Moshi Urban, Tanzania

Jambo is our word for the day in Africa. Asante (thank you) Sana (very much) missouriSanta (very very good is the answer to “how are you”?) I feel like Froddo Baggett this morning. Our hut is reminiscent of one of the lodgings straight out of the Hobbit. I must get better pictures from outside once the sun rises. It is absolutely adorable. We came back to the hut last night to find a fire burning and electric blanket warming the bed. Little could they have known that I’m the last person in the world who needs additional heat sources at bedtime! There was also a fabulous box of homemade chocolates and Sherry sitting by the fireplace for us to enjoy before turning in for the night. Really love the this! We’re up early…5am. High altitude messing with our sleep. My ankles looked like elephant legs by the time we got to bed last night. Our Butler just delivered tea and coffee and coconut biscuits to us in our hut. Love this! We have breakfast in the main Lodge at 7am and then take off at 8am for an all day game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater and to visit a Mussai Village later on. Hate to take a diuretic before riding around in a bumpy vehicle in the Bush all day. Praying they have some “happy houses” out there somewhere that I won’t get eaten or bit by something! They assure me there are no spitting Cobra’s here….supposedly too cold for them. We had a little medical mishap in the group this morning. Gary, our dear Brit slipped and dislocated his shoulder. They had to call in a local paramedic to do the reduction. Bless his heart, he hopped on the Safari vehicle right afterwards and came along for the day’s activities. He’s an energizer bunny! We spotted numerous wild animals today including several Black Rhino’s, dozens of Hippo’s, hundreds of Gazelle’s, several Lions, Wart Hogs, Cape Buffalo’s, hyaena’s, jackal’s, a few distance elephants, multiple birds, etc. My favorite part of the day was an amazing view of 2 Momma Lions walking down the road toward us with 2 little Cubs following them. Just priceless. Jim took all the wildlife photo’s so we should have some great photo’s. Fell in love with our guide, Rodgers. He is a smiley, big, cuddly bear who just loves to tell jokes. We visited a Maasai village on the way home. Jim and I toured one of their huts which are made by the women out of sticks, mud, cow dung and cow urine. It contains 3 small ante chambers, one for the parents to sleep, one for the children and one for cooking on a small fire hole in the floor. We watched as they performed several dances. The men compete in a jumping style dance that tends to be part of their mating ritual. We also went into their school house to visit the children. Jim got some great photo’s of the adorable little children. It did break my heart to see all the flies buzzing around the little babies eyes and faces, though. Theirs is not an easy life. We had cocktails and appetizers by the fireplaces on the outer deck of the main lodge tonight followed by a wonderful sit down dinner inside. At the end of the meal, one of the local native choir groups sang and danced for us. So much fun! We were escorted back to our room by our Safari guard. We got inside and heard some noise. Looked out the bathroom window and there was a giant, aggressive Cape Buffalo banging her horns on the under floor of our Loo. Kind of scary! The Ngorongoro Conservation Area spans vast expanses of highland plains, savanna, savanna woodlands and forests. Established in 1959 as a multiple land use area, with wildlife coexisting with semi-nomadic Maasai pastoralists practicing traditional livestock grazing, it includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest caldera. The property has global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles and other animals into the northern plains. Extensive archaeological research has also yielded a long sequence of evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, including early hominid footprints dating back 3.6 million years. It was accorded the status of a World Heritage Site and listed as one of the International Biosphere Reserve by the UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme.