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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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Friday
The reason we were in Pangani was for my country manager to be guest of honour at the local primary school's first ever graduation. We had a relaxing morning as we didn't need to be there until midday. We walked to the river and, after a short sprint, jumped onto the ferry to take us to the other side. From there it was about twenty minutes up the hill to the school. Lots of colourful flowers, lush green trees and birds along the way. The rustling in the trees caught my attention and instead of the squirrels I am used to seeing, it was colobus monkeys chasing each other in the4 branches!
The graduation ceremony itself was most enjojyable, with much singing, dancing and drama enthusiastically provided by the children. Food followed and we stayed for e few hours trying to find shade from the midday sun.
ON the saturday we had decided to hire some bicycles and visit a small beach resort a few km up the coast in Mkomo Bay. Was worried we might get rained off as the tropical downpours lasted for several hours until about 10:00am. (short rainy season here at the moment).
Anyway, the rain stopped and the sun broke through, we hired the bikes and got on our way. The bikes were probably fairly typical for rural Africa but I got the hang of it again (it's just like riding a bike really even though I hadn't for several years!). The bumpy road made for an interesting time and the adventure continued when the two ahead of me stopped quite, forgetting that I was behind on the bike with really rubbish brakes! The bruise will go down in a few days and no damage was done to the bike or my companions! After a puncture (not mine) which was repaired by a friendly local outside his mud hut we made it to the resort. A lovely afternoon of luxury in the peaceful setting above the sea (in which I paddled). Back to Pangani and another paddle in the sea there after relaxing on the beach. Early night before the long bus ride back to Arusha.
The bus back to Arusha was horrid - ridiculously hot and once again packed eith poeple on the very narrow seats. Got back to Arusha and joined the other (Arusha-based) volunteers at the pool at the Arusha Hotel - a real treat and much needed after the day of travelling - the novelty of the African bus experience wears off pretty quickly! PLeasant evening getting to know the others.
previous travel blog entry
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