Tanzania reflection

I am back at work (already!!) reflecting on the past two weeks in Tanzania.

Firstly, it is amazing the difference between Arusha and Dar es Salaam!  Dar was definitely the big city, where Arusha was slower and more relaxed.  The close, muggy heat in Dar was not pleasant for us Brits, but I could get use to it and air conditioning made a huge difference.

I was grateful I was given the opportunity to visit Ngorongoro Crater and experience the countryside and wildlife up close.  Most impressive.  Hopefully, in the future I might be able to visit Olduvai Gorge, the fountain of the human race!!  I would have liked to explore Dar es Salaam more, but we did not really have the time.

Culturally this trip was wonderful to experience Africa and everyone made us especially welcome. Thank you. The students were great and I hope they enjoyed my lectures.  (They seemed to!!)  It is great to go to countries where many of our student originate and experience their lifestyle.  This helps us understand them more and will definitely influence my future teaching.

I look forward to further visits in the future. 

Final day in Dar - Fri 4 April

Just finished final lecture. Julie and I are now at the airport waiting to board our flight to Amsterdam, then on to Birmingham.

Am back in the UK.  No problems gettting back in!! Managed to sleep most of flight back.  Will update with a reflection of the trip later.  Now to rest!!

2nd day in Dar - Tues 1 April 2014

Its  1st April, and I'm missing my lovely Michelle's birthday. Happy Birthday Princess.

Just had breakfast and an back in room 113, and am about to start exam writing. Dumb ass thing of the day for me was i could not open the hotel room safe! Must have entered the door lock code wrong. Manager came and fixed easily enough, then i did it again!  All before breakfast.  So mister smarty pants felt pretty stoopid...Now i need to do some real work.

1st day in Dar - Mon 31st March 2014

Spent the day preparing lectures and dealing with work related emails. 

We were collected at 4pm to arrive well before our lecture start time of 5pm, except we were delayed!!! A 15 minute journey took just over an hour.   I have never seen such delays!! Cause of traffic jams unknown. Loads of street hawkers and beggars trying to sell all sorts of cheap tack and food/drink.  They have a sitting target with nowhere to go.

IAA Dar es Salaam Campus

The IAA building in Dar is unusual in that it is in two parts. Its also based in a shopping mall with a cinema nearby!!  The Quality Plaza as it's known.  Julie is teaching in one section, me in the other.  I had more students than in Arusha, almost thirty I estimated.

My Dar student cohort, all busy working on my workshop activities

We had a good session and I over ran, so they must have liked it.  Same again tomorrow.

On to Dar es Salaam - Sun 30 March 2014

We are sat at Kilimanjaro Airport waiting for our flight to Dar es Salaam. Took some photos on the way from the hotel to the airport. Its the first time we have seen anything during the day, as we arrived at night a week ago.

 It seemed very busy on the way to the airport. Plenty of markets open and people coming from church etc.

Did not get to see Mount Kilimanjaro as it was totally covered in cloud.  Its also about 70 miles beyond the international airport. This was the best view of the local mountains.

Uneventful flight to Dar es Salaam in a turbo propped ATR operated by Precision Air

On the approach to Dar es Salaam, saw the city in the dark and lights stretched out forever!! Its a big place as proven by the long drive from the airport to the Protea Hotel.   

The rooms are smaller, but fully air conditioned and this seems well maintained.  Here is some pix of my room.

Very comfortable, I keep tripping on the mat by the bed!!

Better sort myself out for the lecture now!  It is just work remember, but not as we know it!!

Cultural Heritage - Arusha , Sat 29th March

Finally delivered my last lecture session at the library building at IAA. Was give a warm send off by the students. You can see their potential, eager to improve their lives and catch up with us in the developed world.  It was worth staying up past midnight last night improving and refining my lecture and workshop materials.

Julie and I have a little time off now until our flights to Dar es Salaam late Sunday. Also Rochelle and the exam board returned to the UK late Friday night, so it is just us now.

We decided to visit the Cultural Heritage Centre, which is shaped like a drum, spear and a shield. It is full of African art and culture from all over the continent.

 Many very scary fetishes, which are statues of people with deformed or exaggerated body parts, or full of pins and piercings.  Much used for witch doctors and spiritual activities.

Some fascinating carvings and other landscape features.   The area was also full of craft and African art shops.  I bought some nice wooden bits and pieces for gifts etc.  Also bought myself a Boa game made of carved ebony. Beautifully made.  Its a traditional East African game, a bit like a cross between Backgammon and Ludo. Also called a Mancala game.  Look forward to having friends round for Boa!!!

More photos of Ngorongoro wildlife

More photos of lions, elephants, rhinos and hippos.

Zebra crossing.. our path

Rhinos in the distance.  Could not get that close unfortunately

Plenty of elephants, this was in a marshy area called the elephant graveyard

Pretty flamencos with the hippos

Where are my car keys!!! Ostrich with head in the grass

Female Ostrich checking out male

 Simba and his females hanging around for lunch around the Wildebeest waterhole

Politicians (or reporters!) wallowing in the mud!!

Our driver took us to this really pleasant lake area for our packed lunch.  Very relaxing and we got to see some hippos nostrils too!!

Plenty of varied birdlife too.  Not just flamencos.  Quite a few vultures too.

