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Report on our 2019 Project Journey to Kenya — Short Trip to Tanzania
Office of Foerderkreis Kenia Freudenstadt e.V., Germany. Translated version. Original version first published December 1, 2019. Page 3/6.
Friday, February 08, 2019: Visit to a Rehabilitation Center in Arusha
Visit to Usa River Rehabilitation Center.
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In the morning our local driver whisked us to the Usa River Rehabilitation Center, where we arrived some 40 minutes later. After visiting the sales store of the disabled facility and having a cup of tea in their café we enjoyed a guided tour by the German deacon working there, deputy leader of the facility and sent by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Bavaria (ELKB; the ELBK is the official Lutheran church of protestant Christians in the southern German state of Bavaria; the ELKB is a member of the EKD, the Evangelical Church in Germany). He led us through the disabled facility with their sewing shop, workshops and their professionally operating bakery, which is supplying numerous customers, like local stores and hotels, with a large selection of European-style baked goods. We learned that the bakery would largely suffice to finance a greater part of the facility and could increase its order volume if this were possible from an administrative point of view. The center is also operating training facilities for several trades and a medical department for the treatment of clubfeet. For four weeks each year, a European surgeon is operating there on a voluntary basis. All this impressive us very much, and we congratulated them for their great facility and the work they are doing. Before returning to Arusha we stopped by a small lodge for lunch after having handed over the baggage not needed for the next days to our driver who would transport it back to Moshi. In the evening another driver for the next two days introduced himself, a very smart and competent young man, with whom we discussed our agenda in detail.
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Saturday, February 09, 2019: Arusha — Lake Manyara — Ngorongoro Camp
Encountering elephants on the road...
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After sunrise our driver took us west into the wellknown African "Great Rift Valley". We drove through the market town Mto Wa Mbu, a Swahili name meaning "Moskito River", located next to the entrance to Lake Manyara National Park. This is one of Tanzania's most dramatic western wildlife sanctuaries, consisting of a huge but shallow soda lake. It covers two thirds of the national park and lies at the foot of the western Great Rift Valley embankment. The park's location and varied habitat attract a wide variety of animals, including one of the largest populations of East African forest elephants. Much to our surprise, a herd of eighteen elephants crossed the road as we passed the forest for the first time. Here at Lake Manyara live also the famous tree lions as well as large schools of flamingos that are attracted by the algae in the lake. At noon we enjoyed a fantastic outdoor lunch picnic. Afterwards we drove around Lake Manyara, also the location of many adventure movies and home of an amazing variety of birds. In the afternoon we went to the Ngorongoro camp where we had a wonderful traditional-style dinner.
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Sunday, February 10, 2019: Ngorongoro Crater — Moshi
Society members and driver at the Ngorongoro volcanic crater's wildlife site.
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In the early morning hours, we set off for an interesting trip. Over an embankment our driver chose a road steeply descending into the famous Ngorongoro crater, one of the world's largest accessible volcanic craters with a caldera having a diameter of about 12 miles and said to be the most densely populated wildlife area of East Africa, albeit without any giraffes. We were told that these animals cannot cope with the steep crater wall due to their long legs. We experienced a fantastic fauna and flora. Still being early morning the driver pulled right to the edge of a small forest and we could relax under the canopy of a large acacia tree. A young elephant bull, luckily with his back turned toward us, was also busily munching food: a wonderful encounter. After an amazing drive around we left the crater in the afternoon and our safari driver whisked us for a few miles to a YMCA hostel in Moshi where we had a great view of the Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain of Africa.
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View of Kilimanjaro mountain.
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Our driver with his four-wheel drive vehicle.
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Monday, February 11, 2019: Moshi
In order to acclimatize and prepare the next visits on our agenda, we stayed at the hostel this day, leaving only once for dinner in a rustic coffee house.
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