4th of July

The 4th is always a big event with my family. The entire (ish) extended family and friends get together for a giant old school BBQ of chickens cooked on grates over a huge pit. Which of course, i failed to get a pic of. But believe you me, they are the most delicious thing in the world.

After the chickens of course came fireworks, which i also didn’t get a pic of because i forgot to put my memory card in…genius. Wanted to try out my new camera on fireworks…but fail.

here’s cousin laura, who ironically, hates fireworks:

The rest of the weekend was spent sunning, eating, drinking, and of course paddleboarding.  Not swimming as we should to prep for the big event.

See Dana paddle

a little post-dinner paddle

and the main event of 4th of July:

The 4th Annual Transcareyautic!

Which of course translates to: across the lake we swim. and then come back.  The Crew:

Where’s Kevin?

Outtakes

Our best swimmer came super prepared!

Goals Accomplished:

1. I had a yard sale finally and got rid of a good 2/3 of the crap i had accumulated for said yard sale.  Huzzah! #minimizing.

now i just need to get the other 1/3 to Interfaith.  Oh Interfaith, why must you be closed on Sundays?  It’s so inconvenient to me…

2. Get a paddleboard and rock it.  Done and Done.  And actually thanks to the biggest headache of July, i now have 2.  Thanks Dick’s and FedEx for so carefully organizing the exchange of the first one that was missing parts!  Oh wait, thats right, you guys did jack sh*t.  I did all the organizing FOR YOU and you still messed up.  It should be super fun to see how this all shakes out.

3. Travel- none currently, but NOLA is coming right up, as is a training seminar in Ft. Worth.  Does Ft. Worth count as tropical?

The Juice Cleanse

Juice Cleanse

SO i finally did a juice cleanse. I had terrible timing of course, i had a summer cold and it was a great time to be a girl. Plus i had just gotten back from the beach, so those 3 days of clean eating before were laughable. But, i solidered on! I did the Cooler 3-day cleanse and here is a lil description from their website:

During a juice cleanse, you ease the digestive process by replacing regular meals with delicious, organic, cold-pressed vegetable and fruit juices, raw coconut water elixirs and silky smooth nut milk blends. Consuming only liquids for a few days frees energy in the body, which can then return to the essential jobs of deep inner cleansing and healing.

When you feel better on the inside, you look better on the outside. Glowing skin, bright eyes, the disappearance of hard-to-lose pounds, as well as a newfound sense of optimism and enjoyment of life, are all common results of juice cleansing.

My take?  It was oddly UNdramatic.  All three days i felt pretty good (minus the ailments above, which in case you are curious- a juice cleanse will not cure a cold…)  The juice was filling enough that, while i missed the actual act of eating and the variety, i wasn’t hungry.  Or cranky, which frankly is a miracle.  i was a little tired the first day, but that can probs be attributed more to the beach than anything.

What i drank: starting at 8AM and having one every 2ish hours. In the following order:

1: Sweet Greens: kale, spinach, parsley, watercress, apple.  This was a good one.  sweet, but light and tartish too.  Better with a little lemon.

2: This one changed every day but all were tasty, Pineapple and Ginger (the best) Watermelon and Lime (2nd best) and Grapefruit and Mint (eh…)

3. Essential Greens:cucumber, celery, parsley, spinach, kale, dandelion greens, watercress, pear, lemon, ginger.  This one was rough.  After day 1 i began cutting it with #4, which helped.  But this was my least favorite.

4. Spicy Lemonade: lemon, lime, cayenne pepper, raw agave, filtered water.  This was also one of my favorites.  It was spicier than anticipated, but that was a nice change from regular juice.  I added this to #3 and #5 to make them better.

5. Essential Red:carrot, beet, apple, lemon.  I thought this would be a favorite, but it really wasn’t.  I didn’t finish this one any of the three days, due to a combination of not being especially hungry and not loving it.

6. Almond nut milk: raw almonds, vanilla bean, dates, filtered water.  This one was great at night, it had a different flavor profile and was much more filling.  In fact, i didn’t wake up hungry any of the days which was a shock to me, because i wake up starving when i eat real food.

