volunteering in Tanzania

Near Kiberege in the Morogoro region Bibi Kalembwana herbalist trust fund is to be found. Kalembwana is the grandmother, bibi in Swahili. She founded the herbalist hospital in 1912. When she felt she would only have a few years more to exercise, she transmitted all her knowledge to her grandson, Shaibu. Today, he is a renowned doctor and people come as far as from Morogoro to receive his treatments.

Kalembwana is also an organic farm with rice, bananas, papayas, coconuts to mention only a few, and an orphanage. In total 9 children live and go to school from here, 17 others are supported by the organization, but they still live with a family member in the nearby villages of Mkasu or Kiberege. To send one child to school costs about 30 dollars a month, school fees, uniforms and books included.

Shaibu and his wife Digna are the “mother” and “father” of all these children. They love them as if they were their own, care for them and teach them about responsibilities and duties. The children participate in the daily life of the household by cooking, cleaning, carrying water from the river, watering the plants…

Every morning I wake up at 7 and I start the day with sweeping the floor in the house and mopping if necessary. After that I assist the women in their daily chores in the kitchen. We make chapatti in the morning, and for lunch and dinner rice or chips. There are many chickens around and every day one ends up in the pot, together with coconut milk, ginger, garlic and some tomato. They don’t use the milk inside the coconut. We use a special chair that has a metal handle with a blade to scrape away the coconut. This is then mixed with water and that’s the milk they use for cooking. It is also put into the green vegetables that we eat almost every day: pumpkin leaves. Delicious! Some days we go down to the river to wash our clothes or even our bodies, other days we go to the village to say hello to relatives or friends.

When the children come back from school and they have finished their chores and eaten, I teach them English, and then we play games until the darkness sets in and we move closer to the house to eat the evening meal and talk about our day. The life here is good. The men work on the farm and rice fields and the women prepare the rice and take care of the house and the food. The kitchen area is huge and has many little fires where different preparations are cooking all day long, filling the air with delicious smells.

Anu is my friend. She is 21 years old and she introduces me to many aspects of the African way of life. We wash our bodies in the river, we talk about the differences between us and our cultures, and we prepare food together. Her family is from Kiberege and we visit them several times. Her mother even gives me two Kangas (matching pieces of fabric) as a present. Kangas are very appreciated here in Tanzania. Not only are they beautifully colorful, but they also have inscriptions sending messages to those who read them. Mine say “if talking is silver, silence is gold”. I like it.

One day the women redo their hair. First they take out the previous plaits, and then they do it again, in a different pattern. African hair is different; it is easier to make it hold. I am fascinated by the speed with which the new hairstyle is created. Another day the children and I go for a walk on the property. We even see a snake and many banana trees and jackfruit.

There are so many things happening around here. The former Tanzanian minister of natural resources is a close friend of Shaibu. He visits him for lunch on his way to somewhere else. I am lucky I get to meet him and we even take a picture with him and the children. There are many dogs around, and cats too. They wait for us to finish eating, then they get the rests and lick the plates. One of the dogs has puppies! She has hidden them under a bush. They are so small they look like rats.

I am so lucky! Digna is part of a women’s group and it is her turn to host the party. 30 women arrive, dressed in their most beautiful clothes. They have brought food and the whole day goes by with cooking and laughing. After, they bring gifts to the hostess, usually money, and then they dance. When I start to dance as well they all start laughing. It must look really funny, a msungu moving to African rythms! The children join us and we dance until the sun sets and even longer… Such beautiful three weeks. I wish everyone could experience this.

photos Kalembwana

Safari

My first Safari!! Five days of game drive in four national parks. The organization is chaotic, the plans change all the time, people leave, others come, the car breaks down... It requires a lot of patience, but in the end everything works out and the animals and scenery we see are amazing.

We start from Arusha and drive to Tarangire first. Tarangire National Park has the greatest concentration of animals outside of Serengeti. It even starts outside the park where we see blue-balled monkeys and magnificent starlings. Then we enter, I am very excited. We are driving a jeep with a roof that opens so we can stand up and watch the animals. The African elephant is majestic and there are huge flocks of them. A warthog crosses in front of our vehicle. Impalas, giraffes and ostriches grass nearby and the highlight: a female lion resting under a tree, 8 meters from the road. We sleep in tents near the second national park, Manyara, and watch the moonrise and the sunrise the next day.

