One of the highlights of a trip to Tanzania is interacting with the locals. The people there are friendly, happy and smiley. They go out of their way to help you and are optimistic and committed to driving their economy forward. And even the villagers who are very near the bottom of the economic ladder are proud and helpful rather than adopting a ‘begging’ stance.

On our first day in Tanzania, we had a local guide us through a nearby village. Children came out to greet us as we walked about. They spoke to us as best as they could in English. And those who couldn’t speak English simply lingered about us, smiling, soaking us in. There was the young, handsome high schooler committed to achieving his dream of becoming a doctor. Three little kids for a hillside hut with fancy dresses, but dirty faces. There were kids playing with wheels and sticks. And the group who excitedly shared a leopard tortoise with us as we passed. There were also the ladies grinding their corn at the local, commonary mill. And the ladies tending their vegetable gardens and accompanying stands to sell their goods. There were also moms selling fish cooked fresh while you wait. As well as little ones chasing chickens.

Really, walking about harkened back to the days of my parent’s childhood in America. Bathrooms were outdoors. Pleasures were simple. And neighbors stuck by one another to make it through. The chickens ran wild and the children came home REALLY dirty. You had to work hard and most walked to school as cars were hard to come by and gas was impossible to afford.

There are a few things, however, that make things different. 20% of Tanzania’s city population is estimated to suffer from HIV or Aids with approximately 10% of the country’s total population suffering as a whole. And a portion of the population’s beliefs support and encourage casual intimacy from an early age. If for nothing else, these two factors could make growing up so Smiley and Happy a challenge.

This said though, as emerging economies go, Tanzania is quite refined. The roads are generally good (much better than India’s!), most families (other than Tribal ones) appear to live in block houses with tin roofs (definitely a step up from India’s tarp slums) and while the plumbing’s primitive, it doesn’t appear to be exposed (not the case in Beijing or Shanghai).

Perhaps, though, our recent experiences in China, Morroco and India have dulled our perception of extreme poverty. Or, perhaps, it’s simply that we now see the scenes of dirty children, hay and water carried by cart or bicycle along the roads, or ramshackle huts serving as convenience stores through different glasses these days as it’s not our first go? But regardless, I continue to grow and realize that in many ways the people in emerging economies leading simple lives have an advantage over those of us in workaday mindset. Their stress levels are low. Their focus is on their family and their larger community. And they help one another out when they’re down instead of pointing fingers. And their kids get dirty–really dirty. And isn’t that what childhood should be about? Who wouldn’t want a childhood framed by chasing turtles and minnows and climbing trees–to be followed by helping in the garden and chatting with the neighborhood kids at the village mill. We, in more Western cultures, often stress so much about ensuring that our houses are perfect, cars and blemish free, children are clean in pressed white dresses with ribbons in their hair and we forget to have simple, carefree fun. Especially kids.

I’m certainly happy living in my white London tower in a nice clean, pressed, white dress. But, I have to say that those bygone days of my childhood on the farm–chasing minnows and getting dirty–really dirty–were pretty grand. And just as it’s hard to make your way to college from small town Tanzania, the same was once true (if not still true) of small town America. These kids have a chance.

Now–for our favourite people. We were fortunate on this trip to have G’s parents along with us…and we have to give them credit for being low stress, high fun travel partners. We had a great time together catching up since we don’t see one another often and I believe the trip was made better by their presence. We’re very fortunate that they love and support us in our choice to move abroad–and that our love for travel (with their recent retirement) coincides. Thank you Allan & Virginia for traveling half way around the world to hang out with us! And we count ourselves lucky that we spent two lovely weeks together and parted while still smiling

Apparently, lots of people who travel on safari are obsessed with cats. Everywhere we went, people were talking about which cats they hoped to see and which they had. And the very fortunate few who saw cats kill prey couldn’t stop gushing. It’s a bit of a phenomenon, really.

We saw our share of cats, but, for us, we were most struck by the hippos, giraffe and elephant. Call us freaks?

That said, here’s a laundry list of our ‘cats’. First was the leopard lounging in a tree in Tarangire. Then, a pride of lions (with a male present) in the Crater followed by two Cheetahs fresh off a kill walking through the high grass plains. Next, a male lion alone (again in the shade) and a mom and two cubs (though one of them seemed to be nearly an adult) lounging in the shade of a bush in the Central Serengeti. And finally, a pride of at least10 lions in the Mara Triangle in the Northern Serengeti lounging under bushes and high trees atop a high rock kopte amidst the grassy plains.

Notice a theme? The most striking thing to us is how lazy the cats seemed. They hunt every day or every few days, but it’s not necessary for them to constantly hunt for prey. The food source is plentiful, so they just laze between meals waiting to get hungry again. We did see the Cheetahs walk about after finishing their lunch—that was exciting…for cats?

Whenever we saw other animals (elephants, giraffe, buffalo, wildebeest, birds, rhino, zebra, etc), they were doing something entertaining. We felt enlightened.

