So I guess we have a bit of catching up to do.
Expedition:
For starters, expedition was the best week of my entire life. It was glorious from start to finish. We went to two national parks, Tarangire and Arusha. Tarangire is famous for its elephant population so we literally saw herds of 50 elephants up close and personal. The baby elephants were the cutest things in the entire world! I realize that a baby elephant is small (because it’s a baby) but I never realized how small they could be! Also while in Tarangire I saw cheetah. Let me repeat that….I SAW CHEETAHS!!!!! There were three of them and they had just made a kill and had a lot to eat so they were doing what cats do best, laying around being lazy! It was so cool; they were not even that far away! I can’t even describe to you how thrilled I am! We also got to see a jackel and ostriches (and they were not in the distance but rather close). They are so awkward it just fantastic. I find that I identify most with the awkard animals like the ostrich and the giraffe. Come on it does not get more awkward than a giraffe running! One of my goals of the trip is to see a giraffe run or a giraffe drinking water because they have to splay their legs out all weird!
One day we went on a hike from our campsite, which was right outside the park in community lands to this dried up lake. We left around 3 or 4 so it was an evening hike, and on the way home the clouds rolled in and we got to see a double rainbow! One was a half and the other went all the way across the sky! Then it down-poured. It was raining so hard that it actually hurt, and I couldn’t see anything, and it was awesome. A few members of the group were less than thrilled, and it wasn’t the most pleasant rain shower I do admit, but this is Africa and you just have to embrace it! Plus, once the rain was over we got to see a lovely pink and purple sky.
While Tarangire was a more open combination of a bushland and a savannah, Arusha was forest-y and in the mountains so it was completely different than any of the other places we have been. We didn’t see as many animals there, but we did see a ton of giraffe in large groups which is uncommon for giraffe who tend to be more solitary animals. We stayed in Arusha for three nights and on the first night there was a leopard outside of our campsite AND I HEARD IT!!! Unfortunately, it never made it into the campsite because the askaries (guards) scared it away so I never got to see it, but I was close!! The second night our camp was invaded by biting ants and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it! One of the boy’s tents was completely taken over and we had to surrender to the ants and put up a spare tent somewhere else. It both sucked and was comical at the same time because by the third day they were everywhere and people were doing these hilarious little dances all over the place! We had to fortify our tents against the ants by putting a ring of diesel around our tents luckily fire wasn’t really a danger.
Also while in Arusha we had some park guards take us on a hike through the park. The only large carnivores in Arusha are leopards which would never bother us, so there was no real danger. We got to see Mount Kilimanjaro, which was absolutely beautiful. We walked up to some giraffe so that we were only 20 meters or so away and we played in this awesome waterfall. The expedition was simply fantastic from start to finish and I loved every minute of it! The craziest part is that everyone says that our second expedition is even better than the first one, and I can’t imagine things getting any better than that and I am so pumped for Serengeti.
After Expedition:
Since expedition things have been going pretty well. I just got back from doing animal counts at the local national park and I saw an elephant with the largest tucks my professor has ever seen. He was probably 45-55 years old and they were just massive in length and width. It was so cool. We also saw a fresh lion kill, but unfortunately the lions had left a few hours before we got there.
On our non-program day last week we went to this local organic coffee farm called Gibbs farm for a tour. It was so fun, because along with being an organic farm it is a lodge for very wealthy people (I’m talking $900 a night). When we signed up for the tour we didn’t really appreciate that aspect until our program coordinator mentioned that we would have to keep our voices down so as to not disturb the guests. We spent the first hour drinking complementary coffee at the look out point. Then we met our guide who took us around the little farm and told us about its history. The bathrooms were the nicest bathrooms I have ever been in anyware!! You walked in and rounded a corner and then there was this wall of glass and you had this beautiful view as you were doing your business! Haha Honestly it was a bit of a culture shock for all of us, because we are so used to living right outside this little town where the roads are dirt and its speckled with little farms and then we find ourselves at the Ritz where the bathrooms have warm towels for your hands! It all seemed a little silly to me, but we had a lot of fun pretending we belonged there!
That afternoon we went to the monthly local market where the locals actually go to shop. That was really cool, but my friend got pick-pocketed about 40,000tsh which is about $30 which goes a long way here so that put a little damper on things. One of the venders was really upset about it, and he gave here a free necklace to prove that not all Africans are like that which was really nice of him.
The rains have really picked up and we have gotten a few massive storms which have been really cool. I honestly did not know it could rain so hard. Its funny how quickly the rain comes and goes. One minute it is 90 degrees and super sunny and the next it is 65 and hurricaning!
Overall things have been spectacular and I apologize for the lateness of this post!
