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Day 5: Arezzo

Posted: December 9, 2024

Last night, we couldn’t quite finish all of the food. So this morning’s breakfast was leftovers. Who says you can’t have gnocchi and tiramisu for breakfast? It’s basically hash browns and coffee with cream.

Crosswords and Crostinis

We drove about an hour to the hills north of Arezzo to the Antares Horse Club. We met our guide, Olga, who took us on a two-hour ride through Monte Della Verna. We first had to match up with our horses and get a mini lesson. When we were all comfortable and ready, Olga led the way up the mountain.

Olga is ready to ride

We are also ready to ride

Riding into the forest

Matt and Stella doing fine

Jo’s horse, Zumba, was hungry and tried as often as she could to grab some grass. By the end of the ride, she seemed tired and went straight into her stall instead of following the group (or the reins) to the area to dismount. Honestly, I respect it.

The sun makes an appearance

Breaking thru the clouds

End of the ride

With plenty of time before our cooking class, we were looking for things to do in the area. Olga suggested a place in nearby Talla for lunch. It was called Note de Guido, named after the monk who invented the musical staff (among other musical innovations) and was born and lived in Arezzo around the year 1000.

The restaurant was definitely authentic. The menu was hand written, the manager/server did not speak any English, and the Italian chef appeared to be a semi-famous contestant from some Italian TV cooking shows. Once we translated everything on the menu, we placed our order including cappuccinos, only to receive a strange look and “now?” Apparently milk isn’t really consumed after noon and coffee comes at the end of the meal — not before. Knowing we were making pasta later, Belinda and Cordwood were smart and ordered chicken (which ended up being wrapped in bacon) with potatoes and sausage with peppers. Matt and I ordered pastas.

Restaurant named in honor of Guido d’Arezzo

From there, we drove to the old walled town of Arezzo. We went to see the Christmas market in the main square, do some shopping, and see the fort. Unfortunately, a tourist town on a Tuesday in November isn’t exactly a hopping place. The Christmas market and the fort were closed as were most of the shops. We did walk around the park, saw some tacky statues, and got cappuccinos. What else do you need?

Basilica d’San Francesco

Where is the Christmas fun?

Found it!

Bibliotecca Citta’ di Arezzo (Arezzo Library)

Palazzo dei Priori

Still with a little time to kill, we drove to an old bridge on the way to the cooking class. On the way, we almost ran into a wild hog that tried to cross the road in front of the car. We have been seeing hogs on magnets and other souvenirs — apparently they are over-populated in the area of Tuscany. They are allowed to be hunted and eaten. We almost had one to bring to dinner.

We arrived at the Ponte Burano right at sunset making for a pretty good view. The bridge was built starting in 1240-something and finished in 1277. Some historians believe that it is the bridge in the lower-right quadrant of the Mona Lisa… but thats debatable.

Very old bridge

Sunset on the Arno River

The next stop was the cooking class, which was at Dina’s (the chef) house. We drove just a few minutes and were lucky to find an easy parking spot on the street. Dina met us outside and introduced us to her husband and her sister, Kiara. While Dina really runs the show, they all support the experience. Kiara was vital as she spoke the best English and acted as translator.

Dina showed us how to make three pastas: a ravioli with spinach and ricotta, a tortellini with beets in the dough making it naturally red and cheese with lemon inside, and tagalitelle — the traditional pasta of Tuscany. We mixed eggs into the flour and kneaded the dough until it was ready to be rolled out. For the first two, we used a pasta maker to flatten the dough. The tagalitelle was rolled out with a really long rolling pin.

Making pastas!

Master Chef: Arezzo

Local Italian approves

We cut, filled, and folded the ravioli and tortellini, then finally rolled and cut the tagalitelle noodles. Dina demonstrated everything with such ease, but it was all harder than it looked. Once the three pastas were made, we celebrated with Prosecco.

Beet tortelloni (mostly for the red color)

Kiara led us into the living room to enjoy our drinks and start the antipasta course while Dina did the actual cooking of the pasta. They served cheese, local crackers, spicy jam, olives, and fried polenta. When that was done, we moved to the table for red wine and to the crostini course including tomato from their garden, chicken liver, olive oil, plain bread and prosciutto.

We all love crostini, but knew there were still THREE pasta servings coming up so tried to not eat too much. Starting was the ravioli, which we got high praise for since none of them fell apart when cooking. Next was tortellini (also somehow all stayed together). Finally, the tagalitelle was served with ragu. As the tagalitelle was being served, we asked if there was any more food coming out next and was told no. They lied. When we finished as much of the pasta as we could, Dina brought out cantucci (what we might call biscotti), a sugar twist pastry, and a traditional almlond flour fuitcake type thing. And of course, you can’t have dessert without dessert wine and homemade limoncello.

