Cow Blood! Yum!

Olduvai Gorge

The Serengeti

July 27 - 28, 2011

The rules for the Serengeti:
1) No food in the tent
2) No leaving the tent if you see eyeballs in the dark
3) Stay in the jeep


Cheetah - score! We saw this one on the way out of the park - what luck!


Drinking Hole - alligator free.


Monkey butt!


The iconic giaraffe and acai tree.


Me, Lauren, Simba (our guide), Emily, Kelly, Clarissa and Beth in our safari vehicle.


Pride rock! Where the Circle of Life begins!


Dassie - the closest realtive of the African elephant. I know - right???


Mongoose Family.


Hyena


Leopard. This is one of those many times where the picture is just not as good as being there.


Hippo


Sunrise


Sunset


This view has trees, but there are vast parts of the serengeti where there is nothing but grass for as far as one can see.

Ngoro Ngoro Crater

July 26, 2011

Although it is now much later than the 26th of July (try Oct. 19th) I really need to get the final trip pictures up. Especially because I keep telling everyone that visiting the crater and the Serengeti was one of the best parts of my trip!

We literally drove along the rim of the crater thru lush forest before driving down into this vast crater which looked barren, dry and empty. I really didn't think we would see much of anything at first!

African Crested Stork!


How close can I get before I get stampeded . . . hmm . . .


African Blue Bird.


My new favorite picnic spot . . . although don't eat anything meat like or bloody.


Yeah - we were that close!


Extreme Close-up! Check out that booger! (Gotcha!)


Wildebeasts chillin' like villians.


I just wanted to get out and hug them all!


Simba's girlfriend, Nala.


Sweet action picture.


That black line which looks like a shrub is actually a gigantic buffalo herd.


Human eating rocks . . . with a stork perched ontop.

Let the Adventure Begin

7-26-11

We left our home/truck in Arusha and jumped into game vehicles with our tents and a small pack of clothes for our next two nights of bush camping and exploring the Ngoro Ngoro Crater and the Serengeti. Soo exciting!!! Although the two parks are right next to each other, the crater is technically a conservation area [and a collapsed volcano, not a crater] while the Serengeti is a national park.

The food cage - no food in the tents and no cooking in the open!

Myself, Lauren, Simba (our driver), Emily, Kelly, Clarissa, and Beth

Our 4 wheeler for the next few days of game driving.

Inside the Ngoro Ngoro Crater.

The entrance to the Ngoro Ngoro Crater.

Traci and I and our trusty tent in our last campground outside the bush. Let the adventure begin!

If you know me, you know I LOVE bananas. Imagine my joy at discovering a whole new banana species - the famed red banana.

A Masai market on the road to the Ngoro Ngoro Crater.

Zanzibar Beaches

July 23, 2011

This was my vacation from my vacation - a bed for 3 nights, amazing beaches, and no driving! I had a fantastic dive, went swimming all day, and took long walks on beaches. Perfect.

A traditional Masai warrior and me . . . enjoying the good life. I am pretty sure Zanizbar beaches with running water is a step up from drinking cow's blood in the African plains. Of course that's a matter of opinion.

Just rubbing it in.

Somewhat traditional African dancers in our favorite bar . . . er . . . restaurant.

My new pain free tattoos.

Now, this is what I call relaxation!