Safari Time!

Just got back from a three day safari! It was amazing! We went to Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater!

The first day was very rainy. We drove for a long time and we and finally ended up in Lake Manyara. For the first bit we saw mostly forest areas. The forest stays green here all year round. After first entering the park we came up on some baboons. They were so cute and right outside our car just sitting there. There were three babies holding onto their moms and it was so adorable. The next big animal we came to was a huge giraffe in the middle of the road! It was just standing there and as we surveyed further there were about 10 more off to the side eating.

My favorite part of the safari was also in lake manyara-we were driving and all of a sudden a baby elephant just hustles right across the street in front of us! I actually did a dance and sang a song about how awesome it was, haha. I was excited! After the baby walked by a HUGE male elephant came through.

The rest of the day we mostly saw different birds, zebras, wildbeast, warthogs, and hippos. It was all very cool. We will post pictures so you can see more!

The second stop we made was to a Masai Village. The Masai are just another tribe located closer to Arusha. The tribe living around the Moshi area are the Chaggas. The Masai people are much more traditional from what we learned. The village we went to was completely remote. It was off the road in a clearing. The people all wear fabric wrapped in different ways-it is all plaid and different colors, but the colors represent different things. We will post pictures at the beginning of the week so that you can get a better idea of what I am talking about.

When we approached the village the people all came up and surrounded us welcoming them to their village. Soon after they all lined up and started chanting and doing a traditional dance. The men were on one end of the line together jumping-the higher they jumped, the more cows they owned. The women all wore these large necklaces that they then put on each of us and we all were able to dance with the people. We have a video of Kasey in action, dont worry Bostons, definitely one of her best dances ever! haha.

After the dancing they showed us their huts. The huts are made of sticks carefully placed and laced together to make the back bone of the hut. Then cow dung is used like plaster to insulate and hold the building together. The top is sloping because it is the rainy season and is also made of sticks bundled together. The huts were TINY. I am about 5'8 and I was as tall as the building (not including the roof) When you walked into the hut the door curved around so that animals could not get in as easily. The first thing you saw was on the right and it was a pin for the young animals. Then you proceed into the hut and there are only three areas. In the middle there is an area for cooking and then there are two sleeping chambers. The main one is for the father only and then the second chamber is shared by the mother and children. Their matresses are made from cow hide and as one of the men told me, "lie on it, its very comfortable". I did not choose to lie on the mattress in the dirt with the children because I already know-there is NO way that mattress is comfortable!

In the Masai culture the women do the work-they build the house completely alone, cook, and take care of all the children. The culture also believes in circumsition of both men and women. The women are circumsized at the ages of 10-12 and the men from 15-18. So sex is not a part of their culture other than for the natural purpose of procreating. The only time the man and wife will have sex is when they want children. Polygamy is also in their belief.

After visiting the village we finally arrived at our camping spot for the night. It was within a hotel ground area and the hotel was really nice. We slept in tents in the back area. We had dinner cooked by Freddy and Goodluck, it was delicious! Pumpkin soup and bread with pasta and fish, and the equivalent of tater tots.

We then hung out by the pool with our cooks and our main Bushman, Abus. They are great fun and we got to experience African liquor for the first time. It tasted a lot like vodka. We all went to bed fairly early because in the morning we had to wake up at 6, eat breakfast and hit the road for the rest of the safari!

The next night we stayed at on the rim of the crater. It was very high and overlooked the entire valley. It was a beautiful view but not a fun place to sleep. It had been raining all day so the ground was a complete mixture of mud and elephant poop. It was also freezing because our elevation was so high. I had on every piece of clothing I brought and still had to spoon with Amy all night to stay warm. As we were falling asleep we could hear lions growling and elephants making sounds in the distance. It was a little scary but I had my pocket knife and pepper spray so we felt safe....

The next morning we got up at 5:30 and drove down into the crater while the sun was rising. It was a beautiful view that our cameras could not even begin to capture. As soon as we got to the bottom we saw two cheetahs laying in the grass. They were brothers because they were laying together, apparently enjoying some early morning sun tanning.

As we drove to our the lake to have breakfast we passed many zebras, wildebeasts, and gazelles. We also saw a rhino, and rhinos look a lot like dinosaurs. This is when Amy asked our tour guide if we will be seeing any woolly mammoths. He didn't understand her questions....

The lake was full of hippos, which pretty much just lay around in the water and make loud noises. Right beside the lake was a very large, cool looking tree. Right when Amy climbed onto the tree so that I could take her picture a HUGE python dangled itself above her head. Being the good friend that I am I didn't want to tell her for fear that she would freak out, jump, and fall into the lake of hippos, which would also be a bad situation to be in. So I told her to just come back over to me and right after she did the python slide off the branch and dropped into the lake. I have a picture.

Right after breakfast we found some lions, which was perfect timing because we had just gotten my ipod out and were listening to the "circle of life" from the lion king as we pulled up. There was one very pregnant mom and three of her children. Two of them walked right up to the trucks and did some modeling for us. We also saw two other sets of lions throughout the day, which apparently is very rare so we are lucky. The crater itself was beautiful. There were huge fields of flowers and gigantic elephants frolicking through them and mountains of every side.

We have many more stories but I they are ringing the bell which means its time to go learn about the education system in Tanzania.... More to come soon.