The Serengeti

May 30

Traveled across from Eastern Serengeti to Central. Stopped by the school and the clinic on the way home. THe classroom at school was both boys and girls. The single 12-14 year olds were in a class of 65 kids. They sang a proud song. There was some paper of mathematical equations up on the wall. They clearly could have used pencils, paper, rulers etc. No resources but they were giving it a go.
I stopped at the clinic to drop off band aids for the kids. I felt dumb. THey clearly could do with more than band aids.
It was clear to me that although my intentions were good they were a drop in the bucket to what is needed for basic education and care. traveling and seeing different cultures did not prepare me for the exclusion of the world to the African countryside. THere is no relationship to Disney or cars or so much that we take for granted. I intend on looking into the organization that is a non profit arm of this tour group (along with many others including the Science Museum of Boston) to give aide where and how it is needed. -Friends of Tanzania.
We entered into Serengeti Park- 9000 square acres of protected space. You are registered every time you enter and leave. Fees are paid by all who come to the park. Included in our package.  We drove a little bit and came across a vast herd of wildebeests and zebra. We are talking thousands here- see photo A bit later we came across a group running. Impressive.

. Afterwards we had some wide open places with some animals but when Robert went on a lesser traveled loop then we saw 9 lions, then more, including a klipspringer, numerous birds. We arrived at the nyumba at 4:30, pretty tired of traveling. It's not that the distances are so great but the roads are unpaved and Robert is very conscientious about trying to make our ride comfortable. as a result we go pretty slow. It is often roll-y and sway-y. At the end of the day I feel as though I have gotten off a boat. It takes a couple hours to feel stable again.

The nyumbas are pretty much the same between the Eastern and Central as they are all owned by Thomson. A crew takes care of every need and are very polite and promptly helpful. For instance when we come in at the end of a day and tell them we want to take a shower. They are there in 5 minutes to fill up our bucket which is raised high to gravity feed the shower located in the bathroom part of the tent

It's a straightforward system and works well with a low footprint. the electricity in the tents are solar, not a friendly light but certainly a welcome one. You can see small African houses in the middle of the woods with twinkling lights at night. What a difference solar and wind power will make to these parts of the world that don't have the infrastructure- and won't for some time.

Dinner and other meals is extensive and fair. Certainly all the food is fresh and plentiful. You want for nothing. I find the meat a bit tough and think I will go vegetarian when I can. there are usually three courses, a soup course, meat of usually a stew or a grill variety and various vegetables. THere is a dessert and coffee. THey also offer a full bar with some kind of wine which after the first night I will pass on. Perhaps up at Gibbs farm we will have a fancier list but, no worries.