Tanzanian Adventures

A 10-day safari in Tanzania  was a highlight of our year this month. Son Paul and daughter-in-law Katie met us in Amsterdam to proceed to Kilimanjaro Airport with a group of 10 others on an Overseas Adventure Trip (OAT). It was Katie's first strip to Africa and a blockbuster event for us all.

We wanted to see cats and we did--big time--lion kills, lion sex, cheetah chases, leopards lunching (on a Thompson's gazelle),etc. It was the closest we have ever gotten to game in any of our African trips. The cats just ignore the safari vans. A highlight was to see three leopards in one tree (mom and two youngsters) feasting on a gazelle right by a picnic area where tourists usually get out for a stand up break. Needless to say, no one was stepping out for a picnic on this particular day! At one point one of the youngsters lept out of the tree right on to a picnic table--definitely a Kodak moment.

We saw all of the Big Five and Norma added up about 110 bird sightings, many of them new species for her. The two guides, George and Samson, had fonts of knowledge about all the game and added much depth to our observations. The plains of the Serengeti allow for easy game viewing compared to the bush of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The only negative may be the number of tourists. The day we saw the leopards at the picnic site, more than 30 vans pulled up over the course of the hour! However, most of the time we traveled in our own two-van group with only an occasional sight of another van. We stayed in a tent camp in the Serengeti with the comforts of a 5-gallon bucket warm shower, great beds and good food.

There were cultural experiences in a Maasai village.
Katie and I had trouble balancing thatching grass on our heads, so I'm not sure we'd make it as good wives in the Maasai culture. A school visit to a 5th grade class was memorable as kids shared one or more of their text books with us and practiced their English. We even attended part of an evengelical church service in a small village. Katie and Paul even learned a few words of Swahili.

For more photos go to

https://plus.google.com/photos/117619508186210444760/albums/5947025522365037073?sort=1

That's it for now!