Wow, what a day! Mica and Sarah headed for Biharamulo, Karina Hannah and Amy to Muleba and I focussed on Bukoba central.
Mica and Sarah ended up staying overnight as despite on the map the distance looking short, it was a lot longer than expected.
We had inherited a number of primary school books, which had somehow made their way to our project rather than Uganda, so as well as dropping some off at the orphanage, I visited some local primary schools donating the books there.
I think the teachers were a little stunned when the van pulled up with so many books...it was simply wonderful to have so many kids gathered around, like I was feeding the 5000...but with words.
31/08/2011
Today Karina, Hannah and Amy left for Ngara and myself, Mica and Sarah for Karagwe - both long distances and overnight stays.
This was one of the most scenic journeys of the entire project, into really rural Tanzania, and Helen, the DEO was a wonderful companion en route.
We were also joined by Adolf her assistant...equally lovely, but his teeny moustache was some source of entertainment. Perhaps he hadn't realised.
We passed areas where victims of the genocide had sought refuge and also passed what was allegedly the border to Rwanda.
The first school we arrived at - late into the afternoon was incredible.
They had laid on the most enormous feast (we had been fed and watered already in the journey), also organising speeches and a tour of the school.
It was by far one of the friendliest schools I had come across, and we were very reluctant to leave.
The students were so excited by the arrival of books, and to see them examining the pages, was just beautiful.
That evening we stayed over at a lovely little guest house in Karagwe.
01/09/2011
We travelled North today to a school which had laid on an equally enormous celebration for us, with dancing and songs for us.
We also had the opportunity to give some lessons, although the English here was not as good as that of the previous school.
Our
final school was not that far from the border with Uganda, and again we
were presented with a school tour, speeches, gifts and thank yous.As we made our way from the school we all sensed a problem.
A puncture.
At least this had happened after the books had been delivered.
It soon emerged that we didn't have a spare tyre.
The driver went to find help and there we were stuck out in the middle of rural Tanzania, with the DEO and a 4 x 4, and no means of transport.
Panicked?
It seemed like the ability of fixing the tyre was going to be a challenge, and not something that they could just sort overnight.
We were all getting concerned about making it back in time for the Safari the next night as well.
A dalla - dalla came by, and to our relief, but annoyance Helen kicked most of the passengers off the bus and we were transported to the nearby town, where there were beds for the night.
The dalla - dalla was one of the scariest journies I've had and I didn't dare look out for fear of the whole thing topping over.
The nearby town was a border town between Tanzania and Uganda.
There was nothing in this place except a guesthouse and border crossing.
It was home for the night until hopefully the bus was fixed for our journey back to Bukoba.
To get dinner, Helen waved her DEO pass so we could cross over to Uganda where there were more places to eat. Uganda was already very different to Tanzania, much flatter and redder - which seemed impossible given the border was just there, but it was.
Everywhere felt grey, and depressed. Not the African vibe I was used to.
And the guesthouse was horrible.
02/09/2011
When we woke up, we found we have a working 4 x 4, thank God...but Helen to our amazement was not in any urgency.
She wanted to take us on a detour, through a safari park first.
That would have been wonderful if we didn't have limited time, but we were all desperately trying to get back to Bukoba.
The park was very misty - as it had rained a lot the night before...and I quite liked the dampness as it created a different feel.
I was worried that our poor bus would get stuck again, and terrified with how long the journey kept taking.
We didn't see much, just a lot of monkeys and birds and gazelles...but Helen seemed pleased.
Then we were on our way. Thank God.
Oh, except, we stopped in Karagwe. For an extended lunch.
Then do our panic, the van had gone.
All of our stuff, including our valuables were in the van - I was petrified of being stranded here in Karagwe and to make matters worse Helen seemed unmoved.
Sometimes the language barrier really works in people's favour.
Eventually the van reappeared - it emerged that it had gone for petrol, and parked elsewhere. Panic over!
Home...
No, a detour to Helen's house for her to get changed.
We were waiting over an hour, and were literally going mad.
Finally we were on the move back to Bukoba and with plenty of time to spare we could start thinking about the safari.
Until 50K out when we had yet ANOTHER PUNCTURE.
But we made it back in time for that wonderful boat journey across Lake Victoria, and even had time to shower.
SAFARI TIME!
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