Rediscovering Home

by Kenya Wagstaffe (United States of America)

A leap into the unknown Tanzania

Ever have a dream where you end up lost in a foreign land, but then realize that you weren’t really lost…you just so happened to find your way back home? Well, that’s what my trip to East Africa felt like: rediscovering home. I arrived in Arusha’s city center in August 2016 with no agenda other than to wander the streets surrounding the Clock Tower, which was the base for myself and the other volunteers when we were in Tanzania volunteering with the Global Service Corps (GSC) in 2011. Little did I know that I was about to connect in such a profound way with people I’d never met before. A few days later, Moa, a market vendor, managed to get me signed up for a 4 day/3 night safari to the Ngorogoro Crater, Tarangire and Serengeti National Parks. I soon met the six people who I’d spend the next couple days with. I met Daniel (from Cali), Mikte and Nanda (two young women from Holland), Muhammed (from Egypt), his friend, Kristina (from Lithuania), and our guide from Tanzania, Anwar. The next few days were filled with excitement, anxiety, insight, curiosity, and amazement. Driving through what seemed like endless terrain, I witnessed so much natural beauty. One of the stops made during the safari was to a Masai village to get a better understanding of what their daily lives consisted of. Our host, Msafiri, explained that outside of the weekly Thursday market trip into town to sell beaded jewelry and purchase groceries, the children shepherded their animals, women built new bomas (huts) for their families, and men carried out their duties as protector and leader. Ducking under the thatched roof and stepping into one of the bomas with one of Msafiri’s brothers, I noticed that everything the family needed was located arm's length away from the other object: the bed, hot plate, stool, table, broom...to name a few. I left their village with a renewed sense of modesty, appreciation, and respect. Soon after safari, I was in need of warmer climate. Thanks to my favorite travel pages on Instagram, I had my mind set on visiting Zanzibar at some point, so I booked a 13-hr bus from Arusha to Dar-Es-Salaam, where I would get a 1.5-hr ferry ride to Stone Town, Zanzibar. When my bus got to Dar, I took advantage of the wifi at the station and contacted a friend in Brooklyn who within an hour had his friend, Dallazy, pick me up, check me into a comfortable hotel, all while refusing any form of payment outside of a handshake. I couldn’t have dreamt of an act so selfless from a complete stranger. I flew to Kenya after leaving Zanzibar because I couldn’t travel so far from home and not take a trip to my namesake. Once again, I was solo so I took to Instagram to connect with anyone! I remembered that I ‘follow’ a Kenyan wildlife and events photographer based in Nairobi so, nervously, I sent him a DM and gave him a summary of my situation, asking if he’d be willing to meet up and show me around. Sambu gladly accepted! During the time I was in Nairobi, Sambu found me a BNB, brought me to a reggae concert at the botanical gardens, and a bustling hangout spot called The Alchemist. We even found time to squeeze in an impromptu photoshoot on one of Sambu’s favorite streets with a graffiti-decorated wall that read “UMOJA,” meaning “unity'' in Swahili. Very fitting for the occasion! Traveling over 7,000 miles away from my Brooklyn home, my expectations were that I’d be a lone wanderer trying to make my way in a land that was hardly familiar to me. What I experienced couldn’t have been more far from the truth. I was blessed with a magical expedition with some bumps in the road, but also including a few miraculously placed fairy godparents (i.e. Mao, Dallazy, Sambu) to guide me. Though I was excited to be heading back to NYC to see loved ones, I still felt as though I was leaving the home I’d just found my way back to. But I know I’ll come home again soon.