carrah's rad summer: dar es salaam, tanzania (part one)

My very good friend, travelling buddy extraordinaire, and Sadie model, Carrah went to Tanzania this summer with her boyfriend, another very good friend and travelling partner of mine (and recent UBC Landscape Architecture graduate, too!), James. Carrah doesn't have a blog (though I think we should all encourage her to start one right away), but she did bring back some amazing pictures and stories to share and I'm really excited to have a few of them on the blog today. Because there were so many incredible shots I've split this post into two parts. The second half will be published later today, so be sure to check back. Trust me, the second half is just as awesome (espeically if you like animals...)

How to even begin to summarize four weeks of travel through Tanzania in a small handful of photos is a near impossible task, but at the request of my dear friend Sarah, I will do my best. I am currently a medical student still in the early stages of my training and when given the opportunity to complete 6 weeks of summer elective time anywhere of my choice, I knew that I was going to make an adventure to remember. Along with a small group of classmates and my fiancé James, we decided on Tanzania where spent my time rotating through many of the different hospitals in the bustling dirty and developing city of Dar Es Salaam. Although I cannot show, nor do I have, any photos of my hospital experience, below are some of the other parts of my journey.

As James says, “job number one in Dar is to not get run over by cars, buses, bikes, piki pikis (motorcycles), tuk tuks or stores on wheels”.

Things on bikes. Gravity defying things you would never expect to see on bikes. One day I saw a bike ducking through traffic with a stack of eggs that must have been 40 flats high swaying around behind him. Astounding!

The local markets of Dar have everything. There is no shortage of fresh fruits vegetables, fish, barbequed corn, cassava – you name it and someone is selling it. It’s a shame that we couldn’t eat the vegetables because they are washed in water that has parasites.

A Bilbao tree stands alone. For me, this tree stirs something very primordial inside.

Bagomoyo. A site where hundreds of thousands of slaves would take their last steps on the soil of their mother land, a port for the lucrative spice trade, a stepping stone to an abundance of seafood and a lure for sand seeking tourists. Its role has formed and changed the history of Tanzania.

James and I looking out on to the Serengeti – a Maasia word meaning “endless plain”. It is unbelievable how the herds of thousands upon thousands of migrating zebras, wildebeests, gazelles, giraffes and elephants peacefully live here and how you can just drive right up to them. It’s almost too good to be true!

(On to Part Two)