Arusha National Park

I know that I have said this at least three times since I've been here, but today was by far the best day I've had here again.  I guess this is a good thing things keep getting better, and it would not be so good if I peaked my first week, so I am happy to know that things seem to just be getting better and better.  I am getting more accustomed to everyday life and figuring out how to spend my time here evenly so I can get a lot of work done but see a lot of awesome stuff as well.  Today was no exception, and I went on an awesome day-safari to Arusha National Park.

I had to put this up - a really distant view of Mt. Kili (or, as my father would call it, Krakatoa).  You can't normally see it, and this was the first time I've seen it since I've been here.

All of us hanging out of our van: Stephen, Maka, Minje, Trish, Molly, and me. 

All of us at the top of a crater: Maka, Minje, Molly, me, Trish and Stephen.  

The park was (obviously) awesome.  Unfortunately, there are no predators there (and no, not the creepy guy predators that roam the bars, but stuff like lions and hyenas), but we got to see a ton of cool animals, including giraffes, zebras, warthogs, flamingos, hippos, water bucks, and a few types of monkeys.  We drove around in a guided van whose roof came up so we got to stand the whole time (minus the times we fell down, because the roads are quite bumpy), which was pretty cool in and of itself, but seeing the animals was also pretty fantastic.  I never knew what the big deal was about safaris, especially since I've seen a lot of the animals before in various capacities (aka the zoo), but I get it now why it's so awesome to see them in nature as they are meant to be.  It was pretty spectacular to see a family of giraffes walking around and monkeys running across the road, or to watch hundreds of flamingos make a whole lake pink and then take off in flight like they were a long runway at an airport.  That stuff is all pretty awesome and I already crave more of it, and can't wait until I take a four-day safari through the Serengeti (which I'm doing the week before I come home).  

Anyway, I don't feel like I need to say much more about this, because the pictures really speak for themselves.  I wish they came out a little better; you know how it is whenever you see something awesome and you snap a picture of it and it never looks as great as it did when you saw it with your own eye, but obviously pictures are the next best thing to actually seeing it for yourself.

One thought that I have been having since I've been here, especially when I do all these cool touristy-kinds of things, is that it's a shame that more local people don't get to experience what I get to experience here.  I feel like I always think back to Costa Rica, probably because it is my favorite place I've ever been, but in Costa Rica one of the most wonderful things about it is that not only do tourists from all over get to experience it, but its own citizens equally enjoy and reap all the benefits of living in such a wonderful country.  It is much different over here, which is slightly disappointing, because for the most part it is only the tourists who get to really experience all of the awesome things that I've gotten to do in a mere three weeks and it's not many of the people who live in this amazing place.  I'm not sure the most effective way to change that, and I'm sure it all goes back to development and the fringe detriments of dependency on tourism.  I will have to come back to this the more time I spend here and see what I end up thinking about it, but that's something that's been on my mind today.

Enough about that.  Enjoy the safari pictures…hopefully next weekend I will have another sweet adventure to talk about.  Or I might just sleep.  I feel like I'm always tired here, and the coming week is going to be particularly busy.  Tomorrow I submit a business proposal plan for one of my internships, as well as turn in a micro-finance project which I will hopefully get approved and get to start implementing shortly.  I will also be volunteering at an orphanage two days this week (Monday and Friday), as well as volunteering at a Maasai school for girls (Thursday).  Oh, also this Friday the national coach from the Tanzanian soccer team will be coming for a fundraiser and then on Saturday will be at our soccer games to kick off the soccer season, so hopefully there will be a lot to blog about later this week!  

Have a great week everyone!  Enjoy the cool weather at home - I hear fall is on it's way and I'm very jealous to be missing out on my favorite time of year! :-)

I'm gonna try to end this with a few videos from the safari.  I'm not sure how great they turned out, and you might have to excuse some of the commentary (I'm hoping that maybe the sound doesn't always come through...)