A Final Sighting

Day 16 - True Date 6/21/13

Another early day and this one was structured differently than many of our others. We got up at 5:30 for packing and a warm cup of coffee. The warmth from the coffee was refreshing as this was the coldest morning we'd had in a very long time and it was also a cloudy mist. We then loaded up into the jeep at 6:00 where we said goodbye to Ari and our cooks. From our campsite we drove along the high ridge to the entrance of the Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is a protected wildlife area and seems to behave much like its own self-contained-mini-savanna.

The weather today had some firsts for the group for the trip. As briefly described before, the morning was quite cold and very wet as we found ourselves navigating thick fog banks. As we spent time in the crater the it remained cloudy and cold but otherwise fine. When we left the crater the skies opened a bit into our first rain of the trip. Luckily, it cleared by the afternoon and we were able to end the day in the warmth of the sun.

Returning to the Ngorongoro Crater we saw much the usual collection of animals after the long drive to the base. The wildebeest and zebras continued to be abundant and apparently have a self-contained migration inside the crater itself. We saw no giraffe during our time there, which is not to say there are none, and only the occasional elephant in the distance. There were lots of birds, including ostrich, and many scavengers. Among the scavengers we saw a couple pairs of jackals and at least two packs of hyenas.

Omitted from the list above was the last of the African "big five"; the black rhino. When we finally found him (yes, it was a him), he remained about 70 (ish) yards away and kept low to the ground in the tall grass. He began by facing us and it was difficult to get a good view of him. Fortunately, he turned and rose his head to give us a full profile view. There are apparently only a handful of them left in the crater, but it remains one of the places in the world most likely to see one of them. It was very exciting to finish off our list of animals we wished to see.

A little before 10 we began the long drive back to Arusha. The drive is normally expected to be about 3 and a half hours but weather pushed it to be over 4. When we first returned to Arusha we did not go to our hotel but rather a local school (unfortunately I do not recall the name). This visit began a bit awkwardly but became very fun. First, we introduced ourselves to the students and faculty and then they did the same for us. This took a while as every student said their name, their favorite subjects and what they hoped to become. While there were only about 60 students this process was still lengthy. After introductions the students did a bit of singing and the donations we brought were brought out. We were asked to give a few words and show some of what we brought, which was the most awkward part of the visit. Afterwards we signed the guest book, and upon Archer's request, were invited to play sports with the students. Their coach picked their 11 best and made a team against us as a group. The field was dusty with many tiny thorn things (yay bare feet!), as well as uneven but we had a lot of fun. We ended up winning 3-2 but still had a penalty kick shootout, just for fun. After the game we loaded back up and headed to the hotel but it was sad to leave.

We left the school at 4 and I think were all surprised at how much we had enjoyed ourselves. We returned to the usual Ilboro Safari Lodge for the night. We all had another nice shower, once again, must appreciated after the week on the plain and met for dinner at 5:45. From there we called it an early night so that we could get up and leave the hotel at 3am (eww...)

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There is technically one more day to the trip but I do not feel like treating it as its own entry. On the 22nd we loaded a jeep and left the hotel at 3am a to return to Kilimanjaro Airport. From there we flew to Kenya, boarded another flight to Amsterdam and then a final plane back to JFK. We had no trouble in the airports, had no delays and no lost baggage. We were through U.S. customs by about 8:00 pm and said our good-byes to each other after 2 great weeks.

Practically Cheeting

Day 15 - True Date 6/20/13

Since I'm sure you can guess what breakfast is like at this point in the trip I will try to keep this brief. We met to eat at 7:00. We then had a few minutes to finish packing before heading out. We had to pack because we would again be moving campsites by the evening. We were on the road again just as 8 o'clock rolled around. We'd now seen most of the animals on our list of "hope to sees" and were now focusing on finding a male lion, cheetahs and the elusive rhino.

It did not take us long to begin checking "items" off of this list. Perhaps 45 minutes into the day we arrived at a "crowded" section of trail. That is, there was a large

I realize this is a hyena not a lion... I
could not get a picture of the lion and
we saw the hyena this morning though
I did not choose to write about it.

collection of jeeps that had congregated together in this section. While here we were able to see a pair of lions, one of whom was female and the other a male! We were limited in how close we could get due to both the other jeeps as well as this being an area where we were not allowed to drive off of the roads. That said, we were able to get great views of the male and his magnificent mane through a couple sets of binoculars. This was definitely a highlight for Archer who had been excited to see a lion with a mane all trip. Unfortunately, he'd also hoped to get a close-up look at the cat's paws but we were unable to achieve that view.

