Tanzania Thank You.....

January 10th - "And so it begins......tomorrow will commence a new journey, a new path, a new exciting adventure. Tanzania I look forward to meeting you."

March 7th - And meet her I did. "WOW" There are no words to describe the experiences, the people, or the emotions that happened over my 2 months in Africa. Tanzania is a magical land full of absolutely wonderful, generous, beautiful people and stunning animals.

I never would have imagined that I'd be taking time off work, going to a foreign land to help out those in need, dig trenches for water, teach deaf children, let alone climb a mountain, and much much more. I was able to help out in many different ways, but more importantly was able to learn many different things about people and myself. It was truly a ReWaRDinG and LiFe cHanGiNg experience and one that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Tanzania, I can't say thank you enough!! I will only say goodbye for now and I look forward to seeing you one day SOON!

The journey continues......

P.S. my favourite little street vendor in Arusha tucked away in a side alley......my last day couldn't go without samosas and Tangawizi :)

Smile

A smile can change someone's day :)

May not seem like much....but a small act can be very powerful.

No matter what language you speak smiles are Universal.

P.S. if you don't feel up for a smile that day, just take a peak at the last photo

:)

St. Patrick's Day

St. Paddy's Day alla Italiana......Nutella Crêpe & Guiness :)

Cross it off the Bucket List.....Juventus

One of my all time dreams came true thanks to a surprise from my cousin Edoardo. I was lucky enough to see my favourite sports team "Juventus" play against Edoardo's favourite team "Bologna" at Bologna's home stadium. It was the perfect setting.

Leave the women and children at home though.....the fans are friggin' crazy!!! Everything I heard about Italian Calcio fans was true. I couldn't take my winter coat off to sport my Juventus jersey with fear of being in a fist fight and beaten on by 34,000 screaming Bologna fans!! They are truly insane!!! (Passionate though....I'll give them that). The only fans that I've seen that are as passionate and crazy are at a Montreal Canadians game - and that's like going to a day care in comparison to this ;) And no the suits at the Leafs games have nothing on Habs fans.

Being at the stadium was like having 34,000 referees and coaches at the same time....too funny!

Andrea Pirlo (number 21 in the Black & White Juventus jersey) is considered one of the all time best midfielders in Italian Football history. He is a true magician with the ball.

One photo is of Bologna's Curva with all the hard core fans, the other end has Juventus fans. Hearing the chants go back and forth was awesome. I was in the middle of all Bologna fans. Luckily I made friends with the people beside me and snuck in a quick pic at the end of the game ;)

The whole experience was incredible!!

P.S. Juve won 2-0......Forza Juve!!!

Hakuna Matata

........well it wouldn't have been a trip without a Hakuna Matata t-shirt and my "little man" Shedrack :)

Tanzania the land of.....

Speed bumps (I've NEVER seen soooo many in my life), Toyota vehicles (90% of the cars are Toyota), Nokia phones (EVERYONE's got them), Bananas, and UGALI!!! (Corn flour dish, it's the white food on the left side of plate and no utensils are ever used - only your "right" hand)

Of course there's also the beverages......
Tangawizi Soda - I'm not a pop/soda guy and don't drink it at home but this is probably the best soft drink I ever had and I could have drank this every day (and almost did!). It's a ginger root soda....SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!

Konyagi - when in Tanzania drink as the Tanzanians do ;)

On our farewell night when the rest of the crew were departing for home and Graham and I left for Mt. Kili - Graham, Steph, Deb, and I celebrated with a mix of both Tangawizi and Konyagi.....together they ain't too bad! Throw in some samosas and apparently they are delicious - as I'm sure a couple of the peeps can attest to ;)

Random thought......

Love

When you find the one you love, never let them go. Love each other deeply but find the balance between both of you. Just go forward. There is no right or wrong. Love has no rules or expectations. It just is. You can't change love or manipulate love. It's there to be discovered, nurtured, and grow. Be one with yourself. But most of all be happy and at peace. If you are not both of those - then love will not be either. Love is beautiful and the world is a better place because of it.

Express it. Savour it. Cherish it.

Roberto Stefano
March 6, 2013
9:19am
Tangeru (Arusha), Tanzania

Zanzibar Island

Paradise on Earth.......Not much else to say :)

P.S. the absolute best Indian food I've ever had. Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island and they definitely know how to use them at the Silk Route restaurant!!! It was such a shame we discovered it on our very last day and had to eat and rush out (tight on time) to get to the airport.....as everyone knows in Africa - time isn't a top priority "TIA" :)

Mount Kilimanjaro - Day 6

The descent......
Well we couldn't stay at the top of the mountain on day 5, so we made our way down to a safe altitude on a 3 hour hike, had a rest for a couple of hours and then headed down to our actual camp which took another 3 hours.

Day 6 was another 3 hour hike and we were complete!!!!

This is what we woke up to in the morning. You'll notice the trees and yes your eyes aren't deceiving you - those are clouds beyond the trees. It was an UNBELIEVABLE scene.....we were sleeping on (what felt like) the clouds!!!

The photo is of the 4 of us - Graham, our guides David & Athman, and myself. The other photo is our whole crew that included our cooks and porters.

Ok I know its tough - we trekked through the Rain Forest again!! I stopped for a little drink :)

After we got back to the hotel in Moshi, the first thing we did was sit down and have a Mount Kilimanjaro beer to celebrate!!! Their slogan is: If you can't climb it, drink it"......but we just beat the mountain: Man 1 - Mountain 0.

Congrats Graham to an unbelievable experience and a week's worth of self endurance and testing our limits every step of the way!!!!

Cheers!!!