Altogether, I was taking in less than 1200 calories each day.  Which is not a lot, but i really did not feel very hungry.

Highlights: Slept great, did have a fair amount of energy, did not have the anticipated bathroom problems, and best of all: did not have to worry about cooking, meal planning, or grocery shopping! Lost a few pounds.

Lowlights: Missed eating actual real food.  I did cheat every night and have either a tiny handful of almonds, or a single cup of popcorn, just because i missed chewing.  Had to stare at the salt water taffy i brought home from the beach every night. Expensive.  Have already gained back few pounds once i started eating food.

So while the whole process was slightly underwhelming due to how normal i felt, i think i would like to try again and prep a little better.  and not have a cold.  but i will probably wait because of the cost.  If nothing else i am sure my digestive tract is well rested.

The Beach!

Went to Rehobeth with my best friend and her three kiddos for a long weekend.  It really is a beautiful beach, a beautiful area and seems to have escaped the devastation of the jersey beaches.  It was great to spend so much time with her and the kiddos. And her hubby when he joined for a few days.

don’t know these people, stock photo cause i took none 🙂

Highlights include: Kohrs Bros ice cream, grotto pizza, the beach, dolphins, wild horses, golf carts, and seafood.

Lowlights: the freezing cold half of the first day.  the way continuous days of serious suncreen application makes my eyes and face hurt.  but i will certainly take it.

New (temp) Car!

and it’s an automatic so i don’t have to break out in hives going up the hill in Clarks Summit like last time…

Paddleboard!

Finally tried my neighbors, then went back to my house and bought one! Waiting anxiously on delivery.  First step toward having Jennifer Aniston’s abs…

thus far, not JA..

Token pic of Olivs, in her awesome new chair i got her!

May Flowers

i started this post on may 7th, then apparently forgot all about it…..here we go:

Movie Reviews:

Pain & Gain- Do not be misled. It is not really an action movie, not really a comedy and in all honesty, what it is, is a TRUE Really messed up story. The beginning is fairly funny, then the middle gets weird, then you think it’s almost over, and you go into the second part which gets really messed up. and then when you are thinking how horrifying things are, they remind you its a true story. My recommendation? Don’t go see it. if you are super intrigued wait till it’s in redbox. seriously.

Ironman 3- Saw it for my b-day! Super good, a little darker and slower than the others.  I mean Tony Stark is basically suffering from PTSD for the Avengers movie.  True story, that is literally (and awesomely) the premise.  Not my favorite Ironman, but i liked it as part of his story, it was nice to see him at odds with himself.  Still dislike Gwyneth Paltrow.  I just feel like she is smug as all get out.

Fast & Furious 6- Def worth seeing if you like the franchise, but again, not my favorite.  Not sure why it suddenly struck me so much in this one, but OMG: CHEESY.  I mean the lines.  It was like this installment was a soap opera.  I mean for reals. The opening credits was little montages of each character.  Lots of lil monologues about family.  there was even amnesia for petes sake!  But it was still very entertaining.  Altho for the record- I do NOT believe for one second that a car is something that can break a fall.  just saying.  5 is still my favorite.  Although maybe 7 will redeem this one.  That’s right 7.  With new villain Jason Statham!

**Disclaimer: I seem so super tough from all the movies i watch.  next movie review will kill that.  most def be all animated ones.  I mean, Monsters Inc College AND Despicable Me 2?  I’m basically peeing my pants waiting for them.

Results:

I did not get on the ballot for school board.  Super bummed about it.  And honestly, just don’t really understand.  There are two spots open, and they only accept two write in candidates (i was third, whomp whomp), So in November for the election, they are both already in.  no competition.  does not make sense to me. But regardless, it is what it is.  Although i def would have been awesome on the school board.  I have 4-5 years before my nephew is in school, so next time i need to win.

Planning

Beach in 2 weeks!

Long weekend with my bestie and her kiddos? Can’t wait! I firmly believe i need to go to the beach at least once a year to stay sane and happy.

Exercise

If i end up looking like her, do i get my very own Chris Hemsworth? That’s his wife btw.

