Danish film expert to Bongo Dox

Jakob takes it to Bongo

Left photo: Bongodox 1 created awareness in the local society. Now Bongodox 2 is making progress as they are upgrading skills in film making.

In this respect we are happy that Danish film expert Jakob Bo Nielsen will take his expertise to Bongo Camping, where he will interact with the local documentary team Bongodox, focusing on specific tasks for a period of two weeks (December 7th - 21th, 2011). We´ll follow Jakob and Bongodox at www.bongodox.com.

Framework

Jakob Bo Nielsen will be making a step forward in positive exchange of expertise at Bongo Camping. The previous history of the development platform goes like this:

2006: The group behind Bongo Camping emerges nearby Tukuyu Town and Mt. Rungwe in Tanzania

2007: Bongo opens up for projects, research, teaching - and travellers from all over the world

Activities

Present (2011): Kindergarten, Documentary Project and Campsite.

Foreign students & researchers have taken part in projects, research and fieldwork in many areas, some of which are:

2010/2011: Media science & Anthropology (Katrine Brücker, Denmark. 5-months project with a local group)

2009: Civil society work (Loui Algren, Denmark)

2008: Geology (Karen Fontijn, Belgium. Volcanology Fieldwork. Held se

minars and classes at Bongo Camping)

2007: Business Management (Nabil Chaykh, Denmark. Bongo Entrepreneurship Programme)

2007: Music, theatre & literature (Kasper Dafson. Founding of Kisamakibo - The Artists from Bongo Camping)

2007: Hiv/aids (Kasper Dafson. Co-teacher at courses for adults and students at Bongo Camping)

Contact:

Write to bongocamping@gmail.com

Bongo Camping Kindergarten, Summer 2011, with teachers Joyce and Aneth.

People and Sunshine

At Bongo Camping one of our big pleasures is when we serve as the meeting spot. When people meet in travelling, across cultures, ethnicities and languages, wonderful things occur. That´s when the sun shines a bit more and even rainy days are a thrill.

Our visitor Robert from Germany writes in his blog:

"Ankunft im Bongocamping... hinten rechts unser gruenes Zelt gut getarnt... hier verweilten wir 3 Naechte und traffen viele Globetrotter, u.a. Motorradfahrer aus Belgien und ein polnisches Paar mit Auto, die ein Jahr quer durch Afrika fahren...interessante Anregungen;)"

Photo of Bongo Camping, by Robert from his website: http://tanzaniarob.blogspot.com/

Where Globetrotters and Tanzanians meet, that´s when sunshine and new visions govern our platform. And this - beside the income opportunities in growing travellers´ inflow - keeps up hopes for the local civil society organisation Kumbe, the owner of Bongo Camping.

Tukuyu: Useful Camping

During this season we´ve been able to note down what visitors have to say about Bongo Camping, because unlike the first years, the campsite is now being included in several blog posts on travellers´ websites. Although one post describes that the food was served cold, there´s been very few negative aspects in the descriptions of travellers´ stay at Bongo Camping. Most of them say ´beautiful and simple´.

Photos from our travellers´ blog at: http://youmeandmichael.blogspot.com/2011/04/tanzania-part-1-how-west-was-won-and.html

On a travellers´ blog in April 2011, these Bongo visitors write about their stay at Bongo Camping:

"50 km into Tanzania we stopped in Tukuyu at the community run Bongo Campsite. The campsite was very basic, but, brilliant as it was nestled in amongst a small village and you really felt part of the community as various people contributed to the existence and running of the campsite. It was incredibly cheap and now holds the record for the cheapest camping for us at Tsh 6000 per person which is roughly R20. We also had a Swahili lesson from some of the locals and were taught some of the basics that would help us get by at the market and when asking for directions."

We´ve noticed that we are useful camping to many travellers. Not only are we located close to a border post, where people can rest the day of leaving/entering a new country. Three useful things that we are proud to offer every visitor at Bongo Camping are:

Communal readiness to assist travellers, Swahili teaching, and transparency of local development going on at the office. At the moment any visitor is invited to get insight into the two on-going projects, Bongodox (a documentary film project, see www.bongodox.com), and the Kindergarten.

More visitors´ descriptions have been included in the recent posts on this blog.

Camping and local documentary films

Bongodox is the local documentary film team at Bongo Camping. Right now they need any moral support, as they have begun preparing to make 2 documentary films about local tourism and environment.

Mt. Rungwe

The Southern Highlands of Tanzania are greener than most of Africa and the environment has many positive effects on the lives of people. But although the environment seems endlessly green, farmers, poets and other people who need this condition to persist, should consider environmental protection. The trees, the flowers, the animals and the people all depend on the way we live. The healthy condition of environment must be protected by the society of the Southern Highland of Tanzania.

Bongodox is now digging further into this and other issues of importance to the future of the local society of Rungwe District in Mbeya Region, as they have started a new documentary project running until 2012.

Bongodox needs your moral support on http://www.facebook.com/BongoDox

Cool bananas

Banana fields everywhere. "Bananenplantagen überall", that´s how Germans describe what you see in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. "Das Land ist traumhaft schön. Bananenplantagen überall, winkende Menschen, kurvige, gute Strassen. Eine Wonne!"

The story goes on like this: "Gid entdeckt ein Schild am Wegesrand. “Bongo Camping”. Bei dem Namen kann man ja nicht nein sagen! Eine kleine Offroad-Passage führt zu der kuscheligen Campsite."

That´s how Germans describe the dreamlike beauty of Tukuyu, the people saying hello, the nice roads. A wonder. The Germans quoted above is getting closer to Bongo Camping, as one of them notices our signpost.

They pass on the offroad-passage, after 700 m arriving at the cosy campsite.

German lines and photos from our visitors´ travel blog at http://www.wuestenritt.de/?p=2223