July 4th

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Hello everyone! Today is July 4th -- happy holiday to everyone. Since we left the last blog, we have traveled south into several national parks. We went to Tarangeri park which is famous for giraffes and lots of wildlife. Very beautiful ... and the tented camp we stayed at was first class. We sleep in tents that zip up, they had a pool and a great view. Next we went to Lake Manyara and drove through another park. Elephants and monkeys were everywhere! Lots of excitement when a very large elephant decided to walk down the jeep path -- first was our jeep and 3 behind us. We were lucky that it had room to walk around each car and did not get angry. (nothing worse than a mad elephant!) Even our guide was a bit nervous and needless to say Lindsey and I held our breathe! But a good story to tell now that it is over.

The next day we had a cultural tour in town where we walked for two hours to see the village. It is maybe the only village in the country where all tribes live together -- there are over 120 tribes in this country. We saw a lot and had a cultural lunch at someone's home. Maybe I would not do the lunch again. We saw different types of banana trees and all kinds of fruit trees. Went to the farmers market and the produce was just picked and very beautiful.

Next we went to the Rhino Lodge for two nights. Not a tent. This is right in a Masai area and we had Masai dancing which has great traditional dancing. We liked the Rhino lodge -- it was cold at night and no heat of course so we had lots of layers of clothes and blankets.

Really loved it here, so many nice and friendly people.

Now we are on the way to the Serengeti, which is more animal parks. We will have a tented camp and probably still very cold. But am looking forward to it very much. The views and scenery are just unbelievable -- just like you see in photo books.

This is Lindsey.

Mom basically said everything that is going on...I guess I have let her take over the blog a bit! I just want to thank everyone for support because it really means a lot. On our way out of Arusha, we stopped to visit the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. This, being one of the main attractions to me here was amazing to see. We witnessed trials for people who commited absolute atrocities against their fellow citizens. This genocide and war crimes in Rwanda (1994) killed over 800,000 people in only 100 days.

ALthough safari has been amazing, I really really miss Moshi and the Orphanage. I have never felt so homesick from a place thats not even really my home. The last day with the kids was unbelievably difficult. I bought several t-shirts and thin blanket/african wraps that the kids made that I hope to sell when I get home. These kids are so special. To be honest, I really do not even like kids that much in the US but for some reason I love every single one of these kids. It shows that even with an enormous language barrier, one can learn to know and love a human being. The three weeks in Moshi were amazing, heart-breaking, and surreal. I know through these kids I have learned way more about myself and life than I could have ever imagined. These kids are truly a family. It's amazing to see a 4 your old child giving the 2 year old a bath and telling them a story to comfort them. Mama Faraji, the woman who started the orphanage is amazing and spirited and I will miss her! The fundraiser for the orphanage was a great success. We raised $150 which was enough to buy 50 kg or rice, 25 kg of sugar, 20 L of oil, beans and fresh vegetables. The garden we help built was also a huge success and should sustain the orphanage for quite a while. Even though we are not at Tuleeni anymore, we still have a lot of work to do. This included continuing the process of registering for NGO status. Though hard to imagine, this process is even more bureaucratic than the Us. Its frustrating and extremely expensive and time consuming, but we all know it will be worth it. In the end, my three weeks were amazing. I will miss the kids and Moshi, but We never actually said goodbye, just I will see you later!

We hope everyone is well --- love Diane and Lindsey

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Comments

[Faye]

Read Lindsey's blog
Good to hear from you. We enjoy your blogs. Sounds like a great experience. Love,Memaw