photos Tarangire

The setting changes completely as we enter Manyara National Park. From open plains we now drive through a forest with huge trees. A group of baboons are camping on the road and a bit further a blue monkey makes a brief appearance. Our driver knows where to find the animals. We are going to see hippos. They are quite far away, but I am still able to, catch them with my zoom. Elephants, gazelles and more giraffes inhabit this park. I keep an eye open for climbing lions, but am not able to spot one. That’s the game!

photos Manyara

Ngorongoro is a huge crater with flat grassland inside. The crater used to be a mountain even higher than Kilimanjaro before it collapsed. Today, the crater is a natural sanctuary with 30.000 animals. The game drive in here is not a game, the animals are everywhere! There are herds of zebras, wildebeests, elephants, hippos, lions, buffalos and even a black rhino in the distance. Luckily Hannah has a big zoom so she can catch him on a photo. The area is also home to the Masaais, one of the ethnic groups in Africa who live close to nature and wildlife.

photos Ngorongoro

 Our first day in Serengeti starts off with a broken car. Sultan, our driver, and Mister Bean, the cook, jump out of the car to fix it. We also get out of the car, to see what they are doing. They decide to attach a wooden stick to the steering, which is broken. “Don’t worry”, they say,” we have done it before”. I’m not worried about the car, but more about the 5 lions which were resting only 500 meters from where we stopped… Serengeti is even better than what I imagined. It is so beautiful I could stay here for days trying to spot animals and enjoying the landscape. It stretches as far as your eye can see and the game viewing is incredible! A huge male lion sleeps under a tree, a half eaten carcass of a zebra in front of him, the definite highlight of this fourth day. Sultan even manages to find us a leopard, even if it is far away, lying on a branch of a tree. We have thus seen the big five: elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard. Incredible! A stork sets off in the air from a tree, showing us the way to our camp, where we set up out own tents today.

photos Serengeti 1

Serengeti’s second day is if possible even better than the first. We have an early morning drive to try to see the predators returning from their night hunts. The sunrise is breathtaking and in the early morning light the animals are numerous: hippos, monkeys, hyenas… Some vultures are eating from a dead wildebeest, probably killed by the group of lions in the distance. Then, the most beautiful scene happens right in front of our eyes. A female lion and her two cubs cross in front of our car. I hold my breath and almost forget to take pictures as the mother and her stumbling children act as if we weren’t there. On our way back to Arusha I see Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance, at the back of Mount Meru.

photos Serengeti 2

Tanzania - Arusha

Karibu Sana means you are very welcome in Swahili. My African adventure is about to start! I land in Arusha at 4 o’clock in the morning. As I had told my host I would arrive at one I didn’t expect him to still be there. But Kened is there with a friend and a sheet of paper with my name on it. What a relief and a pleasant surprise! His house is spacious and I even get my own room. His mum prepares nice spicy food and the next day Kened and I visit the city together. The central market, where they sell food, is the first stop. I buy some huge avocadoes for supper. In the center there is a clock tower with the map of Africa on it and different signs with cities and national parks of Tanzania written on them. We meet a Masai who guides me through the Masai market; masks, wooden sculptures and my favorite, the Tinga Tingas. These are oil paintings of animals drawn as cartoons. They make me smile. Kened and I go home, we didn’t sleep much last night.

I was supposed to leave for a Safari on my second day, but the group is only leaving the day after, which means another day in Arusha. Kened has to work, so Juma is my guide, and a good one too! I had seen in a brochure that there is a place called Shanga nearby Kened’s house. Shanga is a project started by a Dutch woman. It is a non-profit organization employing disabled people to create beautiful products out of recycled materials. Two professional glass blowers train two deaf people. They show me how to say hello in sign language. A man with paralyzed legs paint the most beautiful Tinga Tingas I have seen so far. Women make jewelry and lamps with glass beads from recycled bottles. The products are sold in the shop, where they also sell the gemstone Tanzanite. Tanzanite is to be found only in Tanzania. It is 1000 times rarer than diamonds and it is estimated that once the mines near Arusha are empty, there is almost no chance to find it again. After this very refreshing visit, Juma wants to show me the Polish cemetery. It is outside of town, so we go by micro, the local bus. The cemetery is near a beautiful lake and at the end of a forest. The guardian knows everything about the Polish refugee camp and tells us all he knows. There is a very special atmosphere in the cemetery that the pictures cannot completely render. Leon, my other host is back from Lake Victoria. We spend a nice evening together, Leon, Kened and I, cooking and talking before I set off on my first safari tomorrow!!

