Cradle of Life.... just watch your sandwich!

Hi everyone! First time on the internet in nearly 2 weeks... sorry for the delay. Am going to preface this blog with the following: 1) The internet in Africa is slow everywhere and thus no photo uploads still; 2) I am in Stone Town in Zanzibar; 3) It is 35 degrees here and very humid 4) There are only two smells present here: Gross African BO and fish rotting in the sun; 5) I am spectacularly hungover right now.

So, with that in mind, this blog will be short!

We left Kenya en route to Tanzania, passing by the famous Kiberia slums in Nairobi. They are home to over 1 million people... it is quite a sight to drive past and think about the people living there. Also in Kenya, we saw happy donkeys grazing in fields, thus confirming our theory about the sad Egyptian donkeys!

Sorry for the point form bits, but have to catch a ferry soon. This is how Tanzania went:
  • Saw the Olduvai Gorge, known as the "cradle of life"... a human skull dating back 1.75 million years was found here, as well as fossilized footprints that are over 3 million years old! Take that, creation theory.
  • Went on a game drive in the Serengeti, which means "endless plains"... and that was true. The horizon seemed to stretch on forever! We saw a leopard, so we have now completed the "Big 5" sightings: Rhino, Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Buffalo! We also saw a massive lake so full of flamingos that it looked pink from a distance!
  • We slept in an open cam ground in teh Serengeti... we had to ensure no food was around, as the animals are free to roam right up to our tents! (we ate dinner in a cage.. seriously.)
  • We visited the Ngorongo Crater... it was beautiful. We drove 610m down the side of the crater to see the animals that live there year round (no migration!) No giraffes live there becuase it is too steep for them to get in. The open top safari vehicles that we were in had fantastic views.
  • A viscious kite bird ate the chicken breast right out of one of the Asian girls hands while we were having lunch!
Will try to write more later, especially about Zanzibar, which was great (too great... hence the hangover)! Off to catch a ferry and try to sleep it off! Am absolutely loving it here...!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Water water everywhere!

Again I'm on the worlds slowest and most expensive internet. Am having an AMAZING time in Africa. Our group is lots of fun, and we've seen some beautiful places. Spent 4 nights on Zanzibar Island (off the Tanzanian coast), and it was a beach paradise. SO freaking nice, with beautiful weather and lots of drinks (and, importantly, no tents!). Spent time in the water there, as well as in Lake Malawi... 2 days there! Am having a great time. Sorry for the short emails and no pics, but know that I'm having a great time and loving every minute of my last days of travel!
Read more

Alex the Great-ish.

Image
The last stop on our extensive travels through Egypt was the city of Alexandria... founded and named after Alexander the Great in 332BC. This is the city where the famous "Queen of the Nile" Cleopatra also reigned. The ancient city was considered to be the intellectual capital of the world at that time, due in large part to it's massive library. The modern city was again popular in the early 1900's when foreigners came in and built some beautiful buildings. Today, the city is a bit run down.. a sad version of it's former glory. However, the library, which burnt down in ancient wars, was just rebuilt. It was GORGEOUS. The largest modern library in the world. Aunt Gale - you would have died! We spent a while wandering around there marvelling at the architecture and lamenting about how depressing our university library was in comparison (if Weldon library looked like this, I may have actually gone to it! haha). "Alex" is also known for it's great seafo
Read more

Timon and Zazu.... where are you?

Am in Kenya. Literally in the middle of the Lion King movie. I swear, I was expecting the lions we drove RIGHT up to every day to have the voice of James Earl Jones. I cannot even come close to describing how amazing the last 2 days have been. We spent them in the Masi Mara reserve, just driving around looking for wildlife. We saw so much! I had to stop myself to realize that what I was seeing was real. In 2 days, we saw: Gazelles, zebra (about 2000!), ostrich, Lion (so many! multiple prides), elephant, giraffe, buffalo, maribou stork (a scavenger.. it eats babies!), vulture, waterbuck , impala, warthog (like Pumba !), baboon, eland, antelope, hyena, cheetah, wildabeast , heartabeast (I think tour guide made that up), black rhino (very rare), hippo, and a massive crocodile! We have seen 4 out of 5 of the "Big 5" African game, as well as all cast members of the Lion King except Timon ( meerkat ) and Zazu (some strange bird that is pretty rare). We've seen babies, matin
Read more