Follow the Journey

Hello friends and family! As many of you know, for the past few days we have been in Zanzibar! We spent the first few days at a beach side hotel in Paje beach on the south east part of the island. Our time there was amazing and very relaxing. We spent most of the days there lounging on the beach, swimming in the beautiful turquoise water, and eating delicious food.… Read More

And so Kifaru’s free travel began…with an 8 hour bus ride, (as many things do in Tanzania). With our own budget and affairs to handle the week ahead seem pretty daunting, yet we prevailed as usual. When we arrived to our self picked hostel we arrived to find a homely place filled with couches and all the finest things East Africa had to offer. With our first day in Moshi… Read More

L’Esperance, the hilltop orphanage in Rwanda across an expansive lake from dual Congolese volcanoes. We began our week of forestry, frolicking with children, and painting with the not-so steady boat ride into the beachfront property of the L’esperance Orphanage. After the 45 minute walk up to the colorful orphanage we arrived to find something of a paradise. Victor, the Guatemalan director of L’Esperance opened his home to us and among… Read More

Blog from Sarah P. Hello friends and family! We are now in Rwanda after an amazing few days on a canoe trek around Lake Bunyonyi. On the canoe trek we spent the first day canoeing and exploring the islands around the lake. It was really beautiful, and nice to be back on the water. We were in dugout canoes that are made by hand by various people around the lake.… Read More

Blog courtesy of Dayle W. Photos from Natalie B. Hello there! We are now back in the city of Kabale after an enriching week working with the Edirisa UK Special Needs Education Centre (SNEC)! Edirisa UK is a charity in the UK with a community based organization in Uganda. The four main areas they focus development in are education, clean water, health and sanitation, and sustainable development. They have many… Read More

The past week has been full of truly unique experiences. Since the gang was feeling a little homesick about missing Halloween, we decided to dress up when we got to our lodging outside of Jinja. Our group, we are a creative bunch! Everyone had a really good costume (as you can see in the pictures in past posts). Our costumes may not have been exactly culturally appropriate, but we had… Read More

Due to lack of internet this blog is a few days overdue. I apologize for the delay but it’s Africa and really, what can you do in Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary with no internet? Watch the rhinos. C’est la vie. Five weeks in Tanzania proved to be unforgettable and gave us all wonderful experiences. Though, after five weeks it was time for new adventures. So after a glorious reunion with Gwen… Read More

Here is a picture of the group on safari!… Read More

Photo credit to Sarah P.… Read More

For the past week the Kifaru group, including yours truly, Chris Madkins, have stayed at the Ohana Amani retreat. The center is located outside the city of Njombe, perched on a landscape of forests and hills…with lots of wind! Our care takers were Chevy and Curry Anton, two hella rad sisters from California- What! What! Our week of self discovery was powerful, even more so due to a tragic event… Read More

This blog just came in from Eric M, with pictures added by the leaders! We began our week at the Mufindi Children’s Village, a small community nestled in a rural region of rolling hills and wind swaying trees. This NGO provides a home and learning environment for children who have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, or for the other odd reason. Our first experience was to undertake many hours of… Read More

I tried to post this yesterday, but I think my pictures were too big for the internet to handle. I’m trying again today with fewer pictures. Hello from Iringa, Tanzania! Yesterday we woke up early in Morogoro and packed ourselves up to go to Iringa. We said goodbye to our lovely hostess in Morogoro, Dimitra, who was very nice and always an interesting source for conversation. We got in taxis… Read More

Here are a few pictures from the Kifaru team!… Read More

Today Chris M and I are on a scavenger hunt in Morogoro Tanzania. We were off to a bad start but through the kindness of locals we have managed to remedy our past mistakes. We bought what’s called a kanga (a wrap around skirt) in the local market. The city is different from anything back home. People are always moving around and the roads are very busy. Going through the… Read More

I’m in an internet cafe with Sarah and I’m not sure how we even found this place. We’re on a scavenger hunt and I think it’s going well considering we can’t speak Swahili at all. Of course the day they send us out by ourselves there is a giant soccer game, the streets are packed with sports fanatics and things are getting crazy. I think I know how to get… Read More

Kristian and I did a scavenger hunt today. It was very overwhelming. Big Culture Shock!!! See you soon. Eric M… Read More

Hey it’s Chris and Nikolle! We’ve met some really nice people. It’s so nice to meet people who understand that we don’t know as much as the local people. We both hope that our experience will be just as good for the rest of the trip.… Read More

The Kifaru crew safely landed in Dar es Salaam, where they spent a night before transitioning to their orientation site in beautiful Morogoro. We are so excited for them as they begin the journey! And of course we’d like to offer thanks to all of the friends and family who have helped the students get to this point. Stay tuned as more blogs will come from the students as they… Read More

The group gathered smoothly in Amsterdam and, despite many yawns after the first leg of the international flights, were excited to unite as an entire group! It looks like there was a minimal flight delay but the group is now well on their way to Dar es Salaam. Be sure to stay tuned to the blog as we’ll keep you posted when they have settled into Tanzania. Safari Njema (good… Read More