From here we hit, in my opinion, the most exciting part of the day. Over the next 2 (ish) hours we had I believe 4 cheetah spottings! Three of these were each very different from each other and had amazing views. The first spotting occurred when Ayubu spotted a cat lounging in the shade of a bush, likely 50 feet(?) from the road. We watched the cat for a while with binoculars before realizing that a second cheetah was present in the tall grass not too far off, clearly eating a recent kill. The cheetah who was eating finished its meal and joined its pal in the shade

where we saw them take a minute or so to clean each other's face. At this point the vultures and jackals arrived to take what was left of the kill. This clearly upset the cheetahs who tried to chase off the scavengers. Unfortunately, the racket attracted a pack of hyenas who the cheetahs are unwilling to fight. While it was disappointing to see the cheetahs lose what was left of their kill It was fortunate that they'd already eaten their fill. Over the course of this event the cheetahs came spectacularly close (much like the leopard yesterday) and we saw one give a short chase to one of the jackals.

The next two great sightings were just as good, in some ways better, but definitely had fewer steps to describe. The first was a group of three we found feasting on a

fresh kill of a Thompson's Gazelle. Here, we were able to drive off road and approach the cats very close. When we got near one of the cheetahs left the kill and hid behind the bush they were eating by. The other two continued to eat as we got within a few yards of them and got some great shots. After a while the second left and when we started the jeep to leave the third got startled as well. When we pulled away they'd all left the kill but it was unclear if they would return as soon as we were gone or if they had finished all together.

A good while later we found our third good cheetah photo opt. Here it was a part of the Serengeti that again lived up to the name of "endless plane". In an area that

seemed entirely flat we could see a mound in the distance with a group of figured upon it. When we got closer we found 3 cheetahs, apparently a mother and her two cubs, standing on what had to be the highest point for miles around (yet only a few feet high). We were able to get close and drive the whole circle around the cats (slowly). As we did they sat looking out the plane, smelled the ground around them, and did minor bathings for each other. It was very cute and we hoped (and expected) they would get their days meal soon. Luckily the plane around seemed quite populated with gazelle so I think they'd fair alright.

The last cheetah sighting I mentioned was merely a head in the tall grass where we could not approach. Given our success so far we did not linger long and moved ahead with our day. Throughout our drives we saw more elephants and

giraffes (because that's just what you do on a daily basis). This brought us to our lunch destination which was a "local" ranger station on the edge of Lake Manyara (where we had gone a few days earlier to see the flamingos). With the ranger we walked around and headed down to the beech where we could now walk right up to the water's edge. Unfortunately, none of the flamingos stayed close to where we were so our views were only marginally better than before. During the walk we also saw two dung beetles on the sand. That was new but they were sadly not rolling any dung balls around which is always fun to see.

We finished the day with two non-animal adventures.Our first was a stop to the Oldurai Gorge Historical Site. This is one of the dig sites that is currently being

used to map the progression of human evolution. It has helped by finding skulls of primate evolution at different stages as well as fossilized footprints. We were given a short description of these findings and what occurred in which of the geological layers present. The site also had a 3 room museum. The first room was credited to an explorer who did a trip around the world though I am reluctant to admit I do not have his name recorded nor can I find it online. The other two rooms were for local fossils, including many extinct animals and a progression of footprints. It was a quick museum but pretty cool.

Our last stop of the day was a local Massai Village. We were greeted by a

"welcoming song" and then went through the entrance "gate" and saw a series of dances. The dance involved the men jumping in a competition for height and the women singing and playing music with a set of charms/instruments that they bounced with their shoulders. Archer, Harrison, Liesje and Kelly all participated. We were then broken into pairs with guides from the tribe who spoke English to see the insides of the Massai homes. The houses were small, low (about 5 feet) domes made from sticks, mud and hay. The inside was a single room somewhat divided into 3 parts for cooking, eating and sleeping. We were

then taken back outside where we saw a lot of beaded work that they have for sale. The footprint of the village was a doughnut. The inner ring was for herding animals and had a wall of Acacia branches. There was then a ring for walking about, an outer ring of houses followed by an outermost wall of again, acacia branches. We learned that the Massai diet is 2 meals a day of lamb milk mixed with lamb blood. We then saw their school which was a single room building with young children of varied ages. They were learning the alphabet and numbers. After that we got back in the car and called it a day.