Christine
Expedition:
For starters, expedition was the best week of my entire life. It was glorious from start to finish. We went to two national parks, Tarangire and Arusha. Tarangire is famous for its elephant population so we literally saw herds of 50 elephants up close and personal. The baby elephants were the cutest things in the entire world! I realize that a baby elephant is small (because it’s a baby) but I never realized how small they could be! Also while in Tarangire I saw cheetah. Let me repeat that….I SAW CHEETAHS!!!!! There were three of them and they had just made a kill and had a lot to eat so they were doing what cats do best, laying around being lazy! It was so cool; they were not even that far away! I can’t even describe to you how thrilled I am! We also got to see a jackel and ostriches (and they were not in the distance but rather close). They are so awkward it just fantastic. I find that I identify most with the awkard animals like the ostrich and the giraffe. Come on it does not get more awkward than a giraffe running! One of my goals of the trip is to see a giraffe run or a giraffe drinking water because they have to splay their legs out all weird!
One day we went on a hike from our campsite, which was right outside the park in community lands to this dried up lake. We left around 3 or 4 so it was an evening hike, and on the way home the clouds rolled in and we got to see a double rainbow! One was a half and the other went all the way across the sky! Then it down-poured. It was raining so hard that it actually hurt, and I couldn’t see anything, and it was awesome. A few members of the group were less than thrilled, and it wasn’t the most pleasant rain shower I do admit, but this is Africa and you just have to embrace it! Plus, once the rain was over we got to see a lovely pink and purple sky.
While Tarangire was a more open combination of a bushland and a savannah, Arusha was forest-y and in the mountains so it was completely different than any of the other places we have been. We didn’t see as many animals there, but we did see a ton of giraffe in large groups which is uncommon for giraffe who tend to be more solitary animals. We stayed in Arusha for three nights and on the first night there was a leopard outside of our campsite AND I HEARD IT!!! Unfortunately, it never made it into the campsite because the askaries (guards) scared it away so I never got to see it, but I was close!! The second night our camp was invaded by biting ants and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it! One of the boy’s tents was completely taken over and we had to surrender to the ants and put up a spare tent somewhere else. It both sucked and was comical at the same time because by the third day they were everywhere and people were doing these hilarious little dances all over the place! We had to fortify our tents against the ants by putting a ring of diesel around our tents luckily fire wasn’t really a danger.
Also while in Arusha we had some park guards take us on a hike through the park. The only large carnivores in Arusha are leopards which would never bother us, so there was no real danger. We got to see Mount Kilimanjaro, which was absolutely beautiful. We walked up to some giraffe so that we were only 20 meters or so away and we played in this awesome waterfall. The expedition was simply fantastic from start to finish and I loved every minute of it! The craziest part is that everyone says that our second expedition is even better than the first one, and I can’t imagine things getting any better than that and I am so pumped for Serengeti.
After Expedition:
Since expedition things have been going pretty well. I just got back from doing animal counts at the local national park and I saw an elephant with the largest tucks my professor has ever seen. He was probably 45-55 years old and they were just massive in length and width. It was so cool. We also saw a fresh lion kill, but unfortunately the lions had left a few hours before we got there.
On our non-program day last week we went to this local organic coffee farm called Gibbs farm for a tour. It was so fun, because along with being an organic farm it is a lodge for very wealthy people (I’m talking $900 a night). When we signed up for the tour we didn’t really appreciate that aspect until our program coordinator mentioned that we would have to keep our voices down so as to not disturb the guests. We spent the first hour drinking complementary coffee at the look out point. Then we met our guide who took us around the little farm and told us about its history. The bathrooms were the nicest bathrooms I have ever been in anyware!! You walked in and rounded a corner and then there was this wall of glass and you had this beautiful view as you were doing your business! Haha Honestly it was a bit of a culture shock for all of us, because we are so used to living right outside this little town where the roads are dirt and its speckled with little farms and then we find ourselves at the Ritz where the bathrooms have warm towels for your hands! It all seemed a little silly to me, but we had a lot of fun pretending we belonged there!
That afternoon we went to the monthly local market where the locals actually go to shop. That was really cool, but my friend got pick-pocketed about 40,000tsh which is about $30 which goes a long way here so that put a little damper on things. One of the venders was really upset about it, and he gave here a free necklace to prove that not all Africans are like that which was really nice of him.
The rains have really picked up and we have gotten a few massive storms which have been really cool. I honestly did not know it could rain so hard. Its funny how quickly the rain comes and goes. One minute it is 90 degrees and super sunny and the next it is 65 and hurricaning!
Overall things have been spectacular and I apologize for the lateness of this post!
Christine
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