Some Final Remarks

Our trip to Africa was filled with all kinds of adventures and countless stories.  It was filled with challenges and accomplishments, not to mention lots of laughs.  Allison and I truly appreciate this past three months and know that the lessons we have learned have only just begun to surface.  We will miss our Africa crew and wish you all the very best in your future endeavors. 

May your journeys be blessed...

Adam and Allison

ZANZIBAR!!!!!!!!!!!

We have spent our last week in Africa in paradise, or otherwise called Zanzibar. We strolled through the streets which smelled of different spices like clove and cinnamon,  indulged in the delicious Swahili dishes, and achieved our open water SCUBA certification. We had four days filled with classes. The first day we sat in a class room where we watched PADI informational videos, so we would know what to do underwater. Then we took a test which we all passed.  The second day we spent learning skills in the pool. Bridget and Emily also watched the Royal wedding while scuba diving in the pool. The next two days we spent diving in the Indian Ocean, where we saw a variety of wild life. We found nemo, a few lion fish, unfortunately jelly fish, an eel, a sea turtle, an octopus and much more. After our fourth dive we were given our official card so we can now keep diving and exploring underwater!

We spent our final day in Zanzibar enjoying the Stone town. Which for many of us included going to the spa, going on a last minute shopping spree and having our final cups of Zanzibar spice tea. We were sad to leave the island, but excited to move on to the very last destination of our journey, Dar es Salaam. After a quick ferry ride, we arrived in Dar still having our sea legs. We spent the afternoon exploring the city and going to the markets. Later that night, we had a scrumptious, Thai/Indian/Chinese dinner. A dinner that was more like a feast. There was a random movie playing and since we've been deprived from television for so long we were glued to the wacky story line. Our last meal together was full of laughter. Tonight we fly out and we are all sad to leave, yet excited to see everyone back at home.
See you soon!,
Bridget&Emily

Travel Travel and more Travel!

Almost everyday for the last week we have spent traveling. We made our way back through Uganda and a have returned to Tanzania by land, water, and air. From our week of pure traveling we have plenty of funny stories to share with you when we return home.

After Sipi Falls we made our way down to Kampala where we spent the night. The following morning we hoped on a nicely overcrowded bus to cross the border back to Tanzania. There were not enough seats for the number of people, so other passengers ended up sitting on luggage in the aisle way. We had to crawl on our hands and knees over the luggage to reach our seats. After about ten hours we safely went through custom (which were not very difficult) and reached our destination, Bukoba, Tanzania.We spent the day in Bukoba, eating chipatis, lounging, and playing twister on the beach of lake Victoria.



We waddled down the beach with all of our gear during twilight. We had a vey mini trek to reach the port.We dodged mud puddles, walked on rocks, and jumped over streams to get there. In the moment of our confusion where to go next, a line started to form, which we hustled into. People were shoving and what not trying to get in. We made it through the fence gates with our pink hole punched tickets and found a new line for third-class. When we got to the top of the ramp the captain yelled to us and brought us to the first class deck. They moved us from what most likely would  be a crowded room to open air. He told us that he moved us because of safety and didn't want people to get their belongings stolen.. We soon made our beds on the benches and dozed in and out of cautiousness, while two people stayed upon guard (thank you Lil, and Saxon!)....


Mwanza Bonzanza

Her name
Victoria
Floating royalty
on fortunately calm waters
Soon to embark
We lounge in privileged seclusion
surrounded by
Banana Basins
And curious on lookers
Who've become suspicious
After a brief chat with a crew member
Weary blurred eyeballs
itchy from ubiquitous dust
in our exclusive bubble
the horn blasts
again
to announce nothing
in particular
our movement as suttle
as the ripples beneath us
Lil head bangs to an i-pod
while a woman arranges bananas
looking concerned about
her mental state
The time has finally come
The horn blasts genuinely
and we glide through darkness

in Africa's eyeball.

