Sun Nov 16 2008 We drove from Tabora to Mwanza, Elias and Dickson drove us the 5 hours to get here. Toads were mostly paved actually but it took us 2 hours to travel 116 kms over quite rough roads. When we arrived we first looked up the Safari company that was organized for us for the Serengeti. Then we went to the hotel that was booked for us … then we found another hotel!!! We went to a nice spot, The Tilapia Hotel, most likely the nicest one in Mwanza. Rooms were nice and the hotel was clean. They have [View Full Entry]

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Monday November 17 2008 SERNGETI!! What a treat this was! We left the hotel at 5:00 AM, in order to arrive at 7:00 when the gates open. It promised to be a great day … little did we know! Me and my stolen roll of toilet paper were off!! As soon as we got inside the Park we were met by all kinds of monkeys. We carried on and throughout the day saw Wildebeest, Zebras, hippos, corcs, hyenas, girrafes, elephants, lions, lizards, jackals, cranes, huge birds that look like eagles, gazelles, dik diks, Impalas, Topi’s, and water buffalos. (http://www.iserengeti.com/african-animal [View Full Entry]

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Tuesday Nov 18 2008 Travel to Dar Es Salaam Fell asleep last night watching TV, it was right after supper around 8:00. I woke up at 10:00, wrote Denise a text and fell asleep. I was feeling a bit better, took my diarrhea pills and think that made quite a difference. What did I learn? DON’T drink ANY milk products! Woke up a couple of times throughout the night, but was for the most part OK. Got up at 6:00 AM, had breakfast at 7:00 and left for the airport at 8:00. Once there we found out that our flight was [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday November 19 2008 Well things worked out good for us. We decided to fly home today! Our flight Dar Es Salaam at 11:40, it was 31 deg C and about 97% humidity. The airport is not air conditioned, everyone of us was soaked from sweating so much, what a great condition to be in to travel on a plane for the next 10 hours! It was a perfect flight, and we landed in Amsterdam slightly ahead of plan. After 7 hours of shopping and walking we left for Toronto. It too was an uneventful flight. Went right through customs, then [View Full Entry]

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Saturday November 16 2008 Well the journey as it was to be is now over, the events are now stories, the pictures are the reminders and the experience will forever embrace me. I can’t imagine that what I have seen and experienced will ever leave me. The faces, the smells, the scenery, the challenges, the events are too real now … they aren’t from a TV documentary these are real. As I now reflect I wonder what the future holds … will I ever get back here again? Will I ever see Alafati and his family again? Will I ever feel [View Full Entry]

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Friday Nov 14 2008 I keep saying each day that there’s something new and amazing that catches my eye, well today was no different. I am almost glad that we are done visiting children’s homes. The desperate situations they live in, the lack of food, the poor housing, clothes that are worn and torn and dirty … its amazing. We went to a town called Inala, it’s about 11 kms East of Tabora (the town we are in). Once we got to the edge of town we turned South and drove another 2 kms … so picture this, we leave town [View Full Entry]

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Saturday Nov 15 2008 Wil fill in later ... just trying to add pictures [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday Nov 12 2008 We started the day at 10:30, went to a few homes in the morning, Sam’s truck was acting up and we began to get concerned about our days worth of work accomplished. With many challenges throughout the day we managed to make to 5:00 but had to be rescued. This car is unbelievable, I think I have shared some of its attributes already, but the seats that are bolted down only make the trips exciting. After we tightened up all 5 lug nuts on the back wheel we once again got back on the road, until it [View Full Entry]

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Thursday Nov 13 2008 A much better day, we managed to get many of the kids done today. As it turns out we only have Friday to get the remaining kids done and I think we shall be OK. Its amazing how excited the kids get over the pictures and the letter writing. They get all giggly and begin to fix their clothes and try to look as nice as they can. Some of the kids can write others we’ve either had Sam do them or in some cases a sibling or other relative. It seems that AIDS has forced a [View Full Entry]

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Well the trip so far has been great at least from a tourist perspective … I got off the plane in Dar Es Salaam and was taken to the FPCT (The Free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania) compound. The rooms were like those you would find in an ‘80’s hotel that hadn’t seen any up grades in a while. Oh well, I am in Africa not the Holiday Inn in Cambridge!! We left the compound at 4:00 AM as it will be a 1200 km ride to Tabora … that was a 16 hour trek!! The roads were OK for a while, [View Full Entry]

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