Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Camping in Monduli

Saturday night we went camping for just one night.  Luckily it took us just under one hour to get there and was a super easy drive.  I’ve been teasing Matt that I’ve been a bike widow for the past several months as he prepares for for the Cape Epic bike race that happens next week (not to mention his full time job saving Africa).  This was our compromise:  he gets to ride his bike there (~4 hours) and I’ll bring the kids up and meet him for lunch and then we’d get to spend quality family time with friends for the night and then he gets to ride back home.  Everyone happy. 

This camping spot was a surprise gem:  easy access from Arusha, cooking banda (to hide out from rain), plenty of space for kids to play, great views, and it’s run by local Maasai, so we get to support the community.  We declined their offer of a fresh roasted goat for dinner. 

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We went out for a kid-friendly hike that involved twiga tracking (giraffe) after we came upon some fresh giraffe tracks.  We didn’t find it, but it kept the kids perfectly silent for about 15 minutes! The hike ended back at our host’s boma and the kids were so excited about the baby calves and the day old baby goat. 

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Anderson asked me to take this picture.

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Matt on kid cooking duty with Thomas’ fancy solar lights. 

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We heard hyenas calling all night and Tierney swears she saw two walk in front of the toilet when we were on the way there at 1:30 in the morning (I believe her).  Needless to say, she decided against heading to the toilet and was happy to just pee next to the tents after that.  In the morning Matt took the kids out on a game drive where they saw zebra, gazelle, and lots of birds including ostrich, cori bustards, and a secretary bird.

Magnus:  This is awesome!  My mom and dad would never let us do this.

Tierney:  You mean you’ve never ridden on the top of a car before?

Magnus:  No.  My parents are safe. 

(and for the record there was an adult up there keeping an eye on things)

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Tomorrow (Thursday) Matt heads to South Africa for the Cape Epic mountain bike race that starts on Monday.  500 miles and 50,000 feet of climbing over 7 days.  Ouch!  He’s been riding a lot (A LOT!), so he’s prepared and ready to start (and finish).  The race is done as a two person team (1200 riders total) and you need to stay with your teammate the entire race; Dave and Matt are both ready.  Best of luck to them both!

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