If you've been following my blog for long you'll remember my Mom's last words in the airport were reminding me that I had said it would be a miracle if I made it on this trip. (If you dont know what I'm talking about, read my airport ramblings) Well my Dad, always the profound one in the family, used his final moments to tell me that anytime I saw an antelope to think of him. As random as this seemed at the time, I can now say I thought about him a lot these past few days!
So much has happened since Tuesday I hardly know where to begin. Leaving Misha House and Karagwe was bittersweet, and saying goodbye to Egbert and the staff was hard for all of us. We got on the road early Wednesday and made the 2 hour, only semi-paved drive to Bukoba where we would spend the day sitting on the beach of Lake Victoria. An overnight ferry ride across the lake later, we arrived in Mwanza and were greeted by the sunrise and James, our safari driver. We got breakfast at this great restaurant, stopped to look at the natural rock formations there in town, and made our way to Serengeti Park to begin our safari adventure.
IT WAS SO COOL. We started a little slow- lots of antelope (enter Dad) and zebras but little else. But don't feel too bad for us! Before long there were giraffes (my favorite), monkeys, lions, buffalo, wildebeest, hippos, birds and all kinds of animals all around us. The best was probably when a herd (herd? pack? bunch?) of elephants crossed right in front of us- we got some great pictures. We drove around till about 7, then headed into the campsite. Our tents were all set up and we were met by our chef for the night, Emanuel. A yummy dinner and lots of chai later we all headed to bed. We woke up around 5:30 and went for a sunrise game drive before breakfast- the highlight of which being the hyenas we stumbled upon right as the sun came up. They were even laughing, a sound we're pretty sure we heard overnight outside our tents too. Emanuel made us great breakfast and then we packed up the car to head out. A flat tire and few hours later, we left the park and were on our way to Arusha.
Our six and half-ish hour drive took us through the Maasai plains and past a crater considered the Cradle of Life before getting us to Arusha around 7:30. There were some room issues to resolve before a late dinner at our hotel and heading to bed. This morning we slept in a bit (8:30 is sleeping in, right?) Then headed to the market for some shopping. Haggling with the store owners reminded me a lot of the Turkish Bazaar, and the call to prayer echoing from the nearby mosques makes it even more like Istanbul. We have our last class with Caitlin this afternoon, then one more day here before moving on to Dar on Monday. I'm looking forward to the rest of the adventure but also getting antsy to be home!
IT WAS SO COOL. We started a little slow- lots of antelope (enter Dad) and zebras but little else. But don't feel too bad for us! Before long there were giraffes (my favorite), monkeys, lions, buffalo, wildebeest, hippos, birds and all kinds of animals all around us. The best was probably when a herd (herd? pack? bunch?) of elephants crossed right in front of us- we got some great pictures. We drove around till about 7, then headed into the campsite. Our tents were all set up and we were met by our chef for the night, Emanuel. A yummy dinner and lots of chai later we all headed to bed. We woke up around 5:30 and went for a sunrise game drive before breakfast- the highlight of which being the hyenas we stumbled upon right as the sun came up. They were even laughing, a sound we're pretty sure we heard overnight outside our tents too. Emanuel made us great breakfast and then we packed up the car to head out. A flat tire and few hours later, we left the park and were on our way to Arusha.
Our six and half-ish hour drive took us through the Maasai plains and past a crater considered the Cradle of Life before getting us to Arusha around 7:30. There were some room issues to resolve before a late dinner at our hotel and heading to bed. This morning we slept in a bit (8:30 is sleeping in, right?) Then headed to the market for some shopping. Haggling with the store owners reminded me a lot of the Turkish Bazaar, and the call to prayer echoing from the nearby mosques makes it even more like Istanbul. We have our last class with Caitlin this afternoon, then one more day here before moving on to Dar on Monday. I'm looking forward to the rest of the adventure but also getting antsy to be home!
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