-Adam Haigler


At 2:30 in the morning Saxon woke all of us up informing us that it was raining. We tucked ourselves a little farther inside our sleeping bags as we were misted by the rain. Soon the mist turned into a down pour. We all still groggy got up and grabbed our gear. We searched for cover like Alaskan crab fisherman trying to find their pots in the side ways rain. The captain soon came back up and saved us. He took us down to the eating quarters, where we laid our stuff and selves out to dry. One by one people started to doze back off as a group of us were entranced by the T.V. showing WWE wrestling. We could not figure out why we found it so entertaining, along with why so many Americans actually watched it. Some of us even reminisced about our middle school years and how we used to watch it. At six we re awoke and watched the sunrise over the now peaceful waters of Lake Victoria.


We got off the boat and proceeded to find our hotel in Mwanza, where we took naps. For the rest of the day we walked around and enjoyed the city. The next day we took a plane to Moshi. Where we started Free travel. We split into two groups and went our separate ways. Jill, Bridget, Saxon and the Adams made there way to Pangani where they enjoyed bathing in the sun on the coast. They Also went to Zanzibar a day early and on the boat ride over were met by dolphins swimming along with the boat.

Lil, Emily, and Allison stayed behind in Moshi. On Saturday we had the opportunity to go back a visit our friends a the UAACC. We were able to go swimming with the kids and a luxurious lodge. The children themselves do not know how to swim so we mostly just watched them dunk themselves and flail around in the kiddie pool. After a few hours we left and returned to the center. There, we were able to enjoy another one of their fabulous meals and watch Harry Potter 2 with the kids. Our time soon came to an end, as we headed back to Moshi. We hopped on to a coaster bus. Which this time instead of packed with luggage, like our earlier adventure, it was packed with people.We squeezed our way on to the bus a left. soon Lil realized she was holding only one of the two bathing suits she was just holding. We passed her a small light to see if she could find it. 'Do you see it?' Allison asked. Lil and Emily looked down, looked back up, and started to laugh. All the saw were two women's kitakos. Lil,soon found her missing swim suite on the driver's lap. After about thirty minutes we made it back to a seat and were rewarded with the amazing view of the Tanzanian night sky.

The following day we got dressed up in our newly sewn African inspired outfits and went to Easter service. We enjoyed listening to the songs of praise which the children led. We spent the rest of our free travel hanging out in Moshi and Dar es Salaam. We have all now arrived in Zanzibar which has beautiful white sand beaches with aqua blue water to accompany it. Tomorrow we start Scuba and are all very excited.

  Love,

THE STORY SO FAR...

As many of you know, our heroes began their journy in Tanzania as nine

companions. Since then we have traveled many miles, lost a comrade and

experienced many strange and alien things. Now they have returned to

Tanzania, the birthplace of this adventure, ready to take the country

by storm.

RECENTLY...

Boom! Boom! Boom! The bass in JJ's car vibrated within our chests. JJ,
a happy Ugandan Jew, bobbed his head as he tapped the break pedal
making the whole car bounce in time with the music. JJ, a minor
celebrity in his community, is the founder of the interfaith coffee
cooperative Peace Kawomera coffee cooperative. A remarkable feat,
especially in this country, Uganda, where your religious practices
often determine your lifestyle and/or community.

For the next 6 days we stayed in JJ's house, the 8 of us bringing the

total number of people living there up to 35. Along with his own

biological children JJ houses many adopted children and extended

family.

During our stay we were privy to the inner workings of the coffee
industry. We picked, husked, washed and dried our own coffee beans,
all by hand, as well as learning the in's and out's of fair trade. In
the afternoons many of us went swimming, while Adam D. and Saxon
stayed behind and played guitar, the favorite jam being 'Carry on my
Wayward Son.'

Being a Jewish household, they observe the Sabbath which starts at

sundown on Friday and ends at sundown on Saturday. The 8 of us

attended the synagogue with them on Friday evening. On the way to

temple we packed 14 people into JJ's 5-seater Toyota, bumped the tunes

and rolled through town, JJ shouting greetings to almost everyone we

passed. Once in the synagoge, the men were lent yamicas, then we all
attempted to follow the service which took place in Hebrew and
Lugandan. The electricity was down, so we held the service outside.

