I am an Art and Photo high school teacher in Belfast, Maine, USA. I am also an amateur naturalist and African wildlife enthusiast. I am constantly improving my Swahili and expect to continue visiting Tanzania. My goal is to share my trips through photography and help guide people on photo safaris. I shot all the photos you see on this blog while on my last trip. I'll add more in June and July. My work is not on any of the links.
Tanzania is truly a magical place. Anyone who has visited its game parks,or spent any time with its people, comes away feeling different, more fulfilled. It's like seeing the world when it was young.
The people are friendly, modest and can usually speak English. They are stewards of something very special and ecotourism is something they are getting very good at managing. Granted, the country is extremely poverty stricken and many of its residents struggle with the daily challenges of finding fresh water, keeping their families fed and finding and affording health care. In fact, many of its' rural tribes have none of these things on a reliable basis. The company is owned and operated by Tanzanians. They have incredibly knowledgeable guides who work hard and are eager to show off their country. All the money from clients goes to Tanzanians. I fell in love with Tanzania and have been putting a considerable amount of time in learning Swahili, the language spoken by most Tanzanians.
There are about 120 different tribes in Tanzania,all with their own language. I was impressed with how many people I met spoke Swahili AND English. In fact, our guides spoke several other languages and knew the Latin words for the many plants and animals we asked about. It seemed we could not stump them with any question about the flora and fauna which is so abundant. For anyone who wants to see biodiversity in vast amounts, I am pretty sure this is the place for you.
In this blog (I'm new to this, so bare with me) I will post photos and write about my February, 08 trip. I will also post information about the June/July, 09 trip that I am leading.