We Made it to Matamba
Finally, we made it to Matamba and had an incredible welcome by the students, teachers and pastor. When we get pictures we will load them on. The challenge to date has been finding internet access which is why we have not posted before. As I write this we are trying to access my bag that has school ipad and some of my other items.
Tonight we are staying the priests' house and I think it will be more relaxing evening. We have been on the road a lot. It is a great distance from Dar es Salaam where we landed to Matamba which is up on a hill in the highlands. It is the end of the dry season and we had just a little rain today which will help with the dust and the crops that will soon be planted.
Our flight was uneventful but long. The entire trip was 22 hours. We had about 31/2 hours in Amsterdam. It was good to be able to get up and walk around. We found the gate for our flight to Tanzania and then went looking for a place that was less stuffy to wait. Some time later we discovered that the gate was changed. So we headed to the new gate and boarded. Again the flight was fine. We stopped in Mt. Kilimanjaro on the way to Dar es Salaam but it was dark and we could not see the mountain. It was almost 10 p.m. when we finally arrived in Dar.
We stayed the night at St. Augustine School of Theology for two nights. On Wednesday we went to Bogamoyo where Christianity first came to Tanzania. It was also the slave trade port and we saw an interesting museum that talked about early Christianity and the slave trade. Trying to stop that was one of the first things the missionaries tried to do.
On Thursday we went as far as the national animal preserve and stayed there over night. We drove through the park on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. We saw a lot of animals. Impalas, water bison, wildbeests, warthogs, birds, hippos, crocs, and six lions. Our guide said they would go days without seeing lions so to see so many was a special treat. The one thing we really did not see on Thursday was elephants. Just a couple in the distance without a good view. Then on Friday morning when we got up there were six elephants directly outside our back door. We were quite close which was exciting. Then when we drove through the park again we saw lots of elephants. We also saw quite a few giraffes.
On Friday we travelled to Njombe which is the regional capital and the seat of the Bishop of the diocese in which Matamba is located. We stayed at the Cathedral. However, we arrived very late because we had car trouble. Which is not surprising since we travelled on many non paved roads and even the paved roads were quite bumpy. I will need a good chiropropracter when I get back. It took several hours to fix the car so it was a very long day.
Today is Saturday and we are now at Matamba. Tomorrow is Mass and a time for us to spend with the students. We will be giving out uniforms and some gifts that we brought from the States. I am sure it will be a long and tiring day.
Monday we start back and will take two days to return to Dar es Salaam. I wish I had more time to spend so I hope I will be able to come back some day. They are building an airport nearer to Matamba so that should make the journey easier - not any shorter in terms of flights but will allow us a much shorter car ride.
I am going to post this and then try to upload some pictures. Electricity has been going in and out and the internet connection is a borrowed one so I don't want to overdo it.
Thanks to all who supported us in coming and support St. Monica's School. It has been a great adventure.
Tonight we are staying the priests' house and I think it will be more relaxing evening. We have been on the road a lot. It is a great distance from Dar es Salaam where we landed to Matamba which is up on a hill in the highlands. It is the end of the dry season and we had just a little rain today which will help with the dust and the crops that will soon be planted.
Our flight was uneventful but long. The entire trip was 22 hours. We had about 31/2 hours in Amsterdam. It was good to be able to get up and walk around. We found the gate for our flight to Tanzania and then went looking for a place that was less stuffy to wait. Some time later we discovered that the gate was changed. So we headed to the new gate and boarded. Again the flight was fine. We stopped in Mt. Kilimanjaro on the way to Dar es Salaam but it was dark and we could not see the mountain. It was almost 10 p.m. when we finally arrived in Dar.
We stayed the night at St. Augustine School of Theology for two nights. On Wednesday we went to Bogamoyo where Christianity first came to Tanzania. It was also the slave trade port and we saw an interesting museum that talked about early Christianity and the slave trade. Trying to stop that was one of the first things the missionaries tried to do.
On Thursday we went as far as the national animal preserve and stayed there over night. We drove through the park on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. We saw a lot of animals. Impalas, water bison, wildbeests, warthogs, birds, hippos, crocs, and six lions. Our guide said they would go days without seeing lions so to see so many was a special treat. The one thing we really did not see on Thursday was elephants. Just a couple in the distance without a good view. Then on Friday morning when we got up there were six elephants directly outside our back door. We were quite close which was exciting. Then when we drove through the park again we saw lots of elephants. We also saw quite a few giraffes.
On Friday we travelled to Njombe which is the regional capital and the seat of the Bishop of the diocese in which Matamba is located. We stayed at the Cathedral. However, we arrived very late because we had car trouble. Which is not surprising since we travelled on many non paved roads and even the paved roads were quite bumpy. I will need a good chiropropracter when I get back. It took several hours to fix the car so it was a very long day.
Today is Saturday and we are now at Matamba. Tomorrow is Mass and a time for us to spend with the students. We will be giving out uniforms and some gifts that we brought from the States. I am sure it will be a long and tiring day.
Monday we start back and will take two days to return to Dar es Salaam. I wish I had more time to spend so I hope I will be able to come back some day. They are building an airport nearer to Matamba so that should make the journey easier - not any shorter in terms of flights but will allow us a much shorter car ride.
I am going to post this and then try to upload some pictures. Electricity has been going in and out and the internet connection is a borrowed one so I don't want to overdo it.
Thanks to all who supported us in coming and support St. Monica's School. It has been a great adventure.
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