\u2022 We met a Kenyan man on a rest stop during our bus ride from Nairobi to Arusha (where the safari started). He told us about how he knew the man who was the \u201cTerminator\u201d from the movies was now governor in California. He had read in the newspaper that this man was up for re-election, but it was unsure if he would win. His opinion? \u201cI would vote for him \u2013 he is obviously a great warrior.\u201d
\u2022 Elephants sleep standing up \u2026 it\u2019s too far to the ground to lay down and besides their \u201chip\u201d joints bend the wrong way.
\u2022 The blisteringly hot weather you expect in Africa, especially near the equator just isn\u2019t here. The only time you really feel the heat in the sun is from 11 AM to just before 2 PM, and then only in the sun. When you\u2019re in the shade, it can be downright chilly. According to our guide, this is pretty normal weather \u2026 if it gets more than about 5 degrees Celsius warmer, people talk about how unusual the weather is.
\u2022 So many songbirds!!! I imagined Tanzania and safari with lots of big game, but never thought about the fact that I would be awakened by songbirds.
\u2022 African elephants are huge! They aren\u2019t as playful as the Asian ones, either. In fact, we had two big bull elephants test charge our Land Rover. Our driver\/guide, Ben, has a technique to make the elephants think we\u2019re a big enough animal to cut off its trunk (which would be the end of the elephant since it wouldn\u2019t be able to eat) \u2013 rev the engine. Phew! It worked both times!
\u2022 Palm trees.
\u2022 A Maasai man, who while showing you the inside of his home, asks to change his Tanzanian shillings to United States dollars.
\u2022 Baboons are so like humans \u2013 and so playful!!! We spent a couple of hours over the course of two afternoons watching three baboon families. I wish it had been longer. Now that it\u2019s later in the trip, I find myself wishing we could stop our hunt for big game long enough to watch the baboons play and groom each other.
\u2022 Zebra are shaped like donkeys, striped like race cars, and make a noise like a sick puppy barking\/being stepped on.
\u2022 The hotel reception clerk whose first question to me when he got me alone was, \u201cso when are you going to buy me an airplane ticket to America?\u201d \u201cI want to come stay with you and your husband and your parents.\u201d When I pressed him for what he would do there, the answer was \u201cmaybe study\u201d though later (really from the beginning, given then forthrightness of his question) it became obvious he wanted to get out of Tanzania so he can make some money. I told him I wouldn\u2019t be buying him the ticket. He was disappointed. \u201cAll these American women are just not willing to cheat on their husbands! They are so in love they won\u2019t buy me an airplane ticket.\u201d
\u2022 Lions can sleep in trees.
\u2022 Almost no Tanzanian food at the lodge\/hotels and a guide who can\u2019t take you to a restaurant where you can get some.
\u2022 Mobile phones that work where there are no paved roads and the generator power (at luxury lodges) goes out at 11PM.
\u2022 Free internet in the middle of the Serengetti.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2022 We met a Kenyan man on a rest stop during our bus ride from Nairobi to Arusha (where the safari started). He told us about how he knew the man who was the \u201cTerminator\u201d from the movies was now governor in California. He had read in the newspaper that this man was up for … Continue reading