photos Arusha

Lima

Last stop before Europe. Jorge hosts me for these two days, he lives in Barranco, the bohemian part of Lima, with his lovely white female kitten. “Have you already tasted Pisco?” He asks me. I have, but not the way he prepares it, with canady dry, delicious! On my first day we stroll around in Barranco. The area is nice and relaxed, overlooking the sea. A pity the weather is not better but the second day the sun decides to shine and I can enjoy the center of Lima bathed in sunlight. What a delightful end to the South American part of my trip!

photos Lima

Huacachina, Ballestas, Paracas

Huacachina is a small oasis in the middle of a desert outside of Ica. All the houses are built around the Laguna in the middle. My hostel has a swimming pool and a big garden with a giant turtle living in it. I relax there for some hours before going on the sand buggy and sand boarding tour. The boards are old and broken so the sand boarding is a deception. Better to slide down head first. The sand buggy however is really fun! Our driver takes us up and down the dunes at a tremendous pace. We scream as we pass the top and fly down, only to start again on the next top.

photos Huacachina

Ballestas is sometimes called “Poor man’s Galapagos”. I can assure you it’s not at all like Galapagos, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing. From Huacachina the bus leaves early in the morning to bring us to the boat going out to the islands. Pelicans follow us as we enter the dung bird’s territory. Before, Peru used to export the bird shit to Europe as fertilizer, but they overdid it and had to stop the production, the fish were getting scarce in the ocean. Sea lions sunbathe on the rocks, vultures circle over our heads, but most impressive are the millions of birds nesting on the 3 islands.

Paracas is less visited than Ballestas it seems. A shame because it is really worth it. We are only three visiting, a charming couple from Isla Margarita, Venezuela, and me. We admire the beautiful scenery, the birdlife and finish off with having delicious lunch at a restaurant by the sea. The Cathedral, a rock formation that used to be the symbol of Paracas unfortunately collapsed during the latest earthquake. Vultures fly over the area in search for food. I jump on a bus to Lima, my last destination in South America.

photos Ballestas and Paracas

Cusco and Machu Picchu

Cuzco is the kind of city I could spend weeks in without getting bored. Its streets are welcoming and the population friendly. I wander around aimlessly, admiring the artworks sold in the street. I visit a small museum showing weaving techniques and traditions. Two women are weaving in the museum, they come from a village nearby and demonstrate different ways of weaving and decorating their work.

photos Cusco

I spend one whole day trying to find a good deal for Machu Picchu, which is not so easy. Inca trail should have been booked months ago and even Huayna Picchu, the mountain in front of Machu Pichu is sold out. I buy a ticket to Machu Picchu Mountain which I will not regret.

First, I go by private car to Ollantaytambo and from there I take the train to Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is a very pleasant place and its hot springs relaxing after a day of travel. I spend too much time in the baths, my fingers get all wrinkly. Better get early to bed, I want to be on the first bus up to Machu Picchu in the morning. It is raining at first, and the whole site is hidden in a cloud. I have booked a guided tour to learn more about the Incas and their way of living. Fredrik is a photographer and installs his camera to film as the mist lifts from the ruins. As the morning gets older, the ruins slowly appear. It is magical! There are many lamas around, posing for our pictures. I climb the mountain, the view is breathtaking. The feeling of being here is even better than I imagined. I can picture the Incas walking around in the streets of the city. Their civilization was very advanced; especially in astronomy. They also had a special system for water irrigation. This was truly one of the highlights of my trip.

photos Machu Picchu

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

The cheapest bus to Arequipa costs only 5€. A good deal if the guy next to me had taken a shower. Renzo is my host in Arequipa. He lives close to the center in a beautiful apartment. His family lives upstairs and is like Renzo trying to make my stay as pleasant as possible, and they succeed! Arequipa is a beautiful city. The sunset over Plaza de Armas is incredible. I visit an old convent and take in the atmosphere of the city.

photos Arequipa

Renzo helps me find a good deal for the Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world, or is it the second deepest…? Our guide is excellent. We descend into the canyon. It is pretty steep and my knees feel it too. Admire the scenery… Some condors fly over the canyon at Cruz del Condor, cactus cling to the cliff. We have lunch at the bottom of the canyon, walk three more hours and crawl to bed. The next day we have to climb all the way up again, 1300m of steep slope, starting at 5 o’clock in the morning to be on top before sunrise. We set off at a steady pace; donkeys pass us carrying the wounded and tired. A little bit more than two hours later we reach the top, what a relief! On our way back to Arequipa we stop at a village with baby lamas and several other viewpoints. Finally, the Misti appears, next time I come here I want to climb it.

photos Colca Canyon