Selous Big 5 Lodge Selous Game Reserve

... Tanzanian tradition is to serve goat cake at a wedding. I had no idea what that was before the reception but soon found out as they wheeled out a whole goat, roasted, covered in foil with the head still attached. The head still had fur, horns, eyes and nose. Jeremy and Happy took off the foil to reveal the roasted goat decorated with orange slices. The MC told Jeremy to carve off a good chunk of meat for his new wife. Then he fed a piece to Pete, his best man. Next ...

I wish there were a better phrase than culture shock because it's not really shock but a sort of fatigue that can affect your energy level, your moods and your ability to think. I felt some longing for home when I first got here. I miss Keesha and the western amenities like hot showers and speedy internet connections. I am sad that I am missing the Olympics. Some places have BBC on, but the sports I've seen are basketball, team ...

... she stopped. Then the next woman spoke. She was a bit more colorful talking about cleanliness using metaphors and graphic descriptions I will not write about here. Just know that Happy had her head down, from embarrassment at times and to hide the smiles at others. I watched her translate for Amy and see them both giggle. She did talk about nice things too, like cultural understanding. Cake was next. It almost seemed like a dry run ...

The alarm rang at 4:20 am. By 6:00 am, the luggage was on top of the truck or tucked in the back. The Bishop drove, Zakajo in the front seat; me, Anna, Amy and Pete crammed in the back seat, Jeremy and Tim perched on luggage in the back. As we drove off, it started to rain. The weather cleared as the sun rose over the land. Along the two lane road, people walked or rode bicycles, carrying water or school books. Little ...

... landrover twice to evict insects on the way. She like birds however - at least from a distance. Saw a range of nice animals but the star was African Hunting Dog. A stunning looking animal and crtically endangered across most of Africa. Selous is one of the best areas remaining for them and our target species. Also saw a very large pride of lions. Nearly pushed Pat out trying to take a photo. The lions looked very interested and all woke up. One licked its lips in ...

... from tree to tree...which was unnerving but when the darn things landed on our tent it scared the heck out of us. I later found out they were bush baby :) I was excited the next night as I wanted to spot one but they did not attack like the night before :( Oh, one girl who traveled all the way with us was complaining of a headache during our river safari. The next day they had to fly her back to DAR. She had Malaria and needed to go to the hospital ...

Hello again! I've just returned fom the Ilula Orphan Center where I met up with my professor Trish Siplon and some of my friends from SMC. The SMC crew was there doing research on woman, water, and HIV/AIDS. As well as a variety of other surrounding issues. ONce at Ilula I decided to extend my stay. ****I need to apolgize for the terible typing, some of the keys stick a bit and I am wiped out so I am trying my hardest****** This past week ...

Hello Everybody I want to start by saying that Kenya and tanzania are beautiful countries. I don't have much time so I will just try to give you a brief synopsis of what I have been up to. But first before I update you I will let you know a little bit of what I'm doing here For the first three weeks of my trip I will be participating in a learning tour with MCC on HIV and AIDS. We are going around to different villages ...

... the Ruaha River surrounded by enormous baobab trees. Tonight we are surrounded by families and young children and a handful of babies, feasting on scrumptious Indian food and watching BBC News! The semi-final match of the Champions League was being played tonight between Liverpool and Chelsea at 21:45 local time. Although it was quite late, we were desperate to see the match and asked anyone and everyone who was interested in going into Iringa town ...

... cold showers in the morning aren't my favorite thing in the world, and I decided that cold showers in the dark in the morning would be even worse. Eventually we are all packed and strapped into our backpacks, ready to head out the door. Overall I feel this is going fairly smoothly. It is a fine Saturday the 25th of Agust. Then as we were walking back from dumping our garbage before going to the bus station, Anna trips over a root, bites ...