Safari/time with family and friends

Okay, family (Whatley family!)...I hear you...I will try to write more often even though 1 week is not that long. Eric is the expert at putting in the pictures and videos so he will do that when he has some spare time.

Things are settling down here. Right before our safari there was some concern about the security in the area so it was a good time to get out of dodge for a little bit until the Jacobson's and towns people were able to clear things up. The Jacobson's have lived here for 30 years and are well known in Il Boro. Mark started the Selian hospital and Linda, his wife, works as a music teacher, social coordinator for all the volunteers coming to Selian and raised their children here. Since coming back from the safari, security has increased and the town leaders have been connecting to make sure the police are cooperating to keep Il Boro safe. Eric and I have also decided to move into the house down the road with other students so we are not alone in one house and the landlords/gate keepers have been notified to be extra vigilent. SO, we are feeling much better now.

Now about the safari! Bryant's girlfriend came to visit this week so we decided to reduce costs and all go together. We started out by driving about 2 hours out of Arusha to a campsite near Lake Manyara. This was no ordinary campsite. The tents were equipped with actual mattresses and had bathrooms with running water and showers. Eric, Charlie and I were offered the guest house for no extra cost...it pays to bring an infant along! The scenery was also amazing. We were on a mountain, surrounded by trees and greenery, the sky was clear and the weather was dry and about 80-85 degrees! We dropped off our bags and headed to Lake Manyara in a Land Rover with a pop up top (incidently, the Land Rover has no seat belts and no car seat, but that is not abnormal in these parts). :) Once in the park, we were almost arms length away many times from baboons, cape buffalo, giraffe, zebras, elephants, many varieties of birds, water buck, impalas and wart hogs. We will post some pictures soon. Back at the campsite, they made us a "western meal" consisting of fried fish, potatoes, and a veggie casserole (Indian style). Charlie, of course, did not eat any of it and feasted on corn flakes and peanut butter bread.

In the morning, we left at 6:30am and drove about 2 hours to Ngorongoro Crater. It was awesome!! We saw 12 lions and a group of lions attempt an attack on a cape buffalo. The perfect scenario, all the action but no kill! We got it on video tape so will try to download it later if possible. We also saw all the animals we saw the day before except elephants and giraffes. The terrain did not accomodate the vegetation needed for giraffes and elephants. There were many, many water buck and baby water buck. Supposedly, the babies are easy kill for lions, cheetahs (we saw 2!) and cape buffalo. We spent all day in the crater, ate lunch by the hippo pool. Hippos are not very interesting. All they seem to do is laze around in the water and only occasionally roll or bring their head out of the water. Their skin is very thin and so they stay in the water and roll in the mud to protect them from the sun.

We spend our last day of the safari at the Terengetti. It didn't have many animals since many had already migrated but we did see some fascinating birds and the scenery was peaceful. Charlie did great! No major tantrums, was interested in the animals and sat on our laps the whole time. I am speeding up this entry because he is now awake and getting very busy. I will write more later...maybe when he takes a nap. :)