Camp Life

So far the last few days have all blurred together. I am now all settled into camp and officially done with program orientation. The place I am living for the next three months is called Moyo Hill Camp located in the very small, rural town of Rhotia (pronounced row-tia). It is located right between two larger towns Karatu and Mto Wa Mbu and only a few kilometers from the Ngorogoro conservation area and Lake Manyara National Park.

I am living in a banda, which is basically a small building with two rooms, each with two bunk beds, a couple desks, some shelves and a bathroom/shower. I am living in banda “Kicheche” (key-chay-chay) which is swahili for zorilla or striped polecat. Basically it’s a glorified weasel with the coloring of a skunk. Everybody else got cool banda names like simba for lion, but I guess somebody had to be the weird random animal, right? I have two other roommates and so far living in the banda is more comfortable than I expected. Adjusting to the early morning sounds will take a little time as the local roosters and birds are very vocal very early. Although, the showers can still be relatively cold (despite the small heaters attached to the shower head) and the water pressure very low, so showering in the middle of the day when it is actually warm is ideal. It has been SO COLD!! Temperatures are usually below 70 degrees all day and its even worse when its cloudy. I am so glad I packed some warmer clothes, even though I definitely would have packed more. Luckily it will get warmer the longer I am here. Tanzania is technically coming out of its winter season, which is basically the dry season with colder mornings and evenings and the sun sets around 7 PM like clockwork year round. As I get later into the semester, around late October, the shorter rains will start before the season develops into the long rainy season, where it rains for hours or days on end (I will be home before the long rains start).

Camp is completely enclosed and it’s only little paradise covered in flowered plants and trees. Visitors aren’t allowed into the camp and the gate is guarded 24/7. On camp there is a row of bandas for all the students, more bandas where the professors and camp staff live, a classroom/library with a small computer/printer room, a dining building with a covered porch, a laundry area (we hand wash our laundry), volleyball net, and a large gazebo in the center. We also have a small “shop” with some soda, chocolates, postcards, and a place where we can exchange our American money right on camp.

Life here at camp is very structured. A bell is rung for every breakfast at 7:30, lunch at noon, and dinner at 7 PM, with an evening meeting run by a “student of the day” at 7:30. Once every six days I am part of a cook crew, which means I help cook breakfast at 6:30 AM and help clean larger dishes after dinner, as everyone is expected to wash their own dishes after each meal. So far the food has been pretty good but repetitive, but hey that’s camp life. They serve a snack around 5:00 everyday, which is always popcorn surprisingly enough. Lectures will begin everyday at 8 AM and the actual schedule of classes changes everyday Monday through Saturday with usually 1-2 hour breaks throughout the day and an end around 5 PM. Most early evenings are spent playing soccer with the Rhotia locals. I did this the first day and quickly realized I was way out of my league because these guys are good. However, they always welcome the SFS students and have a great sense of humor.

When we first got here, we got the run down of all the potential creepy crawlies and health risks to be aware of (Mom, you might not want to read this). Venomous snakes include the black mamba, Egyptian cobra, red-spitting cobra, and the puff adder. The black mamba is one of the most venomous snakes in the world and if not treated within a couple of hours, death is almost certain. If the snake strikes near your torso or heart, it could be fatal in as short as 20 minutes. Luckily most of the snakes have never been seen in Rhotia but they are around. Tanzania has only one snake-bite clinic, meaning only one place in the country holds the anti-venoms for these snakes. We are considered lucky because we are about an hour and a half away from it.

As far as bugs go we have to be careful of jiggers, which are tiny fleas that live in the dust and tend to burrow in your toes to lay their eggs. Apparently many students will get them while we are here. You know if you have a jigger because a blister will form with a black dot in the middle where the female flea is getting ready to lay her eggs, which you have to pop out to avoid. I know, it’s disgusting. There is also the Nairobi fly, which has an acid like substance that will burn your skin on touch, scorpions, and safari ants. The ants are more of a problem to us when we go camping in the parks. Apparently, they form large ant highways that can potentially engulf a campsite for a few hours before it moves on its way. If you accidentally get too close to their swarming path then hundreds of them can cover you in seconds. They will bite you as well and you just have to either strip down or flick them all off of you.

This all sounds great right? It’s not over. Apparently there are a lot of hyenas around Rhotia too, so for that reason we are not allowed out after dark. Now, for all the pathogens we could be exposed to. All of the water on camp is specially treated so it is safe to drink. However, most of the water in Tanzania is infected with Giardia. Already six students have had to be taken to the local clinic from vomiting because they got Giardia from either using the tap water or eating some of the food at the hotel the first night. It can sit in your system for about three weeks before showing symptoms; so right now we are all sitting ducks hoping the rest of us don’t get sick. There is also Malaria and Dengue which are mosquito carried diseases. I take a daily malaria medication and we also sleep in mosquito nets for protection from all of this stuff. Let’s see, what else? There is African sleeping sickness which is spread by tsetse flies. Luckily, the chances of us getting any of these are very slim. I was vaccinated for Yellow Fever, however, Tanzania hasn’t had a case in years so that is good. There is also rabies, which does hold a huge risk. Stray cats/dogs, livestock and wildlife are constantly around and could all potentially be infected. I guess one year a monkey from one of the parks came up to a student and stole their banana, scratching the student a little bit. As a precaution she had to be medically evacuated to South Africa for rabies treatment. Yes, South Africa is the only place in Africa that has the proper post rabies exposure treatment and costs about $18,000. Also, the program has signed us all up with a membership insurance that will medically evacuate us if anything like this should happen. HIV/AIDS is also a problem in Tanzania where about 9 in 100 people are infected. Of course there are some general bacterial infections from the food that are possible as well as worms. Schistosomiasis is transferred by snails that live in still water and for that reason we are only allowed to swim at lodges. I think that should about cover it…

Any day during down town we are allowed to go into the town of Rhotia to walk around and interact with the community. They are used to the SFS students because they have been coming here for quite a few years now and like to help us through Swahili. The children here are especially awesome. From out of nowhere little kiddos will run up to you to hold your hand or hug you and ask to have their picture taken. They also love to see the pictures afterword. The area surrounding camp is also quite beautiful and high up in the hills so we have beautiful views of landscape in the distance.

Overall, the staff here has all been welcoming and kind. The other students here are also all super friendly, kind, positive, and personable people. I know I will be sharing my experience with some great people. Right now, as I finish this post we are all currently watching the Lion King on our covered porch. On the other hand, the first couple days here have been very emotionally overwhelming and tough to adjust to. Basically nothing is the same as it is in America. Now that is had been a couple days though I feel much better adjusted and incredibly grateful to get to live in such a beautiful place. I apologize for the super long post, but there is just so much to tell in only a few short days!