Perhaps we were in the wrong area for cats and hence, they didn’t seem to have much personality. Or, perhaps, the cats we saw were atypical and others have more spirit. But overall, we weren’t too in awe of the cats and were left feeling that all those nature shows with exciting footage of cats doing things must have loads of boring footage that doesn’t make the cut. The cats’ lives didn’t seem, to us, nearly as exciting as made out to be on TV.

The giraffe’s still my personal favorite. They’re just SO cute.

After seeing mostly small groups of animals in the first part of the safari, we hoped to see thousands of animals covering the plains. Once we arrived at our camp just on the edge of the Mara river, we learned that the prized sighting is a river crossing. As the migration moves between Kenya and Tanzania, the animals must cross the Mara river. This is a handy opportunity for crocodiles, lions, and other predators to catch a wildebeest snack.

The wildebeest know that crossing the river is dangerous and are very cautious. They gather on the edge of the river wanting to cross but aware of the danger. They spend hours of indecision approaching the bank of the river, only to turn around and head back before circling around again. Finally, one animal will start across. Others follow. Then the flood gates open. The thousands of animals that had gathered on the bank start stream across the water. The riverbed and riverbank churn with mud increasing the challenge of each following animal to make it across and up the bank on the other side.

After following the herd, waiting and watching them try to decide to cross, we finally hit the jackpot on our second day. We kept watching a huge herd of wildebeest gather on the bank. We were sure they would cross. But they started to retreat en mass. We moved the vehicle to get a different view and discovered they had started crossing further down. Our guide estimated we saw about 30,000 animals cross. Take a look in these videos.

We started at a fly camp where we spent the night just outside the Ngorongoro Crater. The next morning we got an early start and followed our Maasai guides to the false summit and then on to the summit. We also had an armed ranger with us for protection. The area is known to have buffalo which it turns out buffalo are one of the most dangerous animals that you can come across in the bush. They are big, mean looking and charge easily. Our guides warned us that if we came across them, we should either climb a tree, or lay down and play dead.

Just before we reached the summit, we came across a few buffalo. The ranger too aim and the guides took position along our flank with spears ready. We backed away (toward a tree conveniently by the path) squatted down and waited. The buffalo started to head down toward us and stopped. We continued to wait. Finally, the turned, went along the ridge and on their way.

From the top of Makarot, we had spectacular views of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. After taking it in, we started down the mountain and through the Maasai villages. There were no roads here. No tourists streaming through. We were experiencing the real Africa. We stopped at one of the villages and met the locals. Not speaking Maasai, we weren’t able to communicate much, but our guides provided some basic translation. K bought a bracelet and had her picture taken with the girl that made it.

The decent was much worse than the climb in many ways. It was rocky and was punishing on the knees. Some parts of the trail were covered in “African snow” — a fine dirt the collected and blew like snow drifts. One of the guides was excellent in helping my mom through some of the tough spots on the way down.

Just before we reached the bottom, we ran across a few giraffes about 100 yards in front of us. They sat and watched us for a while as I quickly grabbed the camera. We saw giraffes fairly close from the vehicle, but it was a completely different experience being on foot. After a bit, they decided to run and I got a good video. I don’t see it in our gallery at the moment, but I’ll track it down and post it. It is interesting to watch them run.

Finally, we made it to Olduvai camp. They greeted us with drinks and we all sat in the lounge slumped in the chairs cheering our successes complaining about our aches. We also learned from our guides that my parents are the oldest people they have taken over the mountain. I think the guides were a bit nervous that my parents wouldn’t make it, but they made a good showing and impressed them all. Certainly a great achievement.

From the fly camp near the mountain, it didn’t look that big. But looking back from Olduvai we were all amazed that we just climbed over that mountain. It was a fantastic day.

Well…almost. The Queen of the birds, that is.

We were quite surprised as a mating pair of ostriches quickly approached our vehicle from the plains shortly after entering the gates of Tarangire on Day 1 of our safari. They were simply crossing the road, but provided a lesson on evolution. Just for kicks…give some thought to a simple question. What colour’s an ostrich?

In my mind they are black and white. But as with most of the feathered folks, the female is a more modest brown. But this brown beast is a BEAUTY. Apparently, both the male and female ostrich sit eggs. The male sits during the night (hence his black colour) and the female sits during the day (hence, she’s the colour of the grassy plains). The female is surely one worth fighting over as short video clip we took below.

We were just driving along when we noticed two male ostrich chasing one another on our final day in the Tarangire. Our driver stopped suddenly as one of the birds fell onto the ground and began to writhe and splay like a Thanksgiving turkey. Suddenly, the other bird approached and the first dropped stood, propped one leg against the other and they both began to pummel one another taking shots with one foot while bracing with the other. An INCREDIBLE scene. Ultimately the one who started the fight ran away after being squelched by the other male. But what a show–much better than any dinner theatre I know

This bird is also FAST. As if floating, it holds a steady gait despite its ample size and awkward physique.

