St. Margaret's Program

Blessing the new dining hall at St. Margaret's.

It's still under construction but it now has a roof! The

children were able to enter and have their lunch in there

for the first time that day. Kidogo kidogo (little by little)

and it will get done so they can eat their lunch there everyday

instead of outside in the sun.

The Education Song is one of our favorites! "Education is the key to the life,

education is the key to the life. No working, no working without the education..."

Standard V and VI children singing and dancing for us.

Here are the young ones doing traditional Ngoma

(singing and dancing). They were really funny and super cute.

What a treat!

These two were so gosh darn funny. We were all laughing so hard!

Ah, the fashion show. The children dress us as people from

around the world. This is quite comical too. These two are

from Rome...notice the Pope's red tennis shoes! My dad thought

that was hilarious!

Selian Hospital

Here is the new Selian Hospital. We had the opportunity to

tour it and it's incredible. They have come a long way since the last

time I saw it in '06. Soon they should be ready to open their doors

and start taking patients.

Nice hospital bed!

This is the center courtyard. All of those rooms will look out

over the beautiful couryard.

The hospital chapel with amazing stainglass windows.

Tarangire

A male impala.

Baboon with her young baby.

Road block! Baboons everywhere.

We almost passed by this elephant because it was hiding

behind a large bush. He was not too happy to see us and trumpeted.

at us.

Following the trumpet, he almost charged us which was

really cool and quite scary at the same time. It allowed for

this really close shot though!

While we were hunting for simba Charlie decided to turn around.

Obviously that didn't work out so well for them...they got stuck!

And there were some angry elephant not too far away. Lucky for

them our rover came to the rescue and pushed them out. Daudi actually

did all the work but Sarah, Tommy, and myself were cheering him on!

This was a really fun safari! Over our three days we stayed at the Ngorogoro Sopa Lodge which was absolutely incredible. The showers there were amazing! Best shower I've ever had in Tanzania, hands down! We also spent a night at the Tarangire Safari Lodge which is always an experience because we stay in bandas. Basically it's a delux tent with a bathroom attached. Our group of 7 had a fun, relaxing few days though and enjoyed the company of each other and our new friends Charlie and Daudi!

Lake Manyara

Finally we see my favorite animals, twiga! And

extra special is the two-headed twiga....

Daudi's passengers (the rover that followed the other one).

A nice pic with Lake Manyara in the background.

This was my first trip to Lake Manyara and I really enjoyed it.

It was kind of like driving through a jungle and there were little

streams all over which were really pretty.

We watched this elephant for awhile and he came and passed

directly behind us. Really cool!

These guys were following the first but stopped because some

other rovers came up behind us and blocked the path of the leader.

Daudi said that they follow exact path the head male makes unless

something gets in the way.

Hippo Pond!

You forget just how big they actually are until they

decide to stand up and switch location. Wow, they're huge!

Ngorogoro Crater

Our sweet land rover next to a very large fig tree.

Charlie and Daudi, our fabulous drivers, preparing

a picnic lunch for us on the rim of the crater. Complete

with PB&Js...an extra special treat!

Sarah and I on our way into the crater. Always one of

my favorite parts.

This tembo was spotted before we even had our picnic.

It was quite close to us.

Love the pundamalea (zebra).

A baby hyiena taking a nap under a nice rock.

Ngorogoro is one of the best places to go on safari. We saw elephants, zebras, wildebeasts, cape buffalo, hyienas, ostrich, hippos, and many birds. Sadly this time we did not encounter any simba (lion). Apparently they didn't feel like gracing us with their presence...even though their are 5 prides with about 15 lions in each! Maybe next time:)

Flying North

The trip north is always an adventure. We fly in a 12 passenger plane. Personally, I think it's a blast but others get a bit frightened by such a small plane. It was beautiful day though and the view of God's creation was amazing from above! We landed in the Ngorogoro Crater and as we approached the landing strip there were zebras right where we needed to land. Watching them run was the coolest thing. We had to scare them off the strip and then come around again to land. But we landed safely and continued on for our 3 days of safari.

A traditional Massai boma (family village).