Yayyyyyyyyyyy!! I made it….after one 7 hour flight, a 4 hour wait at Nariobi Airport and another 50 minute flight I have finally arrived in the land of the great Kilimanjaro herself!! The first thing I feel is the heat sweeping accorss my face as soon as I step of the plane…..the best feeling in the world!! Leaving snowy England behind and knowing I am going to spend the next 10 days in paradise is an awesone feeling! Having not been to Africa before I’m seriously excited but not quite sure what to expect!

Mathias who runs our project in Tanzania picked me and my best friend Fran up from the Airport and took us straight to the house in Arusha, whDSC00037ere the volunteers have been living for the past 3 weeks. The views from the car are incredible, its so lush and green with banana trees and coconuts all over the place….almost like a jungle!

We met up with the team at the house in Arusha, what a lovely bunch, they have bonded like a little African family out here in the bush. I loved my first night so much, 3 power-cuts, a burst pipe and Fran’s luggage not arriving for 3 days felt like a truly authentic introduction to Africa and the cold shower was more than welcome as its about 35 beautiful degrees outside….luckily we had a yummy carton of Tanzanian wine to get us through and some great company…Thanks Mathias!

My first full day in Tanzania started with a visit to Buringa School to do some painting work in the classrooms. Adam the project co-ordinator and Jimmy the driver came with us and we wasted no time in getting stick in! Then off to CCF to meet some of the children at the orphanage there. All with an incredible story to tell, these kids gave us a really interesting afternoon and it was lovely to hear that a few people on the team decided to sponsor some of the kids so they could go to school! I think that the project here truly touched all of our volunteers in some way!

Day 3 and were off to Lake Manyara-3 hours from Arusha and none of the volunteers have been there yet so its exciting to have our very own sneak

Now that's a good beer!

Now that's a good beer!

preview of the next phase of the project! After having a very bumpy meeting with Mathias in the back of a truck on the way there we finally sit down to an icy cold Tusker Beer..mmmmmmm.

There are little naughty monkies running around all over the place

Dancing with the cutest children in the world

Dancing with the cutest children in the world

, they are so playful and come right up to you! Its so peaceful here and I wish I could stay for longer. On the way back we stop at a nearby orphanage to play with the kids, none of which speak a word of English but none of that seems to matter as we play games and dance around…I try to sing along with them in Swahili which they are finding really funny!

We spent our last night at Via Via, a local traditional bar where all the volunteers like to hang out and dance the night away to live African bands and in

Damcomg the night away at Via Via!

Damcomg the night away at Via Via!

dulge in a Tusker or 2.  After one last dance with my new friend Mathias I must say goodbye to My new African family as I am heading off to the island paradise of Zanzibar……a 10 hour coach journey awaits!

Badai!