MermaidDVM

So we got up bright and early and had a quick, small breakfast and started our trek down. The guide said it would have been about 4 hours and we did it in 2. I was hauling ass. I was extremely motivated to get the hell of that rock. Thankfully I wasn't hurting very much from yesterday. We had a bigger breakfast once we got down to the camp then left for the rest of the descent. We took a slightly different route then the one up, so it took longer than I expected about 3.5 hours...but its over!!! I made it down and they even gave me a certificate of completion. We had about a 2 hour drive back to the hotel where we washed our clothes and relaxed. We had dinner and I had ... read more

I'm writing this on the 14th and I don't remember much because of all the goings on today. I do remember the 2nd day being much harder than the first, but I survived relatively unscathed. They've got their brochure all screwy. They say the first day is 4-6 hours and we did it in 3, they say the 2nd day is 3-5 hours and it took us 7. Lame. At the start of the hike some giraffes crossed right in front of us. Even after all the work we did with giraffes and how many we saw in Ruaha, having them come so close still makes my jaw drop. The beginning was all rainforest in the clouds. When we finally got about the clouds we got our first siting of Kili above the world. Nothing compares. ... read more

The taxi from yesterday picked us up early this morning to take us to the airport. When he got there he had a random bag of clothes and not my Gore-tex jacket and pants. We drove back to the hotel to talk to them and figure out what was going on. Basically, they had no information for me, so we returned the clothes and got ahold of Deana. She told us that they found them when they got to Dar es Saalam. They didn't know what else to do, so they sent then with Jocelyn. I'm glad I didn't lose them completely, but its incredibly frustrating because so many people knew they were there and that I needed them. Amelie and I had a conversation about them the night before because they were in her room. ... read more

Another amazing day. One that will probably change me forever. It makes me emotional just thinking about what to write. We went snorkeling in the morning. It took us a while to get organized, but we eventually made it on the dhows (we took 2). Val had everyone who hadn't gone before get in the boat with me and asked me to give them a tutorial on what to do and what to expect. So I did that and they were awesome. They followed instructions and asked questions. Once Lia got in the water she was having issues with gear and was really scared. It took me a few minutes to get her squared away...I had to put her fins on her, then he snorkel was broken so I had to switch mine and hers, then ... read more

In the morning we had a couple of lectures on water pollution and some marine mammal stuff. The most interesting thing I learned was about the coelocanth. It was thought to be extinct since the 1930s, but it was recently rediscovered. 3 or 4 have been seen in the wild and they are just now getting population studies done. Pretty cool. After that, we had a few hours of free time- shopping! I bought lots of stuff...3 amazing paintings, scarves, lots of spices, Christmas ornaments, masks to hang...that might be it, but I feel like I'm forgetting some stuff. Oh ya! and an amazingly beautiful photo album with wood carved elephants on the front. For dinner, we went to Mercury's. It's owned by Kiss's lead singer Fred Mercury and is now run by his family. Cool ... read more