There are a few photos up now of Zanzibar. I will load the rest later on as it works about 10 minutes per photo!

Shahida and I went to Irente yesterday which is a town near to Lushoto. I went there with school on my last visit and so I was keen to go back again. We went to the children's home which cares for orphaned and abandoned children whse parents have died during child birth or due to illnesses such as aids or malaria. When they reach two years they are adopted into new families or go to live with relatives. The children were all so cute and we had great fun playing with them and feeding them. They are very well cared for but they did all crave attention so we were more then happy to give them all cuddles!

We then went to Irente blind school which is a primary school for children who are blind or partially sighted. Many of them learn via brail although some can read text with the aid of magnifying glasses. It was great to see the work they are doing there and since my last visit there is a new building with classrooms which was great to see. Most of the staff there are also blind or partially sighted and when I introduced myself they all remembered the school exchange with Shambalai school in Lushoto!

After that we ent onto Irente view which is situated 1km above the lowlands and gives fantastic views across the valleys! You can see the road going E to W across Tanzania and lots of little settlements scattered amongst the vegetation. It poured down on the way but luckily the cloads cleared when we arrived so we were able to enjoy the views! There were two english guys there also enjoying the view who were actually at the same hostel as me (Jambo Brothers) in Nungwi, Zanzibar that I had just left! They were there at the same time as me and part of a big volunteering group who arrived a few days before I left. Its a small world!

It was a great day and it made me feel very humbled by my good health and the fact that I am from a very caring family. However, the work that is being done at Irente is fantastic and it was lovely to meet the children there and to see the good work continuing after 5 years.

Today we are going to Shahida's friend for dinner whom I met on the exchange. And the tomorrow we are going to Mbelei which is a town nearby where a girl I met in Dar es Salaam is teaching!

I start my Kilimanjaro trek on Tuesday so wish me luck!