Thursday 23 August 2012

Jambo, Jambo Bwana

When: 14th July - 10th August
Where: Tanga, Ndarakwai, Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Meru, Moshi
What: Tanzania Expedition with Camps International

The most amazing experience of my life.
Tanzania is now my favourite place in the whole entire world. I met wonderful people, both from England and in Tanzania, whose memories I shall hold onto tightly as they are irreplaceable. Here are a few of my photos and words to describe the time I had, although it really can't be put into words.

Project Work
The main purpose of our trip was to lend a helping hand to the local communities we visited. Our work involved wildlife conservation, building a house for a mama and renovating classrooms. At the three different schools we visited, we managed to build new doors and windows, cement a floor and build seven benches for the new dining hall. It was really rewarding to see the impact that our work had, particularly with the school, as we got to meet the children that our work would benefit. I met one little girl called Irene in Moshi who couldn't remember my name throughout the whole afternoon as we worked. The second day she got so excited when she saw me, shouting out "MOLLIE!".

Safari
Elephants, giraffes, a cheetah, a lion and flamingos are just a few of the animals we saw on safari. Our driver Julius was so good, he managed to get us magnificent sights of a cheetah chasing impalas in an attack, a lion that was literally within arms reach and a huge elephant shaking a tree. When I saw the giraffe chewing the leaves in the funny way that giraffes do, I had a hard time containing my laughter as it reminded me of Marty from Madagascar. I also have an urge to plaster my walls with images of elephants now too. During the two days of safari we visited Tarangire National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater, which was the most beautiful landscape that I've ever seen.

Tanga
Although I loved everywhere we visited within Tanzania, Tanga just holds a special place in my heart. Our camp was located right above the Indian Ocean and the village of Mbuni was full of such friendly and happy people. Each time we walked to our project work the children would come running to shout "Hiii", "Byyeee" and "Jambo". I also adored the camp staff at Tanga: Balla is the one who always sang and kept spirits high, Eliphas is the coolest person in camp who owns a happy hat, Anderson is just a big teddy bear that is constantly smiling, and Benson is the love of my life. I'm not kidding, he dances and holds everyones hands whilst maintaining the cutest smile. Oh, and let's not forget about the kitchen staff, William and Jambo Jambo Guy. Everytime I would walk past the kitchen Jambo Jambo Guy would say "JAMBO JAMBO" in a high pitched voice (of which me and my friend Meghan would imitate excitedly) and William would wave frantically after seeing me get so excited to see him. Awh, I cried when I left that camp. We miss only those who we never want to lose.
So if you see a person walking down the street saying "JAMBO" to everyone they pass, it's probably me. People in this country need to cheer up anyway.

If you have any questions about the country or what I did, I'd love to talk about it with you in more depth. I'm already planning on going again after my A-Levels. Maybe Benson could hook me up with a cheaper deal seen as we've already had a whole two conversations on Facebook.

Tanzania, Nakupenda Kwa Moyo Wote♡

14 comments:

  1. looks AMAZING

    xo Camilla

    Into The Fold

    ps, win a pair of Rayban sunglasses on my blog!

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  2. Amazing post!

    sophie-said.blogspot.co.uk

    xxx

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  3. What you did sounds amazing! Such a good experience helping out people, its so inspiring! It sounds like lots of fun as well!! Love this post! xxx

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  4. I really want to do something like this, i havent taken a gap year but am definitely considering it for the future xx

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  5. Hello there and thank you for following my blog.. I loved this post so much, I think you are so cool for making that trip... This is totally something I would love to do... One day =)

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  6. Sounds like such a wonderful experience, this is the kind of thing I hope to do in a few years time! <3

    aisforayla.blogspot.com

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  7. Thanks so much for following! The work you are doing is amazing! you should be pround!! xx

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  8. Looks so lovely!, I'd love to try something like this! x

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  9. Sounds amazing, hope you had a wonderful time :) your safari photos are just beautiful btw. x

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  10. oh, wow! that had to be so amazing!
    <3

    FASHION PHILOSOPHY
    www.fashionphilosophy.net

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  11. Oh my god this seems like a trip of a lifetime!!
    Those kids are so precious!
    XO

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  12. wow this is so amazing!!very inspirational:)

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  13. this looks like the most incredible experience- i'm so jealous! hope you had an amazing time...i'd love to visit there! xx

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thankyou for taking the time to comment!
oh gosh, i get way too excited.