Last weekend in Tanzania

Hot springs and a visit to the blood bank

I was determined to finally go to the "secret" hot springs that some of the EWH students from last year went to while I was climbing Ol Doinyo Lengai. On Sunday, we headed out to figure out where it was! I had received a few tips from my on the ground coordinator last year, Lora, that the springs were located off the beaten path by N'gombe Village. With my (not so) trusty Swahili skills, we ended up paying a piki piki (motorcycle) driver $4 to lead the way to the springs... which ended up being about an hour and a half drive!! We had no idea how far out it was and it was almost unbelievable when we were suddenly tucked behind big, sweeping trees with pools of beautiful, clear water! The water was a nice temperature for swimming and it even had some tiny little fish that decided our toes were worthy of nibbling on. I kept forgetting that there indeed was quite the current due to all the spring inlets, so my dog paddling techniques were definitely needed haha. Right after we got out, a ton of local kids jumped in. Talk about a nice place to relax when you're home is basically a desert!

After that, we headed to Moshi and spent a wonderful evening eating Italian food and watched the Olympics for the first time! The next day,  Colin and I headed to KCMC to figure out where the blood bank operates in Northern Tanzania. I had already discovered last fall that blood banks in Tanzania are pretty scarce and that the blood donations are even scarcer. Since my thesis is all about separating blood I went to check out their facilities. Luckily, the EWH students working at KCMC (shout out to Juan and Christine!) got us headed in the right direction and we ended up having quite the tour of the facilities! Everything was very professional, and procedures almost exactly the same as you'd find in the U.S. I learned that they consistently have blood shortages, mainly due to the lack of volunteers. People aren't really aware of what blood donations can do for others and some really just fear needles, or finding out their test results. Around 5% of the population in Tanzania are living with HIV, so the fear of being diagnosed with it is a big one, especially because treatment isn't available for the majority. 

All in all, it was a great trip!