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NU kids on Safari!
Joe and I in front of a herd of zebras and wildebeast...In addition to all of the other amazing things I've had the chance to do on this trip, yesterday I was lucky enough to go on Safari!!!
We went to the Ngorongoro Crater, which is right next to the Serenghetti and about a 5 hour drive from where we're staying in Moshi. 9 people from our group went, and we woke up at 5 to get on the road early.
Once in the park, we were struck by the diversity of the land - sometimes seeming like a rainforest, and other times a grassland. The crater itself is the caldera of an old volcano and is about 20 km across. The sides of the crater are incredibly steep, and our 4-wheel drive van bounced around like crazy while we went through the switchbacks.
Inside the giant crater, we were so lucky to be able to see all sorts of animals. The first we saw were wildebeast and zebras... we drove through a huge herd of them within the first minutes of arrival. We also saw hippos (swimming around. really cute!), elephants, hyenas, jackals, water buffalo, flamingos, and lots of amazing cranes.
Some of the biggest highlights were the ostriches (which we got really close to - they really are huge!), elephants (which were further away, but beautiful) and we had an amazing encounter with about 10 lions, including 3 lion cubs. They are the most gorgeous creatures. They were not scared at all of the safari vehicles and hung out in the shade under them. Our whole group was beyond happy about it.
All in all, it was definitely one of the coolest experiences of my life!
Besides the safari, we've been continuing to learn about fair trade coffee. My mind has been working hard to keep up with all the information I'm receiving and processing. I'm so glad I'm here for this!
One last cool thing. Today we visited the All Africa Community Center, which is run by an ex-Black Panther, Pete O'Neal, who is an exile in Tanzania and has been here since 1970. We talked to him for quite a while and it was very interesting.
Tomorrow we play soccer with a Lutheran Church's football team, and Mondday we have a surprise adventure! So good things in the future as well.
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Katy Schumaker
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PARNELL!
Lauren!!! It looks and sounds like you're having an amazing time! Please please please give Joe an enormous hug from me and tell her that I love her dearly and hope she comes back to hang out with me soon...