Safari!

Sunday morning I was picked up in Arusha by Maasai Wanderings, the safari company that I am traveling with. I was a little nervous, just because I didn't know who would make up the rest of our group. In the car was the safari guide, Dennis, and the cook, Elias. I got lucky - Dennis is extensively educated when it comes to wildlife, and has done tons of research, and has a degree in wildlife management! The first person we picked up was a girl named Emily. Very cool girl, 22, from Ohio, also here in Tanzania volunteering. We hit it off - so good there! Next we stopped at a hotel and picked up two guys in their fifties from Canada - a couple! So, we were good there, and that is our group, VERY lucky! We became fast friends on the drive out to Serengeti National Park, making a few stops along the way to see the view of Lake Manyara, and drive through Ngorongoro Conservation Area. All along the way, we got deeper and deeper into the wild parts of Africa, the horizons dotted with zebras and gazelle, impalas, and giraffe. Baboons all along the side of the roads, in the trees as well. Wild, natural beauty on a scale I have never seen or even imagined. We did stop at the famous Oldovai Gorge along the way, the place where the humanoid footprints were found that were 3.5 million years old, so that was very cool to see. It is also the place where 'Lucy' was found, so aparently, I'm where we all started! We arrived in the Serengeti, and it's like nothing I've ever seen before, very difficult to describe or even photograph the scale. Just endless grasslands as far as you can see in every direction. We stopped at the gate, and there was a small path up some rocks to an overlook, and from the rocks we could look out over the plains, and we got our first view of a herd of elephants! That night, after about 6 hours of driving, we arrived at our campsite, and it's been years since I've camped! But with a little instruction, I built my tent, and was just so into the adventure of CAMPING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SERENGETI that I didn't even mind the cold water shower or having to go the bathroom in a hole in the ground. It was just amazing at night, the starts are like nothing I've ever seen before, no pollution or other light on the ground, so there are SO many of them! Sleeping in the tent was a little scary, there were hyenas outside my tent at one point around 3 am, but it was all ok. Hakuna Matata! The following day, we woke up early and went on our first game drive, and were instantly lucky. Within the first two hours we got withing about 15 feet of the most beautiful animal I have ever seen, a leopard. Shortly after, we drove A WAYS off the road, and saw a cheetah and her three cubs. Throughout the day, we went way into the serengeti, and saw lions feeding on huge wildebeest, with cubs crawling inside the rib cage, ostriches, several hooved animals, and more lions! I just love the lions. I have to keep reminding myself that these animals are completely wild! It's just amazing to see them all in this wide open space togehter. The following day, we did a half day game drive, more amazing sightings, and at lunch time, went back to camp, took down the tent, and drove to the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. Now the crater is very difficult to explain, but it is exactly that, a huge crater, and at the bottom is the most lush beautiful grasslands, and a lake. Being on the rim was amazing, the campsite was very busy, and it was really fun to meet other travelers, exchange stories, and get tips! We left VERY early the next morning, around 5:30, and thank god! We drove down into the crater, and for about 1.5 hours, we were pretty much alone in the crater with the animals. Several lions were very active at that hour, so we were able to get really close and just watch them in all their beauty! They are truly magnificent. The crater was very different from Serengeti, in that it is all contained, and so things are a lot easier to find. We saw a few rhinos, but weren't able to get very close to them. They are VERY shy and VERY rare - almost extinct. My favorite part of the day was in the middle of the day, we found two male bachelor lions, and parked close to them to watch them. The lions don't like the heat of the day, so as soon as they saw that the jeep was casting a shadow, they came and laid down RIGHT next to the jeep, literally up against the tire. I was within about 1.5 feet of one of their heads. They are HUGE, and the teeth! Wow. We had lots of other exciting sightings, and then left the crater on a pretty scary slope. We again, packed up camp, and headed to a small campsite (last night). After spending the night there, we had our cultural experience today. I wasn't sure what to expect, having already spent a lot of time here in the villages, with the people. I figured it would be sanitized for tourists, but I was pleasently surprised. We met Paulo, who is from the Iraqw tribe, (very weirdly pronounced), and he showed us around his village for the day. First we went all around a very beautiful gorge they have, and then saw how they make bricks, and finally went to his home, where he and his wife and a few neighbors sang traditional Iraqw songs for us and served us traditional food. He was a lot of fun, and VERY African male. Tonight we are at a campsite in a town that literally translates to River of Mosquitoes, Mta Wa Mbu, so I'm COVERED in bugspray, and have been good at taking my anti-malaria pills. Tomorrow morning, we will go on a game drive through lake Manyara, then tomorrow evening we are spending the night in a Maasai village. Not sure what to expect there, but if it's anything like our Iraqw experience, it should be a treat. I'm really enamored by the Maasai, so it should be a treat! Also, very exciting, Emily, the girl I'm on the trip with, has been interested in going to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas, so it looks as though we will be traveling to Rwanda in early March together. YAY! This safari has been beyond my wildest dreams, I feel like I'm on Noah's Arc. Africa is a dream, the people, the animals, it just goes on and on....
PS I don't have time to proofread this, so KNOCK IT OFF ERIN CONKLIN!