We got to our night's camp at about 5:00. Here we were staying on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater. It was much colder than any of our recent nights. Dinner was served again at 7:00 and was clearly a "celebration" since it would be our last night with the crew who had been serving us for two weeks now. They first brought us a pepper and leak soup which was on par with their usual soups. They then presented us with the main course of rice with vegetable curry and a huge leg of lamb that they had grilled. It was absolutely delicious! After dinner everyone called it a night and headed to the tents to escape the cold.

This picture was entirely spontaneous and an idea by Ayubu.
He was awesome...

A Leopardy

Day 14 - True Date 6/19/13

Today was spent in its entirety in the Serengeti and, I must say, it really does live up to its name of being "endless". Breakfast was served at about 8:30 and was

definitely the best so far. This was true for me likely because of the specific combination of food we were offered and how it was then combined. We were served fruit and avocados, pancakes, bacon and eggs in the form of a Spanish omelet. With these ingredients  I made what I considered a masterpiece. I took one of the pancakes (crepe) and wrapped it around one layer of bacon, one layer of avocado, and one layer of the omelet. It was topped off with a bit of ketchup and chili sauce but was delicious (though could likely have been improved with cheese).

Most of today was pretty regular, at least for the trip we were on. As such, I will attempt to move through them quickly as to avoid too much repetition from day to

day. Throughout the day we saw numerous more herds of elephants, though none included any as cute as the young ones we'd seen earlier. We also continued to see many herds of giraffes. One new sight with these animals today was a moment when we saw two of them attempting to mate, though it was an unsuccessful attempt by the time we'd left. We saw a couple of baboons running across the plain and saw a couple more jackals. I realize I neglected to mention the jackal spottings yesterday and I think they are very cute. They are small fox-like creatures and apparently live with their mate for life. As a result, we'd always see them running around in perfect pairs.

Part of today also included quite a commute as we headed a long way to the

western edge of the Serengeti. The purpose of this drive was to witness the wildebeest migration. The migration consists of millions (?) of wildebeests and many zebra all traveling in a circle around Kenya and Tanzania. At this time of year, they were in the western Serengeti. We passed the group twice today. The first time they appeared as a "disorganized mass". They were scattered among the plain with no visible direction. Many wildebeest were fighting for territory and all the animals were grazing and coming to and from the "local" stream. As a collection, they just sort of lingered. When we returned along this

route in the afternoon the massive herd was on the move. They formed a gigantic wedge that began with a single animal or two in line, and the further back you looked, the wider the wedge became. The line of animals grew longer and longer for what seemed like miles. It was quite impressive and I do not believe photos can do the sight justice.

The next new event was our trip to a river and subsequently, another watering hole. In the watering hole we saw lots of hippos and while their actions were no

different (they were sleeping...) we were much closer and actually above them. This gave us a much better view of the animals. However, throughout our time near the river we saw about a dozen crocodiles. At our first stop we saw them swimming in the water which is always creepy. You never see them move but you can just make out their heads followed by a wake as they seem to "ooze" towards their target. A little while later we came to a walking bridge and on the far side we stood atop a steep bank. Looking down there was a massive crocodile sleeping in the sun on the shore. It was a great view of the scaly animal.

It was a long drive back to the camp. We arrived a little after 4:00 and were set for dinner by 7:00. We had a cucumber soup first. The main dishes were a fried fish, a salad, fries and a form of local home made pizza. The pizza was extremely different than what we have in the U.S. but was still quite tasty. After dinner we followed the usual mold of hanging out and heading to bed.

