We have such beautiful animals on this earth! We also have beautiful and exotic lands to see. We got a chance to see a few of the animals: monkeys, baboons, and elephants, not to mention those we saw on safari! The list is long, but I know you are wondering, so: giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, lions (mating - yes, unabashedly mating, and us twenty feet away), impala, greater kudu, a hyena, a lizard, a hyrax, many guinea fowl, cape buffalo, no snakes, no leopards, no cheetah. Rhino are in the north, so none of those. Many beautiful birds, and I gave them names, but they didn’t stick. (Carly, on the way back to Iringa, we did briefly see Jerry.)
We nearly didn’t make it into the park before the gate closed. Our driver Peter had already done yeoman’s service by driving the grueling roads back to Iringa, but we had to do a quick turn-around to get off to Ruaha. We made it. Peter confessed it was the fastest he had made that drive. We waited at the gate for the paperwork to get completed and drove about 45 minutes to Mwagusi Camp. Ya gotta go there!
Dinner was ready when we arrived and our hostess, Charlotte, took us down onto the dry river bed where we feasted in the moon and firelight. We retired to our bandas relaxed and happy.
The bandas were elegant as was the food. I will try broccoli with ginger at home! The next afternoon, we were lounging in our banda after an exhilarating morning on safari when an elephant wandered into camp to say hello. S/he (I know I am biologist but how would I know close up? All I could see was trunk and ears!) strolled by the banda, looked in at us and moved on. Birdie stammered - not her usual, I assure you, “Ken, an elephant.” I rolled out of the hammock without the elephant batting an eyelash, and yes, we were that close, so I could get the camera. Mr/s Elephant nonchalantly took a little taste of the banda roof, posed so I could adjust the settings and focus the camera and Snap!, saved for posterity, if I can find it amongst the 700+ photos I took.
Oh there is so much more to tell. And I think it is safe to say our love of Africa is maturing.
Some personal notes, Bibi Esther was a little under the weather for a couple days, a combination of some mild illness and/or a bit of dehydration with a lot of activity. She is now back to herself and enjoying all. Nona has been solid and so much fun. She said hello to the elephant too. Actually, I think our whole party did. Judy has been enjoying this too. She amongst us is the most widely traveled, I think. Our friends Bob and Sandy are a joy. Bob is an engineer, so we depend on him to get the mechanical things understood. (Like shoring up the bridge to Lutangilo.) Birdie’s organization and hospitality strengths show through. I am taking it all in.
I hope the photos come through. I see they did, just not very "artsy." They take forever to upload, even small files. The first sun is sunrise, the second, sunset.
Love you all,
Ken
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