The Last Few Days

We spent our final days in Tanzania on the beach in Zanzibar. Wednesday morning we set out for the east coast of the island where we got to stay in Jambiani right on the beach. The beach was beautiful! The water was so clear and ranged from sky blue to teals based on the depth, the sand was almost white and very soft, and there were perfect shells scattering the beach. We spent a little time on the beach or in the water before lunch and snorkeling. Everyone had an awesome time snorkeling. There were so many fish and other sea creatures to look at and the water felt so good as well. Our "guides" pulled out starfish for us to look at and hold, the coolest one being bright red and grey with spikes all over it. Later that night we started a fire right on the beach and got to relax and have a good time with everyone on our last night in Tanania.
The next morning lots of us got up to watch the sun rise over the Indian Ocean. It was really pretty and had some great views. After breakfast we had more time to get in the water, relax on the beach or start packing up our stuff for the long journey ahead--no one really wanted to leave though!
Once we left Jambiani, we traveled for 32 hours and 22 minutes straight until we landed in Minneapolis and used almost all modes of transportation possible: two buses, a ferry, and two planes...the only thing missing was a train! Our travels went smoothly though with only a slight delay leaving Amsterdam.

Overall this trip was amazing! We all had such a good time and will have so many memories (and pictures) to share with everyone back home...thanks for keeping up with us!

Stone Town, Zanzibar

Monday we began the final leg of our trip, the journey to Zanzibar. Our morning started out a little delayed since the bus didn't come as early as Pastor Hafermann had hoped. With loading everyone's luggage, getting pulled over for speeding and the crazy traffic in Dar, we were pushing it to make the ferry in time. We got on though and settled in for a two and a half hour ride from Dar to the island of Zanzibar. It was a fairly nice ride and no one got seriously seasick. After disembarking and checking into our rooms at the hotel, we went out for lunch/supper at a local restaurant before walking to the Old Fort for some shopping. It was very hard not to buy something at every shop since the workers would try and talk you into everything whether you needed it or not. It seems to be that way for everyone around here as we had the same experience with guys on the street trying to sell us soccer jerseys. We did a "second supper" at the seafood market that night. They had almost everything imaginable from shrimp and lobster to octopus. It was all very fresh and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.
Tuesday we started out with a tour of the Anglican Slave Museum. As they took us through the museum, the guide did a very nice job of explaining what it would have been like for a slave waiting there, especially in the holding chambers. Next, we drove out of the city for a spice tour. We got to see how a lot of the spices we are accustomed to are grown. It was neat and at the end they let us try three of the teas they produce and some of the local fruit, the most interesting being a custard apple (English translation) which reminded us of bananas. They also let us try coconut water and meat, but in order to do that, one of the guys there climbed up a tree and dropped all the coconuts. Either he does that all the time and is used to climbing palm trees or he has no fear because it would have been a long way to fall if he had! Back in Stone Town we grabbed some lunch and had a little down time at the hotel before heading out to more museums and the Old Fort area for shopping and supper.

The Lulenge Village Visit



We went on our last village visit today, this time to the Maasai village of Lulenge. The roads to Lulenge were the best we have had for a village visit and did not take as long as the others. We were served tea right away when we arrived and then sang back and forth with one of the Maasai choirs (they are way better than we could ever be!). The service was somewhat similar to the last Maasai church we attended, but this time there were baptisms. Most of those being baptized were infants but there were two older children as well. It was really neat and inspiring to watch as Pastor Hafermann baptized each of them; there was a small feeling of celebration after each child’s turn. We got to sing during the baptisms which went very well for us and the congregation seemed to really enjoy our presence. Their choirs were amazing and no one seemed to ever hit a wrong note. They are so expressive with their music as well; there are always movements and some of the women frequently yell with excitement. After the service we were served “lunch” (at 3:00 in the afternoon…). They did pretty well with the food and must have thought we, especially Lizzie, enjoyed the potatoes because one guy piled half of the bowl onto her plate. Unfortunately, the Maasai warriors that were going to dance for us had to leave so we did not get to experience that part of their culture. This was still a good experience for all of us and we got to see more of the Maasai culture. 

The Baptisms

Instead of eating our last dinner in Morogoro at the seminary, we went out for pizza (mostly so Bwana Ed could watch the Manchester United soccer game). It was a good way to end the day and procrastinate the packing everyone has to finish before breakfast tomorrow morning!

The Tree Seed Project

 Friday morning was our last morning in the Udzungwa mountains. We were out of the resort before 9 AM and headed back to the seminary. Along the way, we made a short stop at the Mikumi Snake Park. They have many different snakes, some poisonous and others not, along with turtles and a few crocodiles. We got to watch as the crocodile was poked with a long stick to get a reaction out of him. For not being fed for a week (they get fed once a week), he was able to move pretty quickly to defend himself against the stick. Before we left, Pastor Hafermann, Michael, Paige and Bwana Shawn opted to hold one of the pythons they have, while others were content to watch the crocodiles or turtles.

Working to fill the dirt tubes

After lunch at the seminary, we went back  into Morogoro to the Tanzania Tree Seed Agency (TTSA) to learn about their work and pick up supplies  for tomorrow s project.  Their main focus is combating deforestation by providing tree seeds and seedlings for public and private groups. We get to participate by planting some trees at the seminary, which will be most of the action tomorrow.

