ESP : Grade 9+10: "DAR DARES!"

During ESP, eleven lucky Grade 9 & 10 students and their three teachers had the pleasure of exploring downtown Dar and beyond on bicycles and also setting sail on the beautiful Indian Ocean. The first day was spent cycling around Dar es Salaam and seeing some of its poorest suburbs. We started at school and cycled all the way to Shop rite on Pugu Road seeing downtown Dar from a different angle! The able guides from Afri Roots encouraged us to traverse along the backstreets of Mwenge, Mwananyamala, Kinondoni, Manzese and Kigogo. We even got to visit an old Muslim cemetery, a local market, a witch doctor and a local restaurant in Ilala where we tasted Tanzanian cuisine. On Tuesday we all took the ferry across to South Beach where we cycled until we reached Kim’s Beach. We stopped, had a picnic, and then visited the Gezeulole plant nursery project. The bus came and took us back to school, but unfortunately the ferry took long and we arrived at school an hour late. From Wednesday to Friday, we swapped our bikes for boats and went to the Yacht Club for a three day sailing course. We had three instructors, Sarah (who taught all the theory) and Richard and Alfred (who took us out on the boats). We took out two boats a Laser 16 and a Wayfarer, and learnt to beat, reach, run, gyb, tie a variety of knots, rig and de-rig the yachts. On Thursday Margaret and Niamh joined us with their small lasers, and we each had a turn to capsize! On the final day we all had a race and every boat completed the course! Overall the trip was lots of fun and the only downfall was the extreme heat!

Lizanne Mouton & Ms D’Mello