Africa Plans

Boona Baana


Departure for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania is December 1st at 6:45 am. Upon arrival on the 2nd, I'll get a cab to the Boona Baana Center for Children's Rights, which is a small organisation that helps children from all over Tanzania. I found Boona Baana online and decided to give them a ring because I much preferred the idea of helping out and meeting locals in Dar es Salaam than touring around. Despite the short time I'll be there, they gave me a positive response, so that's where I'll be spending my first days.
Boona Baana's most important project is the Green Door Home, an orphanage of sorts that provides a home for abandoned or orphaned children. While the Green Door Home was originally founded for very young children, the kids who live there now are between 6-17, so my principle job in the time I'll be there will to help with homework, do chores, and to alleviate the workload of the Green Door Home housemother.

Safari


The second part of my trip is the overland Safari on the Serengeti and in the Ngorongoro Conservation area. Every day will be spent in a different tented camp or lodge, so I have a feeling that the distance I am going to cover over those few days is going to be very large, and the experiences at each place will be rich and varied.  I am especially looking forward to the Olduvai Tented Camp. Here is what Africa Travel Resource has to say about it:

"One of the absolute highlights of a safari in this part of the world is to go walking with the Maasai guides at Olduvai Camp. What makes Olduvai Camp really special is that it is not run like a military operation, with ex-pat managers hovering in the background with walkie-talkies. Olduvai is run by a very small team of Tanzanian staff, who look after the food and logistics, leaving the Maasai guides free to
interact with the guests. The Maasai here are not the manicured window dressing that you find in many upmarket camps, these are real warriors from the local bomas, who consider Olduvai Camp to be part of their territory. You are their guests in their lands. This makes an enormous difference to the feel of the safari.  Allowing a lodge to operate in this unfettered way has its downsides ... you need to be ready to forgive and forget occasional lapses in food and service ... but for most people this is far outweighed by the upsides. Olduvai Camp is exactly the kind of place where people fall in love with Africa ... certainly one of our
absolute favourites. A safari into this region which does not include this camp is all the poorer for it."

Kilimanjaro Walk for Water


See the Nov. 8th blog for a description of the climb.

Zanzibar


This last part of the trip is entirely reserved for rest and relaxation. Zanzibar is an island located on the Indian Ocean with a great coral reef and white sandy beaches. I'm guessing all I'm going to want to do after the climb is lie on beach, read, snorkel, chill out, and eat. A great way to end the trip before I come back to the snow and cold of Quebec City.