on safari

kurt and i, and the boys, live about an hour's drive to the west from

serengeti national park. we have driven through the park I don't know how many times already, since the park separates us from the mcc tz office in arusha. so on the way

to and from meetings, we pass through serengeti national park,

and then ngorongoro conservation area. Ngorongoro has a huge crater in which many animals live, it's known as an eighth wonder of the world. We have not yet been able to go into the crater to see the animals, but we enjoy the view from the top.

anyways, we live in serengeti....

so we get to see animals. driving just about 20 minutes from our home we often see giraffe or zebra or gazelle.

so I wanted to post some pictures that we've taken here and there, for the particular reading pleasure of some little boys I know back home in Winnipeg -

so Ayub and Sam, and Carter, Max and Nicholas, these are for you!

And Rosie and Jillian - we hope you get to come and see them too someday!

sunrise just outside of mugumu on our way to the park

a little safari baby

elegance

these are the cape buffalo - the fiercest animal in East Africa. you do not want to mess around with these things.

In Swahili they are called "Mbogo."

"Mbogo" is also my Dad's name, given to him by the Kikuyu more than 20 years ago.

And now, people in Mugumu call Ben "Mbogo," or "Mbogo Mdogo" (little Buffalo).

Quite fitting, really.

we had a snack at Olduvai Gorge, the "cradle of mankind" where they have found a large number of bones and ancient artifacts, including the oldest footprints ever found.


this tree was very exciting...look closely...



after 10 years of living in Africa, I finally got to see a leopard.



this was a huge pod of elephants, more than could be pictured - probably about 8 babies in this particular pod. They crossed right in front of us - very humbling.



there are more pictures of lions and giraffes and hippoes...any interest to see them?