Africa Experience - Tanzania - Day 1

June 26th - After over a year of planning, fundraising, collecting gifts and donations, meetings, and more planning, 18 of us embarked on an amazing journey and mission trip to Tanzania, Africa!  13 of us are all members of Kent Lutheran Church, in Kent, WA.  We ranged in age from 14 to early 60s - all bringing different gifts/talents that would be used along the way.  Almost all of the details of the trip were pre-planned, so we could each enjoy the trip to the fullest. 

Our group of 18 - Ready to go!!!

Doha, Qatar in the Persian Gulf

We all met in the morning at the airport in Philadelphia, PA on June 25, 2014, traveling on our own from Washington State.  We flew Qatar Airways from Philly to Doha, Qatar (over 12 hours), from Doha to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (almost 6 hours), and from Dar es Salaam to Kilimanjaro International Airport near Arusha, Tanzania (about an hour).  Needless to say, it was a long day and half of travel, but we made it safely and all anxious to see this new country!

Pastor Jane and Jean (friends for 32 yrs) were ready to travel....little did they know how awesome our trip would be!!!

 

Upon arrival at the Kilimajaro airport, we had to go through immigration and purchase our visas (FYI...a visa is purchased upon arrival and cost $100, new US bill, yr 2009 or newer).  The Troutner's had purchased their visa's in advance mailing passports to WA DC, but I would recommend just waiting until you get to TZ - it's easy!  Then it was time to gather our luggage and begin the drive to Arusha.  We were greeted by Nature's Gift Safari (http://www.naturesgiftsafaris.com/) , who had made most of the arrangements for our travel and trip details within Tanzania.  I had exchanged emails with Elizabeth, one of the owners and coordinators of Nature's Gift Safari, and I finally met her in person!  She was wearing a Seahawks shirt, and I knew I would love her right away!!!

 

The Troutner's are ready to go.....

 

We saw so many things immediately on our drive from the airport to Arusha.....Dukas (comparable to a very small convenience shop), fields of sunflowers, corn fields, rows of coffee beans, lots of motorcycles parked on the side of the roads (major mode of transportation for many in TZ)...our eyes were wide open!

We would spend the next several nights at the Lutheran Center guesthouse in the town of Arusha, as well as come back to this place through out our trip.  Arusha is a large city in northern Tanzania, with over 400,000 people.  It is surrounded by many of the most famous landscapes and the perfect place for us to come and go during our journey.  Arusha is known for its vibrant nightlife, Famous Clocktower (midpoint between Cairo and Cape Town), National Natural History Musuem, Tourism (made famous by John Wayne's Hatari, which I recently watched on Amazon Prime - recommended!), cuisine, just to name a few. 

 

Various rooms - double rooms had a bathroom shower (Brett/Connor and Kyler/Kyle).....single rooms (Toni) used the bathroom/shower down the hall or snuck into Brett and Connor's room!

Sometimes, those locks were tricky to get undone!



Arusha, Tanzania

After arriving in Arusha town, we did some quick shopping for bottled water and lunch fixings at the corner store.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Café Bamboo Restaurant (right next door to the Lutheran Guest House, on Boma Rd) where they served curry dishes, baked chicken, spaghetti, and hamburgers and French fries!!!