Tanzania

Hello everybody!

Yesterday we arrived in Tanzania. We were here only one hour when I had noticed something. I saw everyone was cold but for us it was very hot. The hottest period extends between November and February that it’s about 25-31° while the coldest period occurs between May and August then it’s about 15-20°. For us it’s hot at the moment.

The people speaking English over here but there is another language I can’t understand. Yesterday I looked it up and I found that the other language is Swahili. English is still the language of higher courts. Tanzanians see themselves as having two official languages, English and Swahili. Swahili is seen as a unity of all the tribes and every tribe has also his own language. An old woman told me that when you grow up the first language you learn is the language of your tribe and thereafter you learn English and Swahili.

Tomorrow we will visit a hospital because the hospitals over here aren’t sophisticated. I really want to see what happened with children who have malaria. The leading cause of death in Tanzania is malaria. Other leading causes of death are pneumonia and diarrhea. I really don’t understand how it can come so far. Because my doctor says when I have malaria I just have to take medicines. Nobody can cure malaria but you can live with it.

The day after, we would visit Lake Manyara National Park. The Manyara Lake is an impressive view. In the background you see the riff valley with a long green stripe below the water. They said us that we will find hippos, elephants and buffalo herds over there. The Lake is known for the many birds, flamingos, pelicans and storks. The park is best known for the lions that sleep in trees. I hope I will see a lot of lions because lions are beautiful animals.

We will also visit the beautiful white beaches en the magnificent underwater world with beautiful coral reefs. The island Zanzibar lies approximately 40 kilometers from Tanzania and is easily accessible by ferry or plane.

I’ll see you back in a few weeks!

Greetz

Jolien

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzania#Tourism