Saturday, March 29, 2014

Africa - Take One


What matters in life is not what happens to you -- but what you remember and how you remember it.   Gabriel Garcia Marquez


So I retired in August and the next chapter is beginning.  We spent January and February in Siesta Key, Florida, and I take off for Africa in April.  I'll be in Tanzania until July.

Over those two months, I'll be volunteering with two orphanages and Dick will come over for a 17 day safari.  This will be a journal of what I see and think as I'm going along.  It's as much for me as anyone.  I regret not keeping a consistent journal of our many trips.  I realized too late that my memories of those trips are fading and I've made up my mind that after dreaming about this one for so long, I'd like to recall what I did and felt years from now.

We'll see how it turns out.



Map of TanzaniaFacts about Tanzania
  • It's a little bigger than 2 times the size of California
  • Over 120 languages spoken
  • Life expectancy of 44 years
  • Birth rate 5.15 per woman
  • Approximately 67% unemployment
  • 10% of population believed to have HIV/AIDS
  • Nearly 60% of those infected are women
  • 1.3 million children orphaned as a result of AIDS