Back in the US and A but, just a little sum up

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So, I apologize for abruptly ending all of my blog entries. I went on safari and then the last few days we just were doing wrap up discussions and tying up all the lose ends of the course and of our lives in Africa.

So, I have been back for about a week and a half now and I want to just let you all know what I did in the last few days, especially safari because it was amazing!!!

The last weekend in Arusha our group went on safari in the Ngoro Ngoro crater, it is one of the seven wonders of the world, or at least that is what we were told, but I think they meant one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Basically it has some sory of prestigious title. It was absolutely gorgeous. We drove out in 3 safari trucks (green land rover jeeps) and luckily, I was in the jeep that was leading the convoy so our guide was the best and we got to see everything first and get in on all the action. It was just so discovery channel but, real. I know that sounds so stupid and petty but, it was so beautiful and perfect that it was almost hard to fully comprehend that I was physically there seeing this crater and these beautiful animals. So, we drive in and took a bunch of pictures at the edge of the crater and then we had to descend into the crater via a pretty narrow and steep road. I am not sure exactly how deep the crater is but, its deep so, the drive to the bottom of the crater was about 20-30 minutes. So, we get there and see tons and tons of zebras. They are plentiful but they are so beautiful and cute. I mean they are basically like horses except for the black and white stripes. But, then we saw a ton of wildabeasts, (I think thats what they are called )There were sooooo many wildabeasts, and they are not so beautiful. They are kind of like big cows/buffaloes except with these tons of shaggy hair that surrounds their faces like a beard. Anyways, they had just all finished migrating into the crater for that year. There were tons of them and they travel in packs so, when they were crossing the street we had to wait until they all finished crossing because if we tried to go through the middle of the pack they might charge or something. But, as we continued into the middle of the crater floor, we saw a few other safari trucks gathering at one spot, thats how you know something good is there or something is going down. So, we got over there and we saw two little baby lion cubs eating the insides of one of the zebras. the baby cubs had blood all over their mouths and faces and the zebra was just lying there dead but, it was just so beautiful and real. I mean, it was mother nature at work. After a few minutes observing the cubs eating the zebra, we noticed that the mama lion was lying right next to the zebra but she was lying down and the tall grasses were covering her. But, the two cubs then continued to eat a bit and the zebras insides were lying over the grass in a neat pile. It was very clean cut and neat, surprisingly. But, then the cubs ran off a bit and the mama just sat there. Probably tired from a long day of hunting food for her babies. Anyways, then we continued on.

We saw tons of other animals like hippos, jackals, flamingos, buffaloes, more zebras, and elephants! The elephants were so beautiful. We were really lucky to see them because there are not that many of them in the crater. But, we were driving through the crater and our guide pointed to a tiny black dot making its way up one of the hills in the crater and he said that it was a male elephant and they travel alone. We continued driving to the site where the hippos were chillin when my friend spotted 3 similar dots like the one he had just showed us except the dots were moving close to us. So, we hightailed our way over to the dots to find that they were 3 elephants! We got there as they were approaching the road and we just watched in absolute awe as they hustled their way across the street. I mean they are huge but, they were moving pretty fast and I also thought the entire ground would shake when I was within 15 feet of an elephant, which it did not . But, then they just mozied into the distance together. They were soo beautiful and cute.

So, we spent about 5 or 6 hours on the crater floor and then we had to start the drive out because the crater closes at a certain time and if you are not out on time, they make you sleep with the lions, haha jk...they make you pay a fine. But, so on our way out, we came all the way out of the crater and out of the crater floor and we are going through the area between the crater and the main entrance gate and we come across a lion and a lioness walking in the middle of the road!!! It was amazing, a bit scary because they were realllyyy close to us. But, they were just sauntering in the middle of the road. Eventually, the lioness jumped onto the slight hill next to the road, which ran parallel to the road which our jeep was on. Needless to say we put those windows up so fast. We were not in danger but, just to be safe because of her relative proximity to our heads. 😊 And the lion really did not want to let the trucks pass because he was protecting her and probably their cubs but, he eventually sauntered off the road and just laid down in the grasslands about 5 feet from the road. It was absolutely unbelievable to be so close to those beautiful beasts.

So, we got out of the crater and the park area and headed back to our campsite, where we spent the night. The food that the safari people cooked for us was probably the best food we had the entire trip. It was like edible meat, mashed potatoes, stringbeans, just amazing. So, that was exciting.

As for the rest of my time in Tanzania, we just had presentations of our research papers and the group just hung out to spend the last time that we had together. On one of the last days I literally almost shopped until I dropped in a craft market in Arusha, trying to find presents for everyone, or at least some stuff to show that I had gone to Africa. Not an easy feat.

So, after we almost did not get on out flight out of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, (long story and not that interesting) and after a solid 24 or so hours of travelling we made it home, or should I say we made it to JFK, I made it home, only to find that our bags did not have the same luck. Yes, all of our bags, which were tagged under one name for the group, were completely lost or misplaced somewhere in Kenya or Tanzania. But, after many calls we got out luggage back. I did not have the luck to get it before I went to Bermuda, but at least I got it.

Anyways, so being back has been wonderful but a little bit strange. So, this ends my African blog series. Stay tuned for Barcelona, coming the beginning of September! If demand is high I will blog from East Hampton and maybe Wisconsin as my travels might lead me there in the next month. (I am totally kidding, there will be no blogging from the above places).

Much love and Peace from NYC
Nessa

PS- If you have any of my blog entries, please let me know!!!

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