One of JJ's sons, led the service for the first time. On the way home

we packed an astounding 17 people into JJ's car.

After singing thank you and goodbye to JJ's family with our own

rendition of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight,' accompanied, of course, by
Adam and Saxon on guitar, we took a taxi to Sipi Falls, a beautiful
waterfall in eastern Uganda. The majority of us took a hike, led by
our guide, Alex, to visit each of the four drops of the waterfall. It
was gorgeous. We were at about 4000m elevation and the views of the
Ugandan countryside were widespread and beautiful. Behind one of the

drops there was a manmade cave, at another there was a swimming hole,

but the highest drop was where we spent most of our time. It was a
drop of about 90 meters, the water cascading down into a little pool
at the bottom hidden by rocks.  When the water hit the rocks the spray
formed a small rainbow.

The following week is one of travel. It involves us taking a ferry

across Lake Victoria, flying to Moshi and taking a bus to Tanga, an

old fishing village turned city on the Tanzanian coast.

We hope everything is well at home. We'll see you all in two weeks!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Saxon, Lilianna

Power to the Africa Crew

We went to Beads for Life and received a warm welcome. We then had a meeting and learned about the organization and how it was run. After we were shown how the beads were made and the process that they undergo. The organizations purpose is to give an opportunity to the poorest women in Uganda and help them start a bead business in order to support their children. Dinner was a great experience that night. We dined at a local Ethiopian restaurant, sharing three huge platters of food between all nine of us. It was also our night to wish Sarah goodbye, because she was going her own way the next morning. Miss u girl!
The following day we left the hostel at six in the morning, took a long bus ride to Jinja in order to raft the Nile River!When we arrived we were handed our gear and given a quick class on rafting saftey. After our training was complete we set off down the river to face a series of nine rapids. This expearience can onle be described as amazing, awesome and a total adrenalin rush. in the end we felt very proud of what we had just accomplished. How many people can say they rafted the Nile River with class 5 rapids?! In the end we enjoyed a BBQ lunch/dinner and took a long drive back to the hostel. The hostle was gorgous looking over the Nile. We all slept very well in one tiny room and then in the morning we made our way to Soft Power Education. We got a tour of the main location, then settled in to a sister school and then given instructions on what we would be doing for the next 5 days. Our mornings were spent painting the interior and exterior of a classroom block. The entire painting process took 4 days to complete. In order to let off some steam, one day during break the two Adams challenged each other to a jousting match, with the use of paint covered rollers. The match ended with both boys adorned with paint splotches and everyone watching in hysterics! Our afternoons were booked with Swahili classes, that were taught by Roy who was an awesome language teacher. He also gave us some unofficial lessons on East African culture. On Monday, Emily had the privilege of visiting Soft Power Health, which was an amazing experience. She was taken along to a number of interviews about malaria prevention, and even did some of the interviews herself. In the evenings, we played soccer, Frisbee and chatted with the local kids. After playtime we sat down to a scrumptious dinner prepared by our cook Monica, who was a total sweetheart. On out last night at Soft Power, we aided our cook in the slaughtering of a rooster. Our leader Adam did the actual slaughtering and Jill helped to defeather the body. The meal was delicious and very much appreciated.
Our next stop is in Mbale to stay at a coffee plantation and learn about Fair Trade Coffee!
Peace out boy scout!
Lilianna and Jill.

YES and Lake Nkuruba

After free travel came to an end, we arrived at Youth Encouragement Services (YES). It was a quiet and beautiful hostel with purple morning glories growing abundantly along the fence. We were all more than happy to find that showers, bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen were in good condition and easily available. We were even spoiled with access to a volley ball net and a ping pong table, where some very heated games took place in the late evenings. Our group was also given the very fun yet challenging task of self catering. Our meals consisted of tasty food such as stir-fry, spaghetti, beans and rice, tuna pasta salad and chapatis with guacamole for dinner. Cooking in the kitchen was a great bonding experience for our group. We worked over the counters with tears in our eyes from the slicing of onions, while we cracked jokes and dipped spoons into the pots to taste our wonderful creations. On the second day at the hostel, we were given a bit of free time. This time was used to give Saxon's hair a trim, which then turned from a trim into a spontaneous Mohawk. Mad props given to Lil, Sarah and Adam D for maneuvering the scissors and electric razor with a steady hand, which turned out to look like a professional job in the end.

