East Africa ALE
In and around Africa
I'm a rather reluctant blogger so this is an attempt to keep friends and family up to speed non the next 4 months of my life mostly because I'm too lazy to write multiple emails. Although I started off with a few days in Ireland the remainder of the time will be spent in East Africa. I'm a candidate for a master of public health implementing my Applied Learning Experience in Dar es Salaam. For 3 months I'll be assisting a Professor from Muhimbili University with a clinical trial for a malaria vaccine (or at least that's the plan so far). Afterward I'll be exploring the other beautiful countries that make up the region.
Route taken and entries by Real Traveler Jeñ
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1
Dublin' your money (spent)
Arriving to the Dublin airport at 5am was a great idea until I disembarked the plane. The good news was I had the whole day to explore the city. Th... Continue reading »
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2
Welcome to Dar
Well, I finally arrived in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania after nearly 30 hours of exhausting travel; from running through the airport in Birmingham and bein... Continue reading » -
3
Co-Curriculum Development Workshop
My first 3 days in Dar were consumed by the Co-Curriculum Development Work Shop at Muhimbili University. It consisted of representatives from Muhimbil... Continue reading » -
4
Stone Town
I stayed in the lap of luxury last night at the Peacock hotel because one of the Tufts professors had an extra bed in her room. I really enjoyed havin... Continue reading » -
5
Muzungos can't dance
Friday was pretty uneventful. I hung around Muhimbili all day, attempted to fix some Skype problems to no avail. Felix took me to lunch at the faculty... Continue reading » -
6
Lazy Saturday
So, last night we ended up staying outside chatting and drinking a few beers until 2am because 2 of the German girls were leaving. They decided to sha... Continue reading » -
7
Coco Beach
Sunday was another relaxing day. Magnus, Lars and I decided to explore Coco Beach. Excellent, my first Dala Dala ride! A Dala Dala is a van used for... Continue reading » -
8
Journey to Bagamoyo - Take 2
I was not surprised to reach Muhimbili on Monday only to find out that we were not in fact setting out for Bagamoyo as planned. On the bright side I w... Continue reading » -
9
Ex-Pats and Pay it Forward
What a wonderful concept "pay it forward" is. Especially in the world of traveling. I met the only other Americans here on Tuesday and was relieved to... Continue reading » -
10
Poa Reduction Strategies
Sunday was a much more exciting day! After sitting around watching some bad movies (CNN gets a bit repetetive) Brandt and I walked along the beach to... Continue reading » -
11
Random musings of a bored mind
Nothing really happened during my second week here in Bagamoyo. I've more or less settled into a routine work, home to read or work out, bed at 9 or 1... Continue reading » -
12
The Africa of Legend
I went to Dar Friday afternoon to spend another lovely night at TYCS... I was right, I didn't miss it. On Saturday I set out with Magnus and Lars to d... Continue reading » -
13
I fell in love with the Usambara Mountains
Tuesday night we stayed at the same hostel where I met some Spaniards! Woohoo! I could finally speak Spanish and not German or Swahili. We have plans... Continue reading » -
14
God bless the German Monks (and their wine)
Rather than pay a guide again we decided to see off on our own adventure. We had originally planned to go to Mtai but we missed the bus in the morning... Continue reading » -
15
Wine, cheese and football...
I know, it sounds blasphemous but it was wonderful! We were able to watch Monday Night Football!!! so what if it was Tuesday afternoon.... Good new... Continue reading »
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16
Another weekend in Bagamoyo
Despite the disappointment of Friday the evening turned out to be enjoyable (after a large dose of ibuprofen). There were 10 of us at dinner Friday... Continue reading »
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17
Tanzania Week 6
I guess I can sum up Monday through Friday in a sentence or two. I didn't really do much. I surfed the web at work, studied football, studied some Swa... Continue reading » -
18
My new Apartment
Well, I broke my promise to myself on the very first weekend! But staying in Bagamoyo isn't so bad this time around. I think that's partly because I w... Continue reading » -
19
“I spent a year in that town, one Sunday.”
I did not sleep well sans mosquito net... it was hot tucked under the sheet for protection from the insect constantly buzzing in my ear. Around 3am... Continue reading »
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20
Someone has a case of the Mondays...
