Today I experienced my first safari. We spent the day at Lake Manyara National Park. It was UNREAL. We saw monkeys, storks, pelicans, elephants, giraffes, gazelles, zebra, buffalos, wild pigs, mongooses, ostriches, and countless other species, including some I never knew existed. The most exciting part of the day was our encounter with the bull elephant. Driving down the winding dirt road in our land cruiser, standing up in the hatches, we turned a corner and there was this huge elephant standing in the road. He was protecting his herd of females and babies that were feeding in the brush and along the roadside. We stopped the land cruiser and he stared us down. Then he started walking straight towards us! He came very close and our driver and teacher, Kioko, continued ahead. I guess the elephant decided we were okay because he moved to the side to let us pass. But he was inches from us and he was not happy about it. Then he planted himself back in the middle of the road, waiting for the next car. We decided to wait too, so we pulled a little ahead to watch. Well, when the next car came around the bend a few moments later, he stood his ground. He kicked and threw dirt up into the air and wouldn’t let the car through. The female elephants were trumpeting and getting nervous. So the other car backed up and didn’t come past. It was crazy! The bull decided to let us by but not the next people. We were very lucky to have that amazing experience. Everything about the park was amazing actually. From the beginning we saw hornbills and baboons everywhere. Caught a glimpse of both species feeding their young. Soon we began to see small groups of impalas and giraffe. One of the greatest things about driving though the park was viewing all the amazing plants and learning to identify some trees. We saw the incredible baobab, many species of acacia, cordias, the African sausage tree, and something the Maasai call the “testicle tree” because of its paired seed pods. Sometimes these trees lined the road like a jungle, sometimes we could see them growing on the hills and mountains, and other times they were sparse, a savannah landscape. We crossed sandy trenches that will fill with water when the rains come. At times we were close to Lake Manyara itself seeing strips of flamingos in the water and wildebeests along the shore. We stopped at a place where a hot spring runs into the lake and I put the tips of my fingers in the steaming water. We also stopped at a pond where a huge group of hippos live. I saw some play-fighting as zebra, warthogs, and cranes wandered by the pond. It was truly unbelievable. The perfect first safari experience. It wasn’t all tourist-fun though. We were taking field notes throughout the day and now I have two reports due about animal behaviors I observed in the park. A third report is due about the Maasai culture. Tomorrow we will be visiting a boma to learn about their ways firsthand. Although the work is already taking up a lot of my time, I don’t mind it. It’s all worth it to see the things I am seeing.

Location: Karatu, Tanzania