Volunteer

So, a lot of very little makes a lot of little sense, right?

No updates for a while because very little to tell that is exciting, and actually been pretty busy working.

So we left Arusha to our temporary residence at the 'Meserani Snake Park' (search google if you must) and pitched our tents in a good spot for the following few weeks. Not as established as our wooden bomas in Eluai, but the holes and mosquitoes made up for that.

It's a very nice place, full of green (not dusty like most of the country), it has a bar which is pretty cheap, the snake park is awesome, and feeding a Black Mamba or a rock Python is something worth doing. Although if you do have a Spitting Black Cobra rearing at you when you are about to ut in a few live chicks for lunch, don't be too alarmed, it'll only blind you given half a chance.

And how many people can say they play with Striped Hyenas? I'll tell you, exactly 24. No questions or arguements, that's it and always will be, unless I change my mind. Anyhoo, Fezzy is great fun, and reasonably tame, only leaving me with a few small cuts and grazes after our playful scraps.

Bird watching - I like it. Sad, I know, but it's true. I like birds. and here there are so many. We are doing a survey and already have over 35 species of bird, just at the camp! And no, mum, I doubt I will be as interested in England - british birds are crap in comparison. Sucky old england and it's sucky old birds. Rant over, Tanzania is much more inspiring than England as a natural wonder, a chameleon falling on you when you're eating dinner is a bit cooler than looking at the sheep from your bedroom window. Even the cows here are cooler - they've got humps. And there are camels here.

Back to what's going on now...

The main thing we are doing here is working at the nearby school. My job: Computer Fundi (Mechanic). Mikey and I have worked at rebuilding PCs, connecting the school to the interenet, and basically improving all aspects of the IT side at 'Kituo cha Elimu Meserani'. Others are teaching Maths, English, Art, and we have Conor teaching Spanish and Julius teaching French which are both new to the school's curriculum.

It's not as satisfying as Eluia would have been, but the impact we are making is very positive. I've just been working with a few others on a Environmental lecture for the locals.

Dave and Jinks have gone into Arusha to try and get a bit more of the next project arranged. We will be testing it in 2 weeks if all goes to plan, when we will leave Meserani to Manyara.

There are other silly stories, like the Konyagi attack on Saturday (Konyagi is basically te only spirit Tanzania makes). Long story short: drink, forget, sick, bed, hangover, hangover, hangover. Ah well. For £2.00 a litre you can't really complain.

Of course there are other things going on - a few of us a putting together a python skelington for the park, and we are still learning Maa from Nguvu and Isaya, but I do sometimes feel like I miss out things that go on and have been going on. I think I'll write them all down and go on a random blog rant in a few days or so.

Hope you aren't disappointed that little is going on. We all are a bit, I guess, as we miss Eluai etc, but I have had so many awesome experiences that I try not to be down for long about it.

Something else a bit random, I'm only 6 weeks into my travels, and I'm planning what else to do, like go to Spain for a week and stay with cousin Ed, get Josh to get me a Leeds ticket, see what Alex means when he emails asking when we are in Viet Nam and how he might 'drop in'??? Only time will tell...

I'm off now - lunch, and you've guessed it: rice and veg sauce. I like it, everyone else complains. Losers.

Good bye-tch!

Hiya

Just got back from our 'mid-phase-break' today. It was brought forward to take our minds off of last week, and it worked pretty well. Obviously we talked about it, but it stopped anyone feeling depressed about it all.

So, mid-phase-break... It was brilliant.

We stayed at a waterfall on our first night, swimming etc (we are going back in a week to build a toilet there).
The following day we went for a walk up Radio Hill for a good view, then a lot of driving to through villages etc to our next camp near Ngorogoro.
Just played pontoon etc that night.

Up at 0500 for safari. Got to the crater at approx 0700, greeted by random Maasai. And what an awesome safari. We saw so many animals/birds etc, lion, cheetah, elephant, gazelle, impala, buffalo, zebra, hyena, ostrich, flamingo, mating bustards, monkey, baboon, wildebeast, warthog, hippo (in water and on land - which apparently is v rare) and 7 black rhino (there are about 17 in the crater and apparently only about 80 in the world)

We then left to stay at Arusha National Park. Stayed up with a few beers playing cards and looking at each other's photos.

Up early the next day for a small game drive seeing loads of baboon and monkey mixed in with warthog. Then we left the cars with an armed ranger for a walking safari. Wow. So close to buffalo, warthog, baboon, zebra, and tons of giraffe. They were so close it was amazing.

Then on to Maji-Moto (Hot water springs) Stayed the night there as we arrived at sunset. Got up for breakfast and a swim. It is one of the coolest places I've ever been. Left there today and went to buy some new footwear (yes, got robbed again at the waterfall camp - along with Dave & Mikey we lost our shoes to some children at the waterfall whilst swimming - what a good side to Tanzania we are seeing. Ah well.).

So, for today, we are going out partying for valentines day (most of the women here wear red for the day). It's also *someones* birthday (a friend of ours who wishes not to be mentioned) so a 'proper' party night too!

All in all an awesome experience.

