Tanzania

After a very long while and a great many kilometers under my feet, posting is daunting. But I- who rail on bloggers who refuse to blog- must blog! So I will attempt to slog through the hundreds of photos and thoughts and experiences of the last six weeks and post. At the very least, so I am not one of those bloggers who gets behind and then never blogs again. :) And because of course, I WANT to share photos and thoughts and events with you dear folk. It has been amazing... and fun... and exhausting... and hard... and good and oh so many more things. (And I'm still here in Nairobi, oh-by-the-way... for a few more weeks at least.)

So let me go back... a way back to our trip to Tanzania after a one night turn around from our trip to Garissa. Too many photos to choose from really- and too slow an internet connection to upload very many, but here is a bit of that trip...

We bussed it down to Arusha on the Impala shuttle, dropping Kara at Longido to visit her first HNGR advisee at her site. Than and I parted ways in Arusha, where he spent a few days with his HNGR student, and I carried on to the beautiful animal-filled-never-a-dull-moment-Simonsens house in Olasiti. I joined Arlene for gatherings with friends and watched her skillfully ride/give horse riding lessons to Arusha kiddies. Met with the art teacher at ISMA, had tea with Marilyn, and sundowners at a very swanky spot just out of town with Steve and Marily and Serena. Talk about rough! :) It was lovely.

Simos have a beautiful property with plenty of beautiful acacia trees...

Everyone met up for a weekend get-away/retreat at Taragire...
The rains were not yet reaching the ground... but were getting close. (And have since arrived in great force we hear...)
It was a big reunion of sorts- with lots of friends and family, and a reliving of many fun childhood weekends spent at TSL. The lodge is spectacular, and the pool was recently retiled; you can actually see through to the bottom! A first for many of us, despite having grown up swimming in that pool...
NOT a great photo of the lodge, but oh the good conversation and reconnections had over delicious meals...
A spot to sit and watch lions one night...
... and have sundowners at the next- (at the very same tree incase you can't tell)
Sacked out lions and foraging elephants. Completely oblivious of each other...

... as seen from our very safe and secure vantage point in the wide open "sallymobile" But there is security in numbers, or so they say, right?? :) Perhaps this could rightly be identified as a multi-species anti-predator association...
And oh, the elephants! This spunky little one- TOO CUTE!
And just so you don't think it was ALL fun and games... Kara and Than seen here working hard mentoring their advisees.... but who can really call this work?? Again I say... Tough. :)
Next stop West Pokot... and tales of honey harvesting, flash floods, river risings, scorpion stings and... other such excitement!