The last few days...

Since our anniversary we spent some more time with Tim and Diane and lots more time looking at animals and taking pictures. We really enjoyed our time at Acacia and I really hope we’re back there soon. In the mean time please say a prayer or two for Tim and Diane as they are FULLLLLLLY overbooked for November and will need all the God help they can get to keep things running smoothly.

When we arrived back in Arusha we had set up to go for a couple tours and the first one was to Arusha National Park. I think it was a little more fly by the seat of your pants than we were expecting from the tour operator but it really was a great day. We started with a game drive through the park and saw all kinds of animals we hadn’t seen in Acacia like Flamingos, Water Buffalo , Hawks and many types of Ducks. For some reason I never pictured ducks in Africa. When I think of African birds, ducks just don’t come to mind!

After the drive we met up with a park ranger who was to take us on a walk around the park. When we booked this I figured we’d go down a couple trails and see a few things and that would be it...that’s not exactly what happened. Arusha National Park also includes Mt. Meru. This is the mountain that people often climb as a training course for Kilimanjaro. After taking us through a great meadow with all kinds of animals we started heading uphill. Now anyone who’s hiked with me knows I like hiking but NOT REALLY uphill. If I could drive to the top and hike down I would hike EVERY mountain. Two hours later we had climbed about a third of the mountain. I had a chest infection and I’ll be the first to admit I’m not in shape so on the way up I seriously thought it entirely likely that I was going to pass out and poor Eric was going to have to find a way of getting me down. I could hardly see straight, my heart was pounding faster than ever and I felt like I couldn’t get any oxygen into my lungs no matter how hard I breathed. It was pretty much hell and other than the fact I was constantly praying I really don’t know how my legs and lungs kept working. It was only by God’s grace!

HOWEVER, when we did FINALLLLLLY start going downhill and I was able to breathe again it did feel awfully wonderful and what happened next made it all worth it. We had been heading down hill for about twenty minutes when we started to hear a BushBuck barking just below us. We were following a raggedy road they use to restock the lodge part way up the mountain and suddenly a Leopard jumped out of the bush in front of us about 60 feet down the road. A LEOPARD!!!!!! At this juncture it’s important for you to understand two things: A, Leopards are VERY shy and are almost NEVER seen by locals let alone tourists. B, We were perfectly safe and the ranger had a gun if we needed it (moms that was for you). The Leopard was facing downhill and didn’t see us so Eric quickly tried to grab the camera out of the bag I was carrying, unfortunately this meant he had to hand his water bottle to me. (This is the part where you say “oh Lisa” in anticipation of me screwing up.) I was so enthralled in the Leopard that I literally didn’t take my eyes off him and when Eric handed me the bottle I dropped it. This of course made a noise, and that of course scared off the Leopard. It turned around and took one look at us with its massive head and took off down the road and rounded the bend. I felt horrible that I had ruined the moment but at the same time I was still speechless at the sight of this massive, gorgeous animal. I can still see it in my head, it’s maybe a better picture than we would have gotten with the camera! It takes my breath away, BUT IN A GOOD WAY!

After our fun on the mountain we did another drive and headed back to town where we met two Canadian girls who work in Quatar. It was wonderful to spend some time talking about home and everything we love about Canada.

The next day we took another small tour through a village east of Arusha which was interesting if only because we were followed constantly by small children saying either “Good Morning” or “How are you?” Apparently those are the first two phrases they are taught in English. From there we spent the afternoon relaxing and getting ready for the ride to Dar the next morning.
We’re now in Dar and we thought you might like to know the speed bumps and horns are just as prevalent when you go the opposite way! We don’t have any concrete plans for the next couple days but there are some things we’ve read about that we may try to find and Eric and Tej are searching for fishing options as we speak. Oh, oh, oh, and Eric got to drive (on the left side)...and he did well!