So in a few days we will be back at Eluai school painting and giving them desks. Then we leave Eluai for good. On to the waterfall camp for a week to build the immense construction that is, a great-white-telephone. There after to the mangroves for 3weeks. Then... who knows...

Wow...

It's been hectic, and so much has gone on that I'll probably miss loads out. I think you'll understand why...

Since the last blog we got back to camp OK, only one quick shower so camp Osotua dried up quickly in the sun.

We have been doing painting at the school in Eluai, and it is looking great. White on the top half of the walls, and bright yellow below. We are also going to concrete the rocky/dirt floor and put in a load of new desks.

The science is all going well, although we haven't been onth the plains yet to see the big game.

My grip on Maa is growing, and I can have general banter with the Maasai people.

All good, and then insane.

So it all started on the 7th Feb...

We got up, had breakfast etc, had a bird lecture for the science/conservation part of the expedition and generally chilled out in the sun for the morning. Had a lunch of, our new favourite (and pretty much only) meal, rice and chopped tomatoes and peppers. And then got ready for school.

It's a 3km walk from camp to the school, so we set off with Ngufu as our escari, and had a good time. Got to the school, cracked out the paint and got working. We were really impressed with how it was going, everyone really enthusiastic and pleased with the obvious improvement. But the best bit was when the children turned up after their sport lessons. They were so happy and excited. You could tell that they loved it and were truly grateful that people actually cared (and to be honest, the school is in a really shitty state). It made us feel so good about what we were doing. I remember one woman was crying she was so happy that Mzungus actually wanted to help.

Word spread and soon about 200 people were about all excited about the new paint. And that was it so far. New paint. And I've never felt so good about something so simple in all my life.

So we finished painting, and packed the stuff away. The sun was getting low, so the guys and Ngufu decided we would walk/run back to camp. We left the girls at the school to wait for the car and watch the Maasai football game.

It was me and Mikey on camp duty, and we were ready (already reputed as the spice loving food freaks). Chilli. And to our admitted surprise, it was a smash success, possibly our best meal in Tanzania yet.

We ate pretty late, and endd up just sitting around talking and laughing. Generally just having an awesome time. Everyone happy and really pleased with such a successful day.

Approx 21:40...
"Everbody down!" *BANG*

Armed bandits. They stormed from nowhere into the boma with all of us inside.

I think we all thought it was the Maasai playing a joke. But we soon realised it wasn't and scrambled under the table onto the floor. I think there were about 7 in total, all with big knives and a few with guns.

I remember the girls screaming, us guys trying to cover them from the kicks as much as possible. And being pulled out. Separated from the group by a few feet. Thrown to the floor, they kicked/stamped on me a few times and yelled at me for money. I honestly didn't have any. They kicked me again and searched me. No money. They asked me why I didn't have any so I tried to tell them that we were just eating so didn't need money. Thump. I felt one guy pulling at my shoes. I presumed to look for money so kicked them off (it turned out they stole these). They ended up searching the food shelves and tipping those onto me. Butter to the shoulder. At least they didn't get any other ideas with it!

One girl kicked in the face (black eye) others kicked on the body, but no one badly injured.

Whilst all this was happening there were gunshots outside, the Maasai calling like Hyena (it's to scare people/animals and call other warriors)

After a while we heard the men calling for "Commander 1" and they leaft to the jeeps. They took one jeep and broke the other.

We all stayed down for a minute, until Isaya came running into the boma to check we were all OK. We got up, went to the other bomas, to find that the girls was trashed, the staff members were totalled and the guyts was, well, fine. They hadn't touched it. I got away with only losing my cap and walking boots.

So we packed up, and got all our stuff together by the broken jeep, one driver trying to fix it. Meanwhile, our 13year old Maasai friend, Ekinye Saitoti, had fetched help from other warriors, and Isaya and one driver had run left to run for more help and follow the stolen jeep.

Smashed into the Hilux Jeep, and started the battery OK, but couldn't start it without the key. So we pushed this mega car up a bit of hill, and down to a more open area so it could roll forward and start the engine going.

It worked. After a lot of cheering (this all took ages) we packed up the jeep and set off into the night. Information slowly trickled through to one of the working mobiles we had left that the police were searching, so were a lot of Maasai, and that we should get back to Monduli Chini, then to Arusha.

Me and Mikey on the roof, Conor and Julian on the open back with our Maasai, and all the girls inside.

Eventually we got back to our original base in Arusha, to hear the they had found the stolen jeep, trashed, shot to hell (it looked like they were copying Hollywood trying to shoot the fuel tank and blow it up)

So, since then we've been interviewed by the police, tried to get our bearings again, and have the whole expedition replanned.

The problem with this raid hasn't been the fact we lost a few things, but the harm its done to Eluai.

Greenforce is pulling out of Eluai, so the School project has been massively reduced from building to just a bit more painting, no teaching. Our Maasai Escari have no longer got jobs. The families have lost income from the different things we have been buying. And the village doesn't feel as safe anymore.

