Come on safari with me

Brian and I are going on safari again on July 12. These photos are from our 2014 safari. Africa got under our skin. We HAD to go back. I will not be blogging while I am away but I will be collecting material - stories, pictures, feelings, insights I hope and thoughts to bring back to my blog. This will be my last post until we return on Aug. 13. Have a great summer. See you when I get back.

It is not easy to understand Africa, especially as a comparably affluent Westerner. People are so friendly and open. Smiles are wide and welcoming. Eyes are clear and without guile. But in a bubble of a safari truck or camp it is really hard to grasp this country. On the first trip I was so ignorant I didn't even know what the questions were. This time I will understand that the brick ramshackle building with the corrugated metal roof and hand drawn sign next to another one similar is a village. That those mud huts really are homes. My Western eyes and brain couldn't fathom or believe what they were seeing.

This time we will be staying in much smaller camps, of 5 -10 tents, rather than lodges of 90 rooms, or camps of 40 tents. We are told the animals will be grazing and even hunting in front of our tents. The Serengeti or Masaai Mara, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire Elephant Reserve will be our front doorstep. We can go on walking safaris in a couple of the camps with a Masaai Warrior and a ranger, who thankfully has a gun, though great pains will be taken not to use it. It is a matter of pride to take care of the animals, the creatures who will share their home with us. And that is the only way we would have it. The gun is a necessary security blanket obviously, though. Being breakfast for a lion or something to charge for an ornery Cape Buffalo is not on our itinerary. I am sure the Masaai who are running several of our camps know how to survive in the plains and we will stick close to them for sure. What an honor for us, to view the animals, to be guided by people's whose ancestors have lived in these places for generations.

We will return to Zariki School in Magu-Mwanza, Tanzania to visit. We have made friends there, supported the school for the past 2 years. We will spend the day with one of the teachers and the children and some villagers.

This woman asked me how old I was. She was 50 and I was 59. She asked if I had only the one son, and told me she had 9 children. She couldn't believe I only had one (Bryn was 18 then and travelled with us). We laughed quite a lot, which is a universal intimacy. Amos, was our interpreter - an extremely wise and thoughtful villager

This woman asked me for money to take her picture. It was too late. I already had taken it, after Amos told me to feel free. Amos said to ignore her. And she told me in no uncertain terms to get lost. Fair enough.

The young man in the middle told us his father would not let him go to school because if he gets an education he will leave the village. His father does not want him to leave.

The children!! The children!! Holding our hands, hanging off of our arms, walking with us, wanting to see their pictures on the camera. It was so moving and so much fun.

Our first lion ever. We were so excited!

Amos Joshua, our interpreter and friend. He is very charismatic and helps with social problems in hsi village - alcoholism, birth control, and HIV prevention.

There are several types of gazelles. We were constantly mixing them up. I think this is a Thompson gazelle......maybe......

Poached and on the edge of extinction, rhinos, are rare to see. When someone does see them the radio call goes out and everyone races to the spot. We only saw them at great distance - it was playing with the photos that pulled them this close. There are areas in the Serengeti where rhinos are held and under guard, away from poachers and tourists alike.

lion!!

Zebra bums and braided tails.....who's their hairdresser?

A school we visited and left 4 soccer balls. The kids were so excited, 300 of them swamped our truck. They all wanted to hold our hands, to touch us. I sprained my thumb because someone in the crowd wouldn't let go and I yanked quite hard - I couldn't tell who it was amongst the crowd. The Principal seemed quite depressed - i think he must have had much to do and no resources. They had no soccer balls until we arrived.

Sunset on Lake Victoria. We thought we were actually on the lake but it turned out to be a bay of Lake Victoria called Speke Bay. It went to the horizon. The Lake itself is massive and much larger- we could hardly believe it. Lake Victoria is the 2nd biggest lake in the world after Lake Superior.

Amos and the best fish I have ever tasted.

My son and his friends. He loved them and they him.

By general standards on Lake Victoria , Magu-mwanza is quite wealthy. The men are fisherman and the women are responsible for selling the fish for export. It's hardly rich, though, to have no clean water, no sewage treatment or even toilets. HIV is found in the village and alcoholism is a factor. This winter cholera swept through the village. The villagers drink water from the lake, known to have several parasites in it. Families have many children because not many survive. I have heard that there is little bonding before the age of 4 because the mortality rate is so high. When a water filtration tank that the school uses failed I went looking for an NGO in the area to help replace the tank. They said they wouldn't help, that this village is saavy in giving village tours and getting tourist support. Other villages in the area are in much more dire straits. The village has a school that has been built with donations from visitors. Each classroom costs 20,000$. There are 3 classrooms. In spite of the hardship, we found people to be friendly, charismatic, open and kind.

The power of a woman!

Lazying around after a big feed.

We were truly stunned by this scene as we came over a rise. The colours!! The Swamp of Tarangire Elephant Reserve. Our wonderful guide, Godfrey, said he had seen 800 elephants in the swamp before.

I adore elephants. I wish to stay long hours for many days until they get to know me and maybe interact in some way.

We arrived just after the kill.

The elusive leopard. We hardly ever saw another truck but if someone reported a leopard sighting on the radio everyone headed to see. Sometimes 30 vehicles lined up. This leopard was far away and in the shadows. I have edited it and cropped it to get closer and lighter.

The wildebeest of the Great Migration. We saw 10's of thousands .....or more. They are really comical and extremely agile.

Giraffes!!! So elegant and graceful until hey spread their front legs wide to get down to drink. They lvoe the acacia trees. The acacia tree that is being eaten by a giraffe will send a signal to other acacias and those trees will put out a bitter taste that the giraffes don't like. Communication between trees...hmmmm.....beings.........

The beautiful Masaai women singing for us. They invited me into the group, smiling and touching me, wanting to sell me their handmade jewellry.

A game the Masaai young men play to see who can jump the highest and who has the most prowess. Brian and Bryn were invited to try it. But not me, a woman.

Rhinos! ..very rare....no no these are trucks, but we all raced to see the rhino off in the distance.....

Leopard nearby...always sleeping in a tree during the day.

Godfrey our Tanzanian guide, with Brian. He loves his job and the animals. We loved him. We're still in touch through Facebook which is a wonderful thing!

Robinson, our Kenyan guide. He could see a lion sleeping in the grass a mile away....we couldn't see anything..