My first safari ever! We left Morogoro, at 5 in the morning on our day off. Our group of new VSO volunteers had been conscientiously learning Kiswahili for several days, sheepishly traipsing to the market in the midday heat to try out our new bargaining skills on patient vendors, who seemed to be expecting us and suffered our incomprehensible babble quite graciously. But this day was our reward for our hard work. We arrived at Mikumi National Park around 7 am but we managed to see our first giraffes before we even entered, just grazing by the side of the road. I’ve never really been into giraffes but I have to say I found their awkwardly elegant gait quite endearing, and the way they curiously cocked their heads to inspect the bus and its strange inhabitants.
Note how they've groomed the tree!
With Benji, our language teacher, at the entrance
Proof, and last giraffe, I promise
Driving through the park felt sublime and surreal at the same time. It was overcast and not that hot that day, not quite my idea of what a real safari feels like. The mild temperatures certainly made the trip a lot more comfortable though.
We ended up seeing buffalos, impalas, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, hyenas, gnus, vultures, elephants, very exotic colourful birds (excuse my ignorance), and a rather tame mouse (I’ll spare you the photo of that one)
Rather scary, these ones.
and hippos. The hippos were pretty special despite the rather uneventful photo….
… because after watching them for a while we noticed, at the far end of the water hole, something suddenly emerging from the water, quickly turning on its side and going under again with a big splash. We figured it was a baby hippo being taught by its Mum how to swim. We didn’t actually see the Mum for a while, she must have just been standing underneath the hippo, in the water, carrying it on its back and thumping it up above water level once in a while, every couple of minutes. Sometimes you’d see no more than the little ears above the water line, twitching. Very sweet indeed…
We decided we’d seen far more than expected and left the lions and leopards for next time. An unforgettbale day!
najonajo 
Nadine wherever you are! You’re always Schick! No High Heels but some bracelet here.. a ring there… 😉 Miss you guys!
Should have guessed immediately who that once came from 😉
Yes, I admit I’m facing some fashion challenges out here (why do most Muslims live in such hot places, sorry, it just doesn’t go together). But, hey, you adapt….
Hope you’re well!