Sarah Peterson - First-year Outdoor Adventure Student

Blog #1- December 6, 2006

This is my seventh day in Africa and I still can’t believe that I am here.

After a very long flight we arrived at Kilimanjaro airport to be met by members of the expedition team.  We drove for about an hour and a half where we stayed at a hotel for the night.  The facilities were wonderful, as was the food and hospitality.  The next day was an exciting ride from the hotel to Rongai.  It was interesting to be driving on the opposite side of the road and the roads were narrow and filled with pedestrians.  The speed at which we were travelling was a bit overwhelming but we did arrive in Rongai in one piece.  Our camp was set up for us when we arrived.
 

We were set up in the forest a few hundred metres away from the village.  The local people were very excited when we pulled in. There’s a ton of kids around and everyone is amazingly friendly and happy.  They have next to nothing in the way of possessions but seem as happy as anyone I know. It’s amazing to see the responsibility that the children have at such a young age, five year olds looking after babies and working.  It’s so much different than anything I have seen before. 

The Elmwood crew arrived the next day and after getting sorted out everyone started working on the school.  There was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement from the locals and everyone involved in the building project.  Several people had gathered donations for the school such as soccer balls, pens, pencils, paper and other school utensils.  The people were very grateful.  It was wonderful to be able to talk a little with the children and see the gratitude.  Seeing the difference in living standards really helps put things in perspective.

The following day was spent working on the school and hiking.  On the hikes we walked through some local villages and farm land.  The vegetation is very different than I expected, being mainly non-indigenous tree species, as most the land had been logged by earlier Europeans and replanted with European species.  You could be walking through the woods in Canada and it would look almost the same.  I did see a bush baby though.

I will write more soon about the climb and how it has been. 

Read Sarah's Blog #2 and listen to her audio message.