Hello friends!

Welcome to the first official blog post of my journey with the BVC! It has been quite the hectic two weeks. I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

July 11: My journey to Hanga, Tanzania, began with a very long Trans-Atlantic aerial journey through eight different time zones! My flight itinerary included departing Minneapolis/Saint Paul (MSP) International Airport for the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport, and after a brief two-hour layover in DFW, I boarded a plane bound for Doha, Qatar!

July 12: After a 15-hour flight, I landed in Doha and met up with my BVC partner for the year, Allan! He had flown in from Los Angeles earlier that day. Since I had traversed eight time zones (jumped forward eight hours) coming from DFW to Doha, I landed almost exactly 23 hours after I had taken off the previous day!

July 13: Allan and I had roughly an 11-hour layover in Qatar before we were to board the next flight that would take us to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. So, we decided that we would venture out and explore Doha a little bit and kill some time before our next flight. Given that both of us had gotten some sleep on the plane and neither of our internal clocks knew what day it was, we were not sleepy and wanted to try and explore before the jet lag caught up to us. We were able to see a little bit of downtown Doha and get an amazing view of the waterfront! We then rented a hotel room in Doha to freshen up and sleep for a few hours. We got up early to ensure we were ready and get to the airport. Hamad International Airport (DOH) is frequently rated as one of the best in the world and after exploring it, I can absolutely understand why. The airport itself is gorgeous, with most of the walls being glass (which lets in a lot of sunlight), and there is also an entire garden inside the airport as well. Restaurants and shops line almost every wall and every corner, and you are almost certain to find something you like to eat/drink. Our flight to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania was roughly a six hour plane ride, and we arrived in the early afternoon of July 13. After getting our bags and going through customs to get our Visa’s, we were off! We were picked up by the brothers of St. Placidus House in the neighborhood of Kurasini. The brothers and guesthouse in Kurasini belong to the same order of monks that live in Hanga, and we were staying with them for a few days so that we could be closer to an immigration office where we needed to visit to finalize our Residency permits (extended stay Visa). Also staying at Kurasini were three young Mozambique monks and a Brazilian monk who were all learning to speak Swahili. Everyone we met at Kurasini was incredibly kind and welcoming.

July 13 through July 19: The first few days of our stay at Kurasini involved lots of rest and rejuvenation as our bodies recovered from our long journey and as jet lag set in. We ventured out of Kurasini twice during our 6 day stay, the first time was to go to the Tanzanian Immigration Facility in Dar Es Salaam to get our residency permits in order, and the second time was on our last full day at Kurasini (July 18th), when Allan and I ventured into the downtown area of Dar Es Salaam known as the Slipway, which is a tourist heavy destination. While we were at the Slipway, we found a lovely little coffee shop where we were able to just relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery around us. After we finished our drinks, we found a lovely little eatery where we both got pizza! The view was also amazing, and I only wish that I had taken a picture of it. After we finished eating, we ventured over to a beautiful Benedictine Cathedral called St. Joseph’s and a very kind parishioner gave us a little tour of the church. After wandering around the Cathedral for a little bit, we finally ventured back to Kurasini to ensure that we were all packed up and ready to head out for our final flight from Dar Es Salaam to Songea. It is about a 40-minute drive from the Songea Airport to Hanga Abbey. The flight, compared to our other flights, was relatively short at one hour and twenty-five minutes, so it felt like it went by rather quickly. After we landed at Songea Airport, we were picked up by three brothers from Hanga Abbey, and they drove us into Songea to give us a little tour. We were even able to stop at an ATM to get cash, and we were given a tour of the local farmers’ market! Afterwards, we got back in the car and drove the rest of the way to Hanga. We arrived in Hanga just in time for lunch, and we were able to join some of the brothers for food and good conversation. We were then shown to our rooms, and we had time to unpack before we went to evening prayer with the monks. After prayer was dinner, and after dinner was recreation time until lights out at 10 PM. Of course, normally we would’ve indulged in the free time, but Allan and I took advantage of the early dismissal to catch up on sleep, as we had a very busy morning of traveling.

And so, my friends, we have come to the end of my first week in Tanzania, and what a ride it has been to get here! I am so happy that the traveling is over for the time being and that everything we need and everything we are doing is within walking distance from our rooms. 🤩 If you have read this far, thanks for reading, and I really hope you enjoyed reading this. I am going to include some photos with captions below explaining what they are, but if you have any ideas on improvements or things you’d like to see in future blog posts, please reach out!

Until next time, asante na kwaheri!

Cormac 🙂