Once over the rim of the crater, which was very bumpy!  Stopped for a view of Lake Eyasi and the other volcanic peaks nearby.

There is a house on top of that peak!!  What a view!!

Headed back after that.  Bounced back to Arusha and we were in the hotel at around 6:15pm.  A full 12 hours since we set out.   The driver was great pointing out all the wildlife and was  good with a 4x4. My only disappointment was that we did not have enough time to go to Olduvai gorge, the fountain of the human race.  It was 40 miles further on the NW side of the crater and we just did not have enough time,  The driver said it is best to camp if going there. So now I have a reason to come here again!!

Ngorongoro Crater road trip - Wed 26th March

We were up and out of the hotel at 6:30 for a bouncy drive to the Ngorongora Crater, whih is a 12 mile wide caldera full of African wildlife about 100 miles morth west of Arusha.

Was well worth the early start!!  We had a full complement of passengers including Julie and myself and the external examiners.

Maasai village on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, its been "recreated" for tourists

Our first view of the area was on the rim of the crater and it was spectacular.  I think the photos speak for themselves!!

It is very green as this time of year is the end of the rainy season.   Also managed to take a group shot of everyone.

Tanzania Tour 2014, (T-shirts are avaiable)

All calderas have a lake,  this one is not so deep as Crater Lake in Oregon USA

 Our rock solid, bouncy 4x4.  No Evogues here, too wimpy!!

"Approved" by Julie

 Gazelles

 Wot you staring at!! Haven't you seen a horny animal before!

Shit!! Run! its the Brits

 Warthogs get on their knees to graze

 First view of a lion hunting

 Hyenas follow the lions waiting for scraps left behind

An amazing view of the walls of the caldera

2nd Day at Arusha - Tues 25th April 2014

Been working all day writing up lectures, sorting slides and other materials.  I am back on the Campus and about to be interviewed and filmed for the publicity material that Tom has come here to create for web and TV showings.  

Also found out we are off to Ngorongoro Crater Wednesday instead of Saturday, so its a 6:30am start tomorrow. 

1st Day of teaching

Julie and I are in the reception lobby having a bite to eat before being collected and taken to IAA.

Heavy thunder storms last night. Reminded me of camping in the USA last year. Was happy to be in a hotel! 

Slept like a log until 8:30. Nice rooms as you can see from the pix.

The view from the balcony of room 504 in the Arusha Hotel

Been working away all morning preparing material for the lecture. Now heading to the Institute of Accountancy Arusha to meet everyone and deliver the lecture.

Everyone is very friendly and the drive to the campus was our first view of Tanzania in the daylight!!

The countryside and the town is very like India, just less people and more relaxed!  

Julie and I are teaching in the new library building, which they are rightly proud.   Its a new building but it has no lifts?!  The view from our classrooms is spectacular! I took a pix with my phone.

Finished just before eight in the evening, and everyone seemed to have gone, including Julie!! Wondered down to the ground floor and found her near the library entrance with our waiting driver.  Only problem was our vehicle was a pickup truck with a bench seat in the front.  Julie and I squashed in and I sat in the middle. The other problem was that the vehicle was a stick shift!!  The driver and I were in a difficult position every time he had to shift!!!

Met up with everyone else and ate a late evening meal at the hotel.  Julie had a lamb shank that was huge!! We all had to help.  I had an interesting dish of beef, bananas, veg and sour milk.  Very nice.  No problem finding meat and veg to eat luckily.  A wonderful meal with good company on the hotel balcony.

Foot room on flight out

Check out @correctguru's Tweet: https://twitter.com/correctguru/status/447659304741769216

Look at all this space!! Who said economy can be cramped!!

At Schiphol airport - Amsterdam

We are all waiting to board the plane now.  We have been joined by Tom who works in the multi media/marketing at the Uni.  He is going to be filming me lecturing for an advert.
So we have an eight hour flight ahead if us now.  More on the other side.

At Birmingham airport

We're waiting to board.  Am here with Julie, Rochelle & Angela (she is academic partnership unit for Africa). As a bloke, I feel out of the conversation as they are talking of the temptations of duty free shopping. Its all good fun.

Taxi to airport 4am!

Just got picked up by taxi. Thought we were on the way to the airport, but Rochelle has left her malaria tablets at home! So we're heading back to Cheylesmore, then the airport. Can you believe a doctor of philosophy forgetting something like that! Still have plenty of time to catch plane. More later...

Preparing for journeys afar - again

Coventry University has decided to send Julie Williamson and myself to the Institute of Accounting Arusha, in Tanzania, East Africa to pass on our knowledge of Enterprise Systems and Supply Chain Management to the local population.

Hence the new blog!!

Rochelle Sassman is the link tutor for this institution and as I have also "volunteered" to possibly become the new link tutor, she is coming along as well.  Me with two married women on a long journey!!  How will I cope. How will my gorgeous girlfriend, Michelle cope!!!

We're gone for two weeks, flying from Birmingham on Sunday 23rd at some ungodly hour to Amsterdam, then on to Arusha for 8 hours.  Lots of reading I hope!!

I will update with Twitter (my account is @correctguru ) as we travel, and take photos etc on the way. Hopefully it will not be all work and no play!!

Please  follow my adventures and mishaps!!