Our Africa Itinerary

With our trip to Tanzania only a mere 3 days away at this point, I thought I would let you know what our itinerary will be during our time in Africa. We are pretty excited about the experience we are going to get during our time there. We have always wanted to go to Africa, but did not want to simply do the tourist-y things and stay in resorts. We will be going on a safari, but that is about the only tourist-y thing we will be doing during our time abroad.

We will be spending most of our trip in a small, rural village in the center of the country called Chamwino. Despite staying in one of the nicer houses in the village, we will still be living very modest, simple lives. We will wash our clothes by hand, bathe from a bucket, and often use non-Western toilets. Even on the safari we will be sleeping in tents out on the Serengeti, as opposed to staying in nice lodging. That to say, however, I am incredibly excited about the experience we will get.

 Trip Schedule

Thursday, February 10

• Fly from Seattle to Amsterdam (leave at 12:45pm & arrive at 7:45am on Friday)

Friday, February 11

• Fly from Amsterdam to Nairobi, Kenya (leave at 10:25am & arrive at 8:30pm)
• Fly from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (leave at 10pm & arrive at 11:15pm)
• Stay with some friends of Brian & Nicole that night

Saturday, February 12

• Catch a 6 hour bus from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma
• Get shuttled into Chamwino on the back of motorcycles

Sunday, February 13

• Attend church, where I am preaching (with a translator)

First Week of our Trip

• Hang out with Brian and Nicole and their friends
• Get a chance to see how they have been spending their days
• Experience the Chamwino culture, food, language, music, etc.
• Various activities will include: helping teach English in the school, visiting a local farm, singing with one of the church choirs

Friday or Saturday, February 18 or 19

• Leave Chamwino for Arusha and the Serengeti
• 14 hour bus ride to Arusha

Second Week of our Trip

• Stay in a hotel in Arusha for the first night of our safari trip
• Spend three nights in tents camping on the Serengeti
• Spend another night in a hotel in Arusha at the end of our safari
• Travel from Arusha to Dar es Salaam
• Hang out in Dar es Salaam on the beach and in the open-air markets

Saturday, February 26

• Fly from Dar es Salaam to Nairobi, Kenya (leave at 7:40pm & arrive at 8:55pm)
• Fly from Nairobi to Amsterdam (leave at 10:55pm & arrive on Sunday at 5:30am)

Sunday, February 27

• Hang out in Amsterdam for a few hours
• Fly from Amsterdam to Seattle (leave at 11am & arrive at 12:25pm)