The team after dinner

It was a very fun experience and we left full enough to last a few days. With no more stops for the day, we drove back to the house to pack up and go to sleep (dinner was done around 9:30pm). We leave tomorrow to drive to Rome to catch a flight to Part 2: Greece.

Day 4: Montalcino

by Joanna

Posted: December 9, 2024

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After yesterday’s action-packed day, we knew we would take it easy today. The first item on the agenda was a winery tour with lunch. We didn’t need to leave until 10am so we were able to relax and enjoy the morning. Matt and Jo went out to the closest pastry shop to pick up a few things for breakfast. We got four flavors of cream filled little croissants: lemon, pistachio, cream, and eggnog. We also got a marmalade tart that ended up being fig (delicious).

I’ll take all of these

These too

After taking our time with treats and coffee, we got ready and left for the vineyard in the town of Montalcino — located maybe a hour or so southwest of Cortona. The winery is very small in comparison to other wineries in the area and family-owned. It is located in an old castle. We enjoyed the nice weather and views as the other members of the tour arrived.

Castle Tricerchi Winery

Contemplating vineyards

View from Tricerchi vineyards

Vineyard selfie

When everyone was there, Alessio took us on a tour of the grounds and shared a history of the winery. The name of the company is Tricerchi and their logo includes three circles to represent coins. The top half of the logo is a bull to represent strength.

Touring the castle

Castle courtyard

We overlooked the vineyard, which had already been harvested for the year. From there, we toured the fermentation room and where the wine is kept in barrels. Alesso told us that when the building was a functional castle, the barrel room was the dungeon with the prison below. We weren’t sure if he was joking, but seems plausible.

Big Barrel room

When the tour was done, we sat down for lunch and the wine tasting. All of the wines produced ant this winery are brunellos, which is made entirely with Sangiovese grapes and Italy’s highest wine classification. We started with an antipasto course of bruschetta, salami, prosciutto, cheese, and bread to pair with the first wine. We then had the second wine with stronger fruit notes and easy to drink that paired with our next course of pasta. Finally, we had the third wine with dessert.

Lunch — this is just the first course

Tricerchi selections

Selfie with Alessio

We drove back to the house in Cortona and hung out for a little while. We didn’t have any plans until dinner where a private chef was coming to the house. After regaining some energy, we went shopping in Cortona. Belinda had a pair of boots she was eyeing, so buying those was the first mission. We leisurely shopped and walked around as we made our way back to the house.

Heading back to Cortona

Tuscany sunset

Shopping

Back in Cortona

The chef, Christina, arrived at 6:15pm and gave us wine that we enjoyed as she prepared our dinner. The first course was toast with honey that we ate in the living room. We then moved to the table for the always present bruschetta course. There was sausage with melted cheese (basically pizza toast), blue cheese with pears and jam, and tomatoes. The main course was gnocchi in ragu (Italian for meat sauce — not the American brand name). Finally, Christina busted out a tray of tiramisu. Everything was delicious and we went to bed full and happy.

Waiting for dinner

We finished almost one of these

Home-cooked Italian treats

Tomorrow is another relatively chill day starting with horseback riding and ending with a cooking class for — you guessed it — pasta!

Day 3: Florence

by Joanna

Updated: July 26, 2025

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Should you go to Florence the same day they are hosting their 40th Marathon? Heck yeah!!! And should you run it? Of course not! BUT… if they are also running a 10k on the same course, crossing the same finish line as the marathon, and you can sign up to run that… then definitely YES!

We woke up at 5am this morning to get ready and drive to Florence. We secured a reserved parking spot last night so we didn’t have to worry about finding a spot upon our arrival, but we still needed to make sure we got to the garage before they started closing the roads. We wanted to give ourselves enough time to walk to the gear check and the starting line. We arrived right on time at 7am and started our Florence day adventure.

The Allegory of Parking in Florence

First stop was walking north across the Arno, and making our way to the gear check stations located in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. We got ourselves situated with the right layers and pinned on our bibs. We checked our bags at the correct stand and walked to the starting line on Via Tornabuoni (aka. Florence Rodeo Drive).

Ponte Vecchio in the early morning

Basilica of Santa Maria Novella — AKA gear check

The gate for the 10K was in a different location than the marathon, but the finish line was the same. With only about 1200 people in the 10K, there were no corrals. We all started at the same time.