Most of this entry has been written out of order so as to save the best for last. The best highlights of the day occurred early in the morning, actually before breakfast! We got up very early and after just a bit of coffee were loaded in the jeep and on the road by 6:00. The purpose of leaving at this hour is that many of the predators

(you know...those giant cats that everyone loves to see...) do their hunting early in the day while its cool and then nap once the sun comes out. During the morning we saw two events of particular interest. The first occurred when we had a lone wildebeest cross the road in front of us. We thought it might be a tempting treat for any local cats and only a minute or so later we found a pair of lionesses stalking it. As we waited we watched them creep up and split up. Eventually, one lioness snuck along the road and the wildebeest nearly walked out onto it. There was a brief chase but the 'beest got away (much to my personal chagrin). My impression from the event was that the second lion was supposed to help in the chase but sorta missed her cue.

For me the last event remains the most exciting yet. The sun had now risen and we were on our way back to camp for breakfast when we received word of a leopard spotting (not to be confused with the spots on a leopard :) ). Within minutes we arrived at the sight and learned just how awesome a driver Ayubu was. Before long we were in the front of the pack of jeeps and had magnificent views of the leopard. We stayed with it for a long time and got many

angles. We watched it stalk through the grass and head off to a herd of Tompson's Gazelle, but it was turned back by a pair of larger heartbeast. When it returned it crossed the road, literally, in front of our jeep. The cat couldn't have been more than 8 feet from up. Seeing the beautiful cat so up close is was easy to imagine why they were hunted for their fur. Speaking of their fur, the cat was so sleek that the fur practically looked like painted-on skin. Eventually it made it out of view and into a field of tall grass, but it was an amazing set of views.

A CATalyst for Fun

Day 13 - True Date 6/18/13

The plan for the day was to meet at 7:00 for breakfast. While that plan would only require us to awaken at about a quarter of 7, the local wildlife had other intentions for us. As the sun began to rise just before 6, the roosters (of which there were apparently many) began their infernal clucking. Much more interestingly, the trees over our tents were home to a number of Stork nests. They were remarkably noisy but also funny to watch. Due to their size they seemed very awkward in the trees and always seemed like they might fall or break the branches. We then did meet for breakfast as planned and were served fruit, eggs, pancakes, etc. It was very reminiscent of the mountain climb and we were on the road by 8.

From there we began the long drive farther south through the Ngorongoro

 Savanna and the Serengeti. Serengeti means "endless plain" in the Masai language. At the entrance gate to the Ngorongoro we met another troop of Savanna Baboons. This group was extremely friendly and we were able to walk within only feet of the animals. This was very cute as there were a couple of mothers, each with an infant in their laps nursing. From the gate we continued onward for over an hour, passing through clouds, fog and into clear skies again with the local Masai herding their cows.

At last the day's safari segment was able to begin. The major goal of the day was to find the large cats: lions, leopards and cheetahs (though not tigers because they do not live in Africa...). We witnessed many repeat animals from yesterday as we "hunted". We saw dozens of herds of zebra as well as numerous small herds of gazelle. We also saw many groups of both giraffes and elephants. These

groups all behaved much the way they had yesterday. The giraffes seemed to coordinate their staring at us and the elephants just grazed as they passed us by. The largest single difference to yesterday was when we approached a lone elephant, very close, and as we left it took a few steps as if considering a charge (luckily he stopped at potentially considering).

The day also had many new animal sightings. We approached a lake that was completely dotted with flamingos. They were unfortunately not densely packed enough to turn the entire lake pink but there were far

too many to attempt to count. Salt banks that lined the shore prevented us from driving very close to the water. We also had another hippo encounter. This time we were slightly closer to the creatures and the hippos were clearly resting in a pond as opposed to what I can only suspect was mud.

What was, in my opinion, the most exciting spotting of the morning was when we

found a flock of ostrich. At first they were just meandering about, I suppose grazing. However, after a while of watching Ayubu floored the jeep and approached next to the flock at high speeds. As a result the entire flock started running off at full speed. They ran for a while next to the jeep and one clearly ran ahead while another clearly fell behind. You couldn't help but consider the result had we been a predator. Watching the birds run reminds me of the comparisons between the birds and velociraptors that are made in the movie (or book) Jurassic Park.