       Our days were spent volunteering at the Mana Rescue Home, which is an orphanage dedicated to the care of HIV positive children. There were about thirty kids at the rescue home and their ages ranged from four years old to seventeen. It was truly an eye opening experience for our group to have the opportunity to volunteer there. The kids were real sweethearts and even though their energy was low they were very interactive and enjoyed our company. The orphanage was well organized. A significant portion of their food is grown right there on the grounds. The fresh and nutritious food has a huge impact on the health of the children and their immune systems. We were also fortunate enough to eat lunch with the children for a few days, which proved to be delicious. In addition to a healthy diet, the children's medical care and medication is supplied by the Ugandan Government, which is extremely helpful to those who are HIV positive.

    While we were there, our major project consisted of repainting a dining hall and kitchen. We painted for a number of days and were supplied with bananas as snacks and a CD player, so we could paint to the beat of the music. We also spent a couple of days playing with the children. Our leader Adam played a game of football (soccer) with the boys in the yard. Allison kept the kids entertained with a game of Frisbee. Emily assisted and observed the nurse practitioner when the children came in for their monthly checkups. Adam D and Saxon talked, hung out and got to know the older boys at the orphanage. Jill pained the girls finger and toenails a cheerful bright pink. Sarah, Lil and Bridget kept the kids laughing and running about by setting loose a huge bag full of super bouncy balls, bottles of bubbles, and toy cars. We left those days feeling exhausted yet playful ourselves.

    We then concluded our stay at YES by going out for a wonderful and scrumptious dinner. The food was amazing and served home style. The conversation we herd between a few Europeans was equally enriching and gave us all insight on the opinions some people have about the way volunteering should be run.

    We spent the following morning in town picking up supplies for our stay at lake Nkuruba. Despite a torrential downpour, Sarah and Lil were able to obtain all the food we would need for self catering during our camping trip.  We later loaded all of our bags and groceries into a small bus and headed for the camp site.  The sight was located atop a lush hill surrounded by monkey infested trees and overlooking the small but none the less magnificent Lake Nkuruba.  After moving into our tents we were shown the modest kitchen, complete with an nonfunctional oven and wood fire stoves, where we would be preparing meals.  Preparing meals proved to be more challenging than we had hoped, as successfully building a fire could take over half an hour.  However, all of our meals turned out to be very delicious.

    We spent the next four days lazing around the camp site, sleeping in and going for occasional swims in the lake.  On Sunday we loaded up the bus once again and after briefly meeting Carol, the founder of the Yes Orphanage, we began the long journey to Kampala.

Peace out and we send our love,
Jill and Adam

Free Travel

SIDE NOTE: We have just posted pictures to our earlier blog posts, so scroll down and check out what we have been up to!

We are now half way through and started off our free travel Uganda going on a canoe trek for 2 days in Lake Bunyoni. We set off mid morning and canoed over to one of the many islands in the lake to begin our trek. A few minutes in, we learned about different plants that are around the area. Owen, our guide told us about the story behind the shy flower. If you like someone but are too shy to tell them, you can just give them that flower to show them how you feel. After that endearing story we went to the local church and listened to the amazing songs of praise from the congregation. When we finished clapping along to the song we headed out to the local bar to get undercover from the rain. Miha (the founder of Edirisa) joined us on our trek and told us how they make local beer in the area. They allow the fruit to ferment, and then later on mash it to a pulp using their feet, which they don't clean prior to stomping.

We then continued on our way up the island receiving an occasional chuckle from the local children whom found it amusing to see nine mzungus (white people) decked out in ponchos and rain gear when they themselves were wearing their everyday attire. . Due to the rainy conditions the ground was still very muddy, so slipping and sliding was a common occurrence. In the end we arrived at our destination safe and sound. 

