Joyeux Noël de Madagascar

November: friends, backpacking, swimming, and Tanzgiving

Long post warning! 

Earlier this month, Ashlyn backpacked with several of her classmates to Mandara Hut, the first hut on Kilimanjaro.  Late starts and backpacking by headlamp are all part of the experience, right?  It still sounds like they had a fabulous time.   

The following weekend was Tierney’s OP trip to the Usambara Mountains. This was a big trip.  It’s many hours away (5-6 hrs) and they camped in 3 different places over 3 nights.  T will be one of the first to tell you that it was hard (the bruises on her hips and collarbones confirm this), but that it was so much fun. 

Susan came to visit!  Susan and I have been friends almost 30 years…she loves to travel and we live in one of the best travel destinations!  Coincidence?  I think not.  Well, after 7 years she made it here.  It made me so, so happy.  We did a 3 day safari to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and central Serengeti, and then we did a two night trip to Zanzibar.  We fit a lot in to her week long visit!

Ngorongoro Crater – leave Arusha in the morning and end with sundowners overlooking the crater with a full day of amazing animals and views in between….Wow! 

 

Serengeti – we had several really fun sightings including a side-striped jackal, caracal, cheetah with cubs, and leopards plus all the regulars.  The Serengeti truly is a special place. 

We stayed at Kubu Kubu Tented Camp which, in addition to having amazing views, might possibly have the best outdoor showers on the planet.

Due to the brief nature of Susan’s stay we decided to fly back to Arusha.  Pretty cool to see all of the flamingos hanging out in Empakai Crater as we flew over.

Unfortunately while we were on safari I got the tragic news that our dear friend, Spike, passed away from hypoglycemia (diabetic shock).  Spike was our swim coach and dear friend.  He had a commanding presence and an even more commanding voice.  He was a great man and will be missed.  We are so lucky to have had him in our lives. 

After safari we had a night at home to repack and check in with the family then we were off to Stonetown, Zanzibar for a couple of nights.

 

The first night we ate at Forodhoni Gardens Night Market (after a stiff sundowner drink to try and forget what was happening in the US). Freshly grilled seafood, Zanzibar pizza, and fresh squeezed ginger-sugar cane juice.  Yum! 

  

Because we stayed in Stonetown rather than at a beach resort we decided to do a day trip to Chumbe Island – a private island not far off the coast of Stonetown.  Private banda for the day, snorkeling, beach time, forest walk (with huge coconut crabs!), and more amazing food.  The snorkeling was in a Coral Reef Sanctuary where there are hawksbill turtles.  We got to swim with one! What a treat!

Then it was a quick change and dinner at the Tea House at Emerson on Hurumzi.  Rooftop view and sundowners over Stonetown.  A fabulous end to a great trip. 

 

Thanks, Susan, for coming such a far way to visit and letting us show you this amazing country we’ve called home for the past seven years. 

So in addition to safari and two different OP trips, we also had two different primary swim meets. The kids continue to improve and have fun. Ash was a champion and rallied after a 9:00pm call asking her to compete the next morning due to some late cancellations (events are normally separated into primary and secondary, but Ashlyn still met the age requirement so they asked her to help out. This was particularly hard because it was the morning after our annual Tanzgiving celebration).

Seventh Annual Tanzgiving.  A tradition that was started in 2010 and has grown steadily every year since. It’s always amazing how everyone plans ahead for things that we can't get here (cranberries! pecans!) and/or gets creative (pumpkin pie!) to make this as traditional as possible.  Thanks again to the Foleys for hosting such a great event.

    

And finally, we had Arusha’s annual Christmas Fair made extra special with a preview performance of Do, Re, Mi from ISM’s Sound of Music Musical which is happening in less than two weeks.  Tierney is Marta, the second youngest Von Trapp child. They all did a great job on Saturday….can’t wait to see the full performance.

Now that our Tanzgiving is over, we get to move on to Christmas. 

Happy Thanksgiving week!