Tanzania Day 2

Today we left Arusha and drove to Tarangire National Park, which is a 2 1/2 hour drive that took us nearly 4 hours between traffic, slow roads and some fascinating stops along the way to interact with Massai Tribe villagers.  We brought two clay water filters to the villagers so we stopped to give them to them and to explain how they work.  We walked right into the midst of the village and children and women surrounded us pretty quickly.   The villages are made up of small, round mud huts. The Massai herd goats and cows and they are nomadic tribes so they move around a lot.  After we left the village we drove on and stopped at the local Massai weekly market, where they come from all around to sell food products, and other wares.  That was quite an experience as we stood out in the crowd to say the least!  After we left there we drove almost another two hours, passing many Massai villages along the way.  The Massai wear very distinctive clothing, the men in particular in red robes and carrying long sticks.  We passed countless herds of goats and cows, which are their primary occupation.

We then arrived at Tarangire National Park and had our picnic lunch up on a platform that is built around a huge Baobab tree, where the baboons apparently like to spend the night!  Then we did a long game drive through the park and saw many animals.  We saw lots of smaller animals like impala (look like deer), warthogs, wildebeest, a variety of birds including vultures and hawks.  Then we saw zebra, giraffes and elephants and towards the end of our drive a whole family of baboons, with a number of very young babies cavorting around.  The roads in the park are very rutted and bumpy and in places, we were driving through mud holes! I was in awe of our driver's skill at managing to keep the truck upright and not capsize with us all in it!  It was quite hot today, in the low 90s, although intermittently overcast so we were not burning up too much.  In the late afternoon we stopped for a rest and looked to the east and saw huge rain clouds.  As we were heading out the rains came, although not nearly as torrential as yesterday.  We then drove to our digs on the shore of Burunge Lake where we are staying in a tented camp.  The tents are quite nice, complete with solar powered lights and private bathrooms in each tent.  The  paths to the tents are pitch dark after sunset so we have to have very strong flashlights to find our way back to our tent.  Tomorrow is a very long day.  We have to eat breakfast at 6:15 and then leave at 7:15 for a long day of game viewing.  Check Facebook for pics of Massai people and various animals and our tent!