We arrived at a beautiful community center /developing backpacker’s hostel, complete with a killer view of the surrounding lake. This sanctuary was called African Explorers and the man who ran it (Yonic) was truly a gift from the heavens. We got settled and took shelter from the rain under a banana thatched hut. Our spirits were lifted even more when we were given a bottle of soda and settled down to hear Yonic's story of how African Explorers was founded. His speech and his story were from the heart, filled with truth and incredibly thought provoking. We all walked away from that place changed in some way. By this time it was around 4 in the afternoon, so we dropped by a local home where our rumbling tummies were fed a hardy African lunch. Lunch consisted of cooked plantains, sweet potatoes, goat meat and a delicious soup. After the tasty food had been consumed, we were taught to make crafts by the mother of the house. We attempted and tried to keep out patience with the complicated art of bracelet weaving, and had a go at it for a good 45 minutes until the mother assisted and ended out struggle by giving us all bracelets that she had pre-made. Our trekking group thanked the mother for the delicious meal and for the craft class then we preceded back down the island, slipping and sliding the whole way. Once we got down safely, we paddled our canoes to Tom’s Island. Tom is an amazing man with a trademark voice deep enough to do voice over’s for TV commercials back in the U.S.We had now been with Tom for awhile since he was our night guard man at one of the Edirisa locations. When we arrived we got settled into our tents and had a nice meal around the campfire. The rest of night was spent listening to traditional songs, being taught traditional dances, which in turn we had to teach a dance from the U.S. Adam H and Emily taught them, along with some of the group members the electric slide while Allison supplied us with the instrumentals. The rest of the night was spent being told local stories that our guide attempted to translate for us. 

The next morning we were awaken by the crested cranes, which Jill says "sounds like child dying in pain", needless to say we were all very pleasant in the morning.  After breakfast Tom briefly showed us around his island and then we soon continued on our way for a day of island hopping. We visited four different islands that day, two of which had involvement with the people who were affected by leprosy. We had a quick snack at the island where the doctor who treated them lived, and then before heading over to the island where the lepers lived we stopped for a quick swim. Of course right when we jumped into the refreshing water, the sun decided to go away, so we left for the leper island. It was very interesting to hear the stories of the lepers whom just a few years earlier lived there. The buildings that once housed them have now been turned into a boarding school for children. It was quite an educational experience.

on our way back in the canoes it began to rain once again and the wind started to blow (keep in mine that we still had our wet bathing suits on). So on order to warm ourselves up we engaged ourselves in a canoe race. After ferociously paddling team Emily, Jill, Miha, and his fiver year old daughter ended up wining the race. We were all rewarded for a hard day of work with the most delicious dinner we have had yet in Africa. When we finished, we contently returned to the home. 

At six o'clock the next morning we headed off for a day of travel to reachdidn't have our reservations. We were all ok with that though since it turned out the Exotic hotel was a "flop house" or otherwise known as a place for people who would like to be with their mistresses would go. We ended up in a nice hotel and spent our first day in the town tying up loose ends, such as doing our laundry which all of us desperately needed to do. The next day we went to Semuliki National Park. The long, cramped, bumpy ride was well worth it. The park borders Uganda and Republic of Congo and can only be described as beautiful and breathtaking. We walked around for about three hours listening to the sounds of the rainforest. We also visited two different hot springs, one that was 106 degrees Celsius and the other 103. At the female hot springs our guide Elly, boiled some eggs for us in the water. The eggs proved to be piping hot, yet very tasty. It was a wonderful hike and great way to spend out last day of free travel.

love,
Emily and Jill

Edirisa: Week 2

Hello Again! We just finished up our second week working with Edirisa in another village. Our group, (Adam, Bridget, Jill, & Saxon) stayed at the Teach Inn where we worked around the school on local projects. Jill & Bridget assisted in classrooms like mathematics, geometry, and general sciences. Adam and Saxon finished hoeing a garden that will soon be planted with vegetables to feed the volunteers, and together we all finished a compost bin that the whole school will be using by the end of the month.We went into a nearby village for our last two days and helped them repair a classroom with plaster and cement. During the break time we played sports with the children and even captured and released a family of mice that we found living in a classroom. For our last night at the Teach Inn, we celebrated with members of the local community and school board with a pig roast and a delicious feast full of music and laughter. Today we begin our free travel, beginning with a canoe treck along the beautiful Lake Bunyonyi. We will update you soon upon furthering our free travel adventures!

