We weren't kidding when we said the long rains bring much mud! These flip-flops weigh about 7 lbs. each!

African football fanatics

Haley with students Leboy and Sapuro

Sleeping under a mosquito net

Haley has traded her sunglasses for Billy's hat.

Maasai women in their daily dress

On a hike with Mark and Saif

The Green Mamba. One of the deadliest and fastest snakes in the world....

Lizards are cool!

At the snake and reptile farm...

A family of giraffes

I see you!

Buffalo backdrop

Haley, Omar and Ashley in Arusha National Park

Viewpoint in Arusha National Park- observing the wildlife

Low Tide

Diani Beach, south of Mombasa, on the Indian Ocean

View of Mombasa Old Town from Fort Jesus

View from Fort Jesus out to Indian Ocean, Mombasa, Kenya

View from cannon opening into the bay port of Mombasa at Fort Jesus

One possible passageway into Fort Jesus by the ocean

Soccer with the boys in Dar at the Gymkhana...

Seacliff Resort in Dar, overlooking the Indian Ocean. This is the life........we will not be living for the next 10 months but enjoyed while we could!!

Out in Dar. Euan, Penny, Jacob and Ashley

Here is an Eluwai tree up close. It grows thorns as long as 5 inches and grows these nodules, which house thousands of these ants. If a bird lands on a branch, or the branch is bumped, these biting ants release from their homes, scour every inch of the branches and will bite anything that thinks of feeding on its vegetation.

This is the Eluwai (el-oo-why) tree for which the village of Eluwai is named.

Mark teaching English to the Form 1 Class.

Malaika!! Our Angel, Vicky, doing some laundry.

A year's worth of bucket showers on the right, squat toilet on the left. Yes, we use TP!

Our plush room in the staff house...

Ashley and Mark preparing the next day's English lessons

Penny and Ashley enjoying a dip in the pool at Coral Beach resort.

Driving along Coco Beach road in Dar..

Penny's house in Dar es Salaam. Villam (William in South Africa) on the right is the gate ascari (guard).

A Tanzanian sunset from our porch....

Here is Haley putting together the next day's lesson plan for Biology class, accompanied by some donkeys in the school yard, next to the staff house.

A sea of bomas.....

This is a picture of a typical boma, now that the Maasai are no longer nomadic as they used to be, due to government restriction of grazing animals. The houses are made of either mud or cow dung and an enclosure made of sticks in the middle, for the family's herds of cattle, goats and donkeys.

This is a sunset over the famous Ngorongoro Crater. This picture was taken from the boma of our school director, Lesikar.

This is Kilimanjaro, or "Kili." Meaning "Mountain of Light" or "Mountain of God," it's amazing the first time you see it in real life.

This is the hill we climb to get cell phone reception. Although you can't see them, Monduli juu is to the left, the school is to the right as well as Ngorongoro Crater NP. The walk is about 20 minutes from the school through the bomas, which you can see in the background.

What Africa is famous for- the acacia tree. This large one is found on our walk from Eluwai village to Monduli juu.

This is the teacher staff house. Haley, myself, Mark, Saif and Kauka all live here, along with Vicky, our cook.

Settling In

After spending 2 weeks in Dar es Salaam, trying to work with the Tanzanian government to obtain our Residence Permits as our VISAs expire in April, we unfortunately arrived back in Arusha by bus empty-handed. The story is way to long to explain by typing, but the whole experience has been so frustrating, it's become deliriously funny. Enough so, that documentation of the entire process has found a place in my journal, entitled "Process of Obtaining Tanzanian Residence Permit." Just imagine being told that if you return to a government office that your letter of approval will be in hand to take to the Immigration office, but then finding out that the letter of approval must first go to the President's office for approval and THEN it will go to Immigration. However, once visiting the President's office, you are told that you need more government documentation, a "Memorandum of Agreement," stating that the government is aware your organization is having international volunteers working for them, and THEN they will send their approval to Immigration, etc., etc. This is just one circumstance of the entire story. Without our Exemption Certificates, which grants us the ability to teach (on a voluntary basis) in the country of Tanzania by approval of the Ministry of Education, we are teaching illegally. Shhh! Don't tell the immigration officers, even if they were to travel as far as Eluwai, as we could be thrown in jail for such actions.
Though we left our host, Penny, other friends we've met and the comforts of city life in Dar, we were excited to return to Eluwai, the school, staff and the students. We are definitely feeling more at home in our staff house next to the school buildings. We've met some very friendly villagers. Saningo owns a farm up on the top of the hill where we go to get cell phone reception to call friends in Tanzania and connect with friends and family in the States, so we've conversed in broken Swahili and Maa more than a couple times! We've been invited to go to his boma on Monday to meet his new son!
Below are some posted pictures, in no order whatsoever. Hopefully, it will give you a taste of the tourist life in Dar and the place we call home in Eluwai.