Getting ready to run

Cordwood ran off ahead while Matt and I stayed together for about the first half. Belinda was always planning on taking it slow and leaving the course when she felt like it. She went about 6K, then took a shortcut to meet us at the finish line. It was a good vibe and we all had a good time.

Florence 2024 10K Route

The Chuck McGill special

After the race, we retrieved our bags, changed into clean clothes, and made a pit stop back at the car to drop off the things we didn’t need for the rest of the day. Then we set off for the rest of our Florence Day, starting with a return to the Pizza del Duomo — which is where the marathon finish line was still rocking.

Belinda pre-purchased Giotto Pass tickets that included access to the Bell Tower (scheduled for noon), the Baptistry, and the museum. We still had a couple of hours before noon, so we started with a cappuccino, then on to the baptistry. With the marathon, we had to be a little crafty about how to cross streets to get around, but we figured it out.

Piazza della Repubblica — site of old Roman Forum

The facade of the Duomo

Once in the baptistry, we discovered that the mosiac ceiling was being repaired, so we didn’t get to see that, but we did see the other mosiac pieces as well as the in-laid marble floor in different patterns. From above, the various marble patterns makes the floor look like it is covered in carpets. It was almost time for the bell tower stairs, so we made our way over. We attempted to check our bags, but the check-in area was across the marathon route, and it didn’t look like we were going to be able to cross. We strapped our bags in under our coats and hoped for the best. We had to wait until exactly noon until they let us in, and fortunately, they did — bags and all.

The replica Gates of Paradise

Marathon finish in Pizza San Giovanni

We climbed the 414 steps to the top of the bell tower for 360-degree views of Florence. It was slightly vertigo-inducing, but cool to see the places we had ran past.

View of the finish from the Bell Tower

Brunelleschi’s Dome at the Florence Cathedral

At the top of the Giotto Bell Tower

We loved you in Elf

With our second workout under our belts, we were ready for lunch. We found a cafe/deli/bar for cappuccino round two (a very fancy one) and some tasty food including lasagna, pasta, sandwich, salad, and a milkshake. After filling up and relaxing, we went to the Duomo museum. Inside, they had the original Gates of Paradise doors (we had seen a replica outside the baptistry earlier). They also explained how the dome was built — including the fun fact the Florence Opera didn’t actually know how to build a dome for the size of a Cathedral they starting building.

Views of the Duomo from the street

Excellent wine cork architecture

The real Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti

The “Yo, Listen up, God’s talking” Florence team

By now it was about 3pm and we were ready for the next part of the adventure — a bike tour! We arrived about 10 minutes early and got fitted with our bikes. When we were ready it was 2:59pm. We waited exactly a minute to see if anyone else showed up (they didn’t) and off we went! We were unsure if anyone else actually signed up or if this is just the most punctual tour ever. Our guide Julia led us through the city and gave some history on the area and buildings that we saw. The tour took two hours.

Revisiting the Piazza Santa Novella Maria on the bike tour

Over the Arno River with Ponte Vecchio behind

In front of the copy of The David in Pizza della Signoria

Pretty much everyone had finished the marathon when we started the bike tour and the streets/pedestrian paths were getting pretty crowded. By the time we were done, the race was cleaned up and there were people everywhere. We were tired and ready to get the car to head back to Cortona.

View of Ponte Vecchio at night

Party with the gold shops on crowded Ponte Vecchio at night

As easy as it was to park this morning, it was just as hard to leave. By parking in the garage, we had permission to enter the restricted zone. Only a few cars are allowed, and the streets are open to pedestrians. Since it was so crowded, it was difficult to navigate around the people and onto the streets we needed to leave. We eventually made our way out and onto the main road towards the Piazza Michelangelo, which overlooks the city. The sun was well set by this point, so the view with the city lights was great.

Thanks Florence!

From there we drove all the way back to Cortona. Fortunately, there was no 45-minute traffic delay this time and we arrived at about 7:30pm. We dropped our things off at the house and went out for dinner. We found a restaurant in town called Panne e Vino which matched our craving for pasta and wine. Everything was delicious and we left full and satisfied.

Dinner in Cortona

We decompressed at the house for a few minutes before going to sleep. Tomorrow will be much more relaxed than today. The only plan is a winery tour with lunch in the afternoon, and then a private chef comes to the house to make us dinner at night. Probably won’t get 30,000 steps again tomorrow.

Day 2: Perugia

by Joanna

Updated: December 10, 2024

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Falling asleep was easy after yesterday’s long day of travel. Staying asleep for a normal amount of time was more difficult. Eventually, we all managed to sleep enough to wake up and get ready for the day. Jo figured out the most important part of the house — the coffee maker. Once everyone was up, we ventured back out to the grocery market for some essentials like fruit, bread, and eggs.

