Elizabeth came and taught a semi-private class for the Broyle/Banks compound and for the Petersons. Was a great way to unwind after traveling in a safari vehicle for a few days and maybe even burn off a little of Sevn’s birthday cake from last night. She was lucky enough to bring along her two helpers who could walk around and help make adjustments and stretch the students…I’m sure they were a huge help to her.
We were very happy to have Elizabeth and Sevn finally arrive after cancelled flights and long travels. If they enjoyed the safari half as much as I did, then I think they’ll go home happy. For me the trip was momentous because after a year of living here (plus a safari pre-move), I finally (!!!) got my leopard sighting..and not one sighting, but two in one day. We also saw more lions than I’ve ever seen before. Other highlights included the hyena that walked right next to our tents one night, the elephants mating, the young elephants practice fighting, the baby elephants, the gorgeous views, celebrating Sevn’s birthday (twice) and all of the great family time.
Marabou Stork at Ngorongoro Farm House
View from Ngorongoro Crater Rim
Lions, lions, and even more lions
Nursing mamas with their babies
You can tell how rare it is to see a leopard because the word spreads quickly and safari vehicles come out from everywhere. She was beautiful and walked right next to our car.
Then we saw another (more private viewing) later that evening.
Hyena that hardly seem dangerous while taking a snooze in a puddle
We went out with Thomson Safaris again and specifically requested the same guide, John, that we had before. The kids ran up and jumped into his arms when they first saw him – very sweet.
Happy New Year to everyone that we couldn’t celebrate with this year!
We had a great hike to a waterfall that is just outside of Arusha. We went toward town and took a left and drove up Mt. Meru a couple of miles (which feels much longer on very bumpy roads). We got to a small village and had hired some local guides to take us to the waterfall. It was a great hike and the kids all did really well. It was very steep in places and we even encountered rain and thunder. We started at our guide Naomi’s house where we parked the car – her family was very proud and wanted to show us their cattle and puppies. The kids were more than happy to oblige. We then walked through a gorgeous forest and then up the river until we got to the waterfall. Picnic lunch by the river was very nice. We all had a great time!
Puppies, goats, and I hope Anderson’s tummy survived all the random fruit he was given and tried.
Village girls making ‘spectacles’ out of flowers.
Very green hike down to the river
Yeah! We made it. You could hike a little bit up and get behind the waterfall (about 1/3 of the way up).
There were so many local, wild raspberries. They were gorgeous. We all sampled several.
Chelsea making friends on the way back
Nice view back in to Arusha just over the top of a maasai boma grass roof.
Hiking can make you very sleepy.
(Thanks to Chelsea and Whitney for being patient and helpful with the kids and our ‘family’ pace)