I would really like to lose 5 pounds.  Partly for the superficial reason that i do not love the number on the scale. Partly because i am sick of my sister winning The Great Sherwood Weigh-Off.   Ramping up exercise has never really done anything for me, mostly because i associate more exercise with the ability to eat waaay more.  So this time (June) i am going to go back to basics: Move more, Eat less.  I got a fitbit (finally replaced the one that was sent to a watery grave in the washer…) and it recommended 10,000 steps a day.  Holy shit i am a sedentary person.  I bust my butt to hit 7,000 on a regular day.  So i made 7,000 my daily goal and 50,000 my weekly goal.  Also am going to try and run the lake (well work up to run, I am currently on a run, gasp, walk loop) twice a week.  On a side note- i got 10 free issues of Womens Health in the birchbox.  Better than Self, Worse than Shape.

My neighbor just got a paddleboard for his daughter.  I am super jealous, and really want one.  but i’m weighing the cost against the odds i’ll use it 5 times and then never again…. I’m a fickle beast. but i am stalking a few on ebay of course.  Also i still want a dog. That i can paddleboard with.

Another great form of exercise for June: Mowing my lawn!  guh.  the kid (man? he’s 21 now, should i switch to man?) who does this every summer won’t be home till the end of June.  Anyone who is handy with a weedwacker, come on over! i’ll pay you in beer and healthy snacks.  i’m great (ok, good) at mowing, but scared of the weedwacker.

My CSA starts next week, CAN’T wait!  Purple Pepper Farms this year, in Lake Winola, can’t get any more local than that!  A half a box of veggies should keep me eating right all summer.  at least thats the plan.

Goals

Nothing new.  Big fail there.  New Orleans is planned. Harry Potter land will be 2014 for a conference.  reflexology is still on my list.  as is a juice cleanse.  New obstacle run- i got nothing, although i am going to try and do the Army 10-miler with Dana, if i can transfer a registration.  And i am still actively minimizing.  I guess that post will be later in June after i have my yard sale.  So lots in progress, but nothing to check off yet!

April Showers

The Rains

The rain last night and this morning messed my workout schedule all up! i was going to run when i got home last night, then run again this AM. Instead i did nothing last night, and pilates this AM which pretty much guarantees i will be in pain for 2 days. stupid workout plan.

Linds and i like to set goals each month to strive for, either healthy food, or workout or both. Last month it was don’t drink Mon-Thurs. That went ok….but didn’t do great. I blame wine. This month we are trying to work out 5 days a week. Or 5 workouts a week in case we need to double up on a day. Hence the morning workout since i have plans after work.

My outfit today is ridic.  I am wearing mint green, straight, khaki crops, rolled up (per every GAP ad i see. seriously, look below), a coral long sleeve shirt, beige and white striped open, no-button cardigan, and a giant coral and nectarine drop necklace.  with gray sneaker skids.  thought it was going to be in the 60’s, where my outfit would have looked springy and breezy and perfect.  instead it’s in the 50’s and rainy, so i just look like a maroon.  a maroon who doesn’t check the weather.

See? it’s a thing. These are my pants, but mint green.

Things to be excited for

1. We just booked our plane tickets for our New Orleans trip last night!  I can’t wait for (as we are calling it) BEADS, BOURBON & BEIGNETS! Girls Weekend 2013 is in motion!

2. HARRY POTTER LAND 2014.

OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD……Just got word my every-other-year conference to end all conferences is in Orlando next year, and our speed event is closing down Harry Potter land for a night!  When they did this in the Marvel Comic section of Universal a few years ago it was ridic.  No lines for rides, half the time it was only my sister and I on the rides, the one scenario where working with a bunch of older dudes pays off!  I am seriously so excited.  Can’t decide which nerdy route to take: do i re-read all the books before i go, or re-watch all the movies? Who am i kidding? I’ll do both.

3. Electric City Craft Brew Fest- Who wants to be our DD?

Things i like right now:

1. The Voice- now with new judges!  and i love them.  I seriously want to be a judge so i can hang with them cause they seem like so much fun.

