Hello my lovelies!
Hannah here writing from the immaculately beautiful Zanzibar! The group has just finished with our student directed travels and what a lovely whirlwind it was. The idea behind the student directed travels is that it is all up to us, the students, to find a spectacular place to explore another part of Tanzania. After days of research, phone calls and late night group meetings we finally found the perfect place! *drum roll* Kilwa Masoko! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilwa_Masoko) A sleepy coastal town nestled on the coast of Southern Tanzania was to be our little spot of bliss. So after our peace-giving stay at Ohana Amani we were sent on our way! We had an early start to our day on the 24th with a 6am bus ride to Dar Es Salaam from Njombe. After arriving we were picked up by our wonderfully accommodating contact Valenica and we were then taken to the YMCA, which to clear rumors does not have the feeling of an insane asylum.
That night we wandered the street of Dar in search of food to fill our empty bellies, some went for the infamous Chip Mayai (eggs and french fries) and others went to a little Indian place called Happy Tummy. After being filled with yummy food we headed back to our hostel for a nice warm and sweaty sleep. The next morning we were greeted by the intense sun but luckily we were headed on our way to our final destination. We were picked up again by Valencia and taken to congested bus station on the outside of the city, getting there alive in Dar traffic takes a very skilled driver, luckily Valenica and his friend had years of motor skills driving through the hustle and bustle of Dar. We were then escorted to our bus where the lovely aroma of squid covered the air, and even some of our bags! It was just a nice quick bus ride down to Kilwa Masoko and then our trip really began! After walking a nice distance with our huge bags and loads of crafts we finally arrived at our little Mjaka
guest house, that was going to be our home for the next 5 days. Excited and antsy we got into contact with our new friend and tour guide Osmen that night and went over all the activities that were available for us during our stay. After much discussion and budgeting we all came up with our top choice. We had the opportunity to snorkel, go to ancient caves or visit a World Heritage cite. The next day was our free time to explore the island, we were even blessed that Julia made a friend before we came to Kilwa, Elizabeta, an Italian women who owned a resort on the beach was kind enough to let her have full access to her beach! Of course we spent most of the entire first day there soaking up the sun and just enjoying the free time. That first day flew by and the next day 7 of the girls decided they wanted to go snorkeling! They actually borrowed my camera and took many underwater pics while enjoying the cold water of the Indian Ocean. The next day was cave day! My little chosen adventure, along with Colin, Mandy and Julia we had a 7am pickup and then a 3 hour drive into literally the middle of nowhere. After that little ride we hoped out of the car, in the Savannah and walked a good 30 minuets before we started to see some reminents of a cave. What we finally found was marvelous maze of caves! I was sooooo excited! Before we were even able to enter the caves we had a local man come and bless the caves for us so that we may enter and leave safely. Just to sum it all up we left with the knowledge that the water coming from the stalagmites were witchdoctor healing medicines, the caves were used during the 1905-1907 war between the indigenous people and the Germans and we also left smelling slightly like bat poo because not only were we swarmed by bats but we were also blessed with the ground being made up of it. I definitely washed my shoes after that adventure!
The next day was THANKSGIVING! All of us were busy trying to find the perfect place to have this homey meal and we were then again lucky that Elizabeta allowed us to have a fancy feast at her place. The girls’ meals consisted of tuna, lobster,potatoes,rice and veggies and a variety of little desserts afterwards. It was a night to remember, each one of us got little thankful notes from Kyra and Claire which was a nice touch to bring the evening a little more love. The night continued with a bonfire on the beach and lovely marshmallow and Nutella combo courtesy of Kate. The next day was the rest of the groups day to explore the ruins of the world heritage cite! They saw slave trade buildings and the island that used to be a major port for Kilwa during the 11th century. The rest of the afternoon was spent soaking up even more rays and enjoying the company of a tiny little monkey called Mordillo that stole each and everyone of our hearts! He drank from a baby bottle and fell asleep in our arms, too cute! That was to be our last night in Kilwa because we decided as a group that we wanted to head off to Zanzibar a day early, cause why not!
It’s sad to say but we are coming up to the last days of our trip and even though it is bittersweet I couldn’t have asked for a more surprising and eye-opening experience.
I wrote this little excerpt during our Ohana Amani week but I thought it would be nice to include it on the blog. Every night we were asked to say things we were grateful for and this was mine.
” I had decided today while I was working with the wheelbarrow that I should be proud of myself, that our group should be proud. We are of the extraordinary few that chose a life of wandering and searching. We feel it in our bones that we must travel to experience. To feel and breathe a new place is our passion. Though nonce of us know where we will end up we took this leap of faith and wandered into the unknown and by such acts we should be proud and grateful of who we are and what we are doing.”
Sending lots of love back home,
Hannah
