SAFARI !

I recently got back from a Tanzanian safari with my parents. My parents very rarely travel outside of North America, so coming to Africa was a big leap. The trip was also a big deal for me , although for other reasons. It meant going on an airplane – I cannot really express how huge the contrast is between my rural village and an airport –everything is so well built, so seamless, so busy, so clean, so removed from the dirt beneath it, it was a bit overwhelming.

The goal of most of the people in our safari group was to see “the big five” or as many African animals as possible. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I was just as thrilled with the all-you-can-eat buffets and hot showers. But we did see more animals that I had ever expected. And we met some really wonderful people in our group. We went to Lake Manyara, the Serengetti and Ngorongoro Crater, and saw elephants crossing the road right behind us, cheetahs eating a zebra, a lion even brushed up against our jeep. And we saw the great migration—wildebeests and zebras stretching as far as you can see (with binoculars), the vastness was incredible. But I think my favorite “siting” or moment was when a flock of wild lovebirds flew over our jeep on the way to Ngorongoro Crater. I’d only seen lovebirds in pet store cages before, and thought of them as purely domestic. To see them flying freely in the wild, the flashes of green, yellow and red was breathtaking.

It did bother me a bit that we were able to get so close to all the animals because of their familiarity and comfort around people (or at least our jeeps). We were in some of the largest protected parks in Africa , but people were everywhere is seemed. Is there no where left where we haven’t made an impact? While it did bother me, it did not stop me from being as enthusiastic as anyone else in out jeep to see the next yet unseen animal.

We finished out vacation with a trip to Zanzibar. I love the old, winding streets of Stonetown, the capital city. It had beautiful Arabic architecture and a tropical, beachy feel. I went snorkeling and was fish I had only seen in aquariums. And had an incredible meal at a spics farm, with all local tropical fruits and fish (although my mom thinks she might have gotten a parasite from the water there…). Zanzibar felt magical. It also seemed much better off than Lesotho, the lodge close by me also felt magical when I stayed there with my parents, but it’s much harder to find places like that in Lesotho. The tourism industry is tiny compared to Zanzibar’s. Although the people of Lesotho, to me, seem much friendlier, or at least they have much better teeth and smile more. The trip was truly amazing, it helped re-energize me, and it was it was long enough that I was really ready to my site and my life here.