I know I don't usually do mid-week updates, especially on a Monday but I feel like today warrants an entry. The doctor is out of town, in Brussels for... Continue reading » -
21
Weekend Getaway
After a very uneventful trip from Bagamoyo to Dar es Salaam we found ourselves sitting at the bus station for 2 hours in the brutally hot sun surro... Continue reading »
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22
Day trek through the Uluguru Mountains
At 7:30am we started our trek to U? peak. I actually can't remember what the name of it was... Anyway, it was mostly a fairly easy incline with str... Continue reading »
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23
Tourists in Bagamoyo
This week was, again, pretty uneventful. Monday and Tuesday - work then watch football. I have discovered that my room is a burial ground for crickets... Continue reading » -
24
Sailing on the Indian Ocean
Today I went sailing on the Indian Ocean for the first time. I also went swimming in the India Ocean for the first time. Don't worry, it wasn't becaus... Continue reading » -
25
27th Annual Festival of the Arts - Bagamoyo
Monday started out just as every other day did this week. I stepped out the door and thought, "*Expletive* it's hot!" I arrived at the Zinga dispensar... Continue reading » -
26
Road to Kiwangwa
Each day this week began with our new workout routine at 6am. It turns out my new Canadian neighbor also wants to get in shape and has two things I wa... Continue reading » -
27
Stranded in Fukayosi
As I'm writing this it is 3:45pm but there hasn't been a patient since noon. I'm sitting at the sentinel dispensary in Fukayosi where I was dropped... Continue reading »
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28
South African Super Bowl! - Sort of
It was just as hot and dirty as ever in Dar es Salaam as we walked through the relatively barren streets of the industrial area shielding our eyes fro... Continue reading » -
29
Patience is a Virtue
Most dispensaries see children from 8:30 or 9 until roughly 12. Most days I get to the hospital between 8 and 8:15 to go out to the field. Most days I... Continue reading » -
30
An Early African-style American Thanksgiving
Friday was the Canadian girl's 4 year anniversary with her boyfriend so the two of us went out to a romantic dinner at the Millennium Hotel. Excellent... Continue reading » -
31
The Day of the "Hamna"s
Hamna is Swahili for none... for example after working out I go to take a shower, water? Hamna. I "bathe" in a trickle of water. Get to work and ne... Continue reading »
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32
Art Lessons
"Mvua! Ninapenda mvua!" I was excited for this rare moment when I could say something that the driver would understand. It had started raining on our... Continue reading » -
33
Last week in Bagamoyo
It was a pretty uneventful week. Monday-Wednesday I finished up at Mapinga and Yombo. I had my first malaria test (apparently I didn't look too good),... Continue reading » -
34
The Longest Ride
Monday morning I set out for Kigali, Rwanda via Mwanza and Benako in Tanzania. Apparently you shouldn't mess with me at 5:30 in the morning after only... Continue reading » -
35
First Impressions of Rwanda
Holy Bananas... I finally arrived in Rwanda which appears to be the land of bananas. I have never seen so many banana trees they grow them like corn i... Continue reading » -
36
Day at the Beach
The 3 hour drive by minibus gave me ample opportunity to take in the views along the winding road through the rolling hills. Most of the land is terra... Continue reading » -
37
"Not that democratic, barely a republic, but it is The Congo"
Anyone who knows me well should know that my proximity to the border and the allure of putting another star on the map meant that I was venturing into... Continue reading » -
38
Welcome to Uganda
My first few hours in Uganda sucked. There were 75 people crammed onto a bus designed to hold 66 and I was smushed into the middle of the very last ro... Continue reading » -
39
A day at the "zoo"
Technically it's a Wildlife Education Center where they take in orphaned animals and care for them but it sure seemed a lot like a zoo to me. Angie to... Continue reading » -
40
Thanksgiving on the Nile
As I plunged downwards I was thinking, "wow, I thought I jumped out farther than this." My next thought was, "Oh crap, I'm supposed to put my arms out... Continue reading » -
41
Bujagali Falls
Friday we had been planning to leave for an exciting weekend of camping at the Sese Islands but unfortunately her meeting ran late so we decided to go... Continue reading » -
42
Re-entering Tanzania
I buddied up with a friend of a friend of a friend for the (thankfully) uneventful bus ride back into Tanzania. For some reason I was not charged the... Continue reading » -
43
The middle of nowhere
Getting to the town of Shirati as not easy. After a 3 hour bus ride back to Bukoba I boarded the overnight ferry to Mwanza on which I had secured a se... Continue reading » -
44
Weekend in Shirati
On Saturday we headed back to the clinic to discharge one of the patients. The father never came to pay the bill so the PA wrote another letter to the... Continue reading » -
45
Who knew Crossword puzzle would be so useful?
I had a little trouble at the Kenyan border. Apparently they're sticklers for the "transit" part of the transit visa. I managed to get 4 days while on... Continue reading » -
46
Who knew Crossword puzzle would be so useful?
I had a little trouble at the Kenyan border. Apparently they're sticklers for the "transit" part of the transit visa. I managed to get 4 days while on... Continue reading »
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