Today everyone was up early for our journey to Tanzania. We all drove to Bristol Airport where we met up at about 4am. Having dropped off our bags and cleared security we had time for a quick breakfast before boarding our KLM flight to Amsterdam. The flight was fine and we landed on time, giving us plenty of time to get to the gate for our onward flight to Kilimanjaro. This second flight was about 8 and a half hours and apart from a little turbulence, it went well and landed at 8.10pm local time. We were very lucky as we were among the first people to disembark, and as we already had visas, were also among the first to clear immigration. All our bags appeared very quickly and we were out of the airport in around 20 minutes - a record for us.
On exiting the airport we were met by a driver from Airport Planet Lodge where we stayed for the first night. The Lodge is about an 8 minutes drive from the airport so we were there in no time at all. Check in was quick and we were soon sat in the bar enjoying our first Kilimanjaro beer of the trip. The lodge was of a good standard and it seemed that there were very few, if any, other people staying.
Day 2
The next day, after a good breakfast on the terrace, a driver took us back to the airport for our 9.40am Precision Air flight to Mwanza. Check in was smooth and although the flight was a little late departing, it near enough landed on time at 11.15. After collecting our bags we were met by a driver from Malaika Beach Resort Hotel where we would be staying for the next 2 nights. It took about 15 minutes to drive to the hotel.
The hotel has a beautiful setting, right on shore of Lake Victoria and the rooms were lovely. After settling in, we had a light lunch in the restaurant, whilst enjoying views across the lake. During lunch, Bruno from Affordable Computers and Technology for Tanzania (ACTT) came to meet us. ACTT is the organisation that we support that brings ICT and computers to government schools in Tanzania.
After lunch we went out to Jeshini School to deliver them some more computers. This visit gave Peter and I the chance to show Emma, Simon, Robbie and Caf what we do. We were accompanied by Bruno, Frank and Caro from ACTT. Last year, Jeshini had received a loan of 3 computers and a printer from us and as the had used them so well we had decided to loan them a further 4 computers this year plus a replacement printer cartridge. 3 of these computers were financed by the pupils of Meadowbrook School in Bristol and one by us.
The school was a 5 minute drive from the hotel. On arrival at the school we were met by the deputy head teacher and the ICT teacher as well as lots of children. We had a brief meeting with the teachers where they expressed their thanks for everything that we had done to help them. We then handed over the computers and went and had a look at the room where the computers were used. We also handed over a couple of footballs....... just for fun!! The visit gave us a all a chance to chat to the teachers and the children.
The visit took about an hour after which Emma, Simon, Robbie and Caf headed back to the hotel for a swim. Peter and I then went with Bruno and Frank, to the new ACTT offices in Mwanza. Here, we had arranged to meet Peter, the ICT teacher from Ritunguru School in Chato and Edmund, the ICT teacher from Katemwa A School also in Chato. We had supported both these schools last year and both had done well, so again we were rewarding them with the loan of more computers this year. 3 more for Katemwa A and another laptop for Ritunguru (who only have solar power). Whilst it would have been lovely to go to Chato again this year we just didnt have the time, so we handed the computers over to the teachers in the ACTT offices. Both teachers were very pleased and again thanked us for our continuing support to their schools.
By now it was quite late in the afternoon and Peter and I still needed to get a local Tanzanian SIM card for our phones. As usual nothing is ever simple and this took about an hour in the Vodacom office, but with Frank’s help we eventually succeeded in getting what we wanted. As it was now about 6pm and so we then returned to the hotel where we met up with the other 4 for as drink on the beach followed by dinner in the restaurant. All very pleasant. As we were finishing dinner we could hear thunder in the distance and just as we got back to our rooms the heavens opened. Peter and I watched the spectacular storm from our balcony before retiring.
All in all it had been a busy and very successful day.
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