Gorilla Videos

Here are some videos of my experiences with the gorillas. The first one is the first blackback we see and you can hear our guide telling us to "crouch down" when the gorilla comes super close to us. Then we stand back up and hear another gorilla right next to us behind the bushes, but we couldn't see it (we think it was a baby). By the way the first grunt is the gorilla, then our guide makes sounds.

These next videos are of some of the gorillas eating.









Now we have a gorilla chilling out and scratching his leg....




Get ready for the Silverback!!!

Rwanda

Here is the link to the best photos from my trip to Rwanda. I really did try to cut some more out, but it was tough! I'll try to do more day by day info later on.

Also, just a side note that some pics from genocide memorial are a bit rough to handle emotionally.

I knew many wanted to see the gorilla pics, so enjoy!

Rwanda Pictures (Click each picture to see larger view and to read captions)


Soon to come some videos from my experience hiking with the gorillas!

Tues. July 20

Karatu/Arusha
It was time to separate our two groups--those who were staying and those who were leaving. We had a great farewell dinner the night before and all chatted about how we loved our group and especially our guides!! Pictures were taken and info exchanged. Group shots and last meal as whole group.

our guides on the Gong Rock

Then we said our goodbye's and the 7 of us who were continuing on to Rwanda got dropped off at the East African Hotel in downtown Arusha. This place was the cream of the crop, and I shared my room with a lovely couple from NJ in the Presidential Suite. I wished we had stayed at this place more than one night!!

Sun & Mon. July 18/19

Unfortunately it was time to leave the Serengeti :( Although it was great to be in the camping site for 4 days/nights, I was glad to be back in a permanent structure. I did not miss the bucket showers and was glad to have running water again.
Dad and I just relaxed and took some time to enjoy the African sun by the pool. The Tloma Lodge was absolutely paradise and gave me a great chance to take some up close flower shots with my new camera!











Sunday morning we visited Olduvai Gorge, where the Leakey's first discovered human/animal fossil fragments. A good museum and great view of archeological digs.

Monday we had our visit to a local school and learned all about Tanzanian education. This was one of the highlights of the trip as we got to visit a pre-K/kindergarten and a 6th grade class (ages 12-15), interact with the kids, and chat with some of their teachers. The school we visited had 720 students with only 16 teachers! They have a very similar schedule to US schools in terms of breaks/vacations throughout the year and learn similar subjects. The biggest difference is that the kids go home for lunch--there are no school buses...the kids have to walk everywhere (they have about an hour and a half break). Both boys and girls keep their hair very short and some even liked touching/playing with mine. We donated some chalk, construction paper, pencils and Washington D.C. post cards for the kids. I shared some of my pictures on my camera with the children and they LOVED it. We practiced saying the names of the animals in English and they showed me some of the sentences they had written for class in English. All the students loved going to school, had to stand up when answering a question, and were very respectful. We learned that if the students do not pass their tests at the end of the year they do not move on to the next grade. Also, one needs to score a certain amount on a test in order to get into secondary school. Sometimes if they don't get a high enough score their parents have to pay for them to go to a private school--which is very expensive.


Check out this video of the pre-K/Kindergarten kids singing to us. Many are just learning Swahili for the first time since they are used to only speaking their local tribes language.

Fri. & Sat. July 16th/17th

Balloon Ride
We had a super early wake up (4:45am!) so we could get up, dressed and head out in the dark to our meeting point for our Balloon safari. This was my first time going up in a hot air balloon ride and it was paired so nicely w ith a gorgeous sunrise! Although we were only up in the air for about an hour it was very cool to slowly drift across the tops of the trees and watch the animals. Check out the videos below of our inflation and our balloon shadow with gazelles running.

After our amazing ride, we had a champagne toast, and English breakfast, and I even got to use the "Loo with a view." It was a once in a lifetime experience to use a toilet while watching giraffes stroll by! We met up with our group and continued to search for more animals. Finally got to see a leopard--boy are they tough to spot! Our group had missed seeing one the other day in the tree. This one was up on a rock with nothing else around. We even got to see a secretary bird feed it's baby.

More Shots/Videos

While in the Serengeti I also took these videos and pictures. Some other animals seen included

numerous birds:

• blackbilled bastard
• black kite
• black horted kite
• grey breasted spurfowl
• white headed vulture
• purple roller
• egyptian geese
• lilal breasted roller
• secretary birds

Other animals:

• mongoose
• numerous termite mounds
• blackbacked jackal
• warthogs
• elands
• topi
• hartbeast
• rock hyrax
• baboons
• jack rabbit with HUGE ears
• leopard turtle
  

Yes, the female lions really did walk right past our jeeps and sat in the middle of the road and/or next to our jeep!

7/15-7/11 Serengeti

The Serengeti National Park is the size of the state of Connecticut. It actually translates into "endless plain" and it really it. The Serengeti stretches over 5,700 square miles of plains, riverine bush, woodland, and a dominant environment of acacia grassland. The acacia trees are everywhere (the flat top looking trees). We stayed in tents for 4 nights and even had encounters with animals at night stealing our water buckets, lapping up water, or howling in the distance!

During the migration season (we were there towards the end of it) over 200,000 zebra and 500,000 wildebeest cross through the plains in pursuit of water. It is beautiful here and the animals amazing! We saw 4 out of the big 5 (lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard) Although we tried, we did not see the rhino. Some more shots of animals seen:

yes the cheetahs were this close to our jeep

black backed jackal

hyena finishing a snack