If I had to use one word to describe Tanzania it would be unpredictable. From my arrival in Dar es Salaam on the 18th of October up to today I never could have imagined the variety of twists and turns my time here in East Africa would take.
Starting with my ten hour trip from Dar to Iringa on the bus, where I saw an elephant grazing off in the distance, an impala dart across the road in front of us, yellow baboons quietly being spectators on the roadside, and the greatest kind of drive-thru I’ve ever witnessed. At what seemed to be scheduled stops along the bus route, we pulled onto the side of the road and vendors of all types descened onto our bus, selling cashews, peanuts, tomatoes, apples, watches, anything you could want, right outside your window, just hand over the cash and you get your product, all there in the convenience of your seat.
After the eventful bus ride I met up with the team in the bustling city of Iringa and we were off to Central Lodge, the HQ for Wildlife Connections when we spend time in the city. Later that evening after dinner I discovered another aspect of life in Tanzania, the water in the city was no longer running and later the power was cut off, not a problem though, just another day in East Africa.A few days later we off to our adventures in the countryside. I took my first trip into Ruaha National Park along with Jackie, another new volunteer to the project. Again I was surprised, at the wealth of animals that were to be seen. On that first trip we were able to see elephants, black-backed jackals, a cheetah resting with its kill, giraffes, zebras, horn bills, hippos, crocs, hammerkops, fish eagles, guinea fowl, lions, impalas, gazelles, baboons, vervet monkeys, and that’s not even listing them all. I was certainly expecting to see wildlife, but not that much in just one day.
From our camp in Tungamalenga, we traveled to Pawaga where a permanent camp has been set up on the river. It is quite a beautiful setting with the river slowly winding past the camp, fields outstretched across the valley, and finally a border of mountains off in the distance to complete the scene. The amenities are fairly basic, but it’s certainly worth it to be out in an environment that amazing.
After a few more days passed I was able to go into town with one of the volunteers who has been with the project for some time already and has been working to set up an education program with the children of the villages that we work with on a regular basis. I tagged along with Roberta, a teacher from Toronto, and was amazed by the excitement the students had about the class that day. It was more like a forum, where Roberta would prompt a discussion with a question and our interpreter Felisto would translate and guide the students through the topic. It was incredible to see the kids’ hunger to learn, which I think might be partially because not even a high school education is guaranteed out here, if your family can’t afford to pay, most times that means you aren’t able to go to school.
From the outset of my journey from the United States I would never have imagined I would get such a wealth of experiences in such a short time, there are so many other stories that I have in addition to these few, and I’ve only been here a little over a month. Who knows what the next month holds…I’m not even gonna try to guess.
-Jerry
