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Itinerary - Gap-Year-Teaching-Tanzania - Africa and Asia Venture
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Itinerary - Gap-Year-Teaching-Tanzania - Africa and Asia Venture
Itinerary
You will be seen off at Heathrow by one of the AV team and will fly into Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, where our Kenya-based AV representative, Lynette von Kaufmann, will meet you.
You will then travel 65 kilometres by bus to Lake Naivasha (after a short stop at the AV office in Karen, Nairobi) for your orientation course. On the way you’ll get your first view of the Great Rift Valley!
The Fish Eagle Inn is on the edge of Lake Naivasha. Colobus monkeys play in the trees and hippos wallow in the Lake. Acacia trees shade the spacious grounds and the hotel has a swimming pool. We will discuss the following topics during the course:
- History, customs and culture of Tanzania and its people
- Safety, health and security
- Teaching techniques, lesson planning and practice
- Some language training in Kiswahili
- The education system in Tanzania
- You will have the chance to take a boat on Lake Naivasha to see hippos and fish eagles and walk with giraffes, zebra and antelope in a small game sanctuary.
After the course you and the AV group will be taken by bus to a rendezvous in Arusha, where you will meet up with Helena Grant, our representative in Tanzania. She will ensure you are collected by your school and delivered to your house, doing some food shopping in local supermarkets on the way.
Next day you will be introduced to the children and school staff and will be shown around by a staff member appointed to welcome you to your new environment.
Your house will probably have 2 bedrooms, a sitting/cooking area and somewhere to wash. Most houses have running water, electricity and (those that are lucky!) flushing toilets. Otherwise you will have an outside pit latrine or ‘long drop’. You will soon feel very much at home!
A large part of every weekday will be spent teaching, organising PE, sports, extra-curricular activities (art, music or drama) and socialising in the staff-room. There will be homework to set and marking to do.
You can teach in pairs or on your own. You should have at least 12 academic and PE/games lessons every week.
At weekends and on public holidays you will have the chance to: chill at home; get together with other AVs; do some work, such as painting a classroom or dormitory; run an inter school sports competition; or travel to see other parts of Tanzania – whatever you like! Serengeti? Ngorogoro Crater? Mt Kilimanjaro? The coast? At least some of these options ought to make your weekends full!
You will be given a date to meet up in Nairobi for your final 6-day/5night safari in an overland safari truck with Gametrackers, our local safari company. Your first destination will be Lake Nakuru National Park where you can see all types of game, less elephant. If you are lucky, you may catch a glimpse of a leopard. Then on to Samburu National Reserve for elephants, lions and much, much more! Samburu is not crowded with tourists and is real and remote African bush. By the end you should have seen the ‘Big Five’!
Your accommodation will be in 2 or 4-person, mosquito-proof tents. You will have an experienced guide with you at all times and 2 cooks to provide 3 great meals a day.
Finally, your 14-week school attachment will come to an end. Leaving will make you very sad indeed but nearly 4 weeks of travel and safari ahead of you will certainly help to ease the pain. Some activities might include:
- Rafting the Source of the Nile in Uganda, bungee jumping over it, kayaking in it, and quad biking or horse riding along its banks. Alternatively,
- A visit to gorillas in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest (expensive but very special).
- The beautiful beaches of Tanzania or Zanzibar, Kenya or Lamu,. Travel by Arab dhow, windsurf, swim, snorkel or scuba dive in the Indian Ocean, or simply sunbathe by it.
- Climb a serious mountain – Mt Kenya or Mt Kilimanjaro. We can help organize both.
- Go on a camel trek in scenic Laikipia – again, we can help with bookings.
Returning from safari you will pass by the AV office, where you will collect your T-Shirt and any stored luggage. You will probably spend your last group evening at the famous Carnivore Restaurant – the biggest bar-b-que in the world!
If you are staying on a bit longer in Africa, don’t worry because “Once an AV, always an AV!” We will store luggage for you and help you out if you run into any problems.
Don’t underestimate the reverse culture shock of returning home – it is real and can be quite a surprise! But most AVs fall in love with Africa and come back again…and again! And, of course, our Nairobi staff are always delighted to welcome them.
