15th - 19th May 2009, Arusha, Tanzania.

The border crossing was pretty routine, same old boring paper work, but at least it was a quick crossing. The trip would be a breeze without all of the bureaucracy!

We we're heading for Arusha, a town near the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. We found the Masai Camp $5 each per night. It was a lovely camp run by an American guy, it had a lovely bar (a little too convenient as we spent more than our budget should allow on beer! (Nothing new there)!

Football Africa we're visiting a charity and would join us again in a couple of days.

We spent the next 2 days exploring Arusha, watching United winning the the Premier League of course!

We woke up early and made a bit of breakfast then drove to Moshi, the town at the base of Mount Kili, but were disappointed as the cloud cover obscured any sort of view the mountain had to offer! GUTTED!

We had also decided that a trip to Zanzibar had to be scrapped from the agenda as it was too costly! Not a good day!

Football Africa arrived, they were welcomed with a nice cold beer! Good times.

Spent the next 2 days catching up with washing, cleaning Yolandy and basically taking it easy, Football Africa had arranged a game of football with a local charity, another win under their belts! Neilo scored 2 goals so all was good!

Also saw a chameleon, that was very cool.

20th - 25th May 2009, Dar es Salam, Tanzania.

We set off for Dar es Salam on the east coast, we fancied a few days of relaxation on the beach! It sounds like were relaxing a lot recently doesn't it! This travelling lark is very stressful!

Plus it was a 1^st year anniversary on Friday so a beach break seemed apt!

The drive took about 8 hours, and when we arrived in Dar es Salam (the unofficial Capital City of Tanzania) we had to queue for the Ferry to take us the 5 minute voyage over to the South Beach area. It was about 10pm by now and we had to find a camp in the dark, we found Kipepeo Camp $5 each a night and managed to get a couple of beers in before the bar closed.

We woke up and greeted with the most amazing view of the Indian Ocean! We we're in the sea within minutes of waking up! It was glorious, this is the life! Spent all day on the beach in and out of the sea. Thats what we pretty much did for the next few days. The boys fitted in a game of football, we jumped around in the sea, sunbathed, ate good food and drank good beer! What more could ask for?

The resort was really nice and we decided to stay there for out anniversary, our 100^th day away and our 1^st anniversary arrived, we treated ourselves to fillet steak and a cocktail each! Football Africa insisted on buying us a shot each!......More drinks.....more shots...........blur!

We had met some guys from Sheffield Uni who were out in Tanzania football coaching as part of their course,, (this is who the boys had played football with) they had invited us to stay with them for a couple of nights in the city, it was so kind of them and we'll never say no to free accommodation! They were a really good crowd and we had a good time staying at their gaff. Cheers guys, you're stars. 

26th - 30th May 2009, Kyela, Tanzania

We left Dar es Salam and were heading towards Iringa to spend the night there, before continuing down to Kyela. It was a long and hot drive and by 5.30pm we realised we wouldn't quite make it before dark, there were lots of campsites about, we were in the Kilombero Valley area and it was beautiful so we decided to stop at Crocodile Camp, where we were told there were Crocs in the river, thankfully we didn't see any!

We got up super early the next morning to complete the long drive to Kyela, things take so much longer than anticipated in Africa!

Neil got a speeding fine today! Another traffic offence Tut tut! We were going 64Kph (apparently)!

We saw Elephants and Giraffe on the journey, and lots of people on push bikes! Their mad for their bikes in Tanzania!

 We arrived in Kyela by 5pm, we were here with Football Africa who were visiting The Mango Tree, a charity that supports Orphaned children, most of who are orphaned by HIV and AIDS. The charity supports the children from birth up to University age in all aspects, education, re homing, counselling and support etc.

We were greeted by Andylayle, he runs The Mango Tree in Tanzania, he is such an inspiring guy, and he offered to put us all up at his home.

The following morning we had a tour of The Mango Tree buildings and met the staff, all inspiring people.

We went to visit a high school supported by the Mango Tree, they were delivering 30 tables and chairs to the school, they were presented to the head with all the kids outside cheering and then singing, it was the most amazing experience, how thankful the school were for the desks and chairs.

We went around some of the class rooms, there were a lot of kids in the school that are supported by The Mango Tree, their school fees are paid and they are given general support by the charity. (primary Education is free, but students have to pay for secondary education).

The following day we visited a Primary school, the welcome was incredible, hundreds of kids cheering and jumping up and down, all ages from 4 to as old as 16, who started schooling late and are catching up. We met the Headteacher, such a gentle kind man, he told us there were nearly 1000 children in the school, over 100 in some of the classes! (Can you imagine Mum!?), most of the classes didn't have desks or chairs, the kids sat on planks of wood or bricks! There was no complaining done, just pleased to be in school...(Can you imagine Mum!!!!)

Again there were a lot of children supported by The Mango Tree in the school. The Headteacher thanked us for coming, I had a lump in my throat it was so emotional. What an incredible experience something we will never forget.

In the afternoon The Mango Tree had their monthly meeting with all of the volunteers, it was great to meet all of the volunteers, we had a bit of lunch with them and then a game of football late afternoon.

Visiting The Mango Tree has been a highlight of this trip so far, such amazing people working hard to better their country and helping the orphaned children. Truly inspiring.

The following day we would cross the border into Malawi, the heart of Africa.