African smiles

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Matt and I asked for an early wake up call this morning as we wanted time to sit on the deck and enjoy a cup of coffee (tea for Matt) and watch the sunlight slowly begin to illuminate the Serengeti. It's just magical.... They also brought us a couple of muffins which lets just say were like rocks so we decided to share them with the birds. They came right up on the porch and enjoyed.

We took a morning game drive and saw a lion pride of 6 female lions and then one of the coolest moments of our game drives thus far, two dueling male Impalas fighting for dominance over "the women" as Babenga would say. We watched for a good 10 minutes as they locked antlers and pushed back and forth. Another male came on the scene twice and was yelling, yelling, yelling at them....I wondered if he was saying "cut it out"??

Just as important to us as seeing the sights and experiencing the flavors and smells of where we travel is the people.... We want a glimpse of their daily lives and what it's like to live where they are. I am so glad that we added today's experience to our itinerary...

We exited the park and headed towards Lake Victoria (2nd largest fresh water lake in the world outside of Lake Superior) bound for a local fishing village and school. We arrived and were introduced to our local guide from the village who talked to us a bit about where we were and the village itself. We then just began walking as the villagers went about their daily lives. Collecting water from the lake, washing, bathing, fixing boats....This is a very very impoverished village and representative of the way most of Tanzania lives....heck most of the world for that matter. I know I've said this on previous trips but I do wish that everyone who lives a life of privilege would take the opportunity to visit a third world country and see/experience their daily life....It is eye opening, shocking, humbling, and heartbreaking to say the least. It is beyond the comprehension of most quite honestly...and it makes you so grateful for the things we so easily take for granted like Tap water for example.

As we walked I had several little ones run up and begin to hold my hand and walk with me. They were all so adorable and happy to walk us through their village with their big, bright smiles. Tom even made a few little friends as well. Matt was so busy taking pictures I think the kids knew if they tried to hold his hand they wouldn't make it in a pic, LOL! We walked quite a ways on what felt like their "Main Street" with small shops before finally arriving at Zariki School. This school was started by a very generous foreign family who visited the village and then paid to build 3 permanent classrooms. Since then the school has grown to 5 classrooms again through donations from "visitors" as the school children call them. The school is a primary school educating kids ages 5-12 and they teach only in English so that the children can read/write with a better opportunity for a job and higher quality of life. We got to visit a couple of classrooms where the children greeted us, asked us questions, and then sang their school song. We brought some school supplies with us so were able to hand them over as well as provide some additional donations. All and all a wonderful, heartwarming experience!

Lunch was a picnic lunch again, but our best of the trip! We headed back to the park and our camp enjoying the afternoon and watching the sunset. We chatted with a couple of older gals who were quite the world travelers themselves which was nice. Tom had local tilapia for dinner which was excellent and they even brought him out some of his favorite coconut ice cream for dessert despite it not being on the menu. A very memorable last evening in Tanzania.

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