In January 2010 we moved to Arusha, Tanzania for Matt's job with the Nature Conservancy. This is my attempt to keep family updated on what we're doing (and document it for the kids to re-read when they are older).
Anderson started at ISM today in the EC (Early Childhood) class (3-5 year olds). He’s been so excited about it and had no trouble getting dropped off for his first day. He loves that he gets to go to the same school as his big sisters; his biggest concern was what he should do if he wanted someone to come to the bathroom with him.
Good-bye kisses then he ran off to play. Hamna shida (no problem).
And this is how I found him when I came home from the grocery store this week. Ahhh..the joy of big sisters.
We had a great, exhausting, challenging, and beautiful two weeks in Zambia, Botswana, and South Africa. We flew to Lusaka, Zambia where we spent two nights. The kids and I played, swam, watched tv and went to the mall while Matt worked. From there we flew to Livingstone, Zambia for one night where we went and saw Victoria Falls. From Livingstone we were shuttled to the Botswana border where we took a boat across the Zambezi river into Botswana. Here we were met by our safari vehicle and guides. We camped for the next 8 days (Chobe National Park/Savuti and Moremi Game Reserve/Okavango Delta). We eventually made our way to Maun where we flew to Johannesburg, South Africa for 2 nights. We made it back to Arusha just in time for Easter.
A friend of mine from high school posted this quote on Facebook just a couple of days ago and I think it really sums up this trip: “Attitude: The difference between ordeal and adventure”. This truly was a trip of '”adventures”.
Highlights (lowlights?):
Realizing a day before we were supposed to leave that our plane reservations were never ticketed (the joys of African travel). The folks at Kenya Airways said “you should never buy tickets on line”. Trip pushed back one day.
There are parts of Africa that have real malls and grocery stores (and ice!)
Camping in the real wild where we heard leopards, lions, hippos, elephants, hyenas, and impala all around our tent
Matt getting food poisoning on the first day and me having visions of a stomach virus slowly working its way through the family over the course of the holiday
Witnessing lions and elephants mating (not with each other)
Mama lions and their baby cubs
Watching a standoff between a crocodile trying to get to a lion kill and a lion trying to take a drink of water
Watching close to 100 elephants come to the river to drink right from our campsite.
Again watching the elephants cross the river and walk through our campsite at 9pm while we watched (from the light of the full moon) from the safety of our tent
Being afraid to pee at night due to leopards, lions, and giant bugs
Spending 10 hours in an open air safari truck on very bumpy roads moving from Savuti to Moremi – record amounts of water caused flooded roads and detours.
After 10 hours in the car, getting stuck in the mud ~100 meters from our campsite as the sun is setting, a storm is approaching, and the lion noises are getting closer. Camped in the road and ate mac and cheese in the tent while it rained.
The crazy, nastyass honey badger that ate our pringles and broke into several cereal boxes. He returned every night we were in Chobe.
Matt not making it on the flight from Lusaka to Livingstone which required him to rent a car and driver (who then proceeded to ask Matt to drive). He missed seeing Victoria Falls, but made it just after sunset.
While remarkable, I was under-impressed with Victoria Falls. Maybe because it was late afternoon and the water level is so high right now (causes huge amounts of mist which obscures the view of the falls) or maybe my expectations were too high.
The lack of security measures around Victoria Falls was noticeable. You could walk right up to the top of the falls and stand at the water’s edge. After so much time at Niagara Falls, this was amazing to me.
Amazing boat rides on the Chobe River and in the Okavango Delta. It was so great to see the animals from the water.
Watching my family swim in the Okavango Delta. I was assured that we’d see the crocs coming because the water is so shallow…yep, that’s reassuring.
Running out of gas on the way to the airport 100km from Maun. Thanks to the lead foot of the safari owner rushing out to rescue us, we made our flight to Johannesburg just in time.
Having amazing family time away from work and phones and internet and watching the children explore while turning into amazing, adventurous, and flexible travelers.
Victoria Falls (Livingstone, Zambia)
Mobile camp set-up with open safari vehicle and trailer, camp toilet, camp shower, and ‘kitchen’.
Gorgeous scenery and charismatic megafauna
Stuck in the mud, so needed to camp in the road.
Okavango Delta and making mom nervous by swimming in the river.
Running out of gas on the way to the Maun airport (we made it though).
Animal love. Lions mating (this goes on every 15-20 minutes for 36-48 hours) with the jealous brother looking on and the elephants that stayed behind after their herd had wandered off.
Lion Love in Botswana: “Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma’am”