Untill then-Bridget & Adam

Team Gorilla Part II

Team Gorilla went on a lovely bumpy ride to Lake Bunyoni. We got settled in and as a group sat down and planned what we would be doing during our stay. Sarah and Emily taught math, body parts, and songs in the nursery. Lilianna taught an art class, and Adam taught an amazing environmental studies class. We had plans to teach a swimming class, however, during our stay it rained most of the time so we ended up talking, laughing, reading and playing games inside. We also found time to build another successful compost pile with the help of the other volunteers.


During our time at Edirisa, we undertook a beard challenge to be able to shave Adam's beard however we so desired. After completing, four different tasks, for example: showering him with compliment for a day, we ended up shaving half his beard off, a style which he sported for 24 hours.

Lilianna, Emily, Sarah, Adam

Quick Update

Heyo from the other half of the group. We spent the week on the beautiful Lake Bunyoni, where we dug a garden, dug out a space for a compost bin, and assisted in after school activities. Jill and Adam ran a P.E. course, Bridget oversaw an art class, Saxon did dance and became godfather to a chicken.

In our free time we swam, went canoeing,  took a hike, and watched football at a neighboring resort. So, yeah.  Until next time.

Jill, Saxon

Team Gorilla

We have now left Rwanda and have started our adventure in Uganda.  Before we left though we were able to visit the Kigali Memorial Center where we learned about the genocide that occurred in Rwanda.  The tour began by going through multiple gardens which very artistically helped convey the different emotions, actions and people affected by the genocide.  Once we finished our time pondering through the gardens we entered the museum.  The museum is split into three parts;  the first part is about colonization of Rwanda, second about the actual genocide and third, genocides that have occurred in other countries along with how the genocide affected children. By the end of our time at the memorial we felt an array of emotions as we reflected upon what we had just learned.

Later that night we were in higher spirits as we got dressed up (well, as much as we could) and had a delectable meal at Hotel de Mille Collines. That hotel is where the story for the movie Hotel Rwanda is based off of. Having dinner there was a great way to spend our last night in the city while celebrating our month-aversary.

The next day we headed out for Uganda. We are now in the middle of our time volunteering with Edirisa. The group has split into two groups. We spent our first week fixing a path and making a compost bin for the community at The Teach Inn. There we enjoyed making friends with the locals, giving ourselves facials with the clay from the clay pits, having intense twister games, going on excursions to the market to buy our food for the week (yes, we cooked ourselves) and enjoyed delicious rolexes. For those who have not been introduced to this type of Rolex it contains a chapati (something in between a crepe and a pancake) an omelet, and another chapati rolled together.  They are a great on the go type of food. Now we are having a day off and tomorrow we will be heading off to Edirisa's other location Lake Bunyoni which we here is gorgeous!

Sincerely,

Team Gorilla (Sarah, Emily, Lil, and Adam H.)

Hi from Rwanda

Jambo from the beautiful Kigali, Rwanda.  We arrived here Saturday evening after a much longer than anticipated plane ride from the Kilimanjaro International airport.  We spent the previous week at the United African Alliance community center.  Upon arriving we were greeted warmly by Pete (The Panther) O'Neil, and his twenty-one adopted children.  We then settled into our comfortable sleeping quarters.  It is safe to say that everyone was enthused to have warm running water, clean clothes and electricity once again. 

We started our first full day with a one hour yoga class at seven-thirty in the morning.  After a delicious breakfast we split up into groups of two and sat in on English classes.  All of the teachers at the UAACC were volunteers, and the ages of students ranged from fourteen to forty.  Many of the student traveled long distances to attended free schooling at the community center.  The advanced English class students were virtually fluent in English and were very easy to converse with.  On the contrary, students in the beginners class needed a lot of assistance from there teacher to translate.  All students were eager to hear about American culture, politics and language.  Later in the afternoons Carpe Diem students attended computer classes to teach students of all ages the basics of computers.  Everyone seemed interested in making facebook and e-mail accounts.  The concepts were difficult at times to explain unless the students were English speaking. 

