"kari- this isnt disney land."

hmmm so where did we leave off.. oh yes. we had just arrived at the springlands hotel in moshi tanzania.

some things to note about our accommodations: they still used keys. the reason became evident when we learned the power goes off quite frequently. there is a switch next to the bathroom that turns on the hot water heater. in most cases this was actually a large barrel on the roof that was heated by the sun. there was a mosquito net above the bed. we had been warned of maleria so attempts were made to use the net. for about 18 seconds. bobby immediately complained he could no longer breathe and i could not keep from getting tangled up. operation BUG OFF was immediately canceled. we would take our chances. the food was really good. fresh produce etc was delivered daily. the staff was phenomenally nice. and so accommodating.

we enjoyed a great evening sitting outside, drinking some good beer, some great wine and well just talking. people who had just come off the mountain. people who would head up in the morning. it was definately the HOT topic.

our first morning (after, yes, i locked my self IN the room) we set out on a 2 day safari(it had to be modified a bit due to our Ethiopian diversion). the scene at the hotel was crazy! there were a few different groups heading out to climb, a few heading out on safari and a few trying to just get out of the way!

we met up with our driver and climbed into our truck. awesome.





and off we went. as we drove out toward Lake Manyara, - about a 3-4 hour drive - we passed alot of interesting and "OH WOW" moments. our driver was awesome, as i peppered him with questions for the entire ride...about religeon and govenment, and herding cattle, and kids in school and unemployment, and highways, and what he ate for dinner, and what he thinks of obama, and music and americans. and he was so patient. and didnt once (that i could see) give me the evil eye.

some of the things that went whizzing by...at least when we werent stuck behind a huge truck (or cows crossing) on the 2 lane highway...that also became subjects of my unending questions..











we arrived at the national park and had to do some official paper work kind of stuff. when we first pulled in we saw this huge family of baboons and immediately went "oh wow you have to stop". our driver obliged but kind of laughed.. saying you'll see a hundred more. and he was right.

we had a chance to get out at the entrance and walk around a bit. i had to use the facilities...and well, i'll be honest. this was my first experience with a hole in the ground (with four lovely walls for privacy). dont worry. i survived and actually by the end of the trip was quite skilled.

so we spent the afternoons driving around. it was awesome. you would turn a corner and BAM!



we had to stay in the truck (just like they tell you at disney - keep your arms inside the vehicle), but at one point we could get out. there was a huge swamp with hippos. it was just the perfect scene, with some zebras grazing behind them, some unidentifiable birds hanging around.



here's one of those funny little monkeys.



did i mention it was HOT??



we had a good day.

that night we drove UP, way UP to our hotel. and went down this muddy, rutted, roller coaster of a road that our 4wd had some reservations about. our hotel was on top of a hill, over looking the farms that supplied all their food. it was beautiful. peaceful. and revealingly COOL. temps in Moshi (where our home base was) were above 100.


we had an amazing dinner. and then sat out on the hotel porch and drank wine. yep. good day.

the next morning we set out early to see the ngorongoro crater.


we learned that a main "highway" goes thru the park connecting the towns of Arusha and Nairobi and other Kenyan destinations.



this is it.
and yes big buses travel this road. it doesnt go down into the crater where we were headed.. but can you imagine this is the BEST way to get from point A to point B?

we had the amazing opportunity to visit a Masai community.



that was unreal. walking through and being able to ask questions and see their daily life. wow. i asked the one guy who spoke english what they ate. he replied 'four things. goat meat. cow meat. cow milk and cow blood." yikes. i would not last 6 seconds here. he said no fruit or vegetables, but didnt elaborate on the reason. i also didnt know they were a polygamist group. he then pointed out the little "kindergarten" and said we could go over and take a look. the kids were fantastic and counting.



that was cool. they wanted to know where we were from and all kinds of stuff.

so after that we moved on to the crater. wow.



so we just drive around. its HUGE and well you just never know what you are going to come across.. it was just amazing. i mean that word is so over done in this post but ...







and this guy:


he was maybe 10 yards from us. just snoozing away with his lady lion friend. they would kind of pick their heads up and look around then go back to sleep. and YES i did make the comparison to madison and bobby rolled his eyes..

anyway.... we kind of happened upon this little situation... and it really burned up the reality lightbulb.. that this is really the food chain up close...



so lots happening in this pic... see the baby zebra? just born.. barely able to walk.. and maybe you can see the vultures still chowing down on the birth mess (ohh yes yum!). on the right is a hyena - literally salivating at the thought of a baby zebra appetizer.

that was cool.

one last little bit. we had been checking off in our heads all the animals we wanted to see. the one with the little asterick beside it was the elusive white rhino. not too many of those guys left.anywhere. so we werent putting high expectations on that. BUT as we were kind of deciding it would be time to head back, we caught a glimpse of this BIG thing a ways away. we stopped and just waited...



wow. we had such a good time out exploring. and still to come was the big climb.