Apollo Bay - Update # 1 from Tanzania

Dear Everyone,
Our first week and a half in Tanzania has been full-on and exciting.  We found our own accommodation in Dar Es Salaam after arriving at the airport and all fell on the beds exhausted. From there we had a very long hot bus drive on a very bumpy road to Arusha in the north of Tanzania.  What was meant to take 8 hours took 12 hours in Africa time with only 1 stop for food but everyone was well and it was a great experience to travel on the local transport.  We were flooded by people trying to sell us drinks and food from the window every time we slowed down or stopped to pick up passengers. After one night in Arusha we then began our travels to our Maasai village called Esilalei.  We were greeted with a large, colourful and energetic traditional dance in which the female team members joined in.  After that the Maasai Warriors performed their traditional dance in which they attempted to out-jump each other.

The project went quite quickly and smoothly with everyone pitching in and doing their part.  In the middle of the day it would become very hot so we would return to camp for lunch and a rest and receive a feed, fit for a Maasai king.  The experience was so surreal to live in a totally different culture and natural surrounding, yet the warm welcomes from the local Maasai people made it feel like we were almost at home.  Overall the project was very successful with us completing a sun shelter, kitchen cooking shelter and made the place come alive with colour (painting).

After a sad farewell we headed to the Tarangire National Park with our new guides and set up our tents then went for an afternoon game drive.  We saw many animals but the majority of animals included elephants, zebra, mongoose, giraffe and impala. Today we had a sunrise game drive and saw a couple of cheetahs teasing a giraffe before seeing a leopard slinking along a dry river bed, amongst may other typical African animals.

We are now on our way to the Ngorongoro Crater where we will be doing a walk lead by our guides to see more wildlife.  Everyone has been feeling great apart from travel fatigue and we are all looking forward to the rest of the experiences to come.

From the Apollo Bay Team

P.S. Photos to come in next edition as we are short on time.