Remembering Tanzania

I have been meaning to get back to the blog to finish my posts about the end of my Tanzania trip and about being home.  This draft has been sitting here for a while and I completely forgot to comeback to it to finish it and post it.  Well, as the saying goes, it's never to late. 

This first paragraph was originally written when I first got home:
The last three days in Tanzania was a mixture of busy with meetings, last minute shopping, packing and repacking and saying good bye to everyone that I meet during this amazing experience.
My dear friend Rama, with Farm Radio organized a quick trip to the snake park, shopping for tanzanite, shopping at the Maasai Market for Waldi, Kim and I with only an hours notice.  The snake park was both terrifying and exciting.  I can now say that I have seen a Nile Crocodile, various types of dangerous snakes like mambas and boa constrictors and held the tail of a small snake.


From this section down, was written well past just after getting home:

Thankfully my trip home did not have any delays due to equipment issues, but was still full of eye opening moments.   My journey home started with an early 45 minute flight from Arusha, Tanzania to Nairobi, Kenya where I had a 12 hour layover.  I did consider and even researched into going out into Nairobi for the day.  I would have been able to get a day visitor visa pass but the airport had a stipulation that they could let you out of the secure area and into the city but there was no guarantee that you will be allow back in.  So, I stayed in the airport where I had two amazing meals, got my nails done at the salon and just walked from counter to counter trying to get my boarding pass for my next flight.      The next flight was an overnight flight from Kenya to Germany where I was seated in the middle seat.   Ask me about my seat mates and I will tell you all about that experience.  At the airport in Germany I had a mini reunion with one of my fellow Canadian volunteers, Kim and we had a lovely hour togeather.  Next leg of flights were from Germany to Montreal, Canada where I had to go through customs and explain why I had a carved wooden walking stick.   From there I was almost home with one more flight to Halifax.  I remember being so tired that day when I finally got home and I am fairly certain I saw lunchtime in three different time zones.   

  Time has flown by and memories of this trip have been popping up on my Instagram and Facebook.   It's mind boggling that this experience was four years ago but no matter how much time passes, this is an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life.   I appreciate getting to learn and experience a Muslim household during Ramadan, learning about the various cultures of Tanzania, and getting to experience the beauty the country has to offer.   From the people, the cultures, the food, their tourism experiences and the country itself, all had an impact on me that is still evolving and will be everlasting.

I want to end with a huge thank you to the staff at the local WUSC office, the staff at Tanzania Tourism Board, the staff at Hydom 4CCP cultural centre (especially James and Neema) and to Aida and her staff at Aida's Place.  ASANTE SANA!!!! (translates to THANK YOU!!!!)  My experience would not be what it was without you.  Meeting each of you has changed my life and I am so very grateful for the time we had togeather.  Each of you made it so easy to jump in to this experience with two feet and trust that everything will be okay.