Following our first day of teaching we attended a dance class in the early morning.  A group of ten locals met us out on the basketball court to teach us a dance from a local tribe.  Though learning the dance was difficult enough, we also had to sing at the same time.  This proved to be quite a challenge but, after a couple hours of practice we were feeling confident in our ability to perform the dance during the UAACC talent show that afternoon.  Our performance of the dance went well, as did our rendition of the Cha Cha Slide; the American dance we all decided would be the easiest to perform without any practice.  The talent show went on for several hours and included dances and skits performed by locals, a fashion show and musical performances both by UAACC and Carpe Diem Students.

The rest of the week was spent in relaxation; learning how to make batik paintings in the art room, collaborating with local artists in the music studio, and interacting with students at the community center.  During some evenings we were able to casually chat with Pete about the life he was forced to leave behind in America and his new life in Tanzania.  Many evenings we would watch both educational and slightly more irrelevant DVDs from Pete's extensive collection. 

Thanks to Emily who verified both flights to Rwanda as well transportation from the airport to our hotel we arrived safely in Kigali on Friday Evening. Though finding a hotel was a bit of a struggle we were able to fit everyone in to two generously sized rooms at the Kigali Hotel, with help from Lilianna.  We spent our weekend exploring the city and attempting to emerge ourselves in the culture.  After almost a month in Tanzania we found our Swahili to be no use here as the predominant languages are French and Rwanda.  There appears to be a strong french and English Influence and the city is much more developed than the previous towns we visited.  We are all very much looking forward to our visit to the Rwanda Genocide Museum on Sunday before we travel to Uganda the following day. 

   

We will keep you updated on more events soon!

Love,

Adam & Sarah

A Brief Summary of Events So Far

Mambo from the United African Alliance Community Center! We arrived here yesterday afternoon fresh (although somewhat smelly) off our three day Safari to the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara National Park. We witnessed the laziness of lions, the zen of elephants, the staggering numbers of the zebra and wildebeest herds, as well as many of other creatures of the Serengeti such as: a leopard, a cheetah, a family of hyenas, birds dancing on the backs of hippos, a black rhino, giraffes, impalas, antelopes, buffalo, elands, blue monkeys, vervets, mongoose, diks diks, warthogs, bush backs, water bucks, jackals, white flamingos, ostriches, and many other species of bird including the largest flying bird in the world.

Upon our departure from the Ngorongoro Crater, we paused to snap a picture of a mama and baby baboon. Before we could close the windows on our jeep, the cute momma, with the baby in her arms, quickly transformed into a vicious momma, and proceeded to jump onto the roof of our jeep. Emily fell out of the car, Jill screamed and leapt out the window, Bridget searched frantically for something to hit it with before joining Emily and Jill in their escape, leaving Allison to face the baboon alone. Hearing the screams of terror, our driver quickly came to the rescue screaming and waving his arms. The baboon fled, only to return moments later with reinforcements. Giving new meaning to the phrase “guerilla warfare,” they baboons quickly entered the jeep next to ours, stole a box of crackers and quickly made off with their prize. We learned a valuable lesson that day: cute and fuzzy doesn’t always mean cuddly.

For the ten days proceeding the Safari, we lived in a traditional boma in the Maasai village of Esilalei. A boma is a large circular fence constructed from acacia trees, which possess large thorns, to protect the dwellings and livestock within from lions and hyenas. The dwellings are built from mud, manure, and tree limbs, with a thatched roof of grass. There are two separate structures, one for men and one for women, as well as a guest house constructed only of sticks, giving it a more open feel and allowing the breeze to cool it during the heat of the day; the latter acted as our dining hall. In the center of the three houses is a smaller boma. This is where the cattle, sheep, goats, donkeys ad chickens are kept during the night. We stayed within the boma in tents provided for us by Maasai Wanderings, and ate delicious food prepared for us by our chef Jackson.

