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Gombe Stream National Park is where Jane Goodall's chimp research happened and is still happening. But it wasn't just the chimps that made it amazing.
Gombe is a tiny park squeezed into the shore of Lake Tanganyika. It's topography is more related to it's location between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria where Tanzania, the DR Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda all converge, than the rest of Tanzania. It is basically a thin strip of mountains covered by temperate rainforest and the lake. It is beautiful. It is also very remote, about three days tortouous travel from Dar es Salaam (if you are not flying) and then a few hours in a boat from Kigoma (I was in Kigoma checking up on a VGIF site anyway). Since it is low season for tourists (rainy season), I had the place to myself. And I mean I was literally the only mzungu there.
The park only has the capacity to sleep about 25 visitors, but there wasn't another guest in sight. There were plenty of staff, researchers etc, but I was the only tourist. I had a private park for myself. I tracked chimps with only the researchers (and they really didn't seem to be doing too much research, more like sitting around and telling jokes) and had the good fortune to see a lot chimpanzees.
The pictures aren't the best (flash was not allow). But the best time was when I put the camera away anyway. I am trying to take more videos (if not upload them due to African bandwidths).
Here is a video clip of a baby chimp playing in a tree above me:
This is a blog about my time in Africa. I am not presumptuous enough to think that I can adequately sum up the African experience (or the Ethiopian/Tanzanian experience) in a blog. So I am merely relaying random pieces of my everyday life that I think are interesting. Feedback is appreciated.
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About Me
- jake
- I am travelling a working/volunteering in Ethiopia and Tanzania and thereabouts for six months or so
Recap
10-23-08
so,
I'm in Addis Ababa. I'll be here for couple of months. After which I will travel more in thedirection of Tanzania and check up on some projects for the Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund (VGIF).
Right now I am volunteering at an NGO called AHOPE (African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace), working with HIV positive orphans (check out the link on the blog: ahopeforchildren.com) They do pretty comprehensive work, with two orphanages plus a community center. I am
teaching English, helping kids with homework, mainly English and Math (though their English homework is way over their heads, and somewhat futile when the kids don't understand 10% of the words on the page), I am playing with the kids, and doing random office work like editing (if you can believe it) their English in reports, and working on grant proposals, etc.
AHOPE is great (you should give them money, check out the website), everyone who works there is Ethiopian, so my only regular contact with native English speakers is adoptive parents and others who stop by, such as christian tour groups who come by and give the children candy and teach them Christian songs, I don't think my Jewish influence is very powerful. One of the best parts of the day is eating lunch with
the staff; the best Ethiopian food I've ever had, followed by a
leisurely machiatto or two. The restaurants I've been too (many of them attempting Western food) can't compete with the local (National) food we eat at lunch, though I haven't tried the raw meat that my colleagues swear by. There is decent pizza as there is everywhere in the world as far as I know. I have been squeezing fresh orange juice every morning recently. They have these incredibly juicy oranges here,
they are kind of green on the outside, but they are amazing. And I haven't gotten sick (yet).. (knocking on wood).
I live in AHOPE's guest house. It is fine, kind of like a 70's style
american house, but without consistent electricity or water service (Contrary to popular myth Ethiopia is not a dry place, it is very green around Addis, but the water is a little inconsistent due to infrastructure reasons). It does have a TV with Satellite service, most of the channels are broadcast out of Dubai, I have seen a couple live Obama speeches on Al Jazeera, and there is a surprising array of good American movies on most of the time. AHOPE and the guest house
are away from the downtown, which is nice because there is less traffic (ie less lead coated diesel fumes), though away from the action a little bit, but it is very easy to catch one of the
ubiquitous mini buses/12 passenger vans with 18 passengers, that cost 10-20cents and very convenient because there are so many of them.
Overall everything is great. There is a pretty slow pace of life,
though it is a hustling and bustling city (I was trying to explain
what 'hustle and bustle' meant to someone the other day). The city seems really safe, I walk around at night all the time, with little feeling of danger. In fact I like walking at night because people can't tell you are white (faranji) from far away. White people really are pretty rare here (especially ones not whizzing past in cars). Kids follow you around, some ask for money, but most of the time it puts a big smile on kids faces just to talk to you with what little English they know (I am working on my Amharic). The kids at AHOPE seem pretty happy too, always glad to see you and wanting to hang out, play games,
etc. Rambunctiousness personified.
stern.jacob@gmail.com
so,
I'm in Addis Ababa. I'll be here for couple of months. After which I will travel more in thedirection of Tanzania and check up on some projects for the Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund (VGIF).
Right now I am volunteering at an NGO called AHOPE (African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace), working with HIV positive orphans (check out the link on the blog: ahopeforchildren.com) They do pretty comprehensive work, with two orphanages plus a community center. I am
teaching English, helping kids with homework, mainly English and Math (though their English homework is way over their heads, and somewhat futile when the kids don't understand 10% of the words on the page), I am playing with the kids, and doing random office work like editing (if you can believe it) their English in reports, and working on grant proposals, etc.
AHOPE is great (you should give them money, check out the website), everyone who works there is Ethiopian, so my only regular contact with native English speakers is adoptive parents and others who stop by, such as christian tour groups who come by and give the children candy and teach them Christian songs, I don't think my Jewish influence is very powerful. One of the best parts of the day is eating lunch with
the staff; the best Ethiopian food I've ever had, followed by a
leisurely machiatto or two. The restaurants I've been too (many of them attempting Western food) can't compete with the local (National) food we eat at lunch, though I haven't tried the raw meat that my colleagues swear by. There is decent pizza as there is everywhere in the world as far as I know. I have been squeezing fresh orange juice every morning recently. They have these incredibly juicy oranges here,
they are kind of green on the outside, but they are amazing. And I haven't gotten sick (yet).. (knocking on wood).
I live in AHOPE's guest house. It is fine, kind of like a 70's style
american house, but without consistent electricity or water service (Contrary to popular myth Ethiopia is not a dry place, it is very green around Addis, but the water is a little inconsistent due to infrastructure reasons). It does have a TV with Satellite service, most of the channels are broadcast out of Dubai, I have seen a couple live Obama speeches on Al Jazeera, and there is a surprising array of good American movies on most of the time. AHOPE and the guest house
are away from the downtown, which is nice because there is less traffic (ie less lead coated diesel fumes), though away from the action a little bit, but it is very easy to catch one of the
ubiquitous mini buses/12 passenger vans with 18 passengers, that cost 10-20cents and very convenient because there are so many of them.
Overall everything is great. There is a pretty slow pace of life,
though it is a hustling and bustling city (I was trying to explain
what 'hustle and bustle' meant to someone the other day). The city seems really safe, I walk around at night all the time, with little feeling of danger. In fact I like walking at night because people can't tell you are white (faranji) from far away. White people really are pretty rare here (especially ones not whizzing past in cars). Kids follow you around, some ask for money, but most of the time it puts a big smile on kids faces just to talk to you with what little English they know (I am working on my Amharic). The kids at AHOPE seem pretty happy too, always glad to see you and wanting to hang out, play games,
etc. Rambunctiousness personified.
stern.jacob@gmail.com
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