Not quite. But their pattern is arresting…

These animals are unbelievable. Horses for sure, when we observed them, they seemed to act just like the run of the mill domestic variety (though I am quite sure I’m mistaken). But their pattern is mystifying. Apparently some predators see only in black and white. Hence, the zebra has evolved with the characteristic stripes so that it and its thousand closest friends read as a disco ball in the night, confusing the cats and increasing their chance of surviving as compared to the brown gazelle, wildebeest, antelope and other deer-like species.

Only the old, young and ill fall behind the crowd and are singled out for the kill. Often when driving over the plains, we noted select animals of this description and our guides duly noted that it was unlikely the animal would make it throught the week. Only the fittest survive on the plains of Africa.

But perhaps my favorite thing about giraffes is that they are gentle giants. Don’t get me wrong…they can fight. And fight well they do. Our guide mentioned that they kick the **** out of one another when necessary. But really, giraffes mind their business and move from tree to tree grabbing the acacia leaves from the thorny trees as they can. And because they’re so proficient at gathering leaves, nature’s developed an innate defense. The acacia tree’s first defense is often it’s prickly thorns–making the giraffe feel the pain for its trouble. But, secondly, when the giraffe (and other elephants) begin to chomp on an acacia’s leaves, the tree immediately sends out bitter tanins to the branches being consumed. This makes the giraffe move from tree to tree–never completely consuming all leaves on the given tree, but instead moving from one to the other causing no significant damage to any one tree.

And if that pesky giraffe doesn’t get the idea from the first and second defense, acacias can offer up a third! Whistling Acacias are home to ants (they live in the whistling holes). When a giraffe comes over for dinner, the ants fight back by biting their tongue! It’s incredible how nature has evolved.

Also fascinating about the giraffe is its social tendencies. Just like cattle (yes, I grew up on a beef farm ) and other animals they tend to be social rather than solitary animals. In fact, all the females have their babies at the same time of year so that they can have collective ‘babysitting’ trade–hosting all babies in one area overseen by one momma while the others graze.

But perhaps most striking is the giraffe’s unmatched (in my eyes) beauty. The patterns and colours are absolutely stunning. All were gorgeous, but the variety of colour variations in the Mara was most notable with all a red/orange colour, but some as light as lions coat and others so brown that they were nearly black.

During our time in Tanzania, we saw giraffe in Tarangire National Park, Olduvai Gorge, the Serengeti and the Mara Triangle. None are present within the Ngorongoro Crater as their body impedes them from dealing gracefully with steep inclines. They happily stick to the plains instead.

First off, we were not disappointed in our search to find elephants. Our first stop in Tarangire National Park delivered on the first day. Shortly after entering the park, we spotted a few down by the river. We got a great view and they came pretty close to our vehicle. And then later we got to a swampy area filled with dozens of them munching away. I think we saw elephants almost everyday of our safari.

It was fascinating to watch them. Each time they seemed to be doing something different. We saw them undergo their beauty routine, splashing water and mud on their back to keep them cool and their skin moist. Then they would find a nearby tree and rub against it scraping off the mud. Each elephant in the family filed past one by one with the babies following the lead of their parents.

We saw elephants eating and drinking. They eat constantly — anywhere from 16 to 20 hours a day. Most of the time they pull up grass with their trunk and feed it into their mouths. Though we also observed them eating bark off a tree. After peeling they bark from the tree, they used their foot to hold down the bark while pulling a strip off like string cheese. To drink, they suck water up into their trunk, then tilt their head back, curl their trunk under and pour the water into their mouth.

Elephants are protective of their young and tend to keep in front of them — which made it tough to get pictures of the small ones sometimes. And while they don’t move very fast, they make it quite clear when you get too close. They flap their ears, flash their tusks and threaten to charge. Our guide knew exactly when to move the car and avoid potential problems.

Elephants are resilient. When we were up by the Mara river in the Serengeti, we found one small elephant that was missing part of its trunk. We nicknamed him shorty and K was quite concerned about his survival. The guide assured us that he would be fine as elephants adapt and help each other and it appeared he had made it for quite some time so far. Our fears were reassured the next day when we came across an older elephant with an injured trunk that did quite well. Her trunk was sealed on the end and had a cut in the side. This caused quite a load hissing noise when she used her trunk to eat and drink — and would blow bubbles in the water.

Jessica–this last bit’s for you. Jessica pointed out in a comment that the Indian elephant supposedly has shorter ears that the African elephant. Let’s take a look and see if it’s true based on our photos of the two.

First, look at the Indian elephant

And now, the African elephant

From the looks of it, you’re right. The African elephant has MUCH larger ears than the Indian species. Interesting…thanks for clueing us in!

We had an amazing trip. We saw tons of animals, had great weather, and loads of fun. We (really K) spent the entire day yesterday going through our thousands of pictures to pick out the best. We’ll be posting them on our blog shortly.

We’ll also be bringing you a series of posts over the next few days with some of the stories and details about our trip. As you have already followed along the itinerary, we’ll do these posts in a more categorical manner.

Stay tuned!

UPDATE. For a sneak peek, peruse our photo collection from the trip by clicking here.