WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I ARRIVE?
You will fly into Dar es Salaam for the first Monday of the month (January, February, April, May, July, August, October, November), where you'll be met at the airport by your Frontier representative. You will probably spend a night or two in Dar to recover from your flight before deployment to the Tanzania Savannah camp. Your journey to camp will be by road through Mikumi National Park where previous volunteers have seen lots of spectacular wildlife from the bus window. The Savannah staff team collect volunteers from the regional town of Ifakara once a month (January, February, April, May, July, August, October, November), usually on the first Wednesday or Thursday. The final leg of the journey to camp is on a rough, partly made road, past farms and villages, plantations and Miombo woodland, across the wide Kilombero River by ferry and down to your new home in the Kilombero Valley. If you are an independent traveller arriving outside of the main party arrival dates contact your travel coordinator to assist with information on how to reach the Frontier bush-camp.
WHERE WILL I BE STAYING?
During the project you’ll live on an African bush-camp on the outskirts of the local village of Igota, in Tanzania's Kilombero Valley alongside other Frontier volunteers and project staff. We aim to provide you with a unique and memorable living experience. The camp is situated on Igota village land in an area very close to the centre of the village. Camp life is simple, unsophisticated and great fun. You will be staying in a large communal banda sleeping on a raised bamboo bed constructed from sustainably harvested local materials and you'll enjoy the novel experience of showering using a bucket, so you'll learn to survive without the luxury of hot baths and power showers. You will become accustomed to the simple pleasures of living outdoors in harmony with the natural environment in a simple tented and bush-style camp.
When the project work takes you further afield you may stay in a "satellite camp". Here you will make a temporary shelter and build a good campfire. As well as the daily treks to research sites and field surveys you will help process the scientific data and assist with daily camp maintenance duties, taking turns to collect fire wood, prime hurricane lamps, collect water and support the staff in a multitude of camp tasks.
WHAT WILL I BE EATING?
Camp food is simple, wholesome and nutritious and consists largely of rice, vegetables, beans and fruit, all of which are purchased locally in order to help support the local economy. Luxuries such as chocolate, peanut butter and drinking chocolate have to be carried down from Dar es Salaam, so make sure you stock up before heading to the field! An important part of your role on camp will be to help with the cooking, so get your cookbooks out now and start practicing!
