Toffees have an eventful first day in Tanzania

The Everton squad that kicked off their preseason tour with a trip to Tanzania have had a hectic first day after landing at 10am local time. The players were whisked off to the Seacliff Hotel where they were welcomed by Maasai tribesmen.

However, it was winger Yannick Bolasie who received the most raucous welcome with dozens of fans making the trip from the neighbouring Congo to greet the crowd favourite. Here's the escort that accompanied the contingent from the airport to the hotel.

At the hotel, the contingent split up into multiple groups. Idrissa Gueye, Ademola Lookman, Leighton Baines and Yannick Bolasie visited Uhuru Mchanganyiko School in Dar es Salaam, which has benefited from British aid ensuring that the deaf and blind students receive similar education as other children. The players also engaged in a game of 'Goalball', playing blindfolded with a ball that contained a bell.

Meanwhile, clup captain Phil Jagielka teamed up with Dominic Calvert-Lewin to go up against Matthew Pennington and Davy Klaassen in a cooking competition back at the hotel.

The players cooked a couple of traditional East African dishes - Jags and Dom made the whole white snapper with ugali, which is a polenta-like local staple, while Davy and Matty were given ndizi-nyama – which is a plantain curry made with flank steak.

Club ambassador Graham Stuart judged the competition, picking the captain's fish dish to win.

Continuing with their humanitarian work while in East Africa, the group comprising Muhamed Besic, Tom Davies and Michael Keane trained with a very unique football team. Albino United seeks to raise awareness of the plight of those affected by albinism, who tend to have shorter life expectancies and are often victimized in local cultures as well.

In the afternoon, the full squad held a training session at the National Stadium where the Blues will take on Kenyan team Gor Mahia.

For a group of 40 traveling fans, this was a dream come true opportunity to meet the players and coaches, and the contingent were given complimentary away kits that were only just released on Monday this week.

Here's a short video from the training session.

All in all, a busy first day and things only get better from here with a game tomorrow. Keep it here for a match preview and information on how to watch the match against Gor Mahia.