I'm back! Sorry it's been a little while between updates, but I haven't had a chance to even look at a computer in over a week. Lots to tell though, about the weekend and what's been keeping me busy since then. So Thursday we made our journey into Tanzania to the island of Zanzibar. Just as some brief background, Zanzibar is an old stopping point for sea trade, used heavily by Muslim nations for centuries. It also happens to boast a large amount of beach coastline, most of which is only very lightly developed. So, we went off by plane Thursday [View Full Entry]

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Now that I'm home already, I'm getting lazy but I do want to finish up this blog before everything leaks out of my memory so here goes, albeit abbreviated. Once I met my brother at the airport in Lilongwe, we decided to start traveing north immediately and caught an overnight bus to Mzuzu, in northern Malawi. The ride left abour 7pm and arrive 530am, we got lucky and jumped on a minibus towards Karunga. The city was small and we still had a lot of traveling to do, so we grabbed a soda and hopped on a minibus toward the the [View Full Entry]

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So everything is finally falling into place for our trip, and I though it was high time I started a travel blog, in order to simultaneously make you jealous and bore you senseless for the next month. I should warn you now that I have never had one of these blog-like things, so entries may well disappear for weeks on end, and spell checking is not something I habitually use. Ho hum. So I'm almost all jabbed up, we have flights and volunteering projects (almost!), I am equipped with mosquito net, insect repellent, First Aid kit and backpack. All that remains [View Full Entry]

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and most people are flying home this afternoon at 4. i leave tomorrow for zanzibar. we spent a few nights at this super awesome place with pete and charlotte o'neal. former black panthers. they run a place called united african alliance - donate money there - they're doing some super great stuff and were so incredibly nice and awesome. i'm a bit sad everyone is leaving... kinda worried abouyt being alone for so long - but i know it'll be fine. i am looking forward to having a week to myself on the beach. we also went on a safari in [View Full Entry]

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Hello everyone. I'm at a random internet cafe in town, so I just wanted to let you all know some of my plans for the upcoming weeks, I'll be sending a picture or two back soon so hold your horses! This weekend we are going on a safari to Ngorongoro Crater from Friday until Sunday night. Most of the proceeds from our Safari money go to an organization called "kili kids", an orphanage in the area. They train some of the teen boys to be cooks for the tour operator, so they'll be in our group cooking for us which is [View Full Entry]

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We got up yesterday and left the Guest House at 6:30 am to catch a 10:00 flight and needed about that much time to stand in wrong lines and get to the gate. However, there was no plane in sight so we waited until about 11:15 and took off. Nice plane and we went very close to Mt. Kilimanjaro. Jeremy, an intern for the summer, met us and negotiated a taxi for us out of the about 10 drivers fighting for his attention.There are now 17 of us counting the Howells, a very nice couple from MI and those of us [View Full Entry]

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We had a few hours to kill in Kigoma because it was too early for dinner and few people wanted to go to Ujiji to see where Stanley met Livingstone. We therefore went to the central market. I was expecting something similar to Mwanza. After all, Kigoma's 30,000 people are as strategically placfed as Mwanza's 500,000. Just joking, but I thought Kigoma would have a smaller version of Mwanza's market. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Kigoma's market, in my opinon, is a real stereotypical "African" market. Kigoma Central Market is a cramped space, less than a quarter of an [View Full Entry]

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The trip from Jo'Burg to Arusha was uneventful - except that on my flight from Dar es Salaam to Arusha, I had the plane all to myself. That doesn't happen too often anymore. Too bad there was too many clouds to see Mount Kilimanjaro (the highest mountain in Africa, at 5896 m), my next goal. Kilimanjaro After spending a couple of days in Arusha just relaxing, I met the group of climbers who would be going up Kili with me. There were six Americans (a family of five and a single woman) and four Brits (two Welsh, two English). The interesting [View Full Entry]

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There are days when I just plain miss home. While I explain and you read, enjoy the pictures I have added for you. Many are Sew Be It success projects, others are us in our daily lives. What do I miss you ask? Well let me see. I miss sitting on the porch and being able to see as far as I can see without the hindrance of an 8 foot concrete wall. I miss street lights, sidewalks, and drivers who obey the traffic laws, and policemen. I miss being able to leave the house, get in the car to go [View Full Entry]

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15-7-08 Today it really feels like I’m actually in Africa. It’s only just kicked in, not fully though. I’m having the best time, it feels like I’ve been here ages & I’m afraid the 3 weeks will go too fast & I’ll want to stay longer. Today (Tuesday) was the first day of work for everyone at the home base. I had an amazing day & I think everyone else did too from all the stories I’ve heard. I’m working in Soweto nursery, there are 10 children in my class & I’m working as a teaching assistant. The children are aged [View Full Entry]

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