This leaves us with what was the entire day's clear highlight. Near the end of our travels, in fact as we were headed to the night's new campsite, we found and passed a couple of prides of lions! The first we found we believed to be a solo lioness in the distance. When we drove closer we discovered that the cat was feasting on a dead water buffalo. We watched it for a while, which might have been a bit gross and also did not smell great, and it was really cool. As

we circled the lion we ran across another two who were sleeping in the tall grass around the kill. We believed that these cats had already eaten their fill and were now napping - as so many cats like to do. Not too much further along the road we found another pride of lions though this one seemed to be a pride of all young lions. We were unfortunately unable to get as close to this group as we were to the other, but they seemed to just be resting rather than eating. It was fun to watch the ones we could roll over, or clean their peers etc. What was interesting was one lion clearly had a collar which we found out was the doing of a local research center.

We arrived at our camp a bit later than expected due to the cat sightings (co complaints) and got in just after 5. While storks were an abundant wildlife at our previous campsite this site was home to a huge colony of mongoose. For reference... I spent a long time debating what the plural of mongoose is and upon research have learned that it is "mongooses" but mongeese and mongoose have

both also been considered acceptable terms. They were really cute and made pretty entertaining squeaking noises, but I strongly suspect they are quite nasty if they need to be. At dinner we were served the delicious and long hoped for pumpkin soup that we'd had on the mountain. It was everything we'd remembered it to be. That was followed by a mutton curry and rice which I greatly enjoyed. From there it was off to bed for a morning that would likely be our second earliest of all our time in Africa.

In the Jungle

Day 12 - True Date 6/17/13

Ok, so technically we spent very little time today in a "jungle" but the song came up early and was sung with much repetition through the day so it seemed appropriate to me!

The morning was what might be called an early start but was actually pretty routine for us by this point in the trip. We met for breakfast at 7:00 and were presented with much the display of food we remembered from the week before. We sat at our usual table and served ourselves from the buffet of toast, pancakes, eggs, etc. We were slightly more hurried than before so conversation was minimal and we all finished up by 7:30.

We spent the next half hour completing our newest round of packing and checking out of the hotel. We met Ayubu, the safari guide/driver, at 8:00 in the lobby and he helped us store our excess luggage and load the jeep. Our first stop was actually a bit of maintenance as we would need to provide our own towels on this leg of the trip. So, we headed to a local Shop Rite and purchased a set of the group. From there we began the safari by driving southwest from Arusha for about two and a half hours.

The drive took us through many plains where there was little wildlife. However, we did see a number of local tribes. Apparently, most of the people we saw were headed to various different local markets for the day. We passed groups who were herding goats as well as hauling cartloads of goods along the roadside. We also passed frequent police checkpoints, but clearly had all of the required vehicle (and any others) registrations in good order. We had no troubles.

Just after 11:00 we reached our destination: The Lake Manyara National Park.This is an "enclosed" area on the side of Lake Manyara with well kept dirt roads intended for safari groups to navigate in an orderly fashion and observe. Soon after entering the park we had our first of many encounters with the local animals. Among the first few animals we saw were all monkeys. The first spotting was of the Blue Monkey, which we had recently gotten a few views of on the first day of the Kilimanjaro ascent. Here, like many of the animals who were clearly used to the safari jeeps, they were quite close and in a sense, posed for the pictures to be

taken. We then saw what would be the first of many large troops of Savanna Baboons. We saw these troops (apparently the word for a large group of monkeys?) throughout the park and their behavior was pretty uniform among them. Many would dig on the side of the roads where the soil and peddles seemed most loose. Younger ones would play with and chase each other and infants would ride

on the backs of their parents. The Savanna Baboons were the monkeys we saw the most of both this day and during the trip as a whole. The last of the monkeys we saw were the Veret Monkeys. We only saw a handful of them and they were much less animated. They mostly sat on their individual branches until we moved along.

We then had a short wildlife lull. However, there was still much to see in the variety of nature. The Acacia Trees flanked the road throughout much of the park.These are intimidating plants with massive thorns that can be found every inch or so along the branches of these trees. Many

of us had to fearfully dodge low hanging branches of these as we drove by (and were standing out the roof). We also saw the "classic" termite mounds. These are easily spotted as massive piles of packed dirt that are riddled with holes which I assume the creatures use as entrances and exits. These structures often exceed 6 feet tall and can be close to just as wide. Termites certainly are industrious creatures.

