Last Days- The Day That Never Ends...

Zebras

Baboon

Warthog

Trevor and Micah on the Land Rover

Bilboa Tree

Hippo coming up for air

Male lions

More baboons

Cool signs along the road

We got up bright and early...6:30am for our final safari. The sun was just peaking up over the hills as we departed. The area around our camp was full of zebras and impalas. It was nice to not be as burdened by taking pictures, just soaking in God's creation. The wind was cool, but fresh. Amazingly, I had no allergy issues the entire trip. Maybe I finally found a place that works with my sinuses and tear ducts. :o) Our guide, Joshua, understood our goal. We hadn't seen crocodiles, hyenas, leopard, or a male lion. There are no rhinos in this park...they are up north in another park. Cheetahs aren't found here either. I tried to tell him there was a first for everything, but he wasn't buying it. Joshua told us he had a dream that we would see a male lion that day. Many groups go 4 or 5 days without even seeing a single lion and we had already been spoiled the first night. We weren't getting our hopes up. We ventured through the park for nearly an hour. Deeper and deeper into the wild plains. We returned to the hippo pool and Joshua pointed in the distance. I have no idea how he saw it from that distance, but he spotted the smooth back of a croc, lying at the side of the pond. Good thing no one was swimming because none of the mzungu (white people) saw it. Even with my zoom lens it took a few minutes. Ducks walked all around the croc, but it never moved in our ten minutes there. Guess he was full.

From there we went down a new path. Down a muddy gully. Thank you for 4 wheel drive. Joshua stopped out of no where. I was in the front seat with him and I could see him rapidly pull out his binoculars. My untrained eyes found three lumps of brown in the green grass. I grabbed my camera and zoomed all the way. The shape was unmistakable. Three male lions. Wow! We moved as close as we could. The biggest lion rose and stared. He began to walk...make that strut away. No shortage of confidence. The others followed. Joshua circled around and we headed them off. Again, we were making eye contact. One lioness appeared as well. Who knows how many more were in the tall grass. The other two males were younger, with manes in progress. That was the end of the safari. Joshua's dream came true! He was a believer and a pretty neat guy. It is amazing to meet these people and hear their stories. He's been a guide for eight years and drives all over Tanzania.

We were back for breakfast and to pack up. I hate packing up souvenirs and all that, but I was excited to think I was on my way home to my family. This is the longest Keri and I have been apart since we were married and the longest I have ever been away from the kids. I appreciate the perspective this trip gives me. I am very thankful for them and can't wait to see them.

We took off for Dar Es Salaam at around 10:15am. We were riding in the Land Rovers back to the airport, not that Shabiby Video Bus Line. That is definitely a praise. We were told it would be a four hour trip with a couple stops. Of course, this is Africa. It took us nearly 8 hours of death defying travel to make it the airport. We even had to skip dinner because of the delay.

The start was fun. Baboons cross the road. Road signs signaled giraffe crossings. Soon we left the park and we returned to rural African life. Block houses...I now have a thorough understanding of how to make a house in Africa. ;o) The poorer have homes of sticks and mud. Kids were everywhere and people were out hoeing in the fields. It was a beautiful day. A warm breeze flowed through the vehicle. Only 40 hours of travel to get back to Michigan! We left Friday at 11pm Michigan time and we won't get in until Sunday at 6 pm if everything goes well. Yuck.

It was an amazing journey. Traffic laws need not apply in Tanzania. There were two lanes of traffic with occasional passing lanes...at one point our vehicle was passed by a bus being passed by another bus with a motorcycle in the other lane. It is hard to describe, but let's just say it could have been an episode of Fear Factor. It led us to the question of "what happens if there is an accident?" The only police we saw were standing on the side of the road. They don't have cars. Joshua gave us an answer that shocked us. If a pedestrian or vendor is hit, usually the driver is pulled from the vehicle and may be stoned to death on the spot. He said it with a very straight tone and it left us all speechless. At that point, I decided to close my eyes and sleep. The trip was dragging on and on. About twenty minutes passed and I was awoken to shouts. My eyes first found a vehicle on its side in the ditch. You could see bits and pieces of a vendor cart. Another member of our team pointed us to the right side of the road. There was a young man on his knees, fear draped across his face, and a group of men beating him. We prayed, but there was nothing we could really do. This was no place for westerners and there was nothing we could do, but put our own lives in danger. Africa is a beautiful place with amazing people, but there is little order and life here is on a thin thread. It was an amazing reminder of the privilege we have been given by being born in America. Anyone that doubts that gift needs to do a tour of duty in a third world country.

We were traveling at a snails pace. In the villages the limit is 50 km per hour, but there was no limit elsewhere. That didn't matter. There were trucks that could barely make it up the hills....and some didn't. You see a lot more break downs here than in the states. Everything has a few miles on it and emission standards really don't apply. I felt like my clothes reeked of diesel fumes by the end of the day.

We made it to Dar Se Salaam, or the Dar, in late afternoon. It is a city of five million. When we left eleven days ago, we really didn't see the city alive because of the rain. Well, the trip in made up for that. The roads turned to four lane, but the number of vehicles, motorcycles, bicycles, walkers, gawkers, peddlers, and buses turned exponential. It was like driving through a super market. The streets were lined with vendors and the center median was no different. We passed a spot where an Iman was preaching...actually trying to raise up an offering according to Joshua. As we were stuck in traffic we watched as no one walked forward. I guess Islam isn't perfect here after all. You couldn't understand the man, but the in flexion in his voice made no mistake that he was spitting venom. Islam is a religion of fear and manipulation...not of love and forgiveness and moral living. That is a topic of another blog. Crazy things here in the battle of Christianity versus Islam.

Despite the huge Land Rover we all felt claustrophobic. Every square inch seemed to have a person or a goat. A little motorcycle passed with a couch on the back. Goats road shot gun in a scooter. A man walked a half dozen cows through the city. Where were they going? Dust and smoke were everywhere. Thank God for asthma inhalers.

We finally hit the airport and, frankly, I couldn't get on the airplane soon enough. Just crossing into the airport through security felt like a relief. I loved my time in Dodoma and at the safari, but I could do without Dar Se Salaam the rest of my life. It was chaos personified. It made Bangkok and Sao Paulo and Managua look like cake walks.

Well...the journey ends here. Airports are airports. In flight movies, sodium rich foods, expensive Americanos....thankfully, every minute gets me closer to Keri, Kaylee, Kianna, and Trace.

Trevor