The second we entered Lake Manyara, animals were greeting us.  A large contingent of baboons had taken over the visitors’ center at the entrance.  Pablo had removed the roof panels of the LandRover so we could stand up in our seats and take photos over the roof, so we snapped a few photos and then moved on.

We drove for another half an hour past foliage and headed to a picnic place. Our box lunch, one of the items I had tried to negotiate down on and thus expected to be a peanut butter sandwich – if we were lucky – turned out to be an amazing meal including a sandwich, samosas, fruit juice, muffins, cookies, an apple strudel pastry and peanuts. 

We also marveled over the toilets provided at the picnic ground.  They were tiled and clean – cleaner than many of the hotel rooms we had stayed in. (more…)

On the bus to Arusha, our taxi driver friend Ally called us.  His friend Abdul was going to pick us up from the bus station. Considering what we had heard about the bus station touts, we were glad for the help. Two minutes later, Ally texted us Abdul’s number.

Later, Abdul texted us to see when we would be getting in. ‘One more hour,’ I replied. But the hour came and went. Ally called us to see if we had arrived yet. No, not yet, I said. Abdul then texted shortly thereafter, wondering where we were. I texted Abdul to say we were running late. And he texted back that it was not a problem.

By the time it was all said and done, Lauren was considering throwing the phone out of the window. She hadn’t left he U.S. to be stuck tied to a cell phone again. (more…)