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!
As we were driving along Valerie hollered at Prospa to stop, he did and then reversed to try and find what Valerie had seen. In that 30 seconds these Jackals had already decided to leave. It took me too long to turn my camera on and to try and focus it on the running animals to get any kind of decent image. I still can't believe we saw them. They were so graceful.
On our second day in the Serengeti we stopped for lunch at a picnic spot. Not a minute after we were out of the vehicle rain poured down up on us. It was our first rainfall in Africa, and it was a welcome surprise after being deprived of bathing water at the campsite. As the rain fell these tiny birds manifested around us hopping up and down hoping for some lunch treats.
I took this picture while on safari. Leopards are really the only thing we didn't see on safari. I showed this shot to Prospa and he was stunned, he asked me how I had done this. When I told him he nearly peed himself. This picture is a close-up of a postcard.
We saw these lions from a distance. I thought this is what the entire safari would be like, that we would only see animals from far away. These pictures were taken with my zoom focused as far as it would go 20X. The other thing I find interesting about these shots is the proximity of the lions to the migrating herds. Every now and then a zebra would wander over and whinny at the lions but it didn't start off any kind of panic.
Our first game drive in Tanzania. We saw a giant spider web, and a crazy birds nest. Also we were there in the season of the short rains which as it turns out is also the major migration season for wildebeasts and zebras, lots and lots of animals. It is impossible to convey just how many animals we saw, as far as the eye could see there they were. Then when we drove on for hours they were still always there as far as the horizon, it was incredible. When the wildebeasts started to run between the trucks Emily whispered "...Mufasa..."
We drove, and drove, and drove, and drove some more. When that was done we drove even more!
Our last evening in Kenya. We saw lots and lots of animals, mostly because of Valerie's eagle-eye performance. Our guide was amazed that she spotted a pride of lions hanging out on a ridge. As we bumbled around in our van we heard that another cheetah had been spotted on the other side of the ravine. Joshua took us to a crossing point with a very steep incline. In the top picture you can see a van approaching the crossing but it doesn't really show you how steep it was. As we sat and watched three trucks go down we marveled at how each vehicle drove at a nearly verticle angle down the track. When it was our turn Emily balked, she didn't want to do it. Valerie backed her up and told Joshua to find another way. So we didn't see the second cheetah but with Valerie's crazy eagle-eye we saw spotted mongoose (mongeese?) and the timid bat-eared fox.
During the middle of the day most animals sleep so we went to explore a Masai village. As we pulled up to the village Joshua told us that two Masai were attacked the night before by a lion, they killed it but one of them had to be taken to the hospital. Imagine for a moment living in a place where lions roam free, and that on an every day walk in your neighborhood at anytime you could be attacked by a 400 pound carnivore. We would see Masai people walking freely about the inside of the Masai Mara reserve, and lions aren't really even the worst case scenario there. 
