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Published: January 19th 2024
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Given all the sitting we’d been doing over the past week, it was obviously important that we mixed things up a bit and did some lying. Our flight to Zanzibar was quite cool as we had a very clear view of Mount Kilimanjaro out the window - its snow capped peak towered above the dark plains below and the peak next to it had a thunderstorm, together with lightning brewing overhead.
We were assaulted by the wall of heat and humidity that greeted us as we left the airport but were luckily in our airconditioned transfer before too long and headed for the beach. The plan for the next few days was just to relax on the beach with some books, some cocktails and dips in the pool. Oh, kittens, play with lots of kittens. And so we did just that, with a quick side trip to Stone Town for some shopping and dinner - we went back to a restaurant we had visited when we were here last, which the girls actually remembered. Watched the sunset over the water and enjoyed some tasty food and drinks.
Next day, we had an early wake up and trip to the
airport for our transfer to Matemwe and visit to the school. We had to make two passes over the airstrip to clear off the animals before we could actually land but we were at our old digs, Sable Mountain Lodge, before too long. Amos and Elia had been stuck along the way due to all the rain they’d been having so we had a quick rest and some lunch and then we were on our way to Kisaki and then Sesenga.
Not much looked like it had changed in the 4.5 years since we’d been here before. The school had a new principal and the gardens were looking much greener. More of the classrooms had desks and there appeared to be more supplies and food. The kids were just as inquisitive and curious as they had been on our previous visit but seemed to be shyer and more reluctant to come near us. It was interesting that English seemed to be a bigger part of the curriculum than we had seen before.
We met with the principal and three female teachers and then visited the classrooms. It was lovely to be back and we all left excited at
what we will hopefully be able to do, and also excited that the car had air conditioning. Back to the lodge for dinner and a hot and sweaty night.
We flew back to Dar this morning, and took on the job of clearing the airstrip on land before the plane approached. A swim and a relaxing afternoon in the hotel before we start the long journey home tomorrow.
It’s amazing to think that five weeks has passed - the crocodile farm in Aswan seems like a decade ago. I’m sure that we’ll be back to Kenya and Tanzania before too long as they’ve left an indelible mark on all of our hearts.
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