Wait no more!

The anxiously-awaited Part II is finally here! I have been putting this off long enough and need to get it over with. It is so hard to find words that might come remotely close to describing my experience in Africa, so I'm just going to use pictures. It was the experience of a lifetime - and now that it's over I can hardly believe that I've been to Africa. It's odd how surreal the whole thing feels.

I knew I was in Africa when I saw the elephant hanging on the wall in the Nairobi airport.

What I think is the top of Mt. Kilamanjaro
A mom and daughter walking (like most people do) on the side of the highway (is that what that road was called?) on the way to our safari.

Passing an African village in our safari vehicle, bad photo, I know. Many people still live in thatched-roof houses, with dirt floors, no doors, and water buckets nearby.

The first good view of a giraffe on the way up to our camp. The giraffe takes the cake for being my favorite African animal. They are so strange and intriguing.

Pete and me at our camp lunch - it was really a fancy, fun place to stay. It's funny to think that we stayed right there amongst the animals that we went out looking for.
Jamie and WendiLyn, welcome-welcome-welcome-welcoming me to our raised tent. (everyone made sure to tell us how welcome we were in Tanzania. I really have never felt more welcome before.)

A zebra - yes, he was that close.

Taking a break for lunch...

A beautiful baobab tree. These trees are so big and look upside-down with branches that appear to be roots.

These next two pictures were taken from the same spot, one on each side of the road. These elephants were hanging out under this tree...

and these baboons (or should I say bamboos?) and impalas were under this tree...

These baboons were hanging out in the tree one second...

making this elephant scream/growl/roar/trumpet/blow/howl/bellow the next second...

and chasing each other right past our car the next second. It was so fun to see all of these crazy animals so close up and in their natural habitat.

We never got close enough to these guys for a good picture, but here are some warthogs. They really stick their tails straight in the air when they run, just like Puumba!

Look behind the grass...

A herd of impala, such beautiful animals (and in abundance. We saw tons and tons of them.)

We waited and waited for this guy to do something exciting...

and finally he gave us a yawn,

then one of these,

and one of these.

Here's tent #7 from the outside...

and the inside...

An African sunrise.

Same sunrise, a bit later...

and a little later than that.


That's got to be it for now or I am going to see a Kansas sunrise that I'm not interested in seeing. I haven't even gone through half of my photos, so stay tuned for Part III.