Safari Part 5.5

This was our campsite in Tanzania. The third picture is the caged area where they kept us during feeding time. The last picture is the area where all of the cooks prepared our meals.
I had mixed feelings about this campsite. First of all it was out in the open, there were nothing between us and nature, as was demonstrated on our first night when a giraffe walked into camp. Second, they told us that they put us in the cage at meal time to protect us from baboons who liked to steal food, right baboons. Finally there was never any water for bathing, and we spent three nights and four days there, four hot African days in a truck with no air conditioning. On the up side it was beautiful, and quiet. The skies at night were fantastic, soooo many stars!! It was nice to be forced into the meal area at night time because it meant we had to be social, we couldn't just go and hide in our rooms. I learned how to play a card came from northern Ontario called yuker, it is so much fun!! We met all kinds of interesting people there from all over the world. My favorite encounter was with this touch looking guy, he looked like Vin Diesel except old. It turns out he is an American veterinarian living in Nigeria working for U.S.Aid, he is in charge of a group working against bird flu in Africa. We called him Vinnie the Vet (but not to his face). We also enjoyed our encounter with the French group, when they discovered there was no water they all took sponge baths from their water bottles in full view of the other campers wearing nothing but their underwear. Last but not least there was the mullet, he was from somewhere in Eastern Europe. The mullet followed us around from campsite to campsite and every time we saw him we got the giggles. It wasn't just that he had a mullet, but he had curled the bottom, and he insisted on wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off, and camouflage pants.
Gamba our cook was awesome, he is such a nice guy. For breakfast every morning we would have fried eggs, toast, fruit, pancakes, and hot dog wieners. Lunch was almost always a boxed lunch which included; chicken leg, bag of chips, bag of nuts, boiled egg, apple juice, cheese and carrot sandwich, chocolate bar, and an orange. Dinner was always huge, it included some kind of soup, a main course and then dessert. On Christmas eve he hung up a Merry Christmas banner and made us a special cake. We all wore silly Santa hats and I had stockings hung by our table for the other three, we out christmassed everyone else there!