Merangu Falls, Lake Chalo, Running from Elephants!

Difficult to see, but there is a brown elephant in the centre of the photo in the distance. This is the not-so friendly elephant we ran from!

Me in front of the cool looking lava!

Post-Swim. Ramy and I on the hunt for the elephants!

Our hike out of lake. Good thing for hiking boots!

Another view of the lake. That is Kenya in the distance!

View of Lake Chala after hiking down.

Standing at the top of ridge, overlooking Lake Chala.

Ramy, Aliya and I at the bottom of the falls.

Aliya and I at the top of the falls, enjoying the view.

View from the top of the Merangu Falls.

Yesterday was quite the exciting day! Since our time in Moshi is running out, we decided to hire a guide to take us to a few different sites around the area. He came recommended to us by the Women's Centre, and he also donated half of our fees back to the centre, which was great! Our first stop was the Merangu Falls, where we got to stand at the top of the waterfall in the flowing water, and also stand at the base of the waterfall enjoying some awesome views. It was not a huge waterfall, but it was really beautiful as it was so tucked away in this quiet forest. We were planning on swimming at the bottom of the falls, but it was quite cold outside and the water was only about ankle deep.

After the falls, we headed onto Lake Chala. This lake borders Tanzania and Kenya, and it is essentially in the valley of cliffs and mountains. Luckily, I was wearing my hiking boots as we had to hike down a winding and slippery path to get to the water. Once we got there, the water was absolutely stunning! There was not a single other group in site, just a lone man sitting in his canoe, offering rides to visitors. We basically had the lake to ourselves! The water was cold - but it was so nice and refreshing after the hike down to the lake.

After we were finished in the lake, we hiked back out, and stopped atop a large rock overlooking the lake on one side, and Kenya on the other. Our guide then noticed a pack of elephants in the distance, and said, let's go see the elephants! We could barely see them from where we were - they were brown elephants and just looked like big rocks. So off we were to find the elephants. We found ourselves in the middle of the bush, getting pricked by thorns, and listening for any sign of the animals. Our guide was climbing trees to get a view of where they were, and then we followed his lead. Since there are a lot of volcanic mountains in the area, we even came upon a huge area of hard lava, which was really cool to see. Eventually we found the elephants, and they stood about 10-15 yards away from us. There was a mother and baby (although I could not see the baby), and our guide warned us this may be dangerous because the mother would be very protective of the baby. Before we knew it, the elephant trumpeted really loud, and our guide yelled RUN! then RUN FASTER! There we were, running through the bush, getting caught on thorns, trying to get away from the angry elephant. It was awesome! We had a really fun day, and I enjoyed every part of it. It was great to see something other than the city itself - everything was so beautiful and pristine! Enjoy the pictures!

p.s. I am not sure when I will be able to post next - it may be as late as next weekend. We are heading to Kilema, where I don't think we will have internet. I will try my best though!

Teaching Seminar at the Msamaria Centre for Street Children

After finishing at the centre, Ramy, Aliya and I were waiting for our ride and decided to have a photo-op. This is me on the side of the road with a daladala in the back, and partial views of Mt Kilimanjaro (only the edge of it).

All of the kids from our class holding their certificate of completion.

This is a 13 year old boy named Julius. He wants to be doctor when he grows up, so he had lots of questions for us, and about life in Canada.

One of the kids at the centre playing on the swings.

Ramy, Aliya and I sitting at the front of our class with our candy.

Aliya and I enjoying some lollipops (or pipi in swahili) that we brought for the kids.

Dialo speaking to some of the children.

For the past two days, Ramy, Aliya and I have been involved with a teaching seminar at the Msamaria Centre for Street Children with a man named Dialo. Dialo created a youth mentorship program here in Moshi, called the Kilimanjaro Fun Club, in association with the Pamoja Tuneweza Women's Centre. This teaching session involved discussing things such as leadership and life skills, and our job was to teach the kids about general health topics. These topics included puberty, smoking, nutrition, exercise, and HIV/AIDS. The kids already knew some of the information that we presented (as some of it was quite basic), but some of the other topics we talked about they did not know. This created a great opportunity for teaching them something new. For instance, the kids thought that cigarettes only contained nicotine, and not thousands of other chemicals, many of which are toxic to our bodies. They also were unaware of many things related to HIV/AIDS, so we tried our best to teach them this information in a clear way. At times it was difficult to get our point across (as we were speaking English and Dialo translated to Swahili for us), but all in all, I think we did the best we could. I hope at least some of the kids found it useful!

Weekend in Arusha

This is one of the streets leading to a market in town. Lots of people out and about, trying to get their fruits and veggies for the day.

David, Aliya and I playing the card game skip-bo! This reminded me high school, when Emily, Erin and I played this game!

This is the local art market in town. There were about three rows of stands (with about 20 stores in each row), and in about 3 hours, we barely made it through one row! After going in one store, the next store would beg us to come into their store, and it was really hard to say no. We found lots of interesting things here that's for sure!

David and his dance team practicing their routine.

Teagan, Aliya, Ramy and I at the dance studio in Arusha.

Hey Everyone!

