Safari!!

Due to no internet, this post never went through.  sorry it is out of order! But we hope you enjoy!

Leaving our hotel at 8:30 this morning we were all very anxious and excited to begin our safari at the Ngorongoro Crater! Annie and I were very tired after the night we had last night and form the lack of sleep we got, but the excitement of the day quickly took over any feeling we had of wanting to go back to sleep. Getting the girls ready and fed took a little extra time but all went smoothly for which Annie and I were very grateful since they didn’t get as much sleep as they normally do!

 As we pulled up to the entrance gate of the park, baboons immediately approached our car and the girls were very excited all exclaiming “Moonnkeeeyyyyy!! Moooonnkkeyyyy!” Once we got to the entrance gate of the Crater we were able to open up the top of our car  so we could take in all the beauty surrounding us even more!  It was also nice to get some sunshine in our car. 

What started off as a very frigid and foggy morning turned into a warm and sunny day as we drove down the dirt road into the Crater. The scenery that surrounded us all day was truly breathtaking. After seeing something like this crater, I don’t understand how anyone could ever question whether or not there is a God. As we drove and looked out at the mountains, lakes, and unique animals we were truly in awe and tried to take in every bit of it, fully living in the moment. As for the little girls, Annie and I aren’t quite sure whether or not they were more excited to see other cars or the zebras, lions, hippos, and other animals. Everytime they would see another car they would tap our shoulders, point at it, then yell “Gari! Gari! Gari! (Car)” repeatedly. It made Annie and I laugh as we were surrounded by hundreds of buffalo and zebras but they were more interested in seeing cars and saying hi to all the people that were in them. During the day we stopped to look at some animals and realized our new friend Susan was in the car right next to ours! We talked for a little while then said our goodbyes and told her that we would see her back at the lodge at dinner.

 One of my favorite sights of the day was when we saw a huge hippo basking near a lake with two female lions sleeping by a tree right near by! Throughout the day we saw elephants, lions, hippos, zebras, hyenas, flamingos, these super cool birds that I can’t remember their name, ostriches (I highly dislike them…they kind of scare me), gazelle, buffalo, and more! We never got bored as we were constantly seeing new animals. For lunch we went to a lake that had several hippos in it. It was the perfect view to look at while we ate. Wherever we take Happy, Maurine, and Mataya people are always drawn to them and want to pick them up. People would come up and just take pictures of them without teven asking!. Annie and I were very protective and would make sure everyone knew they are ours. 

After lunch we continued our safari in search of more animals, however, it seemed they all disappeared. We were lucky enough to see another elephant and a male lion, and female lion laying down together pretty close to our car! At around 4PM we started driving back to the lodge. Once we arrived back at the lodge, Annie and I took the girls to run around so they could get energy out before dinner and hopefully go to sleep "on time" unlike the night before. After running, playing tag, and dancing we headed to dinner where our friend Susan joined us again. She was a huge help with the girls and they all absolutely love her. It was very enjoyable getting to know her even better and exchanging  stories from our day. The girls were very well behaved at dinner and once they were finished eating they went around the table and hugged everyone in the restaurant and said hello-(We made sure everyone was okay with it before we let them walk around). I mean who couldn’t love these three little precious girls?! After we finished with our dinner we headed to the room for lala time, we got all ready for bed and said our goodnight prayers. Annie and I pretended like we were going to sleep as well (we are slowly learning tricks) and within 20 minutes they were all out! Annie and I were so relieved to have them all asleep without a big fuss!