We then some animal spottings that I consider less exciting. We arrived at the park's hippo hole, and you guessed it, saw a mound of hippopotamuses sleeping in the distance. I describe them as a mound because from our vantage point we could identify them but they were sleeping in a dense group in the mud. We were not close enough to get a good view of any of them but mostly just knew they were there. From our position we could also see many Thompson's Gazelle (who were never very close) grazing on the fields beyond. To

the right was a herd of water buffalo and we got in the jeep to head in that direction. There, what I expected was what I received. The Water Buffalo are large, hulking animals with curled horns that look a bit like a wig. They ate, they stood, they roamed; all seemed to be having a "good" time. While we were here we also had our first glimpses of Warthogs. Remember Pumbaa from the Lion King? Yeah, him.At this point Archer began singing the corresponding part  of Hakuna Matata.

We had 3-4 major elephant sightings today. During the first we found the cluster dowsing themselves in mud at a secluded watering hole. Meanwhile, two young

makes appeared to be "practice fighting". Later in the afternoon we found another parade (yeah, that's what you call it!) of elephants with a very young one who was clearly less than one year old. It was super cute and it was clear that the adults were very protective of the small creature. The other sightings through the day were either similar or much shorter. They were mostly confined to seeing a few elephants cross the road or a lone elephant eating in the distance.

This left, what I considered, one last "major" animal spotting of the day; the giraffe. In the afternoon we were rounding a bend in the dirt road a midst a mass of

Acacia Trees. Suddenly to the left the trees opened into a clearing and the giraffes were grazing. There were dozens of the long-necked quadrupeds. We were very close to one in particular who was grazing on a tree just adjacent to the road. He stood parallel to the jeep and seemed to pose for us. First facing away to give us a profile view and soon turning toward us. When zoomed out and considering the entire herd they moved very little. They often stood in place and stared at us while we looked back at them. They are a funny animal and I like them. <<smiley face>> :)

At 4:00 we headed to the park exit. We had eaten lunch earlier and had many other brief animal glimpses. We saw scattered wildebeest in the fields among the gazelle in the fields as well as the occasional ostrich. In regards to other antelope we saw a group of male Impalas, learning that their society included separate herds. One herd had an alpha male and all female and the other herd was the rejected/defeated males. We also saw a pair of dik-diks who are tiny, super cute, and I like to describe as "African Bambis". We had a short

sight of a Brush Hyrax and many birds during lunch. It was a pretty full day one of animals. When we exited the park we were taken only a short drive to the campsite.

This was luxury camping with large tents and bed pads laid down for us. There was an roofed building that had two areas - one for eating and one for cooking as well as a pool and bathrooms. Ari (our guide from the climb), as well as our cook and his assistant (also from the climb) rejoined us at the site. Dinner was served at 7:00. We started with a leak soup, second in my opinion only to the once mentioned pumpkin soup (from the first day on the mountain). We then had kebabs of beef and carrots with fries and various vegetables. It was quite delicious. After dinner Ari offered us a sparkling grape juice as a way to celebrate the completion of Kilimanjaro and we headed to our own tents for the night.

P.S. I somehow forgot seeing many zebras but do not feel like going back and fitting that into the correct spot so I'll just mention it here.

Around Arusha

Day 11- True Date 6/16/13

Today served mostly as a day of rest. However, we did perform a number of smaller activities that would allow us to keep our remaining days here more streamlined and singularly focused on the safari. We met in the lobby of our hotel at 8:30 and headed to the dining area for breakfast. Personally, I felt that it was the worst breakfast selection we'd had to date on this trip (which I suppose is a compliment to the food we have had). At the buffet I got french toast and a crescent, with which I had some coffee of course. Given the quality of the hotel, I'd hoped for a larger selection.

After breakfast we had two things to do before meeting Justin and Ayubu (our driver/safari guide) at 10:00. One thing we'd planned for the day was to visit the local markets. As such, we needed to use the hotel to exchange our dollars for the local shillings. We then returned to our rooms to pack our bags before returning to the Ilboro Safari Lodge - our original hotel. We then met with Justin (who would unfortunately not be joining us on Safari) and Ayubu to discuss Safari packing, timing and planning.

