You know what they say--- be careful for waht you wish for, you just might get it! The first night was spent at the Arusha resort hotel. 
Hotel staff failed to inform us that the room they designated for us, had no electricity!

After a few hours sleep, we awoke to Arusha adventures. First stop was to find a bank machine. Turns out there is only one in town and is not linked to Cirrus. Ah, well. We walked the streets of Arusha followed by a large group of insistent salesmen wanting us to buy batiks, wooden carvings, masks and other paraphenelia only from them. They promised the deal of a lifetime. I eventually resorted to nasty threats. They must have believed me because we were left alone after that.

A few hours later, we were off to brave the great outdoors. An old Landrover, cook named Isaac and driver named Adan. We hit the road--- which in Tanzania is a rather bumpy thing with cavernous pot holes and occasional asphalt. We were derailed briefly by a large tree which managed to fall across the road stopping traffic on all sides. Thankfully, the 4X4 was able to negotiate a way around it.

Arusha National Park--- We were joined by David of the Iraqw Tribe and his rather large rifle. You know what they say about a man's rifle..... Walking safaris are not safe without armed guards around in the event of charging animals.

The three hour trek took us through gorgeous meadows, tropical plants, stunning waterfalls and countless animals. It was just like the movie the Lion King, the animals really do live in harmony. Birds sing and dance on the backs of sleeping hippos. Troupes of giraffe munch grass whilst the water buffalo hang out just metres away, baboons frolic under the watchful gaze of their mothers. None of them seemed terribly bothered of our presence.

Eagle Eyes, Michelle, discovered a fascination with the dung beetle. I 
Think that she fantasized appearing on National Geographic, adopting a reporter's tone and discussing the daily rituals of the beetles, where they lay their eggs and the busy day they lead.

Day II--- on the way to the Ngoron-goro crater, the truck broke down. We were left by Adan at a small, local (READ: very, very local!) restaurant. It is an outdoor cluster of tables and chairs, frequented by the villagers who live nearby. Their English was limited to a few words.... mostly, hello and yes. With no other choice but to wait. We sat and waited. Curious eyes took us in and we, them.

Many of the crowd were Masai. The Masai are one of the traditional peoples of Tanzania. They are steadfast in resisting the developments of our modern world and instead, continue to live in mud huts, raise cattle, hunt, and live according to their traditions.

This means that they are a polygymous society. They wear bright blankets as clothing, have HUGE earrings placed in several orifices including, nose. Their ears have been stretched to incredible proportions. One man had a small bottle (hair conditioner?) pierced through his ear lobe. Some people had earlobes with 10 cm loops.

The women have completely shaved  heads that they grease butter on as it is considered a fashion statement to have brightly gleaming heads. Saves on shampoo, too!

Young men become junior warriors at the approximate age of 14. It is at this time that they are publicly circumcised. These boys then adorn the paint of a warrior and they traipse about the country side with decorated faces. Quite scary looking.

The Masai look really fearful. They have alot of trouble with the government as they do not understand why they are not allowed to kill lions and other animals for food. To cope with the Masai, the government has attemped to impose the same will seen all over the world against aboriginal peoples and moved them onto reservations. Masai people stake out a living now through raising their cattle. This means that their children usually do not make it to school as they are too busy as shepherds. The other revenue raising effort of the Masai is through the posing for pictures. They are fascinating to look at and they know it.

We met a little boy who seemed to know no English but managed to parrot out, "you want to take picture?".

"Enough of the gazelles-- I smell"! was the line that came from Michelle. Three days later, no access to showers and the limited sleep that comes from sleeping on the ground, we were both a little tired and cranky. Lions, cheetah, zebra, gazelles, water buck, giraffes, elephants, monkeys, birds.... It was incredible to see the large numbers of animals who live in the Serengeti.

City girls at heart, Michelle and I certainly had difficulty with some of the demands of camping. Namely, bathrooms. At night, it was  very dark and intimidating as we tried to drift off to sleep. Rather unnerving to hear the howls and grunts of the animal kingdom. One night, the hyenas circled our campsite howling for interminable hours. Ever the animaltarian, Michelle wondered if they were lonely.

She had a surreal moment and I, an embarrassing one. There was my friend, keeping watch for the driver and cook, whilst I attempted to use the great outdoors bathroom. Halfway through this process, we heard the sounds of a truck. In fast fury, I imagined that it must be right behind me. Called out
to Michelle who was doubled over in absolute convulsions of hyena sounding laughter. She was unable to respond so, my over active imagination saw a jeep load of campers right behind me. Struggling to maintain some modicum of dignity and decorum, I pulled up my shorts-- turned around to the sight of a large group of zebra staring back. hmmmmmmm. surreal but, nice.

We likely lost weight as eating certainly demanded effort. At night, flying insects kept landing in our soup. This gave a different spin to the old joke, "waiter--- there's a fly...". Ugh!

It was all a huge adventure. We certainly had to work for this so-called vacation. A huge fight with the travel company for compensation on the truck break-down. This demanded all our combined negotiating skills. At one point, the manager, yelled at Michelle and I--- "YOU ARE NOW ENEMIES". His name was Moses.

Moses failed to realize just who he was dealing with. By the end of our negotiations, he handed over the money and, I think, held back his tears. The coup' came when he said in all seriousness to us, "You are too cute to be mean".

A vacation in Africa is not complete without some huge fevers, stomach problems, etc etc. Yes, I contracted a deadly African disease. Or, maybe it was the flu.?

All in all, the Tanzanian adventure was a grand one. Now I need a holiday to recover!