Coming home!

After 4.5 weeks we were on our way home!

At Abu Dhabi

There's not much to say about a 5hr and an 8hr flight separated by a 6.5hr wait at Abu Dhabi airport, although Etihad Airways should be complimented for their excellent service. The cabin crew on our first flight new exactly what three adults who hadn't seen alcohol for a month needed.... and provided it in paper coffee cups, including some delicious bubbles that were brought back from business class - that on top of the other beverages they'd supplied meant that we were pretty giggly!
We had one boy lose his boarding pass within 10 metres of the check in desk, but apart from that the journey was stress free.

Arriving at Heathrow we were all excited to see our relatives again.  It had been so long since we had seen them and we all had so much to tell them.  But a little part of me was sad that the time we had all spent together was over.  It is true that there are bits of the trip I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but the boys have amazed and astounded me in by what they have achieved.  

I have also had the great good fortune to have spent the time in the company of Shit Weasel and Big Al, Stu - our summit leader - must also get a special mention.  To have spent so much time together could have been an absolute nightmare but they were all amazing.  We have laughed and joked our way through the month away and I will miss them!  Thanks guys - you're the best!

The final countdown

I'd been in two minds about the R&R phase of our expedition for a while.  On one hand the idea of being able to laze around at the beach was mildly appealing, on the other hand I never 'laze around at the beach' and the idea of unstructured time with demob happy boys filled me with a degree of trepidation.

I've already blogged about our arrival at Kipepeo Beach Village and the poor food we were served on our first night.  Suffice to say the food didn't improve and, to make matters many times worse, we were all bitten by bed bugs.  The management were most unhelpful - saying that no one else had complained about bed bugs (which is patently untrue if TripAdvisor is to be believed) and therefore it was our fault!

We went out side the resort for lunch and supper one day - much to the consternation of the staff who kept issuing dire warnings about how unsafe it was.  We were also, wrongly, told that 3 people had been 'robbed at knife point' just after we had walked back from our evening meal.

On our second full day we went snorkelling.  I have never been snorkelling!  We took a dhow out to a beautiful, uninhabited island where we walked around the coast looking into rock pools and collecting see shells.  We saw crabs and sea urchins and sea cucumbers as well as lots of fish.  We then got back onto the boat to go out to sea for snorkelling.  I was one of the first into the water... and one of the first out!  I am sure it is wonderful, and I know that with a bit of practice in shallow water (not 3m deep!) I could get used to not being able to breath through my nose, but swimming with 11 boisterous boys was neither the time nor the place!  I panicked and got out as quickly as my flippers would allow me to climb the ladder!

We then had lunch back on the island, before spending a pleasant afternoon 'chilling' on the most idyllic beach.  There are days, or parts of days, when being a teacher is a great job!

It was a bit of a come down to return to the resort and be served undercooked prawns for supper!

Some of the boys were struggling with the lack of structure in these final few day.  We tried to mitigate this by meeting for meals and having planned activities - whether it be swimming, beach volley ball or tent cleaning.  We were all looking forward to getting home.

On our final night we walked along the beach to the neighbouring resort for our final meal.  The resort was virtually deserted on the Monday evening, despite being hugely busy at the weekend, and we were the only people in the restaurant.  We had our best meal of the entire trip.  They had no burgers or pizzas, so the boys had to be a bit more adventurous in in their choices.  I had a crab curry which contained so much crab that I had to share it and naan bread.  I went to bed with a very full tummy that evening!

Happy 18th birthday darling girl!

Got up early this morning to go for a run along the beech and a quick dip in the ocean.  I didn't leave a card for my older daughter - so I hope this photo will do the job for me.

Kipepeo Beach

Tonight, it is safe to say, our boys feel a wee bit aggrieved.  

There are two teams from our school in Tanzania.  We have the same start and end date, but the only time we are at the same place is for the final few days of R&R. The teachers with the other team have done this trip before and block booked accommodation on the Swahili Coast for both teams.  They booked all the available rooms for our dates. Most of the accommodation would be in 2 and 3 man beach bandas, but there would be one 6 bed dorm and we would work out who went in there nearer the time.  

This is what we had told our team.  So arriving today to find that the other team where here already, arriving a day before us, and that not only had the bagged all the bandas but our boys were all in dorms was less than ideal.  We spoke with the other teachers who said that they made the decision as our boys are older and need less supervision - which is nonsense as one of our team is in a banda right next to the dorms.  Anyway, we repeated this explanation to our team and refused to be drawn into discussion.  The boys aren't daft though....

After settling into rooms (the view from mine is lovely) everyone went down to the beach.  The Indian Ocean is beautifully warm, and if I was a beach lover I am sure it would be heaven!