We loaded into the jeep and headed out into the heart of Arusha. Our first stop was the Cultural Heritage Center. We had been advised that nearly everything here could be found later in the local markets at lower prices. The main attraction was the owner's business with Tanzanite. Tanzanite is a blueish-purplish precious gemstone that can only be found in some parts of Africa (or so we were told and I have neglected to research). Some of us paroosed his collections but none were willing to afford the stone jewelry that he had on display. The complex itself was quite fascinating. It will apparently be opening a coffee shop tomorrow (6/17/13) and that is only the first of many new additions. It is also home to the largest African art gallery (again... I was told and have not researched) and is sometimes referred to as the "African Guggenheim". Unfortunately, we did not take the time to explore the galleries, but rather headed back out to Arusha.

This was the part of the day when I realized how much I hoped to never need to personally navigate the local roads. First, cars drive on the left side of the road. It's an easy adjustment to make but is in this case just one of many. Many of the roads are either dirt or gravel and even the major roads are plagued with speed bumps and potholes. All roads appear to be only two lanes or less but passing appears to be legal at any time...anywhere. Cars frequently whip around each other, just narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic. This all occurs while people are walking or crossing, pulling carts along the roadside and more. Animals ranging from dogs to goats and cows are herded along the streets and must also be avoided. It makes for quite a hectic combination.

We then headed into a Massai Market. This is, in most ways, the crazy experience you'd expect. Hundreds of small stores and their vendors, all clearly working together, in narrow and compact alley ways. They invite and pressure you into their shops and offer deals on their merchandise while promising the best prices. Few of us made it through more than one row of these shops but I suspect the content in each row was quite similar. We had varying degrees of success with the haggling that occurs in this environment - I think Archer fared the best and Sabrina the worst. For me, I just need to remember when I was told that I must always be willing to walk away. Purchases among the group included wooded bowls, spoons, hats, shirts, scarves, cups and more. It was exhausting.

Fatigued from the adventure in the market we headed to lunch with Ayubu. It was a local spot that served Indian and Italian dishes. We all split a few pizzas made from a brick oven. The pizzas were closer to what I'd expect from Europe rather than the states. That is, the crusts were thin with minimal sauce and an emphasis was placed on the toppings themselves. It was simple but tasty - a nice change of pace from the market.

After lunch we were brought back to the Safari Lodge. The afternoon was free to relax and pack until we met for dinner at 7:00. Dinner was much what we were used to here. The food was served from a variety of Chinese, Italian, Indian, etc and our choices as a group certainly varied. After dinner we headed our own ways with the only remaining plan to meet for breakfast at 7 and depart at 8 in the morning.

As a random thought to tack in somewhere; Disney seems to have let me down with the Lion King (which by the way... I love). Let's first consider the king himself, Simba. For the longest time this was just a random name - like so many others. However, I've now learned that the word for "lion" in Swahili is none other than "simba". Not very original if I may say so... Secondly, the phrase "Hakuna matata" (youtube link here), according to Disney "means no worries". However, in Swahili it translates directly to "no problem". I don't understand why they needed to change it as the syllables still work for their melody:
"It means no problems,
for the rest of your days.
It's our worry free,
Philosophy...
Hakuna matata."

But, I still love Disney!

A Long Goodbye

Day 10 - True Date 6/15/13

Today was another day that seemed to have lots to share. While yesterday may have had many pieces: ascent, break, ascent, summit, descent, camp, etc... Today was nearly all one long event; descent (rhymed). However, that trip off of the mountain passed through many different settings and we saw some new and different views and group dynamics.

Breakfast was more of the usual fair. We were woken up and offered the usual hot beverage of our choice. I, as usual, took a coffee to kick off the day. We were then

provided with the usual time to pack our things and wash up before moving on to the mess tent for food. As we were pretty used to at this point, we were offered toast, eggs (this time in the form of a spinach omelet while before they've been fried), and pancakes. The pancakes today were a personal letdown as we'd run through the jelly/jam reserves so I was unable to have my favorite toppings.

