Tanzania Africa (1 Viewer)

[playin4beer]

My oldest daughter (20 years old) wanted to teach/volunteer at the Rift Valley Children's Village after watching a special on 60 Minutes.   She can't go alone because she's under 21, so I'm going with her. We'll be spending the first 3-weeks of May there.

I did a search on "Tanzania" and it looks like CTSU's wife is from there, but safe to say he's not around to give any advice.

We fly into JRO and already have transportation arranged to the village.  I guess I'm just looking for any general advice or tips from somebody that has perhaps traveled to that area.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

@Doctor Detroit has probably been there

 

[AhrnCityPahnder]

I've been to Tanzania, Iowa .  But never the Africa one.  

 

[PIK95]

Is that where the Star Wars Tatoowine scenes were filmed?  

Look out for Sand People that were left behind if so.

 

[wilked]

Was there about 6 years ago.

We did:

Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Manyara, and Serengeti

We also hiked Kili, and then did a week at Zanzibar

What's your plan?  safari?  Anything else?

 

[Tom Servo]

I've been to Tanzania, Iowa .  But never the Africa one.  

I've been to Africa, Ohio.  

 

[playin4beer]

Was there about 6 years ago.

We did:

Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Manyara, and Serengeti

We also hiked Kili, and then did a week at Zanzibar

What's your plan?  safari?  Anything else?

We will be at the village most of the time, but Sundays are our "off" day to do what we want.  I'd love to see Ngorongoro as that's pretty close to where the village is..

Should I plan on bringing mosquito spray??  

I guess anything you'd think of as helpful to a first timer would be great.. My "out of the Country" travel is limited to Canada, eh.

 

[wilked]

Mosquitos weren’t an issue for us for the most part. 

I would say say maximize your safari time, you don’t get a chance like that often. I’ll PM you a vid / slideshow from when I went. Definitely get a good guide. 

Skip any tribal village tour I think such as Massai. Sort of a tourist trap 

if you’re interested in photos bring a good camera with a long lens and know how to work it 

 

[E-Z Glider]

So you've never been out of the country before and one day your 20yo daughter watches a special on TV and decides she wants to go Tanzania and now you're spending 3 weeks volunteering in Africa.

Seems reasonable.

 

[TripItUp]

Mosquitos weren’t an issue for us for the most part. 

I would say say maximize your safari time, you don’t get a chance like that often. I’ll PM you a vid / slideshow from when I went. Definitely get a good guide. 

Skip any tribal village tour I think such as Massai. Sort of a tourist trap 

if you’re interested in photos bring a good camera with a long lens and know how to work it 

I pretty much echo wilked's statements here...although I enjoyed the massai village visit.  I bought a sweet club off of one of the warrior guys...made out of olive wood...hard as hell.

maximize safari time....try to do a private jeep tour and not one of the big bus tours.  

Cheetah's were the hardest major animal for us to spot so let your guide know you want to see cheetahs...lions, elephants, giraffes etc. are easy to spot.  Some have problems spotting leopards but we saw several.

One of my favorite trips.  When you are out on the Serengetti you forget about the rest of the world and it feels somewhat prehistoric.  It's a pretty cool sensation.

A lot of my  friends that hiked Kilimanjaro wished they would have skipped the hike(which can be grueling) and have done more safari.  It's all about the safaris.

 

[playin4beer]

So you've never been out of the country before and one day your 20yo daughter watches a special on TV and decides she wants to go Tanzania and now you're spending 3 weeks volunteering in Africa.

Seems reasonable.

I didn't want to get into tl;dr territory with the back story...BUT..  

She won a travel scholarship her Senior year of high school called, "Build a Better World".. Most kids that win it use it to go visit exchange students, vacations, etc.  She had already watched the special on the Rift Valley Children's Village and knew that's what she wanted to use it for when she won it. She's going into education and wants to be an Elementary teacher.  Because I wasn't able to go with her last Summer, she was allowed to carry over the scholarship to this year. 

Saying I've NEVER been out of the Country except for Canada isn't entirely true.. I've been on cruises to Jamaica, Mexica, Bahamas, etc, but I don't consider those the same as traveling to Africa.

 

[tri-man 47]

My oldest daughter (20 years old) wanted to teach/volunteer at the Rift Valley Children's Village after watching a special on 60 Minutes.   She can't go alone because she's under 21, so I'm going with her. We'll be spending the first 3-weeks of May there.

I did a search on "Tanzania" and it looks like CTSU's wife is from there, but safe to say he's not around to give any advice.

We fly into JRO and already have transportation arranged to the village.  I guess I'm just looking for any general advice or tips from somebody that has perhaps traveled to that area.

My wife and I just got back from some days there in January.  We flew in/out of Dar es Salaam, though we didn't spend time in the city.  We were then in Mbeya (SW) for a few days before a cross country drive to Ruaha for a safari tour.  Seems we were further south than where you'll all be.

We felt comfortable there.  First trip through the airport, it all seemed crazy, but by the second and third flights, it was just a new normal.  It's a different vibe than the U.S., of course, but the people seemed friendly enough and civilized enough.  Lots of cell phones, for example.  My niece was saying that you can find the things you need to buy, although you might need to shop around to find them ...quite a micro-economy (like mini, mini-strip malls).  I didn't pick up any sense of political discord or unrest.

 

[strykerpks]

My mom has been 3 times in the past 6 years. I think the trip in 2016 might have been her last though just due to age (she's 76). She was there with a local church group that went to an orphanage outside of Morogoro, with medical aid and quite simply, love and care for the babies. They were obviously there in a volunteer capacity so like you they only had limited time for R&R or activities. As others have said, she loved the safaris that they went on. She has tons of pictures and says they are the best part of the trip. They had some time to spend at the university in Dar es Salaam which she thought was rather nice and interesting. The hiking type activities she didn't participate in.

I don't know what the current political climate is like, she did say that you have to be mindful of where you are at and any military/tribal presence in the area. She never saw anything but was reminded every once in a while if they were off alone. They would go in October so YMMV on the weather. I know she did have to go through a ton of shots/vaccinations beforehand.

Funny enough she bought me one of the clubs that @TripItUp is talking about as a souvenir. I can ask her any specifics if you'd like.