2. Running for School Board!  Missed the petition timeslot, so i have to do a write-in campaign.  So if you live in Lemon, Washington, Forkston, Or Mehoopany Twp, Write me in in May!  Still fleshing out my plan of attack.  Which sounds super creepy when i read it back.  How bout, still planning my campaign? better?

3. Running makes me sleep so much better.  This could also be because we have had BEAUTIFUL weather for a few days and i’ve been sleeping with my windows open.  But seriously, when i work out a lot my body just runs so much better.  I sleep better, i wake up better, my back is better. Now if only i could run more than a mile at a time and under 10 minutes….

I do not look like this when i run

4. My niece now laughs alot and my sister made her laugh on the phone the other day and it was hilarious.  She sounded slightly like an asthmatic old man.  huh huh huh! can’t wait to see it in person.

5. The very concept of Jurassic Park 3D.  I mean, this is going to be terrifying right? Velociraptors in my face? It’s going to be so incredible.  I am going to be so scared! SO EXCITED!

Reflexology: Fail. Huge Fail.

I got a living social coupon for a “30 minute reflexology session and a 60 minute massage”** at Inner Wellness in Montrose.  It was not what i expected.  Or what it was advertised as.  It was not in a spa, gym, or store.

expected this….

** The EXACT wording.

What it was:

– In a woman’s house.  -Not quite as sketch as it seemed.  it was a seperate work space attached to the house.

– A woman who specializes in cancer patients and the lymphatic system.

– 30 minute Indian Champissage: a relaxation for the head, neck and shoulders.  It was basically a head rubdown.  Which felt nice (i mean how often do you get your head rubbed?) and is supposedly while Indian women don’t go gray, but it was not what i anticipated.  While it did ease tension and stress, it did not erase the knots in my neck.  So for what it was, i’m sure it was great. For the Living Social advertised massage? Fail.

except my lady didn’t have cool shades on.

– 45 minute Kansa Vatki: an Ayurvedic treatment of the feet and lower limbs designed to rebalance the Tridosha of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.  Basically a foot and calf rub using coconut oil and a small metal bowl.  Again, pretty relaxing but in no way reflexology.

Pros:

– I did not have to take off any clothes, which made me feel much better about it being in some womans house.  If it had seemed sketch i would have hightailed it out of there, which would have hurt my money conscious heart.

– The music as great, although i def distracted myself majorly trying to figure out if it was the instrumental track from Pocahontas or Mulan.  Immediatly brought to mind both movies, so then i wasted precious relaxation time trying to remember the words to any of the songs to see if they fit.  Conclusion: 78% sure it was Pocahontas.

– I got to take a little quiz to find out if i am a Vata, Pitta or Katha. In case you are curious i am a combo of Pitta and Katha. Still fairly unsure what that means, but i like surveys and tests.

Cons:

– Not at all as advertised. Seriously Living Social? major generic word play.  In fact the woman stressed that it was nothing like reflexology twice. um then why, praytell, was it advertised as such?

– I felt reasonably awkward. (altho in fairness, i feel a degree of awkwardness in most massages, i really fail at emptying my mind and instead focus on things like: the time, whether or not i should tell them the pressure is too much or if it will just get better, wishing i put more lip balm on because now my lips are dry and i don’t want to lick them like a creeper as someone working on my shoulders, and assessing how bad i have to pee).

– I still have knots in my neck.

– It just made me want a real massage.

– I still don’t know more about reflexology.

So if you have any friends or family who need lymphatic treatment after cancer, check her out, Inner Wellness in Montrose. She had lots of framed certificates, so she seems legit enough. If you are looking for a massage and reflexology, don’t go there, cause she doesn’t do that.

Sidenote: I do not understand how arizona doesn’t partake in daylight savings time.  What happens if you live on the border and travel into Arizona for work? Or out of?  Do you have to leave an hour earlier? or later? How do you reconcile having 2 different times all the time?  For that matter what about people who live on the border of time zones? How do they live their life with two different times happening all the time? i can’t handle people being late here.  I’m pretty sure my brain would explode if i lived on a border.

