Debi's entry Safari

 We started with a dinner at our house for all 12 of us!  I am very proud of myself that I am settled enough now to do this!  What fun we had greeting and hugging each other!  Our group is:
> Erik, Bernice, Nashesha
> Carol
> Bob and Byrna
> Kathy, Chuck ( who left for Ethiopia on Friday and missed the safari), Krista, Sonja
> Don and Debi


On Friday we left in three vehicles and got to Crater Forest Resort on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. We stayed in luxury tents for two nights. That means the tent is large enough for a King Size bed and a chimnaria fireplace in each tent, hard wood floors, electricity and running water, a porch for relaxing and a bathroom!  Very comfortable!  We started our campfire sharing with Chuck since he had to leave the next day. These Rowbergs are such remarkable people!  It is such s treat to hear about each person's year!

On Saturday we headed into the Crater. This is my 4th trip into the Crater and it never ceases to amaze me!  The highlight was coming upon a recent lion kill. There was a cape buffalo and calf down with multiple lions feasting and jackals and hyenas and vultures waiting their turn. Bob has a fabulous telephoto lens so I am sure there will be great pictures of a blood soaked lion face to share later. On our way out we saw this huge elephant who came very close to our car. 


On Sunday we packed up and drove 3 hours to visit a Hadzabe tribe near Lake Eyasi. We visited two different groups and neither were the same as who we visited in 2005.  These hunter-gatherers are very small and speak a click language. They hunt with bow and arrow and are incredibly accurate!  I will have to tell you more about this in person. Don and Bob took lots of pictures but I did not. It was all I could do is try and recover from motion sickness!  The roads are so terrible that I spend a lot of time trying to recover!  Have you seen a Baobab tree?  That is in their area. They can actually live inside a tree during the wet season!


We arrived at E&B's house late (after some car trouble) and realized it was Father's Day. We celebrated with toasted cheese sandwiches, pumpkin soup and popcorn! Great way to end a great trip!  Now we just have to rest up for the big party on Monday night!  More to come...