It's good to know that if the Maasai find these bandits (there are a hell of a lot hunting for them, and trust me, the Maasai are mean hunters) they will kill them without questions. And the police in this situation have a shoot-to-kill policy. Ha. Bastards.

The science aspect to project is a blow, but can be done in other areas. The bit that hurts, is the fact we had just witnessed the happiness of so many people and seen what good we were actually doing. And we have lost our Maasai friends. I think that Maasai people are fantastic, and some of the best friends I have had. That is what was stolen from me. The boots and hat are replaceable and meaningless.

You might be shocked, scared for us, or just relieved that we are OK, but we all had the experience of a lifetime, and it in turn brought us closer together.

On the plus side, i wasn't shot, stabbed or gang raped.

Mikey was a little disappointed on the last

Just kidding.

Anyhoo, we are still a bit shaken up but life is getting back to normal, and a new project is being lined up for us. Safari has been brought forward too. Ngorogoro crater, the Serengeti, Arusha National Reserve. It'll be good to get away for a few days.

I guess things can only get better. Although I have just had to spend 50quid on new boots.

Supai! (That's how you say 'Hi' in Maa - the Maasai language)

It's been a few days since landing in Kilimanjaro airport, and I've loved every second. The weather, the people, the way of life. Although the mosquito bits are getting a bit annoying... I think I must taste nice.

So, just to bring you up to date:

I checked in at Manchester fine, said my goodbyes to everyone, and went though the airport to wait for the gate to open. Here we met Julian, our first contact with another volunteer. Got on the flight ready for Amsterdam. Delayed by 1hour. Never mind, there was over 2hours between landing in Amsterdam and our next flight so not that worried. The problem was the fact we had to fly around over the sea for 40mins as only one runway at AMS was open. We began to worry a little bit.

Next was our 1st near death experience on this trip (I say that like a good thing - only 2 hours into the trip!) Wind was bad. Very bad. Our first attempt to land ended up with the wing nearly hitting the floor and the pilot having to jet back into the skies with half the plane screaming. After another 20mins of flying we did actually manage to land, to find that we were pretty much an hour late for the flight.

We ran. Fast. And a bloody long way too! We found that the flight was waiting for us. We weren't looking forward to sleeping in the airport.

The flight was pretty uneventful, although fantastic food (all free food and drink). We met a few more Greenforce volunteers, and I slept for a few hours to catch up on the night before.

At 21:00 (+0300) we landed in Kilimanjaro airport into a fantastic smell of Africa wildlife, and a warm night.

We got our visas for our stay, then went to get our bags. Guess what was missing. My guitar. So we reported it after a few hours of queuing (about 30 bags went missing - they stayed on the plane to Dar es Salaam and 30 random bags taken off - idiots). Then we were greeted by Isaya (our Maasai teacher and warrior) and Dave our Greenforce expedition leader. Went to Arusha to our house, and slept!

I got my guitar a few days later, only a bit broken. Think I might claim on the insurance, although after a bit of superglue, and help from Isaya, It's working fine.

Since arriving we've been having Maasai lessons (about the tribe, culture and language) every morning, exploring the town, piling into the dirt cheap Dala-Dalas (200 Tanzanian Shillings, which is about 8p) and just getting to know everyone.

We all get on brilliantly, enjoy going out to the bar, and just about anything we want! Isaya is great, and we all love trying to talk Maa with him. Just as and introduction, the team is: Me, Louise, Julian, Beki, Mikey, Dani, Hannah, Ann-Marie & Conor.

We go to Eluai, the Maasai village tomorrow, and my home for the next 9weeks. I'm really excited and can't wait to meet everyone and practice my Maasai skills with them.

This might be my last time on here for a while, but I'll update you when I can. Hope everyone is well, and don't forget to email me at dudewardell@hotmail.co.uk - I want to know what everyone is up to!

Kidua Ade! (See you later!)

I'm in Tanzania, and wow. It's great! The weather, heat, wildlife, people, way of life - just about everything!

It's weird to think that we only landed in Kilimanjaro at 21:00 (+0300 GMT). After delays and the plane nearly crashing we got here OK. Albeit with my guitar not getting off the plane and carrying on to Dar es Salaam. But not to worry, I'll get it tomorrow morning (as promised by someone who didn't know what a guitar was...)

After a long night of packing, travelling to the airport and getting on the plane I was exhausted so I managed to get an hour before getting to Amsterdam, although we were delayed big time and so it meant we landed over an hour too late for our plane to Kili. Yes, I was worried. But we sprinted to the gate, to find it had been changed, so ran about 1km across the airport to the new gate to find that flight was delayed too. I think we were all a little bit pumped from the near crash our MAN-AMS flight had due to the wind. I guess it could have ben worse.

We got to Arusha at approx midnight, met everyone (they all seem cool, phew) I've had my first lessons of Maa (the Maasai language) and now we are exploring the town. Apparently we go to the village (Eluai) on Wednesday. Then our work begins.

Hopefully I'll let you know more soon as I only have 2:14 mins left on this PC and boy is it slow.

For those worriers of you, I got here safely, with most of my stuff, and I love every bit of life here.

Ciao for now...