Kayla headed off to Moshi, Tanzania (near the base of Kilimanjaro) on Friday night and arrived at 7:45pm Saturday (12:45pm eastern time). Tanzania is 7 hours ahead of us (1 hour ahead of Europe).
Some Text message hightlights:
Sat 7:49pm: “just landed in africa!”
Sat 8:08pm: “There are so many stars out”
Tue 8:41pm: “Today we went to the school and taught English (I’m teaching a 2nd grade class for the next two weeks ) then we did manual labor stuff. Just about to go to bed”
- See this link for the trip agenda for the 3 week program.
The organization is publishing a Trip blog and the first one just went up yesterday with a photo of the group. - Here is a Google Map of Moshi area. You can zoom out to see the big picture and look at terrain. She is located about 1 mile north of town.
- Here is some background information on program:
http://go.experiencegla.com/kilimanjaro - Here is a list of the students and how they got there:
Flights and enrolled students
I’ll add further updates as comments below as they come in.
Photo in 1st days:
from one of the returning students in the 2 week program:
Taken Wednesday August 10th at 8:30 in morning (Must be at school):
Thank you, Jack. Just amazing. Kayla’s wordls upon seeing the stars, a good beginning to this extraordinary experience. Gram
Good to see her happy face. The group looks great. Look forward to the updates.
Thanks Jack.
Some texts from today:
“There are about 30 kids in my class and the other two teachers are a girl from Texas and a boy from Munich/London.”
“Today we did community service in the morning which we do every morning and made batiks in the afternoon.”
“Tomorrow we go to a funeral for one of the locals who just died of aids and had also lost 5 kids to it as well. Having a great but meaningful time so far.”
The blog has an update:
http://go.experiencegla.com/kilimanjaro/2011-blog-tz-start-date-july-30
“August 3, 2011
Bridget here, one of your students GLA leaders. Right now your students are currently eating lunch and singing to the circle of life the lion king. Spirits are high and all are adjusting well into their community service work. The American and local staff has described them as a very charming group with lots of energy and great discussions as we have students from across the globe. We are enjoying this group a lot! Last night we challenged ourselves to Tanzania Jeaporady. The New York York and Boston team won but the European team was not far behind! We will try to blog and send photos when we can but just a heads up that the internet is extremely slow right now and we are having difficulty uploading photos.
We wish everyone a great day! “
Kayla and the group are traveling this weekend. From trip agenda:
Day 8: Saturday – Safari Weekend! We’ll rise early to head to Arusha (1 hr west of Moshi) to briefly visit a Maasai Women’s Empowerment Group. From there, we will head out on a full day safari drive in Tarangire National Park. We will encounter diverse wildlife including elephants, giraffes, buffalo, wildebeests, monkeys, lions and leopards. We’ll spend Saturday night at a simple lodge near the park.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Tarangire+National+Park&hl=en&ll=-4.154679,36.177979&spn=4.787023,8.096924&sll=-3.347715,37.00972&sspn=0.599101,1.012115&t=h&z=8
Day 9: Sunday – Today we explore the worldfamous Ngorongoro Crater, which is the remnant of the world’s tallest mountain and volcano before it exploded and collapsed two
million years ago. The crater floor is one of the most densely crowded game areas in the world
and is home to over 30,000 animals and wildlife including the black rhino and cheetah.
Students will be given box lunches to enjoy each day during the drive. On the drive back to
the Home Base, we’ll stop to visit a local farm and see some artisans at work.
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Ngorongoro+Crater&hl=en&sll=-4.154679,36.177979&sspn=4.787023,8.096924&doflg=ptk&t=h&z=13
Kayla’s athletic endurance and stamina will serve her well. Just amazing. Gram
Kayla checked in every day by txt. Everything is going well. They have worked hard during the week and on the weekends gone on safari and visited a remote Masai village. New photo posted above.
The blog is updated:
http://go.experiencegla.com/kilimanjaro/2011-blog-tz-start-date-july-30
“We apologize its been a few days. The electricity was out for a few days in town and we get very limited internet at the base.
Our group just returned from our Masai Warrior Excursion. Spirits are very high right now as our students spent the weekend camping, dancing and singing beneath the African stars. We were warmly welcomed into our Masai community by song and dance. We learned about their fascinating nomadic lifestyle, culture and customs, and how they survive off the land. After a night of story telling and star gazing we awoke early to hike up the hills for a spectacular sunrise. It was absolutely breathtaking and was a great time for students to take in their surroundings. Many students said that this weekend was one of their favorite activities. But of course, our group was thrilled to be “home”, shower, eat a delicious home cooked meal and fall asleep early on clean sheets.
We are now back at our primary school today, Himo finishing the cement for the kitchen. Your students are working hard and eager to finish this project for the school. Toninght we are going to have a guest speaker from the Porters Association and begin planning for our farewell banquet.
Students all say Hello and we hope to blog again ths week. We thank you again for your patience and we will try to update again soon!
Cheers,
Tanzania Team”
Kayla is home safe and sound. Here are some photos pulled from her facebook friends:
http://photos.photographynovice.com/Events/Tanzania/18412947_tcfSjt#1439773333_Q3hV7sH