Six months in Africa, and a few more to go
New Year, Friends, Ngaara Primary School Update, and Next Steps...
2024, here we come! We spent Christmas & New Years between Tanzania and Malawi having a great time. It was a bit weird to spend those festive times in short-sleeved shirts and shorts, trading snow for sandy shores, and even more so, to sleep in a tent while transitioning into the New Year.
Adding to the thrill, we were lucky to have a dear friend Chris join us for a couple of weeks. We took him on a wild ride through our Nomad life, sharing some of our African experiences with him.
Besides the absolutely amazing Zanzibar beaches and nature…
…we encountered more lions than we ever could have dreamed of in Mikumi National Park in Tanzania.
We experienced what was probably one of the coolest shower and toilet experiences in the world in the north of Malawi…
…and - who would have thought - we were sunbathing on the most pristine beaches all along Lake Malawi, which felt like being at the sea.
Ngaara Primary School Updates
A few of you were asking for updates about Ngaara Primary School in Uganda. We are still in close touch with our contacts on-site. We were relieved to hear that - after a too-long dry period - the rain started to kick in from the beginning of November (versus rain normally picking up from mid-August).
The additional water tank we installed with all your help was filled, and hopefully no extra water purchases will be required this year, and the money used for this in previous years can be used more purposefully. The new boys’ toilets are in full use, leading to a more hygienic environment at the school.
One aspect that still keeps us busy is the official registration of the “Ngaara Food Program” charity in Ireland. The charity’s purpose is to ensure that there is always enough funding for the school meals so that the children can have two full meals each day. School meals also help ensure that parents send the kids to school, instead of sending them to work. While this was a goal from the very beginning when we arrived in Uganda, the familiarisation with the requirements and the admin attached to it took quite a bit more time than expected. Alone the opening of a bank account for charitable purposes took several months.
The good news is that we are now at a point where all the documentation is available and completed, so that we can send it to the Irish Charity regulator. Fingers crossed that this will not take another few months... Upon final approval of the Charity registration, we will finalise the website and finally open up the possibility for donations to the food program.
What’s next?
Many of you are asking: “And what’s next for you?”. In 6 months we have seen 5 countries - Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Malawi. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but we like to take things slowly… Furthermore, Kenya and Tanzania are huge countries to get around. Fun fact: there is a national park in Tanzania that is bigger than actual Switzerland. Even though we spent a lot of time in both countries, we would still have a lot more to see there.
Now we are slowly making our way towards South Africa (our “final destination”). To reach our goal of Cape Town, we will be journeying through quite a few countries ahead, like Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia. Those countries are very sparsely populated with fewer major things to see; therefore, we should be able to advance a bit more quickly with less distractions. We still won’t make a fixed plan as we like to keep it flexible, however, we think we should make it to South Africa around April.
Exciting times lie ahead. We are looking forward to keeping you updated about our adventure.
