It has been a fabulous trip so far – we are on day 3 and I’m happy to say we have an “adventurous” team! I love the saying by Tom Sawyer – “The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude.” After a 2 hour flight delay before a 14 hour flight, plus a connection out of Addis Ababa, and then lost luggage the team was still in great spirits. We met our driver after obtaining visas and completing luggage claims and headed into the dusk for a trip into the Savannahs of Tanzania – through a national game park. We were the first to test the new bridge across the Wami River and a new route to Kisampa which is to be our home for 2 weeks. The bus driver and Salmini decided it was unsafe to go further by bus, so we were met up with a Land Rover trip for the rest of the way. We were then greeted with waving smiling faces at Kisampa and a beautifully set table outdoors beside a bonfire. They poured us our beverage of choice and we found ourselves in the most amazing moonlit and starlit setting imaginable with a fabulous meal and even more fabulous company.
Our hosts graciously gathered clothes since only Tracey received her luggage and Corie, who has just completed 4 weeks in Africa – 2 with DWC in Uganda and Rwanda with Nick Foster as team lead and 1 week on safari in the Serengeti and 1 week climbing successfully to the top of Kilimanjaro. We traveled to the village the next day and scoped out our project, greeted with many smiling faces and children following us. Our project is a resource centre that will allow all the village access to learn computers.
After returning and having our outdoor shower with an amazing view of the Savannah’s, Lauren and I were greeted with two dresses from Corie to wear to dinner. We also had a choice of a Sari that Kisampa provided. I will now pass it on to Corie so she can then lead the group in yoga before a beverage by the bonfire and dinner.
Hi all … I am feeling like an almost resident here in East Africa as it’s been over 4 weeks now I have been in various countries here. I have the airports and crossing the borders down to a science. So what have we done so far while here…
Well we are staying in an absolutely incredible location. The Kisampa Bush Retreat is incredible. The outdoor living spaces they have created here are simply blissful – google and check them out (Afrika Afrika Safaris then click on Kisampa Accomodations).
We have been bonding as a team – I gave away half my clothing the first/second day to members of our team as their luggage arrived much later than they did. Then on Monday we went into the village of Matipwilli to check it out. We soon had generated much interest in town and had many rag-a-muffin children following us around like we were the pied pipers. We ended up at the community resource center that is to be our work site for the week.
Edye St. Hill & Corie McRae
DWC Team Leader & Participant
Tanzania, August 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment