Sunday

Another incredible day. I'm going to stay and turn in my air ticket and become a guide or a ranger. We stayed in a lodge, which means a real room. It's amazing how much better we both slept without elephants and lions running up and down the halls. This morning and afternoon we went to Lake Manyara national park. As soon as we got in there were many many monkeys and baboons scrambling around. The baboons we've been seeing are the small baboons not the large variety but they are something. Always grooming and eating each others nits yum. Then we went a very short way and Momma and baby elephant were munching on grass. The baby didn't quite have the Hang of it and it took her a couple of tries to get the grass from the ground to her mouth. The adult elephants use their tusks like chopsticks to pick up the grass or branches. The elephants just ignored us and went about their business. There something about the elephants and the giraffes that really make me just watch and watch and smile. Speaking if which we saw a pack of 7 giraffes all very close to the road. When we stopped one ran away. She sounded just like a horse clopping. Then there were 6 and they just stood and ate and were so sweet. More zebra and wildebeest. But after lunch the guide, Jon, suddenly stops backs up and there was a lion in a tree. Jon pulls in under the tree and after the shock of seeing the lion in the tree we look and see there are 3 adult female and 4 baby lions in the tree. We're clicking away pictures like crazy. Remember we're in an open topped vehicle with lions over us taking pictures. Some part of my mind is going this isnt good but I couldn't stop taking the pictures. Remember I'm the one who gets nervous easily. Only 1 of the 7 lions was asleep. Apparently the guide said ok can we go and I went wait. Then David said can we go and I said wait. Then David said were going NOW. Afterward I asked David why we stayed under the tree so long and was astounded (but I know my husband does not lie) that the reason was me.

Forgot about the hippos. They were all in a big pond. Just lying there but every once in awhile they would roll over and splash. Big big animals.

This I found sad although David keeps spouting circle of life garbage to me. Apparently when male cape buffalos get old they're kicked out of the pride and sent off to this hot springs part of lake Manyara. The water there is salted not fresh and not healthy for them. That's where they die. There were 3 just hanging around looking pretty miserable. Plus one cape buffalo skull that a lion had eaten a few months before. The good news is that they let the old female buffalos stay with the pride and continue to protect them. david asked if I knew what anthropermorphic meant.





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Location:Lake Manyara

Lots of real estate

At around 4 in the pm and I looked out the window. Last I had seen we had passed over Germany, Poland, went around Vienna and had headed into Greece. Got cloudy and I read for awhile and then opened the window shade:


This is an iPad shot from 35,000 feet. I've seen a fair amount of desert but nothing like this. And it went on and on. Then over Ethiopia and by the time we got to Kenya it was dark.

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Time for tea

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Location:A 104,Maguga,Tanzania

Sat July 2 part 2

Back to this morning. Our guide, John wanted an early start. I think he is feeling pressure as we haven't seen any cats yet. It grew light as I had said as we entered the park. Vultures were stil sitting in the trees but other birds were all over the place and making all sorts of racket. no one talks about the birdlife here but it is incredible.

There are trails across the savanah - not really roads. They are mixed with wildebeest trails elephant trails and all sorts of other tracks running to and from the river. Apparently many tourists are expecting to see a kill. Yeah you got it. Not on the top of our list. But to see cats you have to go where they will be which is where the food is which means water ( a whole other blog to write)

I don't think i mentioned that for the last couple nights i can't close my eyes without seeing animals We are driving around in a large landrover type vehicle with a top that pops up allowing you to stand up and look around. There is literally always something to see. And even if you were think nothing is there, you blink and see something new. After driving around looking all day it's like a movie replaying in your(my) head at night.

So we've been driving around and a lump in the grass over to the right caught my eye. We had John back up a liitle and sure enough there was our lion. He was an older gentleman just hanging out. He saw us! Pretended not to. After a bit he got up and started walking with a low rumble coming from his throat. We were on parallel tracks and the rumble began to turn to a growl. Not incredible volume but an intensity and internal resonance that was pretty amazing. Then you add the reverb from the river escarpment and you know why they call him the king of the jungle. He grew bored with us and headed back into the grass.
P
Other highlights were an ancient baobab tree. With age the trees naturally hollow out. This tree had been enhanced with hand holds and extra space inside the tree for poachers to hide out. We saw marob storks and vultures feasting on a dead elephant. And we'll save the discussion on the sex life of baboons for another day (who can guess the Beatles song that applies?)

Just a ps from Melanie the lion was hiding in tall grass where even the guide could not see him. But Tracker David found him twice. Once in the tall grass and once climbing a bank What a guy.

The hotel were now at in lake Manyara is very nice. Very upscale with a fancy infinity pool overlooking the cliffs. So were sitting poolside relaxing with a drink. David was contemplating taking a dip and we look over at the pool. A baboon climbs over from the cliff and takes a drink of the pool water. That's it for me using the pool.

Although this place is fancier the food at the campsite was better. Fresher and more homemade. This last sentence was for Josh B benefit.

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Sat am July 2

It's before lunch sitting on the porch of our tent watching baboons traipse around the dry riverbed. Large extended family with little ones playing tag and wrestling while the older ones are parked
around the periphery. On the bank under some trees a huge elephant is framed by some acacia trees flapping his ears. Impala are grazing on the bank and the occasional warthog trots across the river bed.

This morning we got up before dawn and a MassI escorted us to the main area for a quick Tea and coffee before heading out into the dark back to the National Park. Dawn here is unlike what we a familiar. Instead of the eastern horizon starting to glow the entire sky seems to lighten at once. Not sure if this is always the case but it was today. We drove into the park in the dark with wildebeest and zebra crossing in front of us. As the sky began to lighten the Savannah took on soft glow and we could make out elephant and giraffe along side the road.

That was david now from Melanie - last night (a weemawek a weemawek) He didn't sleep last night
In the jungle the mighty jungle he didn't sleep last night
And neither did his elephant friend

It was so cool. First I woke up to trumpeting. The elephant was obviously in camp because he was close by. I awoke a couple of more times to his trumpeting. Then there was a new sound. I'm getting paranoid so I woke David. That's a lion he said. Don't tell me that I said. So he said that's an airplane and went back to sleep. As if. Then I spent the rest of the night worrying how we would get by the elephant AND the lion. But by 5am they had quieted down.
So as David said the Massi came to escort us to the safety of the lodge carrying his trusty - flashlight. Oh this is gonna go well me thinks. So I start planning. If it's an elephant in our way the Massi can climb on Davids shoulder and I can climb on his shoulder and bop the elephant on the head with the flashlight. If it's a lion we can just reach out and bop him. If that doesn't work we'll die. Good plan, right?

I'm not sure if we mentioned our tent looks out over a river bed. The river bed has water during the rainy season which ended in May. It's dry as a bone now but it wasn't a very wet rainy season which is obviously a problem. Anyway the animals all walk down the riverbed just like we stroll through the mall. So that's what David was looking at when he described the baboons etc above.

I also should mention that Kruger park in So Africa has a fence around it and the hotels and campsites are outside the fence. Not so in Tanzania. No fence and the animals are free to roam. Pretty smart choosing Tanzania, huh? Really it's extremely cool. So when they built the park they said to the folks that they had to move 10 km outside the perimeter. They said no thanks we've been living here forever. The problem is many raise cattle and goats. The animals in the park, since there's no fence, roam wherever and cattle have been lost. The moral of the story is when we complain about the snow and cold it could be worse. Our cattle could be eaten by lions.


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Melanie Fri part 2

Note to self. Don't drink 3 cups of tea before going on safari. I forgot to write about the school of baboons I saw. Ok they're not called schools but I don't know what they are. Anyway if you ever want to buy A baboon a gift consider a baby pack front pouch. I'm blocking on the brand name. there were mucho mammas and babies and the babies were carried on their mothers backs holding on for dear life. Then there was a mom with a baby about 1 week old. He was holding on to her belly and she was walking along like that. Ouch.
This is my last story today. Promise. So this is what I hate. The guide said he'd pick us up at 6am tomorrow. We told the manager and he said please be careful walking Up to the lodge there are elephants and lions on the property then since it is still dark at that time. I've had it. I said how should we be careful in that situation. He said don't go. Great the guide will be waiting for us not an option. So he backtracked and said lions and elephants are rarely both in camp at the same time but if they are the make slot of noise so go back in your tent You can count on that. Sorry girls I'm making your dad walk in front.
By the way the pictures aren't uploading so you'll have to wait until we get home.


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Happy birthday Lew

- Posted from the ipadWe left the lodge and maybe quarter mile away we came to 5 zebras and a wildebeest. Zebra are pretty funny looking. I don't remember them having such striped faces from the zoo! Apparently wildebeest don,t have good vision or hearing so they hang around zebras and rely on them to warn them of danger. Next we came upon 4elephants. I wish I was articulate enough to describe them. They wereLARGE with the most soulful eyes I never realized how large their Trunks were. They brush the ground. The zebras don't have matching stripes. They kind of start horizontal and then go vertical. But they're so white they shine. Of course with black stripes. They young zebras are brownish with black stripes and they aren't as striking. Then there's a teeny tiny antelope called a dik dik it's the size of a dac hound with a longer neck. Very very cute. Next a baboon- no sway to say this politely - with blue balls. Actually they were teal. I was embarrassed for him having to walk around like that. Enough said. It reminds me we had lunch at a Punic area and our guide warned us the baboons and monkeys are very aggressive about food and we should be careful (again this kind of advice is less then useful for me. What should I do be more aggressive, go hungry. Help me with specifics please). Anyway were eating our wonderful lunch and there's a group of elderly (anyone 10 years older then me) when a baboon jumps on their table and grabs the box that has their lunch. They shouted at him but believe me he got louder and uglier then they did so they gave up and retreated. Then all his other baboon friends came to join him share . And no i did not share my lunch with those that were foodless. So you tell me who's the dumbest animal. After that incident some tourists fed a young baboon some banana from his hand. The baboons wanted more andante to take it. Then the tourists started throwing rocks at them to get them away and the baboons hissed and got scary so they retreated. Then mother babs came up and screamed and hit the youngsters and all of a sudden the tourists are going OH poor babies. I hated it when people screamed at me for hitting my children in public!