Nata is a small town of several thousand people on the western edge of the Serengeti National Park. Erica Grasse, David Graber, and Jonathan Mast are living and volunteering in Nata and we visited them on Monday and Tuesday of this week. We arrived in time to share a lunch…
This past week marks our first service visit! Thursday and Friday we spent in Murangi, a town about 1 ½ hours south of Musoma directly on Lake Victoria. The town is a small village of several thousand residents nestled on a hill overlooking the water, with a…
On Sunday the students and our family attended the Nyabange Mennonite Church in Nyabange, a small village on the outskirts of Musoma where the Mennonite Theological College of East Africa (MTCEA) is located. We have also been offered a house by the college to stay in during…
During our visit to Grumeti we stayed at the Ikoma Cultural Center located between Mugumu and Nata. The cultural center is run by Agnes and her husband and provides an opportunity for visitors to experience some of the local culture surrounding the Serengeti, while at the same…
Tanzania’s land management comprises a mix of complete protected areas (national parks like the Serengeti), areas where wildlife can be comsumed (wildlife management areas – WMA), and areas where humans can live and coexist with wildlife (akin to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area). Our goal was to explore these multiple land…
After our night on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater we helped break down camp and load the land cruisers for our trip to the Serengeti, about a 3 hr drive. On the way we stopped at the famous Olduvai Gorge (more correctly Oldupai). Oldupai is the location of important fossil…
The next several posts will update you on the last week of travels from Dar es Salaam to Musoma. We left Dar on Monday, Feb. 21 and spent one night in Arusha before meeting our tour guides for our safari to Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Serengeti National Park, and Grumeti…
We are delighted to report that all the students arrived safely at their service locations! We received confirmation via phone from all the families. Most students spent the day traveling via bus or daladala, with travels lasting 3-4 hours for some. Others were picked up by their host parents directly…
Just a quick note to let everyone know that we safely arrived in Musoma yesterday afternoon. Today we attended the Nyabange Mennonite Church for a warm, festive, and celebratory welcome. Over the last week, we had an amazing journey through the Serengeti ecosystem and we’ll report on that after…
Everyone attended church today at Upanga Mennonite Church, where we have been having our daily Swahili classes. The church has been so welcoming, as we’ve used classrooms on their compound, benefited from the local canteen for our lunches, and have deeply appreciated the daily interactions with the…
