📍 Where You're Going
- 🗺️Musoma — town in the Mara Region, northern Tanzania
- 🌊Near Lake Victoria — Eagle Lodge overlooks a feeder river
- 🇰🇪Close to the Kenya border (crossed by EasyCoach bus from Nairobi)
- 🏘️Based at the Anglican Diocese of Mara compound — Nyerere Road, Musoma
- 🌡️Warm; June is dry season — comfortable for building work
- 🌅Stunning sunrises and sunsets from Eagle Rock
- 🦁~2 hours from Serengeti National Park
- 🏙️Geographically isolated — rural area, hard to source supplies
🏕️ Eagle Lodge
Built by Graham McClure about 15 years ago. Summer Team 1 (13–27 June) will be based here for the full two weeks.
Facilities
- ✓ Common room + dining hall
- ✓ Bedrooms (shared, rooms of 2–4)
- ✓ Showers — warm water
- ✓ Electricity (most of the time)
- ✓ Mosquito nets on every bed (use them)
- ✓ High-performance filtered water — safe to drink
- ✓ Beautiful views of Lake Victoria feeder river
Food & Laundry
- 🍽️ All meals cooked by Pendo — "amazing and delicious" according to every returning volunteer
- 👗 Laundry service: Pendo washes your clothes for 200 Tanzanian shillings per item (~7p)
- 🛍️ Bring a cloth bag with your name on it for laundry — same-day return
- 🩲 Do your own underwear
- ❌ Don't pack for 2 weeks — laundry runs daily
📅 Life at Eagle Lodge
☀️ Weekdays
- • Early rise for project work
- • Groups of ~10 with a Go MAD leader + local fundie
- • Building water tanks, goat sheds, homes
- • Full-on physical work — wear old clothes
🌆 Weekends
- • Town visits to Musoma
- • Rehema café — amazing cakes and drinks
- • Market — custom African fabric clothes made to measure!
- • Possible swim at a hotel pool in town
🌙 Evenings
- • Board games and card games
- • Group activities in the common room
- • Talent show — start preparing!
- • Sunset at Eagle Rock (group, with long sleeves)
📋 Rules at Eagle Lodge
- ✗No phones for communication home — photos only
- ✗No going off alone — always in a group
- ✗No shorts/revealing clothing in the community
- ✓Walking boots outside the lodge at all times
- ✓DEET every evening at 6pm
- ✓Sleep under mosquito net, tucked fully in
🏥 Medical Facilities
Go MAD has strong relationships with two trusted hospitals in Musoma:
- • Coptic Hospital — primary Go MAD clinic
- • AICT (African Inland Church Tanzania)
If you are unwell, a leader will take you to the clinic. Parents are notified by WhatsApp. A UK medical team is consulted for any serious cases. Travel and medical insurance is included in your trip fee.