SAFARI!

My life was basically something from the Discovery Channel today and yesterday.  No joke.  Here are the highlights from our safari drive in Lake Manyara National Park:
1.  Catching a hippo mid-yawn.

2.  Observing elephant and giraffe mating behaviors.

3.  Getting a glimpse at what life is like for a baby baboon...they've got it made getting a ride around on their mom’s back all the time.

4.  Turning around to see an elephant running toward us along the road.  And another scratching its itchy tummy on a termite mound.

5.  And hanging out of the Land Cruiser in 85 degree weather under the African sun.

This morning we spent 2 hours observing olive baboon behavior.  There was some serious drama going on.  Lots of fighting, screaming and chasing.  We also learned that when they flash themselves to one another it’s almost always friendly and a sign of social status…
The best part was when a few of the juveniles climbed onto the hood of the Land Cruiser and were looking in at us.  They were biting on the metal, scratching and even fighting only a couple feet in front of us.  We were pretty glad they didn’t try to come in the windows.

For only 5000 Tanzanian shillings (or about 3 US dollars) I got a bunch of laundry done by the local Maasai mamas yesterday.  Pretty sweet. 
A few of the students organized a group and collected money to buy a goat, so they went and did that this morning.  They named it Dinner.  Dinner was tied to the woodpile enjoying her last few hours in the sun.
Later on a few of the staff members slaughtered the goat.  They slit its throat and skinned it, and I got to hold its legs while they did it!  Several people had tripods and got really into filming it.  It was a lot like a lab dissection, and apparently the ribs are pretty tasty.  And I ate some at dinner!  It was good, but really chewy.


Here's a picture of the group:

Swahili word of the day: watoto (children).