Mambo friends and family!
After a busy three days in the city of Morogoro, we traveled into the Southern Highlands to the River Valley campsite. As our bus drove through Nikumi National Park, we had our first glimpses of African wildlife, including elephants, giraffes, monkeys, and zebras. As the bus ride continued, we wove our way through beautiful mountains until we reached our campsite.
This past week, we spent our time learning Swahili (for nearly 5 hours a day!), swimming in the river, hiking through the mountains, and taking in our beautiful surroundings. Us girls had quite a struggle sleeping in the same room as our new friend the demon mouse, who managed to wake us up atleast once every night. But besides the encounters with wildlife, our time at River Valley was peaceful and relaxing. We had time to build our own raft (which actually floated!), do yoga everyday, play volleyball with the staff, and braid each others hair (even Liam’s!). Our hikes outside the campsite were led by the camp dog, Paulie, who never left our side until we had safely returned. Our first hike was to the “mini Bryce canyons”, which were breathtaking. The other hike we took brought us to a beautiful rock waterfall. And every night, we climbed up the hill to watch the picturesque African sunset.
What a group!
Cool Geological formations near River Valley campsite
As sad as we are to say goodbye to everyone at River Valley (including the awesome staff and the many families with kids), we cannot wait to get to Mufindi, where we will be volunteering at an orphanage. Next week will be very emotional as we spend time at AIDs clinics, learning more about the disease and how it has affected people here. We will also have the opportunity to play games and spend time with the children in Mufindi.
It will be an amazing week!
Asante,
Katie
PS: We might be out of touch for a bit since Mufindi is very rural and we won’t have access to internet