While living with the Maasai we worked on three service projects: painting a road sign for the school, filling in a concrete foundation for the school’s kitchen, and constructing a water tank and gutter system for the kitchen that will catch precipitation during the rainy season. The projects took about five days to complete, and were greatly appreciated by the village and those working in the school. Some mornings we played with the students who were very eager to meet us, and found everything about us and our culture to be utterly fascinating. We loved spending time with them and teaching them American games such as Duck-Duck-Goose and ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.’

A typical day in the Maasai village consisted of a morning spent on the service project, and a lazy afternoon spent writing in our journals, doing laundry, and interacting with our ever friendly local hosts. In the evenings before dinner, we often helped bring the cows home under spectacular sunsets. We also visited a weekly Maasai market where Saxon bought a pair of traditional Maasai sandals made from recycled tires. We went on a walking Safari led by two Maasai, on which we saw elephants, giraffes, lions and wildebeests, saw a lamb being born, and slaughtered and ate a goat Maasai style. The celebration of the goat was a much needed thank you to the Maasai tribe for allowing us to stay with them. We saw how they skin and butcher livestock for meals, traditionally consisting of milk, blood, and meat. While the goat was being butchered, Allison performed an eye ball dissection, which was really fun and interesting to see.

As mentioned earlier, we are currently residing at the UAACC, a community center created by an exiled black panther named Pete. During our stay we will help teach English, art, sewing, music and computer classes to anyone who wants to learn, as well as to the twenty-two children who live here full time. After the UAACC, we’re heading to Rwanda for a few days to visit the site of the Rwandan Genocide and further our knowledge of the events of 1994.

Stay tuned for future posts!

Salama! (Peace)
Saxon, Bridget

Jambo from L'Oasis!

Yesterday we went on an eventful scavenger throughout Arusha! We did awesome and hit almost all the goals, speaking in our newly learned Swahili along the way. We have been spending time doing orientation and learning about each other. The hostel is beautiful here and has modern amenities that we have been gratefully taking advantage of :) Bridget, Saxon, Lil, Emily

Mambo! from Arusha, Tanzania

From Adam, Jill & Sarah!!!

We are in the middle of our scavenger hunt in Arusha right now. We made it here alive! Yay! We just begun learning Kiswahli today and are eager to speak it. We love and miss everybody! We will blog more when we actually figure out how to use it properly. Wish us luck- We are trying to win this scavenger hunt!!

Safe & Sound (& Sleeping!) in Arusha

We've just received word that the group was picked up without a hitch and are now settled into the hostel they'll call home for a few days' worth of orientation, cultural briefings, language basics, and general group bonding as they begin their thorough journey of East Africa.

When they awake, you'll begin hearing from them themselves--so stay tuned!  From here on out, this is Team Africa's blog!

-HQ out.

Amsterdam and Beyond!

It's official.  Team Africa is complete, all are accounted for in Amsterdam and they are embarking on an adventure of a lifetime as a complete unit.  Next stop?  TANZANIA.  The next blog you read should be from the group themselves.  So come back to this site often and follow the adventures from the eyes and ears of Carpe Diem Africa Spring 2011!

Signing out for now...

Carpe Diem Headquarters

Spring in East Africa

Hello Team Africa!

We hope all of your preparations are going well for our upcoming adventure and that this introductory blog entry finds you all well. This blog will be a very useful way to tell the story of our trip to your friends and loved ones, so please pass this address on to them or tell them how to find it through the Carpe Diem website's blog link.

Allison and I are currently in Portland managing the various logistical details for our rapidly approaching departure. We have spent the winter break visiting friends and family in North Carolina and Vancouver, Canada - staying mobile to honor our inner nomads. Making phone calls and perusing the "student files" has revealed to us that we will be traveling with an incredibly interesting group of students and we can't wait to explore this fascinating region with you all.

For those of you who haven't spoken with us over the phone yet, expect that fateful call within the next couple of days. We are so excited to meet you all and look forward to a spectacular semester.

Happy packing!

Adam and Allison