Here are some pictures from our weekend away in Arusha. Arusha is about 1 hour and 15 minutes drive away from Moshi, and we were able to take a bus from town. Teagan (one of the other volunteers at Pamoja Tuneweza) and her boyfriend David were able to show us around the city for the weekend. Previous to volunteering with Pamoja Tuneweza, Teagan volunteered and worked in Arusha for an extended period of time, so she knows the city very well! We spent one night in Arusha, and stayed at a Backpackers Hostel in town. On Saturday, we visited a local art market, and were able to pick up some cool souvenirs and learn how to barter with the locals in our broken swahili. We later visited David at his dance practice in town - his team placed third in all of Tanzania! It was really cool to watch his group work out their hip hop break dancing routine right in front of us. Other than that, we ate at a few different restaurants and enjoyed the city. Arusha is much larger than Moshi, so it was interesting to see the hustle and bustle of another city!

Tuleeni Orphanage

Some girls at the Ophanage waving goodbye to us as we left. They were lots of fun to play with!

A few kids playing. Jeremy, on the bottom left, is one of the kids I took a history from. He is only five years old - needless to say it was not easy to find out what was going on with him!

One of the boys playing with the soccers balls we brought. What a cutie. It was his birthday today (he turned 2), and we all sang happy birthday. He got so embarassed when everyone sang, and he kept covering his eyes and face.

We also gave out lots of toothbrushes, which the kids had fun playing with.

Me listening to this little girls lungs. She had a bit of a cough so we checked it out. The lungs sounded clear to us!

We came home today, and suprisingly, we had internet! So, I am desperately trying to upload some pics before it cuts out. We spent the afternoon visiting the Tuleeni Orphanage here in town, to do general health visits and to provide de-worming medication for all the children. We spent a bit of time with each child, asking about any health problems or things they are concerned about. It was hard to get information from the children - most were young and couldn't remember things like when their runny nose started or when they get headaches. Their age ranged from about 2 years up to around 19 years. We also spent alot of time playing! Ramy had brought a bunch of soccer balls, frisbees, and pens, so all the kids had alot of fun with that. All of us had a great afternoon with the kids, playing games and singing songs, and just enjoying ourself! Enjoy the pics!

Chekereni Home Visits

Waiting for the Daladala with some people from Pamoja Tuneweza.

Ramy and I in Chekereni. Enjoying the sun!

Me holding a baby chick. Trying not to think this may be dinner in a few months. I hope this chicken will only be used for its eggs!

These are some kids we met in Chekereni. Their mom is currently in the process of undergoing training at Pamoja Tuneweza, to receive a business loan from the centre.

One family from Chekereni. This woman was interesting to talk to, and was very motivated to receive a loan to help her family. Can you see a resemblance in the kids? They were all so cute!

Our ride on the Daladala to visit the small town of Chekereni. It is not too packed right now ... one ride we counted 27 people jammed into the bus. They always say, the Daladala is never full!

Here are a few pictures from when we have done some home visits in the local community of Chekereni. We visited the woman to ask questions about their current business and future business plans, and about their state of health and life situation. These women have undergone business training through the Pamoja Tuneweza Women's Centre, and they are hoping to receive a loan to start a new business. It was interesting to visit such a small community, and begin to get a sense of their way of life, their struggles, and how they all support each other through all of this.

Our Home

Our room. I have the double bed, and Aliya has the single. Very comfortable for our time here.

The balcony at the guest house with views of Kilimanjaro - most days it is cloudy though, so we have yet to see the mountain from this spot.

The Guest House where we are staying.

Here are a few pictures of the guest house we are staying at. Pretty nice eh? There is a large sitting room with a television (so we have been able to watch some world cup), a nice dining room, and a full kitchen. There are lots of different rooms in the house - from doubles to triples, to dormitory rooms. Aliya and I are sharing a room, and Ramy has his own. Our rooms are joined together by a bathroom that we share. It is a nice, clean, comfortable place to stay.

The Serengeti

Our Safari car!

This is our tent where we camped in the Serengeti! It was pretty big and we all slept in it. No bugs got in which was fantastic.

A giraffe right next to our car!

Check out the fly on my pale forehead!

Family of elephants...

Aliya and I one afternoon on Safari.

A picture of a cheetah, taken through a pair of binoculars. It was attempting to hunt, however did not succeed.

Some lions relaxing in the sunlight!

Here are some pics from our trip in the Serengeti. We stayed in the park for two nights, and enjoyed (or were scared by) the loud animal noises as we drifted asleep ... including a lion who kept roaring! We saw tons of different animals, living in their natural habitat. The safari involved lots of driving, which was pretty tiring over the course of three days. We all enjoyed ourselves and had an awesome time though!

Ngorogoro Crater

This is us on our way out of the crater, with our guide Haji and our cook Goodluck.

Our campsite for the night at Ngorogoro - overlooking the crater!

All of us enjoying the weather as we drive out of the crater one afternoon.

Another view from the top of the crater!

Driving around in the crater ...

View from the top of the crater!

Entrance to Ngorogoro Crater.

Hi Everyone,

Today we are working at another volunteer house where we have access to internet! So I am going to try to upload some pictures while we work. These pictures are from the first part of my trip, when we visited the Ngorogoro Crater. We spent one day here, driving in our safari car searching for all different types of animals. The crater is really neat - it is about 20 km wide and enclosed by volcanic mountain on all sides. I'm not sure these pictures do justice to how beautiful this place is!