Part 4: Western Serengeti and Lake Victoria

On our way to our last hotel, while cruisin through the Serengeti, we finally saw……TAILS AND PAWS! or really just a tail. thats right. it’s Leopard time!

this tree had a momma leopard, 2 cubs, and one dead antelope stashed in the top

see the tail? and you can see her through the leaves as well

in the first pic, see the hole in the tree trunk?  one baby explored it for like 10 minutes!

heading in!

stretching out

how did this happen?

baby #2 exploring

shy guy

But seriously, the leopard momma killed an antelope and dragged it to the top of the tree to snack on.  Do not mess with a leopard. They are tough.

Another educational tidbit: The most badass tree in Tanzania- The Whistling Thorn Acacia Tree.

This tree comes prepped with not one, but TWO defense mechanisms! The first is obviously the thorns, as you can see below, long dangerous spines cover each branch.  However, this doesn’t deter the giraffes, they can sneak their tongue between the thorns to eat the leaves.  Thats where the second defense comes into play.  The whistle comes from the wind blowing through the little brown pods on each branch.  These pods house (and feed with sap) millions of battle ants that come pouring out of their homes at the first sense of movement and bite the crap out of anything in reach.  We tested this by getting close and tapping the branches lightly, sure enough each branch was covered with ants in mere seconds.  This is why you see the giraffes grazing on this tree, they only take one or two bites then move on before they get attacked.

Our last camp. Tented camp that was victorian era chic

Hippos and Crocs: how to escape them- climb on a large rock or fallen tree, they both have short legs and unwieldy bodies, and thus cannot climb.

Huge hippo pool. VERY stinky

Hippo fight!

Hippo fun facts: They helicopter their tail when they poop to mark their territory.  Yet another reason not to get too close. You know, besides death. When they fight it’s generally a roar-off to see who can open their mouth wider. Apparently whoever can open wider wins….

sleepy hippo

Croc fun facts- they can live up to 100 years, and can go as long as 1 year between large meals.  Also they tend to eat in pairs because they need the other croc to hold the animal so they can each rip large chunks off to eat.  They also cool by laying with their mouth wide open.

anyone else humming the Jaws theme?

airing out

bird!

Impala mock fighting

Sunset on the plains

Our last day was spent in a fishing village in Lake Victoria.  Interesting society, the economy is fish, they have a large fish market and also export their fish all over the world.  They also have a polygamous society and lots of drug and alcohol problems.  But the younger generation is getting away from this and focusing more on building up their school and educating their youth.

our village guide Peter

Kids in the school, the posing kills me!

Then one last game drive

zebra butts

topeys

The group we were with: Dartmouth Alumni trip

Goodnight Africa!

heading to the airstrip

fording a river, oregon trail skills coming into play!

the “airport” “runway”

Regional Air back to Arusha

Arusha->Kilimanjaro->Amsterdam->New York.

The End.

Tanzania, Part 3: Southern Serengeti & the Massai

After the crater we hit the road once again to head to the Serengeti!

Giraffe crossing

On our way we visited a traditional Massai village.  The Massai raise cattle and live in small huts and the herdsmen are called Massai Warriors.  The village was very interesting, they have huts made from dried cow dung and twigs and each family lives in a separate hut.

inside the hut, our Massai guide wearing Dana’s sunglasses

They herd their cattle, make jewelry, and live a relatively simple life.  They performed the traditional Massai dance for us, which consists of a lot of hooting, yelling, and jumping.

The dance is also a bit of a courting ritual, the women tend to judge the men on how high they can jump.  After our tour of the huts, we (exited to the gift shop) were encouraged to contribute to their villages economy by buying jewelry.  Which of course we all did, cause who doesn’t love shopping?  Note* you CAN and SHOULD bargain when shopping.  Dana and i got a little overwhelmed and separated from the group and did not bargain. Then we were kicking ourselves when we found out everyone else did….lesson learned.  All in all an interesting experience, but probably one i only need to do once.

Next stop: Oldupai Gorge

Oldupai Gorge

This is the place where the Leakeys’ discovered the first Homonid and manmade tools.  It is also known as the cradle of mankind.

