Hujambo!: Safari na rafiki

June 1

This past weekend was my first (and definitely not last) safari. 24 of us in 4 open-roofed Jeeps. 2 straight days of driving, confinement-induced hilarity, wild life, and incredible views. Saturday we met up early and drove to Lake Manyara National Park, passing through protected Maasai land on the way. Herders moved their flocks along the highway sporting traditional robes and walking sticks and, of course, neon second-hand Nikes. Culture clash.

A fairly typical sight along the side of the highway.

A picture is worth a thousand words so here are some pictures from our Saturday at Lake Manyara.

Lake Manyara from afar.

Twiga. All of the pictures in the park were taken from our jeep.

We spent Saturday night at a camp ground outside of the park, but we weren’t exactly roughing it. Simona and I had an entire tent to ourselves conveniently placed by the campfire. The grounds had multiple toilets and warm showers, neither of which I have at my home stay. We were basically at a Ritz Carlton. Who knew I would have to go camping to find luxury accommodations? Strangely enough, I know I have officially hit the adaptation phase of culture shock because I now prefer squatting toilets to regular ones…weird…TMI? Sorry.

Sunday, my favorite of the two safari days, was spent at Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is technically a caldera, or collapsed volcano, and one side of the crater is still active. Maasai live and herd goats and cattle inside. The crater, nearly 300 square kilometers, is indescribably awesome. There is literally no other place like it on the planet. It is a habitat completely isolated by a literal wall of mountains on all sides. If you’re in you’re in, if you’re out you’re out.

Outside of the crater. High altitude and cooooold.

Silly Danes (Looking down into Ngorongoro). Apparently the Danish have quite a difficult time trying to say “binoculars”. They are now to be referred to, forever more, as “bolagolas”.