We were excited about dinner.  The menu looked good with plenty of fish and seafood.  This close to the sea it has to be fantastic didn't it?  The only choice that anyone other than a teenage boy would make - they all picked pizzas and burgers.  We got tiny, flavourless prawns that looked like they had come out of a bag from Iceland, and my red snapper was so dried up and overcooked as to be unrecognisable as any type of fish. The veg (mixed from a frozen bag) was undercooked and the spice rice had a distinct absence of spice!  I didn't eat mine.  The boys seemed happy with their food (the pizzas did look distinctly as though they came from Iceland too), and had organised a small ceremony for after our meal.

One of the boys on our team is Deputy Head Boy - so he read out the speech he would have made on Founder's Day, adding on a few words of thanks to SW, Al and me.  We got presents too!  I got a glass that has 'pole pole' on it -  not only a souvenir of Kilimanjaro but a reminder not to drink my gin too quickly!  SW got a loud African shirt and Al a poncho style thingy.

So tonight I go to bed listening to the waves - which is wonderful, and a bar playing loud music - which is not quite so wonderful, but hopefully will stop soon!

Ice creams for breakfast...

SW and I had popped out to the supermarket to try to find nail varnish remover and nail varnish - SW is keen on a nice pedicure but only at the weekends.  We totally failed in this mission, but couldn't resist an ice cream.  At 8,500 TZS (approx. £2.90) this ice cream was more expensive than a lot of the meals we have eaten while here, but we enjoyed them.

My enjoyment was short lived - when we got back to the hotel the ice cream decided to part company with my stomach, so all the enjoyment with none of the guilt! 

Dash in a rush, run hurry or expect accident

20th July 2017

The title of this blog post is my favourite mnemonic.  The condition it spells out is possibly my least favourite.  The SW was poorly on our last day and night at Shia School and thoughtfully decided to share his bugs with me!  I started feeling a bit dodgy after breakfast, but was fine while packing up my tent and heading back into Moshi.  We went out for 'a quick lunch' but I didn't feel like eating, so just took photos of my entertaining companions while we waited, and waited, for food to be served.

It took over 3 hours!  By which time I felt decidedly ropey, so decided to return to the hotel, picking up my clean and dry laundry on the way.  Cool cotton sheets to snooze on and a conveniently ensuite loo were essential as I was soon hit by waves of the dreaded D&V!

I struggled up to the roof terrace to meet up with the group before they all went off for dinner, there was no way I was going to join them for food but it was pleasant to sit amongst groups of travellers all chatting about what they were doing.  I was at least 20 years older than most of them and nowhere near Australian enough to fit in.  I sat on for a while after the students had left, as Al and SW had bought me  a drink.  It has been a long time since I had just sat and relaxed in a bar without any students to supervise.

Today we had to catch the Dar Express back to Dar.  The journey was a bit shorter than the journey to Moshi, and we are obviously becoming accustomed to long journeys as it felt a lot shorter than 10 hours!  Mind you, no air con, vomiting and pooping boys did enliven the trip somewhat!

We are back at the Econo Lodge tonight - just for one night before heading off to the coast tomorrow.  The Econo Lodge is every bit as luxurious as the name implies!  At 28,000 TZS (about £9.60) a night for a single room I guess one should be grateful for an ensuite loo and shower, a working fan and a door that locks!

Monday and Tuesday

18th July 2017

The boys have worked their socks off digging drainage channels, mixing concrete and washing down walls.  

The children swarm over us whenever we sit still.  They start to arrive for school at about 7.30 and classes start at 8am.  The children arrive with firewood for the school cook to use, some children are sent home with a bucket of millet in the afternoon which needs to be ground before being brought back to school the next day.

We have been amazed at the difference in teaching styles between here and home.  The younger children, 4 year olds, are not exposed to any 'play based learning!'  From the earliest ages they sit in rows, reciting their alphabet and copying from the board.  Often teachers are to be found, huddled together, having coffee while their classes get on with copying out of a book.  

We are being cooked for by the school - the result of our epic shopping expedition, our food team provided menu suggestions, which seem to have been largely ignored!  For dinner each evening we have had a small piece of chicken, chips, over cooked pasta, cabbage and either pumpkin soup or baked beans.  Lunch and breakfast have been similarly repetitive.  Tonight it was a real effort to eat but at least it is better than us having to eat food cooked by the boys on trangias!  

SW is under the weather today.  He has a dodgy tummy and feels miserable.  I think he is really missing home.  We've got another week in Tanzania which can seem a long time, especially as it will be much less structured as we are on R&R.  He is doubly miserable as somehow one of his tent poles got broken today - in two places!  We've cobbled it together with gaffer tape and a bottle cap and he has gone to bed early.