In October 2021, the world still felt uncertain. COVID had changed the way everyone thought about time, travel and the future. My mother kept telling me, “I want to go to Africa. We don’t know if we’re going to get to travel again.”
That was how the plan began: a three-week family trip for my mother, my three adult siblings and me.
Every closed door changed the destination
Ghana was the first destination that caught my attention. I researched the country and tried to complete the visa process, but the application was rejected again and again. I submitted everything at least five times. Maybe it was a computer problem. Maybe the timing simply wasn’t right. Either way, I took it as a sign to keep looking.
Next came South Africa—but the same day I started researching, its borders closed. Kenya and Rwanda were possibilities, but the quarantine requirements would have taken up much of our vacation.
Then I found Tanzania. It was open and ready for visitors.
The phone number that redirected my life
The Tanzanian visa process was surprisingly simple. We applied, received approval in less than 48 hours and booked our flights. The only problem was that I knew almost nothing about the country. In my mind, an East African safari meant Kenya and the Serengeti. Tanzania had never been part of my original plan.
So I went to YouTube.
One video showed a guide named Kibwana taking a young woman through a local market and explaining what she was seeing. I already followed the woman who posted the video, so when she described him as reliable and trustworthy and shared his number, I paid attention.
I called him and explained that our flights and visas were already arranged. We would be in Tanzania for three weeks and needed help planning the trip.
Within minutes, he sent me an itinerary. It included a two-week tour with a safari in Selous, private-island visits, Zanzibar, local markets and time to experience the country beyond the usual tourist checklist. The price and details were right there. I booked it almost immediately.
A vacation became a life
At the time, I thought I was simply organizing a family vacation. I didn’t know that one YouTube video and one phone number would lead me to fall in love with Tanzania and Dar es Salaam. I didn’t know I would eventually live there, meet the man who became my husband, build a hospitality business and welcome travelers from around the world at Gallivanters Hostel.
Sometimes the trip that changes your life is not the one you originally planned. Ghana didn’t work. South Africa closed. Kenya and Rwanda required more time than we had. Every closed door redirected us until Tanzania became the open one.
And once I walked through that open door, my life was never the same.
