Tanzania is a great country to visit. Destinations like the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Mt Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria and Zanzibar offer some of the most amazing travel opportunities across Africa and they are all in one country!
The climate is tropical, so some periods are hotter, wetter or more humid than others, but generally whichever month you travel to Tanzania there is something wonderful to see and do!
Safari- available throughout the year
Scuba diving - available all year
Piled into a daladala
Some of our destinations (such as Arusha) are quite touristy and some (like Mwanza) are a bit more off-the-beaten-track. This week we asked how tourism has affected the destination in which our students work and how do they ensure that they still have an authentic cultural experience?
Emily in Arusha found that “the tourism adds to the variety of people I have met. People travel for many reasons and it’s interesting to hear their stories. I try to eat as much local food, take the daladala and ask as many questions as possible. I have also found that not travelling in a large group leads to more meaningful and interesting interactions.”
Nicole's question!
This week, our office manager Nicole had a question for the different houses….
“What do the students get up to during their weekends?”
Poon Hill trek
Sunil was the first to come back with the lowdown on the two Nepal students – Sundeap said that “at home we would normally just hang out with friends, but in Nepal we always make set plans. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t and so we just go with the flow!”. Rosie added that “the most exciting trip so far was our trip to the peace pagoda on the other side of the lake. It was amazing, but we didn’t realise how long we had been there. At 7pm all the boats back to Pokhara had left and we got stranded. In the end we had to swim across……… ha ha, not really…… Sundeap shouted enough for a boat to eventually come and get us back to the right side of the lake.”.
There is so much to do in Arusha and this weeks question made me think of all the interesting statistics I could research for the activities. Have a read…!
The tip of Kili from base camp
Mt Kilimanjaro (the roof of Africa)….
…is the highest mountain in Africa and fourth highest of the Seven Summits.
Climbing Kili is one of Africa’s biggest challenges…. quite literally. At 5895 metres tall, it is the largest freestanding mountain in the world, and reaching the summit to watch the sunrise over Amboseli National Park in Kenya, the Rift Valley and the Maasai Steppe, is the highlight of many of our student’s Tanzanian travels.
“There’s no better feeling than standing on the roof of africa – That’s what I learnt on my travels this summer. Reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro was the hardest yet most rewarding thing I have achieved. Looking back I have memories of exhaustion and pain, but those memories are distant and overwhelmed by the realisation that with determination and team spirit you can achieve anything you set your mind to, and of course the most beautiful sunrise in the world is not easily forgotten – what a reward for reaching the top. I would wholly recommend the climb for anyone who wants to push their own boundaries, brush up on their swahili, and make memories that will impact on your outlook on life forever.” Sarah (Dentistry student, Arusha)
Chloe sets off to climb Kilimanjaro
The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro will have disappeared within two decades because of global warming, the Telegraph has reported.
Maggie camps beneath the snow
85 per cent of the ice at the top of Kili has disappeared over the last 100 years. The rest is likely to melt by 2030, changing the 19,000 ft high mountain forever. As one of Africa’s most famous sights, the snow capped mountain rising from the plains, with elephant and zebra trekking across the foreground, is an icon of Tanzania.
Researchers have come to their conclusions after drilling holes in the ice at the top of Kili. Since 1912 they believe it has been melting at an increased rate. A combination of climate change bringing less snows and global warming melting the existing snow, means that the ice is uncovering layers of dust from thousands of years ago. More worryingly it has released radioactive fallout from the merican 1951 -52 “Ivy” atomic tests that were buried in the ice.