Ok, so I realize that we have already wrapped up month 10
and Tanzania was month 9, but for the sake of thoroughness (and satisfying my
lingering remnants of OCD), I’m going to round out last month anyway with the
usual monthly summary blog.
Here are the numbers
Number of beds slept in: 5
Number of Internet networks connected to: 5
Number of meals that included rice: 19
Number of meals that included ugali: 12
Number of varieties of animals seen on safari: 14
Number of boxes of books sorted through in the church: no
possible way of counting!
Advice to future racers
Don’t get too attached to the idea of loading videos and
pictures to Vimeo, Facebook, or your blog while you’re in Africa. It takes a
very long time.
If you’re in Dar es Salaam, be VERY CAREFUL walking around,
even in broad daylight. Stay in a group, and don’t linger at the back of the
pack because it’s common for snatch and drag robberies to happen in that city.
If possible, take taxis when you’re in the city.
Go to Zanzibar!! It was so much fun! Hopefully I’ll be
posting a blog about that at some point, but for now let me give you the
breakdown of the information for the places we went. I know that with slow
Internet connections in Africa it’s nice to know what past racers have done so
that you don’t have to do too much new research. We took the ferry early in the
morning from Dar, and it was $65 USD per person round trip. Make sure you go
buy the tickets early because they tend to sell out or you can get sold phony
scam tickets if you buy them day of. Also, be sure to buy round trip from Dar
because otherwise they’ll hike up the prices once you’re on the island to get
you off. We stayed at the Malindi Guesthouse in Stonetown. It’s a ten minute
walk from the ferry dock, and they meet you there. If Hassan still works there
when you go, he will show you around the island and make sure that you have an
amazing time. There is no swimming at the beaches in Stonetown, so if you want
to swim in the Indian Ocean, go to the Imani Guesthouse (about a fifteen minute
taxi ride from Malindi). They have free wifi, a good restaurant, yummy drinks,
a tree house to sit and read in, and a beach. It’s a perfect place to spend a
lazy day. If you’re interested in snorkeling or scuba diving, there is a dive
shop right in Stonetown, not far from Malindi that was great. Staying in
Stonetown is nice even without the great beach access because of the proximity
to all the restaurants and the incredible night food market. It’s also best to
stay on that side of the island instead of the other one because it faces west
so you can see the sunset. If you have any questions or need any help planning
a team trip to Zanzibar, don’t hesitate to email me! I know that doing
logistical research on the race can be hard, and past racers were kind enough
to help me make some of these plans. Have fun!!
If you’re interested in a good safari that’s not very
expensive and that’s relatively close to Dar es Salaam, check out the Mikumi
National Park. It’s not the Serengeti clearly, but it’s also a lot cheaper, and
the Serengeti is about twelve hours from Dar, so it’s a no go if you’re on the
eastern side of the country. Mikumi is near the town of Morogoro, which is four
hours from Dar, so you can take a bus down there, spend the night, and then go
into the park early in the morning so you don’t miss the lions! The park entry
fee is only about $20 USD per person, plus you’ll need to rent a driver, but I
would not recommend doing that at the park because you’ll get way overcharged
by the safari companies. Just get a van driver for the day and he can take you
through the whole park. The guides are volunteers so one of them will hop into
your van, tell you all about the animals and where to find them all day, and
then you can just tip them however much you want at the end of the day. The
whole thing probably cost us about $45 USD per person, including transport to
and from Morogoro, so it’s definitely a good value for a safari. But if I could
have, I still would have loved to see the Serengeti! Next time!
Ministry Summary
We worked with the Pentecostal Missionary Church in Kibaha,
near Dar es Salaam. We did door to door ministry, cleaned the church, sorted
books to turn into a bookstore, and went to a crusade. Half of our team also
went down to a remote village for three days while the rest of us stayed in
Kibaha to visit the Maasai people. To read my favorite story from the month,
see my previous blog.
Prayer Requests
Since an entire month has gone by and we’ve already been to
Laos and back, I won’t include prayer requests for that. Our biggest prayer
request is our travel safety from Bangkok to Phnom Penh tomorrow morning. There
have been record-breaking rains, monsoons, and typhoons all over Southeast Asia
in the past month, so there is lots of flooding. Chiang Mai has already
complete flooded, as has the area north of Bangkok. Another monsoon is supposed
to hit tonight, and the river here in Bangkok is completely full so it’s
expected to start flooding the city soon. Pray for our travel safety, but
especially for the safety of the people here who live in the flood affected
areas. We can get on a bus and leave, but they have to stay here to clean up
the mess. I read an article the other day that said that over 300,000 hectares
of rice fields had been ruined so far, so that’s going to mean a rise in food
prices and a lot of people going hungry across Southeast Asia. They really need
your prayers!
Here is just a glimpse of what life looks like for many Thai and Cambodian people right now.
