The visit to a Tanzanian school when on safari cannot be rushed. Leave your watch at the hotel; the watch is an instrument of torment for a westerner in Tanzania. To share food, if offered is a must, to refuse is a slur to your Tanzania host. Once you have eaten don’t hang around for too long. Your host in Tanzania will normally wait for you to say you are leaving. It is not rude to leave as soon as you have eaten. Many times the finishing of a meal in Tanzania can signal the polite end to the visit.

Once you have shared a meal your found friends in Tanzania will now be able to show you places you would not normally get to see. You now have a personal guide who knows Tanzania and the language, who is not trying to sell you curious or a safari you don’t want. Suddenly you are not a tourist - you are on your way to becoming Tanzanian.

The next stage is to progress from the home visit is short term voluntary work. These may last from a day or two to a few weeks, Tanzania hospitals, schools or building projects are the norm. The experience is life changing – for everyone. Remember, however poor you might think you are, by Tanzania standards you are not. Do not resent your Tanzania guests if they seem preoccupied with what you consider to be your money. Accept it, deal with it, and don’t make into an issue of discontent.