Before Abuja

In between leaving The Gambia and coming to Nigeria I was in the UK, Zanzibar and Dar Es Salaam.

In the UK I had chance to spend time with my family, which was lovely, and see as many of my friends as possible. It was hard to see everyone as travelling round the country was getting expensive, but I loved meeting up with those that I could, seeing new houses, meeting new babies, hearing about wedding plans, and seeing first hand what everyone has been doing over the last year or so. One particular highlight was meeting these two cheeky little monkeys! 

Being in Zanzibar was fantastic, but hard work. The location for the start-up workshop was beautiful, and both the hotel the workshop was held in and the hotel we stayed in were really lovely. Doing a start-up workshop three weeks into a new job was challenging but a great way to get to know the team and the country programme staff we will be working with. 

View from the workshop venue

I also got to see a bit more of the island than I had on a previous trip to Zanzibar, as we spent one day visiting some of the partner organisations, including an agricultural training centre and a pineapple farm - a personal favourite as I had never seen pineapples growing before! 

We had some great meals and managed to get a bit of down time to visit Prison Island and lie on the beach for a few hours. Nothing like getting into a bikini to get to know your team members!  

This is a bib they gave me, not my t-shirt!

The weekend the workshop finished my colleague Katie and I went to the east of the island with Emma, who is living and working in Dar Es Salaam. We had a really lovely time, it was so peaceful and relaxed, with more great food, and a real chance to unwind.  

Perhaps one of the best decisions I made was to stay on in Tanzania for just over a week after the workshop. The original reason for doing so was to go on a field trip to visit some of the project sites, but it was a long, expensive journey and I realised that I could be more productive staying in Dar and working out of the Tanzania office. From a work point of view I managed to get loads done and spend time with the programme staff. From a personal perspective I found that it really gave me a confidence boost, proving that I would be able to adapt to living and working in another country without coming as part of a group of volunteers. While I was there I hung out with Emma, who I felt I had known forever, went to a yoga class, had my eyebrows done and generally did 'normal life' things which felt great. 

I have loads of nice pics from Dar Es Salaam, but I will just post my favourite one for now - a sign outside a bank... no guns allowed!