CHS Africa Trip 2018

Ngorongoro Crater by… Hallie, Julia, Seth, and Rachel             Today is our second day of safari. We woke up bright and early at our campground around 5:30 am. Breakfast began at 6:00 am. We had crepes, sausage, eggs, and fruit. We also had a very delicious pineapple juice that everyone loved. We then left around 7:00, we loaded up the safari cars to the crater. When we got to the top of the crater, we got to witness one of the most beautiful views we have seen all trip. It was breathtaking. Then we were off to the bottom of the crater on a very bumpy and curvy road. We finally made it to the bottom and saw many animals right away including water buffalo, gazelles, and wildebeest. The crater was so much more open and the animals roamed everywhere. Today we were able to see many more different types of animals at one time sitting in the safari car. The most popular animals that everyone enjoyed seeing were the elephants and the lions. We spent the more time loo

Manyara National Park Safari by… Jacob, Riley, Kate, and Anika Today we had to get up early, and had an early breakfast. We departed for our safari at 8 A.M. We then had a 4-hour drive to our safari. Along the way we stopped at a gift shop and enjoyed getting our last minute gifts for friends and family. After the gift shop we went straight to the main gate of the park, had lunch, then went into the park. Everyone was really excited and we were greeted by lots of baboons and birds (mostly cranes). After we got through the forest we entered the Savannah. This is what we imaged a safari to be like. As we were driving we were allowed to stand on the seats and were able to look out of the open roof so we could get a better view of the animals. Some animals that we were lucky enough to see were many zebras, elephants, giraffes, hippos, wildebeest, warthogs, impalas, lots of birds, and Riley saw a dik-dik. To get a closer look at the hippos we got out of our safari car

Blog 9, Home Visits by…Kateri, Lucy, Riley, and Meg Well today was our last work day. We all had to say goodbye to our new Rafikis (friends). We are thankful for the time we got to spend with them and the memories that we made. We realize that our differences don’t matter and we can connect and make great friendships anyways. It was also our last day with the women from the women’s group. Each woman was paired up with two students and took us to their homes for a tour/visit. Each person had a unique experience of their own. Some helped to make food. Others got to only converse. Some had an English speaker to translate and others had to communicate with only many, many hand gestures. A typical meal was rice with beans and veggies. But some got “lucky” and had a more unique experience. Katelyn was fortunate enough to be served Minnows (sardines?). Ms. Voit and Tim were also lucky enough to walk 40 minutes in the pouring rain. But in all seriousness we are very grat

3/28/18     Maddie Z, Makayla, Cade, Sara Culture night. It is a night where we learn and experience the traditional ways of the Chagga people of Tanzania. This is Baba Dick’s favorite night, because he is an honorary Chagga. The night started out with us welcoming the Uru secondary school students, the Mamas, the Canadians, and the traditional Chagga performers. Many of us had the opportunity to talk with several of the students until dinner. Maddie met two boys who wanted to become cardiologists. One aspired to be President of Tanzania. Our awesome cooks prepared the Chagga meal which was interesting. It consisted of rice, beef, fried bananas that tasted nothing like potatoes, yams, Ugali, and some vegetable stuff. The food was finished off easily, mostly by the native Tanzanians. Following dinner we cleared the center of the lodge to make way for a party of the Tanzanian sort. The performers came in with their drums and the Mamas came in after. They began chan

Blog 7, Manual Labor…. By: Megan, Abbey, and Devon Today started off great because we got pineapple for breakfast!!! This morning we went to our work sites, Upendo Orphanage and Agano Preschool. Devon would like everyone to know that we got lunch in between and didn’t starve. After, we went to our manual labor site. Our goal for our manual labor project this year is to help the local women’s group plant new fields. Baba Dick has been very close with this women’s group for many years, doing many different projects for them. The women’s group does many things including making coffee, clothing, and growing food. These Mamas all have different backgrounds and different reasons they’re in the group. It’s interesting to connect with them and get to know their past. They are very welcoming and Baba Dick made sure they showed us the correct technique to hoe. He had many doubts for our group on our hoeing skills. The women, at first, laughed at us but they stepped in and