Seventh Day--Olduvai Gorge and Ngorongoro Rim We drove back through the Serengeti and saw many animals along the way. The best sighting was a cheetah at the bottom of a kopje on the south end of the park. During a stop at the Visitor Center we saw lots of hydraxes. They look kind of like guinea pigs on steroids, and they aren’t at all afraid of people. The next couple of hours were spent on that awful gravel washboard road that bounced us around 2 days ago. We continued to see ostriches, antelope, and gazelle. When we left the park we started seeing Maasai herds again. They’re not allowed to graze in the park, but outside of the park is open country for them. Olduvai Gorge was our next stop, and at one point Francis left ... read more

We hated to leave Lake Masek Camp because it was beautiful, but we needed to start the long bumpy drive to the Serengeti. After breakfast we sat on the large deck and watched the hippos as they surfaced in the lake in front of us. Several minutes later we saw an elephant family coming through the brush and parading between us and the lake. There were lots of animals and Maasai herders in the Ngorongoro Highlands. We drove through grasslands and acacia trees, making our own roads. While crossing a large dry river bed we came across another vehicle that was stopped to watch 3 female lions and 1 male lion. We got very close to the females and took some good pictures. Then we drove closer to the male who posed for pictures and then ... read more

Wake up time was at 5:30 a.m., because we were scheduled to do something few tourists have done. We picked up a local guide named John who directed us to an area where the Hadzabe tribe, also known as Bushmen, were temporarily camped. This is a small tribe who speak a click language, have no homes, and are nomads. John went into the brush and found them sleeping under some bushes. When we reached them they were dressed in skins and sitting around a fire straightening their arrows. They knew we were coming, so they put on some shorts that had been provided to them by the cultural visits group that lined this up for us. They live on wild meat that they hunt and the nuts and berries that the women find. We were there ... read more

Monday, Sept. 27 After 26 hours of travel from Orlando to Detroit to Amsterdam and to Kilimanjaro, we finally arrived in Tanzania. Sally waited on the luggage while Len stood in line to pay an outrageous amount for visas. U.S. citizens pay twice as much as people from other countries. We were met by our guide from Maasai Wanderings and ushered to the Toyota Land Cruiser which was to be our home for the next two weeks. It was dark, so we were unable to see Mt. Kilimanjaro which is nearby. Our first night was spent at Karama Lodge, just outside of Arusha. It’s a pretty hillside property with several individual cabins in trees with bush babies, monkeys, civets, and all kinds of unusual wildlife. We were exhausted, so we showered and went to bed. The ... read more

Our driver from Sunday picked us up in Ollantaytambo, and since Len hadn't had enough time to shop at the Pisac market, we returned for a couple more hours. This is such a quaint Andean village! We bought a few more things, and had some choclo, which is their strange kind of corn on the cob. The kernels are huge and pale yellow. Yum! Peru is a very economical country for U.S. visitors. A taxi for a 70 mile drive is $40. Dinner at an upscale restaurant is $8.00, and at a local diner, it's about $2.50. A bed and breakfast in the small villages is about $35.00, and an upscale hotel in the modern sections of Lima is about $60.00. Sally bought an alpaca cape for $30.00. It would be at least $100.00 in ... read more