Back on the road to the Southern Serengeti.  We passed through the migratory corridor, and managed to see part of the Great Migration!

literally wildebeests, zebras and gazelles from right next to the jeep to as far as you could see on the horizon. it was insane.

2 million wildebeest, 1 million zebra, and about 900,000 gazelle migrate every year, they migrate together because each animal possesses a distinct defensive trait that helps the other species. Plus they are all grazers and thus must continuously move to have ample food since their herds are so large.

lions chillin on a rock on the way to the hotel

rushing to beat the rain to the hotel… or rushing into the rain…

Harmonious living

learned that Zebra like to face opposite directions so they can see prey coming

Checked into the Four Seasons for the night and went right to bed since we had a 4AM wake up call the next morning for:

Hot Air Ballooning!

blowing up the balloon

Sunrise on the Serengeti

off we go!

level with the birds

up, up, and away!

Traditional Champagne toast, post ballooning

They told us that Champagne Toasts are traditional after Hot Air Ballooning.  When the Hot Air Balloon was first invented in France, the first people to ride in one were almost killed by the peasants when they landed, because the peasants thought they were sent from the sky by the devil.  In order to keep this from happening to the great inventors, the King of France decreed that each balloon should carry a bottle of Champagne with the seal of the King on it, to show peasants that they were men, not demons.  True story.

Loo with a view

Whenever we had a bathroom break or a stop, our guides would classify the bathrooms for us: Highly Recommended, Recommended, With a View, or Average.  Helpful, and generally spot on. The Average by the way, was a hole in the ground. Otherwise known as “Not Recommended”.

elephant butts

After that delight we headed back to the hotel to have lunch and had the whole afternoon off!  Which we spent by the pool, of course.

did i mention there were elephants there too?

The End.

Of part 3….the final part 4 (with 100% more leopards!), coming soon…

Tanzania, Part 2: Manyara & Ngorongoro Crater

Fun Facts
– National Animal of Tanzania: Giraffe

– Tanzanian flag does not have the color red because their independence was not won through bloodshed

On our way out of the Tarangire, we saw the elephant paradise.  This pic doesn’t even do justice, huge herds of elephants, all over the place, at least 300 if not more.

We also saw BABY LIONS!  Our guide said they were probs less than a month old, and the momma had stashed them up on this rock shaded by branches to keep them safe while she was hunting.  The pic is fuzzy because they were SUPER far away. Even the guides had to use binocs which was rare.

The rocks and trees behind me are where they are! p.s. my camera zoom rocks.

Despite our continued search for tails and paws, we have not yet seen a leopard.  They are super hard to see because of natural camoflauge and trickery, so the guides say to look for tails and paws hanging down from tree limbs where they are laying.

Super rare lens cap sighting! casualty of taking pics when flying in a jeep

Next Stop: Manyara National park.  This park is almost jungle-y in parts, then opens up to a bare grassland type vegetation.  it’s crazy.  In the jungle-y part are TONS of baboons. some were cute, some were ugly with gross butts.

There is a hippo pool here:

Baby Hippo! the guides said it was only a few days old

how close we were to the hippos!

action shot!

Lunch at a banana plantation! regular bananas AND red bananas.

We stayed at Endoro Lodge these 2 nights, and it was so lush and vibrant, plants everywhere!  Each pair had their own little cottage and they were very safari chic. Lots of animal skins and the ubiquitious mosquito netting.

Our next stop was the Ngorongoro Crater!  On our way, one of our people stopped at an ATM to get $$ and the conversion was $200 to 300,000 Tanzanian Shillings.  Talk about feeling like a baller!

The Ngorongoro Crater is actually a caldera because it has an unbroken rim.  We started out driving around the rim, then dropped into the crater for some seriously incredible game viewing.

the rim, you can see the rim all the way on the other side

flat topped acacia trees

The rim of the crater is very lush, jungle like landscape, while the floor is short grasslands with lakes.  The crater supports harmonious living, and allows the Massai people to live on the rim and bring their cows and goats to the crater floor to water, while on the floor the wild animals reign.

wildebeast

guess where Glamour was?

cape buffalo

harmonious living, cape buffalo, zebra & warthogs

Black rhinos are on the endangered list and Tanzania is trying to grow the population.  There are 18 black rhinos in the crater, and we saw 5, the guides were amazed we saw that many.

