the village we started hiking through the forest.  We had to walk down the steepest hill ever to get to the river, which was pretty scary.  I thought that would be the worst part, but little did I know that getting to the waterfall would entail jumping from rock to rock over rushing water and climbing up huge boulders.  Try to get over one rock I fell and landing in the water.  I had to walk the rest of the way in wet hiking boots and jeans.  Ultimately the water fall was worth it though.  It was gorgeous.  Look up at it and the plant life around it made me feel like I was in the movie Tarzan.  Despite the exhaustion and bruises I suffered from because of this hike, I wouldn't trade this day for anything.  This was truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Going to the Market

We started classes on Thursday this week.  The class is called Human Rights and Capacity Building in East Africa, and,  as the title implies, it's about Human Rights in Africa.  I have been worrying about this course for a while.  We got the syllabus a while back and there were like 5 or 6 readings for every class day.  Each reading was around 10 plus pages.  On Wednesday everyone in the house spent the whole night trying to get our reading done for the first class.  It was pretty miserable, especially since all the reading was super dry.  They were all different U.N. charters that essentially say the same thing.  I was actually kind of treading class on Thursday after doing all this reading.  What the heck was this course going to be like?

On Thursday we went to class and met our teacher Charles.  He is a younger guy who is still working on getting his PhD in London, but he is from Tanzania.  One of the first things he told us was "I know you have like sometimes 110 pages on the syllabus for each night, but I just want you to read what you can and what you are interested in."  I liked him right away!  Class was a lot more relaxed than I expected.  It's more conversations about our thoughts, ideas, and interests than lecture.

After class on Thursday, one of the native Tanzanians who take the class took us to some of the local markets.  The first market we went to was the Masai market.  This market has a lot of the "locally made" jewelery and goods for sale.  I was a little wary when people told me they had made the sculptures themselves, but I did see the women actually making jewelery while I was there.  This was clearly the market for tourists, or for the mzungu.  The sellers were a little overwhelming all yelling "Sister! Welcome! Come see my shop!".  They obviously saw we are not from here and tried to over charge us.  Haggling is definitely a must in Tanzania.

Next we went to the real market in Arusha.  The market that the people at live there go to.  It was totally overwhelming.  There were so many people there I was afraid I would get separted from my group.  People are selling vegetable, fruit, meat, and fish all over the place.  I sorry to say this, but I was a lot more comfortable in the mzungu market.

House/Learning Swahili

The house that we are staying in is beautiful.  It is maybe a little bear inside, but gorgeous none the less.  My favorite part is definitely the outdoor yard area.   The outside is so lush and well keep.  We have a kind of outdoor sitting area their too.  I love sitting out there.  I was out there today and a huge with purple spots just land on my hand and hung out there for at least like a whole minute.  I love that there is nature all around where I'm staying.

Another thing I love about this house is we have a house puppy.  One of the girls from the spring program adopted a street puppy and have been nursing it back to health.  The program director let her keep the dog in the yard and out of the house, and she is taking him home when she goes back.  For now, though, the dog is staying with us and he is the cutest the thing ever!

Today we went to our classroom and as part of our orientation they taught us how to speak some Swahili.  I am horrible at languages and so I'm not great with Swahili, but if there was ever a language I thought I had a chance at learning, Swahili would be it.  It is very phonetic and there isn't any of that masculine/feminine craziness you find in languages like French and Spanish.  I really wish I had more time to learn the language.  They are just going to give us two classes.  Lesley should invest in a couple of Swahili classes for the Spring semester.

Just to get a taste of what I'm learning:

• Mambo - is an informal greeting to which one responds Poa! which means cool
• Ji na lako ni nani? - What is your name?
• Jina langu ni... - My name is...
• Chakula ni Kitama sana! - The food is very delicious!
• Sina pesa. Samahani! - I don't have money. Sorry! (very useful with the Arusha street venders!)

Flight

So after months of filling out forms and buying supplies I have finally made it to Tanzania! Yesterday I took the five hour drive from Oneida to JFK.  I don't think what I was about to do really hit me until I was waiting in the security line to go in the gate.  I could see Dad right outside of the line, but I realized that at this point there wasn't really anything else he could do for me.  I had to find my way to Tanzania myself, without assistance from my parents.  This was a somewhat terrifying thought.  I mean I have navigated airports by myself hundreds of times before this, but all of those flights were within the United States, and I was usually flying either to a parent or to a place I was very comfortable with.

So I'm in JFK freaking out a little bit, thinking of everything that could go wrong.  I could lose my passport or vaccine records, someone could steal my money, the airport could lose my baggage... There were so many things that could go wrong with this trip.  I couldn't help but think about how much easier things would be if I had just gone on some 3 week trip to Europe.  Thankfully before I could psych myself out too much I meet two of the girl I was going to Tanzania with.  They both seemed really nice, if not somewhat intimidatingly smart.  Both girls were freaking out much like I was, which made me feel a lot better.  We promised to wait for each other at our gate in Amsterdam so we could figure out the airport together.

The airplane we took into Amsterdam was a Delta/KLM flight.  We were on a Delta plane, which I was not to happy about.  Delta has never been my favorite airline; in fact it is definitely my least favorite airline.  It turned out that, even though it was a Delta plane, all the food and entertainment services were KLM.  So basically the only Delta issue I had to deal with was crappy legroom, which made trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in nearly impossible.

In Amsterdam, as promised, me and the other girls met up after exiting the flight.  It turned out that finding our way to the next gate was really easy, we were right next to it.  At this gate the three of us found four or so other member of our group.  After meeting everyone and seeing how nice and friendly everyone was, I was feeling much better about my situation.  If these were the people I was spending the next six weeks with, this might just be a fun time.

The next flight was the longest flight I had ever been on, but I was seated with one of the girls I had meet up with in NYC and we had a row of three to ourselves.  We were able to stretch out (with the extra leg room provided by KLM planes) and get some sleep.

When I got into Tanzania last night, it was too dark to really see any of the stuff that was around us, so I'm really excited for today.  We are having an orientation where we will see our classroom and meet our teacher.  Hopefully we will also have sometime to explore!