Travel Blog Posts
July 16th 2009
On July 15th, we said our good byes to our fellow volunteers and boarded a Qatar Airways flight to Doha. The luxury of the airplane in comparison to the way we had been living for the past two months was striking. Qatar Airways certainly aims to please. Upon arrival in Doha, we were given free visas, a free hotel stay at the Movenpick, and free dinner... all because we had a 13 hour layover. It was 37 degrees Celsius when we landed - did I mention that? We were crazy hot but spent about two hours exploring the city. Doha's buildings are each unique and elegant. They do not have the cramped look of New York City. It was also incredibly safe. At 9pm we felt comfortable having our cameras out to take pictures, something we ... read more
Tanzanian Schools and Transportation
Published: July 10th 2009Africa » Tanzania » East » Dar es Salaam
July 10th 2009
Our basic routine here at Camp Lanoche is: wake up around 7:30, get water from the huge tanks in the yard (collected daily by the kids who must walk to a tiny stream about a half hour away), wash with the water, help make chapatis and various other foods like beans or ugali for breakfast, eat breakfast at around 11am, go to the neighbors yard to collect oranges with the kids, spend some time filling the base of the deck with dirt, eat lunch at around 2:30 all the way to around 4, Hang around, and finally eat dinner at 8:30 and sleep. Only Katie, the girl staying here from the UK has managed to get out of that cycle. She has begun working at a local franciscan school during the day. The stories she tells ... read more
July 7th 2009
It's been a while since our last blog, but we've finally managed to get to the internet. As the end of June 29th approached, we weren't really sure what our plans for the next two weeks would be. We had tried to call the listed number for the next orphanage, and we'd also emailed, but no response. All the hotels in Dar es Salaam were booked (or so it seemed, since we called about 7 or 8, and none had vacancies), and we had nowhere else to go. Fortunately, Johnson, the director of Camp Lanoche Children's Camp, responded. The next morning, bright and early, we woke up and walked a mile in the equatorial sun with our giant backpacks to the docks. We boarded a ferry, and motored on back to the mainland. It was pretty ... read more
June 28th 2009
We just returned from Bwejuu, a small village on the east coast yesterday. It was amazing! Somehow we managed to get a reservation at Bahari Beach Village, a resort that isn't even officially open yet because the ownership has just changed. We were the only guests and therefore we were waited on hand and foot. Our bungalow was located literally 10 feet from the ocean and durning the day we searched for shells and worshipped the sun. The beaches in the US have no where near the amount of variety of shells that the east coast of Zanzibar has. We found twirly ones, straight ones, big ones (one the size of my hand, just right there on the beach), small ones, white ones and yellow ones. We spent hours cleaning out the shells to make sure ... read more
June 23rd 2009
We have arrived in Tanzania!!! Four days ago we took a 14 hour long bus ride down from Nairobi to Dar Es Salaam. The muslim influence was immediately apparent once we crossed the border. Men walk around wearing rectangle hats and women walk around covered from head to foot. Even the environment was different from Kenya. Where much of Kenya is dry and sun-scorched, Tanzania is extremely lush with many palm trees and big bushes. Unfortunately, we didn't arrive in Dar Es Salaam until 9pm, when the sun had already set, so we didn't get to get dinner or explore the city at all. Luckily, we made a friend on the journey who helped us find a reputable taxi and who called us to make sure we had actually made it to the Jambo Inn. Both ... read more
June 19th 2009
The last blog - "the old man and the machete" was meant to be published last friday when we were in Kisii, but we accidentally saved it rather than publishing it online. On Tuesday we left Kiamokama and headed down the road for Narok. We took a matatu, and a ride that should have been two hours ended up taking five. The matatu driver stopped ever ten minutes to pick up new passengers and to drop off others. It was made even worse by the fact that our backpacks were shoved onto our laps and our knees were jammed into the seats in front of us. We arrived in Narok at 8pm, ready to collapse into a bed. The hotel we stayed at was a good value. It had hot showers, a tv, balcony, and mosquito ... read more
June 11th 2009
so this is probably the last blog in Kenya. We just came back to Kisii today to finish up everything here. It's only been a couple days, but not too much has happened. Alyssa got electrocuted when she stuck her hand in some water that was heating up. It was one of those full body electrocutions. Also, yesterday, the crazy old man from next door got drunk extra early, and walked over to the kids and us while we were working and started waving around a machete. He told the kids to start working, and he threatened Carol. He's basically crazy. While he never actually hurt the kids, its pretty horrible that he can just walk over onto their property and start threatening everyone with a machete. Apparently, we have to wait for the Land Council ... read more
June 8th 2009
On the night we arrived home after our last post, Neal was attacked by a cow with horns. It apparently thought Neal was a threat, because it started sprinting after him. Alyssa was very shocked and really could do nothing except yell and scream for him to run inside. He was only wearing flip-flops, and it had just finished raining, so he slipped easily in the mud. Luckily, he fell next to an even bigger cow than the one chasing him, so he saved himself a few seconds to start running again. He eventually lost the horned cow by swinging himself around a post (the turn was too sharp for the cow to handle). It was a very shocking experience, and all we could really do was laugh. The next morning we accompanied Carol to the ... read more
Kisii names and our Descent into Hell
Published: June 2nd 2009Africa » Kenya » Nyanza Province » Kisii
June 2nd 2009
So we've finally been able to get internet access again after about two weeks. This time, we fit 30 people onto our 15 seat matatu. Since it's been a while, we have a bunch more stuff thats happened. The first thing we want to mention is the crazy person who stayed at the center before us. Apparently this woman had contacted the Center in January, and was going to stay sometime in February. However, she missed her layover in the UK, and just decided she was going to stay there for 3 months. Then, upon arrival in Kenya, which was early May, she decided she'd buy a $100 phone outside the airport. When one of the associates of the center picked her up, it was discovered that this woman had two separate identities. She said that ... read more
May 20th 2009
After a five hour matatu ride, we finally arrived in the town of Kiamokama. Mary met us there and we piled into a four door sedan with 9 other people. That is how they travel here in Kenya. On the way to the Children’s Home, we passed fields of tea and maize - the two main crops in this area. Tea farmers pick the tea leaves, sell them to the tea factory in town and then buy pack the processed tea for drinking. It is a silly system. When we arrived at the entrance to the Children’s Home, a bunch of the kids were outside waiting to help us take our bags to the home. There are twenty or so children living here - ages 5 to 15, more boys than girls. Mary had them each ... read more
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