Starting our hike was slightly delayed due to the cold temperatures having frozen

water bottles and the filter/pump contraption. However, with only a little bit of troubleshooting we filled our bottles and hit the trail leaving Barafu Hut (~15,000 ft) just after 8:00. The trail picked up much the way it left off (I suppose that is not really a surprise to anyone). We were past the point of long stretches of loose scree so there was unfortunately no more "African Skiing" to be had. We were, however, still very much in the alpine desert region of the mountain. Before long we found ourselves on a wide ridge that switched back and

forth as it wound down. On either side there was a shallow ravine with many boulders jutting up with nearly no plant life around. The scene could make for a nearly perfect replica of Tatooine from Star Wars (and I mean the original one... not the silly new episodes 1-3). Unfortunately, the best picture to mimic the fictional planet occurred yesterday... when I was in no state to take a picture.

The views during this stretch were remarkable. Before us the ridge continued to wind but eventually dropped out of sight. However, there remained a solid bank of clouds that always seemed to linger just at the "end" of the trail. As people passed beyond sight, it was as if they'd walked off a cliff and into the clouds. Looking behind us were some of the best views of Kibo we had all trip as well as our first (and best) views of Mawenzie. Mawenzie stood relatively

narrow compared to Kibo and was much more jagged. As we walked it seemed to gather wisps of clouds to avoid being seen. On the other side stood Kibo. As always it rose high and large over every around. Having just come down it, it was clear that our perspective did not give its size justice. That said, even from our miles away and thousands of feet below, it was still clear to see the glaciers that capped the peak.

From the alpine desert we passed back into the health zone. Here the trail dynamics changed very little and similar could be said about the views. However, the vegetation quickly began to increase. First it was just small grasses and shrubs. But, as we looked through the canyons on our sides we could see that same cloud layer as before, but now looming over a dense tree cover. We pushed

forwards, passing straight through the High Camp (~12,500 ft) and continued onwards towards Mweka Camp (~10,000 ft). This hike kept us in the setting of the health zone, though Mweka camp sat on the very edge of the rainforest. Through this hike we saw the smooth progression of straggling grasses growing into thin but plentiful trees. Our views when we reached the Mweka camp were now obstructed by the vegetation on all sides.

After a group meeting at the Mweka Camp there was only one stop left on our trek of Kilimanjaro. We had to make it out to the Mweka Exit Gate. Given that it was the final stop of our trip our group headed off on different paces with the guides splitting up among us. Harrison and Archer set off on a near run. Liesje and Kelly were not far behind but were clearly not "running". Sabrina and I brought up the rear of the group.

The final stretch of the mountain took the group through a dense rainforest. The trail was very well maintained, consistently cut into steps with constant irrigation canals. The further we went, the more we plunged into the cloud layer that we had been seeing all morning. While the trail was very well maintained, it was also seemingly endless. The steps continued to go down and down

(always as steps/stairs) and the clouds/fog continued to get denser/darker. Before long we felt as if we were trapped in some jungle version of an Escher painting. Fortunately, even the stairs and the mists had their end (despite just saying they seemed endless). The sky finally became lighter and the trail opened onto a dirt road. From there it was only another 30-45 minute, relatively flat walk to the gate. Luckily, I finally saw the colobus monkeys that I'd been hearing for an hour or so!

Finally, the group congregated at the Mweka Exit Gate (5,380 ft) and signed out in the rangers log. The descent from Barafu Hut (~15,000 ft) to the exit gate was about 9 miles and nearly 10,000 ft of elevation. The total descent took our group

less than 5 and a half hours. At the gate we had our final lunch with the crew. It consisted of stuffed avocados, fresh tilapia, fires and fruit. As you'd expect after a long hike, it was delicious. After lunch we tipped the crew who sang us a "thank-you" song (that was uncomfortable) and we loaded the jeep to head back to Arusha.

Since we ended the hike a day earlier than expected we were put up in a different hotel than before. This time we were housed in the Impala Hotel. While it is certainly more "up scale" than our previous lodging, the Ilboro Safari Lodge, it felt far less homey. It will be nice when we return to the safari lodge tomorrow. The afternoon and evening were pretty straight forward. We all started by taking much needed showers followed by the usual hodgepodge of relaxing activities: reading, writing, napping, etc. We met for dinner in the hotel lobby at 6:30 and afterwards it was more or less time to call it a night.

Tomorrow should be fairly easy, including safari prep and a trip to the local market.