Because Africa is my place of birth I have always loved the continent, it's culture and all who live there. Yet as our journey began in Zanzibar I saw a side of my continent that I have never even thought existed. The image I had in mind of white sandy beaches and fancy hotels did not last, when we got off the ferry from Dar Es Salaam to Zanzibar the picture I saw infront of me was the total opposite. As we drove through the busy streets on our way to our hosts home, I came to realise that when you go past the luxurious hotels and white sandy beaches you find a whole new world. When we got to our place of accommodation we were received with a warm welcome from our hosts. During our stay there we worked by sanding and varnishing windows, spending time with the locals and trying out some of the local food like: chapatti, Jackfruit, Kasava and a whole lot more. We even learnt a bit of Swahili.
After our week in Zanzibar we departed with a ferry back to Dar Es Salaam where we took a bus to Kilifi, Kenya. There we met up with the rest of our global family for a week of D-briefing at Distant Relatives backpackers. What an amazing place! It was so awsome to see everyone from global again and to be able to greet all the teams before we all set of on our own journeys. When we left the backpackers we travelled to Ngong, Nairobi where we stayed with Work your Way for a while. God also blessed me to be able to spend some time with my uncle who works in Nairobi. And he also blessed both our team and the Work your Way team with fillet steaks, wors and potatoes. We were all so thankful because we can not always afford meat in our food budget.
Our journey so far was beyond anything I expected, God made Himself known in so many ways that there was never a dull moment. Even when we went swimming with dolphins in Zanzibar, or when we met our man of peace who helped us with our ferry tickets and blessed us with cold water and food on our first day in Dar Es Salaam. The heat there was unbearable so a bottle of cold water goes a long way. As I look back on my journey so far I can't help but smile. The lessons I learnt and the new things I saw will always be inbedded in my heart and soul. This is an experience that will last a lifetime, something that I will never trade for anything in the world. Here I saw myself grow in ways I never thought possible. And as I look over my shoulder to what had happened I can not even begin to think what God has instore for us during the rest of the year. All I can say is, this truly is a life like no other. A life where adventure awaits behind every corner. We just have to find it. Our journey has begun...
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