To recap, he actually landed, first, in London (from California), where he spent a few days with a buddy from college, who, though he lived there, seemed to have very little interest in the city/country, so Dylan didn't get around too much. It's OK. He'll get back there to explore it more thoroughly, another time. Then, it was off to Sweden, Denmark, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia (he loved the former Soviet-bloc countries!), and then to Finland, where he met up with Rachel, but not with any other Finnish relatives. From there, they cruised Sweden and Copenhagen, before hooking up with us in Germany, for a couple of weeks. After that, well, the scene for Dylan changed in a major way.
I've relayed a bit of sketchy info from his sojourn in Tanzania, already, and there's no way I can represent it as narrative, so I'll just mention a few impressions I took from his descriptions. He was several years older than the others in the program (all from England), though they achieved a very good living/working relationship for the 10 weeks (he was able, with some degree of finesse, modify some of the more objectionable restrictions). Living conditions were quite primitive, with limited water (other than for drinking), limited food (he lost about 30 pounds), and only very basic shelter. He greatly enjoyed getting to know and work with the people of the local Maasai tribe, and established good relationships with a number of individuals. He learned to speak Maa well enough to communicate quite easily with anyone. As you would expect, he also took advantage of all the opportunities offered to enrich his experience, from attending a tribal elder's council to drinking the blood from a freshly-killed goat (yup, we have pictures).
The group also spent significant time farther out in the bush, counting and observing large animals, like elephants and lions. Of course, he saw all manner of wildlife, from wildebeest to giraffe to ostrich, to flamingos, to hyena, to hippo, and on and on. Nearby Ngorongoro Crater was perfectly dense with all these and more.
His photos of the people, land and wildlife, not to mention his program mates and activities, are fantastic! One evening, under his leadership, the group threw a Thanksgiving feast for some of their closest Maasai friends. He organized the meal, bought the food, killed the chickens (who, apparently do really run around after, well, you know), and directed the food preparation.
He wrapped it all up, having signed up for two post-program excursions. He spent a wonderful week in Zanzibar, the Spice Islands (from which I now have quite the array of spice packets), where amazing shells are scattered over idyllic white beaches and where he picked up more than just a smattering of Swahili. Then, he joined up with a group to climb the 19,600-something foot Mt. Kilimanjaro, which takes nearly a week and makes one a bit goofy at the top from lack of oxygen (I wonder if anyone would notice any difference if I were to climb that high?). The trail goes from steamy jungle to stark volcanic crater and giant glacier formations (enlarge the cloud/glacier photo, to see it better).
All in all, he was quite glad to put down his 90+pound pack. When I make Tom a pot of Tanzanian coffee in the morning, or put Kilimanjaro honey in my tea, not to mention the huge array of other gifts and souvenirs for us and others that I saw he carried, my brain reels to think of it! Among the array, were traditional Maasai blankets (the ones they wear) for all of us. As you can see, they are versatile enough to wear with jeans and mukluks.
I'm sure we'll continue to hear stories and look at the photos for quite some time. And, he'll be going back. I'm already almost out of honey...
