From Mara to Zanzibar
The service portion of our semester came to an end with everyone returning to the Anglican Guesthouse in Musoma, where a month and a half earlier everyone had departed to their various service placements. Reuniting the group was full of laughter, stories, and relaxing in the simple amenities that the guest house offered (like indoor plumbing)! After a restful night we began our multi-staged journey out of the Mara region. The first leg of the journey was a bus from Musoma to the larger city of Mwanza. Our flight out of Mwanza was very early the next morning which meant that we needed to do an overnight at a hotel. This offered us the opportunity to take time and begin our final project presentations. In the evening we ordered shawarmas and ice cream for the group and aimed for an early bedtime as the next day would be a hectic travel day.
The morning alarm came way too early but after a quick bite of breakfast we were off to the Mwanza airport for the 7am flight to Dar es Salaam. By the end of the day we were going to navigate one flight, two taxi rides, two ferry ports, an hour and a half ferry ride, a luggage ladened walk to our accommodation and a walking tour of historic Stonetown, Zanzibar. All along the way we tried our best to gracefully decline many offers to help carry luggage with the accompanying exorbitant porter fees. The following morning on the rooftop of our hostel we finished up our final project presentations and then began packing up for the last transfer to our Zanzibar retreat location. With another daladala drive across the island to the east coast we were finally able to take a bit of a breather.
Along the incredibly beautiful coast in Paje, Zanzibar our group enjoyed time swimming, walking along the beach, group storytelling and debriefing, good food, and plenty of pool side naps. The time together allowed us all to look back on our experiences both as a group during the study portion of our semester and then individually during service. We talked about the joys and challenges of living in a different culture. Students shared about times in which they thrived and other times that were downright difficult. But without a doubt SST in Tanzania stretched all of us. We will cherish the experiences, culture, relationships, and growth that happened in this amazing country.
