#tanazania

[eyewest]

Freedom Rally CMK #miltonkeynes #tanazania #protest #rally #march #socialdistancing #socialdisobedience #antimask #antivax #covid #covid19 #church #citychurch #marksandspencer #cmk #thecentremk #jeffwyatt #babyd #verdent #sunnyday #trees #summer #placard #diversity #ampitheatre #speech #speeches #shopping #shoppingcentre #socialgathering (at Milton Keynes) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQMP6-_D7EM/?utm_medium=tumblr

[cheetahcamp]

📷by @mo_naser

[hematitehearts]

Spessartine Garnet on Muscovite

Size: 5.4 cm by 6.8 cm by 3.3 cm

Locality:  Nani, Loliondo, Arusha Region, Tanzania.

[jpiekos]

Candelabra Trees in Tanzania by John Piekos Via Flickr: We came across these amazing, seemingly geometrically placed, Candelabra trees in the Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. I thought this was a cool picture - this was the only area of our trip where Tsetse flies bothered us (briefly). There were a lot of zebra in this area, if you see my other zebra photos, they were most likely taken in this area.

[ultramorganmichelsonkelly-blog]

Ima Aba I went on my first Safari and WOAH was it awesome!

My first moment of seeing an elephant was utter disbelief. Also, they are so interactive with one another that they are 100% my favorite to watch. One elephant almost brought down a tree scratching it’s nose on the trunk. Another elephant charged at our jeep twice! Costa, our driver/pal told us how dangerous going on a Safari actually is. Everyone thinks these creatures are so peaceful, which yes they generally are, but if spooked or threatened, you die. Simple as that. But they are majestic creatures with wisdom in their eyes. And the babies are adorable and fearless in their own right, one roared at us, warning us away. My heart melted as the little one’s trunk flew in the air. Aba, you would have loved the hippos. They just lounged around all day doing absolutely nothing, your spirit animal. Overall, my heart is with these animals, always. 

Another one in a lifetime moment was when I stood up in the jeep, the sun was setting, and the wind blasted my hair. My skin was caked in dust, my hair a rat’s nest, but damn was it the best moment in my life. I couldn’t put a precise word to how I felt. Was it freedom? Adventure? Bliss as the sun warmed my face? I don’t think so, maybe a little bit of all that. I decided that it was a new beginning for me, a chapter in a book I cannot wait to read. From that moment on my life would be different, I don’t understand how, but I believe it. And for the first time I understood why people said they don’t want to come home. 

But then I saw a picture of my dog and melted so don’t worry Ima I am coming home. 

I went on a PRA Field Exercise today where we had to make a Transect Map. Our guide was named Pasco and he was incredibly knowledgable and in school so good for him. We were walking and he told my team (Me, Maddy, and Anna) that the hyenas live in the fields we were passing. I told him we should continue walking. Anyway, while making this map we interviewed older women and men (to properly greet an elder you say Shikamoo). They were all very knowledgable about the area and welcoming. But what stuck with me were the children’s feet. If they had shoes on, you couldn’t really call them shoes, and the clothes were filthy, but the children weren’t, except their feet. They were caked in mud, proving they hadn’t bathed in days, but they were also covered in dust. The feet were hard, they were hard feet, with hard skin, leading to a hard life. And none of them were older than 9. But they laughed and played and followed us as far as they dared. But one small child stuck out to me especially. She was wearing a dress (no shoes I checked) and you could tell it was a dress that a wealthy family had their little girl wear at a Christmas party, a shiny bright red, or even perhaps a flower girl could wear it I thought. And there she was, wearing a dress that was caked in mud you couldn’t tell where the red began. She was so happy. She was four perhaps. Her short sleeves were cut like someone took a scissor to them, along with half of the bottom of the dress. There were two girls wearing that dress with two vastly different lives. Such vastly different stories contained in a single fabric. Hard to wrap your mind around it in all honesty.

Since it’s the dry season water and food are practically impossible to get. I was so thirsty and the sun baked my skin today. We were walking uphill and the elevation wasn’t helping my lungs. I just wanted to take out my water bottle and DRINK. We got to the top of the hill, my perfect moment, and there was a tap where people collect their water. A bunch of young girls were sitting there, they waved, we waved back. Pasco told us that they would wait there all day, not knowing if the water would turn back on. So I didn’t drink my water bottle. I didn’t drink until we finished the exercise. I didn’t drink until I was back on campus where we have 24/7 access to fresh, clean water. And that was my day. I took a two hour nap, started another book, laughed a lot with friends, and I wondered when I refilled my water bottle if the tap ever turned back on.

XOXO,

MEMK