Elephant dung, Maasai dancing and snorkelling: Tanzania update

COUNTRY: Tanzania
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Building, renovation & construction
WRITTEN BY: Maddi McAllister


Jambo Rafiki!
(Hello friend)

I have no idea where to begin- the weeks are just flying by and so much has been happening!

19 of us spent 5 days away an Ndarakwai camp, which is set out in the middle of a national park. We got to participate in wildlife conservation activities such as making paper out of elephant dung (gross), Mexican poppy clearing, waterhole maintenance and making animals out of snare wires! We also went to visit a Maasai village where we were greeted with many friendly faces. Each of us were picked by a Maasai and taken into their home where we got to make a bracket and a necklace with them. They also sung some songs and danced around for us, with some of the boys joining in too!

The most incredible part of it all was waking up everyday to some of the most amazing animals such as elephants, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, elands, wildebeest and more. Watching the zebras drink from the waterhole we were working on was a great sight.

We have made so much progress on the toilet block! We have started to build the walls and in just under 2 weeks we have made the walls 9 layers high and began making a wall in front of the cubicles. For about a week we only had 1 spirit level and between 8 people laying bricks it was taking quite a while. When one of the camp ladies surprised us one morning with 3 new spirit levels, excitement levels were through the roof! With only a few weeks to go our main focus is the toilet block because we definitely want to see it finished before we leave.

A group of us also treated ourselves to a snorkelling trip; we got to see some cool fish and coral, as well as some massive sea urchins at the bottom! When we went out a bit further we found an island sand bank in the middle of nowhere, which was pretty cool too.

Saying goodbye to our 'two-month' friends was the hardest part; it was such a teary farewell! Nick made a lovely speech to ensure that anyone who wasn't already crying was now. The 11 of us, as well as our camp parents Gladice and Eliphas, went out that night to celebrate Nick's 19th birthday. The Tanga beach resort was a beautiful location and a great way to say goodbye to some wonderful people.