We are having the most amazing trip. Yesterday we were on a game drive in Lake Marynara conservation area and suddenly our vehicle was in the middle of a large herd of elephants. We had seen lots of them before but always at a respectful distance. This time they were all over the road and seemed to have no regard for us at all.
It continues to surprise us that the animals in the parks seem oblivious to our intrusion. We got a ton of close-up photos and it will be hard to do any deleting later . They are all good! There is nothing we haven't seen of all the major animals here. The abundance of all kinds of game makes us believe that the anti-poaching programs are having an effect, at least in the parks.
Joanne is still adding to her bird list but I will let her tell you about that. The guides have magic eyes, they can spot any living thing no matter how well camouflaged they are. We really like Brian and Simon, they are such gentlemen and treat us very well. We are enjoying our tourmates as well, and will miss them when we part company in a few days. the Quebec boys are quite the party animals, and we are always stunned when they talk about their bar bills from the previous night. Good thing they are not depending on us to keep them company as J and I are usually the first to retire. The food has been good and there is always too much of it, but we are getting a little tired of buffet meals. At least now we do not think we have to try eveything on the groaning board. After this week we will be roughing it somewhat, living in tents and eating whatever they put in front of us. Should be interesting. Our accomodations have been quite posh, and we even had one with a decent shower. What a treat that was, as mostly the showers are less than wonderful. The bathrooms in the hotels are fine, but when we stop on the game drives the toilets are the hole in the ground style which is a little hard for us pampered princesses to get used to. We are getting more adept all the time though, and may be doing bathroom renovations when we get home.
We have now left the Serengetti and the Ngorongoro Crater behind us and are once again in Arusha where we started. Tonight we will be at Moshi. Yesterday we went on a cultural tour of a village and it was so fascinating. The high point was a visit to the kindergarden when about 50 little kids ran to hug us and just touch us. Most of them are orphans of Aids parents, and there wasn't one of us who didn't want to take them home. The astounding thing is that they are all so happy and smiling. they sang for us and loved looking at pictures of themselves on our cameras. I only wish we had some advance warning that we were going there so we could have taken some gifts for them.
We had an African lunch there and it was very good. I stayed away from the fish when I saw the dirty river it came from, but every thing else was yummy. I hope Jo and I are not saying all the same things, there is so much to tell we could be keyboarding for hours. The weather has been perfect, it seems to only rain at night, and so far it has not been uncomfortably hot. Everything is perfect! That's it from me today, Love Muriel
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| Zebras |
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| Vervet Monkey |
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| Hippos (Mom's least favourite animal) |
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| Olive Babboon |
We are having the most amazing trip. Yesterday we were on a game drive in Lake Marynara conservation area and suddenly our vehicle was in the middle of a large herd of elephants. We had seen lots of them before but always at a respectful distance. This time they were all over the road and seemed to have no regard for us at all.
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| Group of Elephants |
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| Right there in front of us!! |
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| Elephants and a poop lesson. Mother Elephant pooped, baby stuck his trunk in it and then pooped too, then everyone pooped together (and of course, I took photos!) |
It continues to surprise us that the animals in the parks seem oblivious to our intrusion. We got a ton of close-up photos and it will be hard to do any deleting later . They are all good! There is nothing we haven't seen of all the major animals here. The abundance of all kinds of game makes us believe that the anti-poaching programs are having an effect, at least in the parks.
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| Cheetah |
 |
| Hyena (Mom's second least favourite animal) |
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| Giraffe (We have so many pictures of giraffes, we never got tired of seeing them) |
Joanne is still adding to her bird list but I will let her tell you about that. The guides have magic eyes, they can spot any living thing no matter how well camouflaged they are. We really like Brian and Simon, they are such gentlemen and treat us very well. We are enjoying our tourmates as well, and will miss them when we part company in a few days. the Quebec boys are quite the party animals, and we are always stunned when they talk about their bar bills from the previous night. Good thing they are not depending on us to keep them company as J and I are usually the first to retire. The food has been good and there is always too much of it, but we are getting a little tired of buffet meals. At least now we do not think we have to try eveything on the groaning board. After this week we will be roughing it somewhat, living in tents and eating whatever they put in front of us. Should be interesting. Our accomodations have been quite posh, and we even had one with a decent shower. What a treat that was, as mostly the showers are less than wonderful. The bathrooms in the hotels are fine, but when we stop on the game drives the toilets are the hole in the ground style which is a little hard for us pampered princesses to get used to. We are getting more adept all the time though, and may be doing bathroom renovations when we get home.
We have now left the Serengetti and the Ngorongoro Crater behind us and are once again in Arusha where we started. Tonight we will be at Moshi. Yesterday we went on a cultural tour of a village and it was so fascinating. The high point was a visit to the kindergarden when about 50 little kids ran to hug us and just touch us. Most of them are orphans of Aids parents, and there wasn't one of us who didn't want to take them home. The astounding thing is that they are all so happy and smiling. they sang for us and loved looking at pictures of themselves on our cameras. I only wish we had some advance warning that we were going there so we could have taken some gifts for them.
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| Mom with the kids from the school during our tour. |
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| Kids, kids everywhere |
We had an African lunch there and it was very good. I stayed away from the fish when I saw the dirty river it came from, but every thing else was yummy. I hope Jo and I are not saying all the same things, there is so much to tell we could be keyboarding for hours. The weather has been perfect, it seems to only rain at night, and so far it has not been uncomfortably hot. Everything is perfect! That's it from me today, Love Muriel
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