Riding on Bumpy Roads in Tanzania

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Day 17

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Sign warning about AIDS at Tanzania border

After a poor night of sleep in our tent, I knew I hadn’t escaped getting sick after seeing all the happy children. I assumed it was travelers diarrhea because I was drinking the same water our guides were drinking rather than bottled water. My sickness made for a very uncomfortable travel day. After an hour, we crossed into Tanzania where I pretended to be healthy to avoid any questions about Yellow Fever or Ebola. I tried to sleep most of the drive but all the bouncing on detesting roads made it very difficult. We didn’t arrive at our campsite until after dark. After Sara and I quickly set up the tent, I crawled inside and went to sleep while she got dinner with the group. They had a meal traditional to the local Kihehe tribe which was prepared by the lodge, Kisolanza Farm; beef stew over ugali with spinach greens (basically the same traditional dish, pop, that Nash has previously prepared for us but with slight variations).

The next morning, we were woken by commotion in one of the neighboring tents. Poking our heads out we learned that two of the tents were covered in Continue reading

Meeting Happy Children in Malawi

Day 13

imageEven though everybody loved South Luangwa and wanted to stay longer, Jojo kept us on our timeline. We packed up our tents, had breakfast and started driving to Malawi. It was a relatively short drive out of Zambia but before we reached the border, Sam got sick on the truck! She wasn’t feeling well at the border so we rushed her though the process to get her back in her seat as soon as possible. After the border crossing, we had lunch under a shady tree before finishing the drive to our camp, Barefoot Lodge. When we got to camp, Sam went to bed while we tried to help figure out what made her sick. That afternoon, Sara and I tried to Continue reading

Stalking Cats in South Luangwa, Zambia

Day 12

FullSizeRender41There was another early morning wake up in preparation for a full day searching for animals. Luckily, Nash was also up early so we had tea and coffee available before our morning game walk. There was an option to do a game drive, but after being cooped up in the truck, many decided it would be nice to walk around. We split into two groups, each with a guide and an armed security ranger. The guide explained to us that if we encounter any animals up close, the most important rule is to not run and let the ranger handle the situation.

Barely 100 meters from the start, we ran across Continue reading

Hippos Outside Lady’s Door in Zambia

imageSara’s mom joined us on our African Safari and we convinced her to write down some of her thoughts about South Luangwa:

imageErin and I share accommodations on the Safari which ranged from huts to beautiful rooms at lodges along the way. Our second night on the tour, we scored a river front cabin on a small cliff. Across the river we could spy on over nineteen hippos, called a raft of hippos, as they spent their day splashing in the water or lying on the river’s muddy bank. They do their feeding at night away from the water often entering the camp looking for sweet grasses. Not too far away from the raft of hippos, we could see large Continue reading