Planting the memorial avocado tree

Half of the group went over to Emmy s home just before supper to meet the family and say hello. Emmy is a 25 year old widowed mother of two and takes care of six other children of extended family members who have died of AIDS. Her late husband, Luka, was a very integral part of Pastor Hafermann s ministry and did a lot for the seminary, so it was nice to meet the family that we had heard so much about.

Saturday morning was reserved for the tree seed project at the seminary. We planted two of the three seedlings from the TTSA at the seminary, one mango tree and one avocado tree. The avocado tree was especially important as it serves as a memorial for Solomon, the man who planted most of the trees surrounding the seminary. We also dug up three types of seedlings from the seminary grounds to plant in small tubes of dirt so they can be used later down the road. There was a lot of tube packing, over 200 for sure, in order for us to plant all the seedlings needed for the project. Later that day, the other half of the group went over to Emmy's and planted the third seedling for her and her family. The rest of the night was free for packing, since we will be leaving in less than a week! It's hard to believe the trip is almost over, but not before heading to Zanzibar for a few days.

Hiking and Waterfalls



The waterfall on the first day's hike



Our second national park experience was at Udzungwa National Park. We arrived on Wednesday after finishing our last game drive at Mikumi. The accommodations here are fantastic! We are being so spoiled that it will be hard to leave. Not only are the rooms and service great, but we also have some amazing views from our balconies. The resort is situated on a mountain and is surrounded by rain forest, so everywhere you look is green scenery. Wednesday afternoon most of the group went on a hike through the forest near the resort. We were led by Babu, a 74-year old man who could beat any of us college students at a hike. He led us through some thick patches of forest and on narrow, muddy paths that would at times take on a pretty significant incline. We were grabbing at trees along the path to pull ourselves up. The first place he took us was a beautiful waterfall. It wasn’t huge but still so cool to be able to stand near. The hike continued through some intense terrain before we were led to a “swimming pool”. A small area just beyond some rapids served to cool us down and was so much fun! The current wasn’t strong enough to cause problems for anything but a few clothing articles that were being pulled in unwanted directions. We were still soaking by the time we made it back to the resort and got to take full advantage the awesome showers in our rooms.

Meghan, Amy, Anastasia,  Natalie and Michael
swimming after the first hike

The following day, Thursday, we went on a hike to Sanje Falls in Udzungwa National Park. The hike started out slow as we were stopping and going to see the different trees and plants growing in the forest. We did see mango, guava and banana trees as well as lemon grass. The hike was a really good workout with all the stairs we climbed along the trail. It was so worth it once we got to the top. We were standing atop a 660-foot waterfall looking out across the sugarcane fields. It was such an amazing sight and almost unreal. We proceeded to eat our lunch out on the rocks just before the big drop-- it was so awesome! There were two more waterfalls we went to, both smaller than the first but still neat to see, before we hiked back down to the bottom of the first waterfall for another swimming adventure, this time in which Bwana Shawn joined us. The water was so cold today and the current was stronger but it was very cool to look up to the top of the waterfall and know that we had hiked the entire way up.

Mikumi National Park

We began our national park tour with Mikumi, about two hours from the seminary. As we got closer to the main park entrance, we were greeted by baboons on the side of the roadway. They were not scared of the traffic at all it seemed and would “pose” for us to take pictures from the bus. When we got checked into the park, we were taken to our Bandas where we stayed for the next two nights. They were so cool and were situated right on grazing land for the animals. We could sit on our back porch and watch buffalo, elephants and impala graze--it was so cool. The first afternoon we went on a game drive and saw lots of twiga (giraffe), tembo (elephant), punda milia (zebra), impala, baboons, a ton of birds, a crocodile and the heads of some kiboko (hippo). It was so neat to see all of these animals living in somewhat close proximity without any problems--they just did their own thing and kept on eating : )

Impala and Zebras

The next day we went on three drives: one early morning, a late morning/early afternoon, and a late afternoon drive. During the first drive we saw lots of the same animals as the night before. Everyone was hoping for a simba (lion) but no such luck on this drive. The most excitement we had during the morning session was getting stuck on the road through a marsh. The tires started spinning and we slid a little so there was no way we could continue forward. To remedy this, our driver perfectly executed a 17-point turn with a two foot drop off behind him to deal with! It was a little nerve wracking at times but amazing that he got the bus turned around.

The afternoon game drive that day was when we finally got to see the simbas. There were two young males lying right next to the road. They were so calm with us right next to them taking a ton of pictures, but got eventually got annoyed with us trying to make them do something so got up and walked off. It was exciting to see a couple simbas though. The rest of the drive we saw lots of the same stuff as before.


Tembo

 That night we had tembo visitors come up close to the bandas. One came up very close to Bwana Shawn and Michael’s banda and then proceeded to work their way down the line. They just kept on eating like we weren’t watching their every move. It was so cool but weird at the same time since they were wild tembo that would have nothing stopping them from coming as close as they wanted.
The next morning we went on one last game drive, and while we didn’t see a whole lot of animals, we got a very personal experience with the Tsetse flies. Almost everyone completed the task of killing at least one fly while on the drive, some more than others. They sting fairly hard and are super annoying. Everyone was glad when we drove out of the Tsetse fly territory and made our way back to the camp.
We got to see pretty much everything we had wanted to during our drives through the park, just maybe not in the quantities we had hoped for : )

Simba



A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

We spent the day catching up and didn't have anything planned, so here are some more photos to share!

The language school students and teachers

The girls outside one of the restaurants

Our Mountain at Sunrise

The Maasai Cattle Market