3 black rhino, just chillin. SUPER RARE to see

flamingos!

Hyena

Lion & Lioness prepping for their afternoon siesta

hippos and a birdy

we had lunch near a lake where there are hippos, and by near, i mean we could touch the water.  (but we didn’t obvi).  Hippos are only dangerous to humans when they are out of the water (or if you are in the water with them obvi) and you get between them and the water, then they attack because they feel threatened.

pride of lions

On our way out of the crater, on a road up the edge, the vehicle in front of us startled an elephant and he gave a mock charge to them and then us when we pulled up.  Apparently elephants give 2 or 3 mock charges before they really charge.

this is with no zoom.

End of the day: the tops of my hands started to get burned from holding onto the jeep roof all day every day, time to zinc it up!  Animals seen in the crater: grants gazelle, cape buffalo, zebra, wildebeast, warthogs, hippos, hyenas, lions, eland, baboons, crown crane, goose, rhino, flamingos & elephants.

Tanzania, Part 1: Tarangire National Park

Location: Tarangire National Park
Accommodations: Kikoti Tented Camp

This was one of my favorite parks.  Not sure if that was because everything was so new and exciting, or it really was better.  But i loved it!  We saw tons of elephants, zebra, giraffe, warthogs, dick dicks, ostrich, impala, and even Cheetah!

Elephant Crossing!

Family Picture

Cheetahs chillin under a tree

Ostrich

Dick Dick

words of the day:

Jambo- Hello

Assante- Thank You

Caribu- Welcome

We rode in land Cruisers that were pimped out with 3 rows of seating and pop out roofs in each section.  My sister and i stood on the seats the whole time.  And basically hummed the Indiana Jones theme song the entire time too.  It was just so adventure-y!

Kikoti Tented Camps were amazing.  80% solar energy, 20% generator.  You had to “order” a shower in the morning, and before you woke up, they would light a fire under your hot water tank to heat it up!  They also brought you coffee or tea with your wake up call to enjoy on the porch.  The second morning Dana and i got ambitious and did yoga on our porch while the sun came up.  That was the first and last time we exercised all trip haha.

Our “tent”

Mosquito netting is everywhere!

bathroom on the left, shower on the right.

Day 2 brought even more animals! Notes: wear sunscreen and bug spray at all times. Safety first! plus the sun is brutal, very close to the equator.

elephants crossing between our 3 jeep caravan

Baobob tree, like the Tree of Life in Disney!

Sidenote- Disney did their RESEARCH! They totally got Africa right.  From Animal Kingdom to the African Lodge to The Lion King, they really nailed it.

Bird!

i wrote down all the animals we saw, and even some of the trees.  Somehow i just couldn’t fit all the bird info in my head.  Something had to be sacrificed…

Grasslands

Sausage Tree!

Warthogs on the move

Sunset

Lesson of the day: Don’t take Malaria medicine on an empty stomach.  It will make you fear you got the plague from the plane and most likely cause you to irrationaly freak out until you puke and realize why. Just saying. Eat first.

Part of me doesn’t even want to write this recap, because that means the trip is really over.  It was such an incredible trip that i kind of want to pretend it’s not really over.  We’re just on a break.  We are totally getting back together.

TANZANIA, AFRICAN ADVENTURE

I have no idea where to even begin. This was, hands down, the coolest vacation i have ever been on. I can’t even figure out how to outline it here on the ole blog. i think i’ll go 2 days at a time, because that is kind of the flow of the vacay. We spent 2 nights in each hotel/camp, and roughly 2 days in each park. so this recap i suppose will be a 4 part monster (5 if you include this lil intro).

Hang onto your hats.

Actually that is my first piece of Africa Safari advice: Literally hold onto your hat, make sure to buy one with a super cool chin strap. It’s vital to survival. Rest assured Dana and i have them on those hats, we just hide them when we take pics cause they are super dorky looking.

2nd piece of Advice: