Safari Pics

New Country, New Plans

Hello guys! Everything here is going great, I've just arrived in Mombasa 3 nights ago and am settling in here for the next 2 months.

The 6-day hike up Mount Kilimanjaro was incredible and extremely difficult, we took the more isolated route and stayed in tents instead of in log cabins. Each day it got harder and harder to breathe as we climbed higher into the sky, and we kept having to add more layers of clothing each day to keep ourselves warm. The first day we walked through a rainforest populated by monkeys that looked like giant skunks in trees, and hat only lasted about 3 hours. The next day we hiked for 8.5 hours up a steep slope, then sideways across the mountain through what our guide called "moonland." Basically there were no trees, only fragile looking bushes on a rocky landscape. The third day was a short but very steep climb to a neighbouring volcano called Mawenzi, and we slept at the base of that for a night, then on day 4 we travelled across a desert towards the Kilimanjaro summit. By now there were no shrubs at all, only scraps of grass trying to grow from the dirt. At that point we were about 4,500m above sea level. At the final base camp before the final ascent up the crater rim, we met up with many other people trying to climb the mountain. That night was the hardest part, and we woke up at midnight to reach the top by sunset. After a grueling 6 hours climbing/hobbling up an 80 degree slope (no joke, it was almost vertical) we finally reached the top. By that point I was almost about to pass out from exhaustion and lack of oxygen. Not only that, but in the past 52 hours I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep. It was 5,895m from sea level, or about 19,500 feet. The only thing marking the highest point in Africa was a sign congratulating your success. I thought, "Awesome, I made it, now how do I get back down without killing myself in the process?" Imagine the biggest gravel pit ever, so huge that it takes 2 hours to run down it, all the while the ground underneath you is slipping away from your feet. That only got us back to base camp 4. From there we had to walk another 3 hours the same day to a camp below us, and the next day we descended to the bottom, where we got a ride to our hotel and collapsed.

After this 6-day journey up Africa's highest mountain, we set out on a 2 day safari, where we saw a many elephants, monkeys, zebras, wilderbeest, rhinoes, giraffes, flaminogoes, the works. I could go into a whole lot of detail or I could simply post the pictures the next time I write a blog so that you can all see them.

The following day Dad and I set out for Mombasa, and we reached there at nightfall on Friday. We stayed in a hotel that night and met up with YCI at breakfast the next morning. The members on the team are Joelle, Michael, Melissa, Angela, Rebecca, and I. The project leader is Emmy, and the partner organization we are working with is called Kwacha Afrika, which has about 50 youth. It is one of the most well-oiled machines of an organization I have ever seen. Everyone is incredibly enthusiastic about the work they are doing, and schedules and timelines are always met. I am very excited to begin working alongside them next week.

The volunteers are very friendly, and we all get along really well. Our group is very diverse and, according to the types of work we will be doing, collectively we have a person whose skill set is in at least one of those areas. We just got oriented yesterday about our project information, and it was a lot to take in at once, but this is what I remember, I hope I got all of it:
- 4-day computer workshop
- Youth Employability
- Career Fair
- Contacting local employers to hire local youth
- HIV/AIDS Education
- Addiction Counselling (particularly with the matatu drivers, or what is known in Zanzibar as a daladala, the big overcrowded buses)
- Active Citizenship among youth
- Gender Education, Boys and Girls

If anything else pops up I'll add it to the list. Right now it is the final phase of a 3 year funding program donated by CIDA, so there are many deadlines to complete at this point, making this phase very difficult and stressful. However I'm sure that the 6 of us Canadian volunteers, along with the high-spirited Kwacha Afrika, we can get everything accomplished in these next 2 months.

My time is running out, but I PROMISE that next time I will upload some pics of what's been happening.

Evan

Round 2

Hey everyone! So I'm back here for the second time, only now I'm going to be here twice as long. That means twice the amount of blogs (maybe). Yay!!!!

I just flew over the pond and am currently waiting in Heathrow airport for my next flight to Nairobi to leave in a few hours. I'll break down my schedule for everyone. The first week and a half I will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with my father, who is accompanying me for this period of time. Scaling this has been a childhood dream of mine, and it's a bit strange to finally be undertaking this journey. From there we will be heading to Mombasa, Kenya where the following 2 months will be spent working with YCI, the same organization I was working with previously in Tanzania. I will not be working with the same volunteers as last time, for those who are wondering, though I think that this is a good thing since it will allow me to meet more Canadians who have similar interests. My father will be returning to Canada once the project begins. Following Mombasa, I will be moving to rural Uganda (the Bushenyi district) for a month to work with the Bishop McAllister School. This last bit is my own initiative, and has no ties to any organization other than the school itself. It will be late April when I fly home to Canada.

I've been told that the rainy season here begins in March and ends in May, which means that approximately half of my time will be spent in a constant downpour. Although this sounds bad, I'm eager to see how the landscape changes after a couple billion litres of water falls on it. Maybe I won't be so excited the 3rd week in...

This blog is only to give everyone an idea of what's happening. Nothing much has actually happened so far, but I'll be sure to let you guys know how the climb went after I complete it. Hopefully I won't be lugging Dad on my back to the top, he is 52 after all. A big thanks to Ky for giving me a heads up on what to expect when I get there.