Now, I like to think of myself as part of the adventurous breed. I’m not going to lie, landing in Dar Es Salaam running on very little sleep with a 4 hour lay over, before boarding what looked like a toy plane, had me at breaking point.
I was intimidated by my new surroundings, missed home and started experiencing my first wave of self doubt.
What on earth was I going to be able to contribute? How was I going to make any kind of difference in these peoples lives? Will their expectations exceed my capabilities? My brain was fried.
Arriving at Kilimanjaro Airport although it was now very late was a breath of fresh air! A smaller, neater, less crowded airport than Dar Es Salaam. Best of all upon exiting immigration I was welcomed by Simon, the charismatic CCS driver, cheerfully holding up a sign with my name on it. FINALLY a sigh of relief knowing I had made it to my destination in one piece 
Excuse my half glass empty moment, but before I could even finish my sigh of relief Simon informed me it was too long of a drive back to our safe house, which meant we would have to wait the few hours at the airport for the next lot of volunteers to arrive. We did so in the airport pub, just a short stroll down a dark road. Picture a rectangular building made of bessa bricks, with no actual windows except metal bars where glass should be, full of local men sipping their coca cola while eating a late meal and watching the news.
Imagine the jaw dropping, awkward silence that was so loud it was deafening when I entered the building with Simon. For the first time I experienced what it was like be of the minority.
Thankfully time flew by and before I knew it my fellow volunteers had landed. Simon packed our luggage up into the van, with the assistance of a kind Masai Warrior we came across in the car park, my first real indication I was far from home.
Due to sheer exhaustion, the motion of the van driving along on the unsealed road was enough to put me to sleep. This was until the van came to an abrupt stop at a check point made from two very rusty 20 gallon drums, with a man standing directly in front of the van holding the largest rifle I’ve ever seen!
It scared the living daylights out of me! Yet not enough to stop me from falling back asleep once the van started moving again, the bright side to some serious jetlag I guess?
We arrived at the CCS safe house where we were welcomed by Mama Grace. She gave us a brief tour of the facilities and showed us to our room. I was greeted by a lovely Canadian girl, Teri. We exchanged formalities and hit the sack in preparation of our first full day in Moshi, Tanzania.
