Samehani bwana, mimi puteya! Unaweza saidia? Iko wapi campi ya wazungu?

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Translation: "Excuse me sir, I am lost! Can you help me? I'm looking for the camp of the white foreigners." ---> Me re-learning Swahili and being taught this by the drivers up arrival into the Crater Area. Of course, the problem here is that most people don't speak Swahili, the speak the local Masaai language, Maa. 😊

We finally arrived at Endulen the day before yesterday. What should have been a 12-hour car ride turned into 20+ hours ("No hurry in Africa") so we had to spend the night in Arusha, about three hours away from the crater rim. We stayed at the same lodge as last year, "The Crater Rim View Inn" (ambitious name) and the staff recognized us immediately. Wonderful tropical fruits for breakfast and canopied mosquito-netted beds were nostalgic and for those of us returning this year, was made all the more exciting in knowing it would be our last hot shower in a while. It has all been amazing so far and much more than I was expecting.

Last year we came during the Great Migration so that the animals littered the fields (do you remember my pictures? We got so sick of zebras by the end of the trip! 😊 ) and this year has been even better seeing the animals just starting to arrive. Our first day we only saw the swala (impalas) but yesterday we saw our first herd of giraffes. Two zebras later, you can literally see the animals multiply as you drive, seeing the direction they took over the mountains and up the crater to our hospital. What may be even better than that is coming back and having the staff at the hospital remember me. I don't think they remember my name, which is funny but okay, since I don't think they fully understood it last year either. What is supposed to be "Tricia" comes out "Treasure" instead :p so whenever one person happens to remember my name they always usher me about introducing me as the "Treasure King" 😊

I'm at the hospital now where I have internet access so whenever I can, I'll be checking my email. At least once every two days. Everything is powered by generator here so the times are always different when the hospital electricity starts, but it is usually off by 5pm (or 8am your time).

Send me your addresses!!!

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