Tanzania: High School Safari Service Trip

Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Transfer to Moshi. Students will spend their day at the lodge learning about cultural values and Swahili language, and partake in some team building/icebreaker activities. We will then transfer to a local restaurant where we can watch the sunset with a great view of Mt. Kilimanjaro. After dinner we will share stories with music at the campfire.

Students will begin their morning with a gentle yoga and self reflection practice. They will take some time to journal their thoughts and feelings before breakfast. We will then head to town for a Market Tour and Local Cooking Class in Njoro Village with a local family. Our lunch will be prepared and cooked by students: Try your hand (and muscles) at making Ugali, a local corn flour “cake”, it’s HARD! Students will also learn the traditional techniques used to cook the food of the Chagga people. Spend a hot afternoon in Njoro Village playing with the kids, soccer with kids, dancing, drumming, learning and teaching songs to village kids. Journaling and sharing when we arrive back to hostel.

The early morning hours are spent freely (or more likely sleeping in). After breakfast students will head out to visit a local waterfall and surrounding village. The hike to the waterfall takes about 45 minutes. After the hike we visit a coffee plantation and learn how this crop is grown and harvested in the area. Students will have a picnic lunch, then, spend some time walking around the village and sharing some moments with the folks that they meet. We will head to a neighboring town for camping in the late afternoon.

Wake up in Kwa Sadala, the plains where many Maasai live to graze their cattle. After a “bush breakfast” and some mindful morning movement, students will walk to a neighboring Maasai village to meet the people who have lived on this land for many years. They will see how they herd their cattle and live off of the land. Students will get a chance for a Q & A with a local Maasai chief.

After this, students will drive to one of the National Parks and take an afternoon game drive. Students will camp in the park.

Enjoy one more day in one of the National Parks. Spend night at Osiligilai Maasai Lodge.

Spend a day with the Maasai in West Kilimanjaro. Learn about their culture, food preferences (milk, meat, and blood 😉 ), take a nature walk around their lands, visit a traditional boma (house), perhaps eat a meal of goat, milk a cow, and learn about their abundant knowledge of traditional herbal medicine. Mindful movement and mindfulness in the morning to start the day.

There are so many amazing projects that the students can work with. Depending on the needs and inspiration of the group of students, we will find a suitable service learning project!

Ideas include: After school programs, microfinance projects, farming initiatives, sustainable building projects, women and widows support projects.

If schools would like more service, students can participate in another day of service, or may spend more time with local families, or perhaps more time in the team building/healing aspect of the trip. We will end our last day with a pizza night and some fun!

Last minute souvenirs, shopping, packing, etc. Sharing circle, and goodbyes.