Grocery shopping. Just don’t touch anything.

Cortona Clock Tower in the morning

Local architecture

We then realized we should shop in the street market. We bypassed plenty of clothes and shoes (which were very reasonably priced) and looked at the meat and cheeses. Since we weren’t exactly sure what each meat and cheese name meant, we copied the order of the Americans in front of us and ended up with prosciutto and a sharp pecorino of some sort.

Local cheesemonger

Happily ordering meats and cheeses

We walked back to the house to eat our spoils. Belinda cooked up the eggs, prosciutto and cheese sandwiches were made, and the apple (with a surprisingly pink inside) was sliced. Next on the plan for the day was to drive to Perugia to go to the world famous chocolate festival, Eurochocolate. We followed the website’s instructions to get to a parking lot, which we realized was about a mile and half away from the actual festival (but near a Kung-Fu competition!).

We figured there must be some sort of shuttle or something to bridge the gap. Then we figured out that the long line of people at the ticket counter were getting tickets for the Mini Metro — a rail car about half the size of an L car that comes every few minutes. Since the ticket line was long, and the line to get on the Mini Metro was even longer, we decided to walk. We pretty much followed the Mini Metro rail to the center of town. The walk was gradually uphill with a few steep sections.

Fall vibes on the walk to Perugia

Cordwood says always follow the escalators

It was a more complicated route than expected, but we made it! And then were rewarded with chocolate. There were many booths of different chocolate vendors. We started in the official Eurochocolate store for their famous Baci chocolates. We made a variety bag of flavors that we snacked on throughout the day. Fun fact: the wrappers include a fortune-cookie sayings, but sometimes more ominous sounding.

Made it to the Chocolate Festival!

Eurochocolate!

Views from Perugia

Walking around Perugia

We perused the festival for a while and shared a plate of fried dough (similar to a funnel cake) with chocolate sauce on it. Having satisfied all our chocolate cravings and purchasing needs, we explored the Rocco Paolina, a Papal fortress built in 1540 when the Pope decided it was high time the locals stop complaining about paying a Salt Tax.

Exploring the fort under the streets

Underground city vibes

Use this 3d model to plan your attack

Before the Pope fortressed the place, the Baglioni family was pulling off red weddings here

Porta Marzia (Mars Gate) features part of an Etruscan Arch from 3rd century BC

The walk back to the car seemed faster as we were more confident with the directions. We also found more escalators to make our way down the hill, so that helped as well.

Before driving all the way back to the house in Cortona, we made a brief stop at Lago Trasimeno just in time for sunset. The city also has a Rocco (or fort) which we explored a bit, but sections were already closed for the night.

Sunset on the lake! Hurry!

Sunset selfie

Exploring the narrow alleys

Don’t see many garage ports in these old towns

Trasimeno also has a clock tower

Overlooking Lake Trasimeno

Once we got back to Cortona, we stopped at a bodega type store for a few items, and walked around the town a little. We showed Matt a few of the shops he missed last night. Tonight’s dinner was sandwiches from the walk-up window. We brought them back to the house to enjoy with a bottle of wine only to discover there seems to be no wine opener in the house. We made do with Fanta.

Sandwiches!

Finally, we figured out the transportation/parking situation (we think?) for tomorrow’s 10K in Florence and headed to bed early to catch as much sleep as we can before leaving around 5am tomorrow.

Day 1: Chicago to Cortona

by Joanna

Updated: April 1, 2025

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This year’s Thanksgiving week plans are unique! Rather than spend time in Chicago or Minnesota, Belinda and Cordwood invited us to join them at a house in Cortona, Italy! Obviously, we said, “heck yeah!!!!” Seems like just a moment ago, it was September with school and football season getting underway. Now it’s the last week in November and it’s time to go!

As usual, Matt and Jo hopped the Blue Line to O’Hare to start the trip. At the airport, TSA was a breeze and we had plenty of time to relax in the lounge… lol, just kidding, the Priority Pass lounge at O’Hare is not actually for Priority Pass members anymore. We are now 0-for-2 trying to get into that Terminal 5 lounge because they reserve it out for business class travelers on other airlines. No matter, we don’t need a lounge. We have comfortable seats at the gate next to a friendly and chatty lady named Cindy.

Leaving snowy Chicago

Poe on his way to camp

That’s our train!

The first leg of our journey is Chicago to Zurich. The flight boarded on time and we got to our seats. Not too bad so far, Swiss Air. The plane had to be de-iced thanks to the snow (which certainly melted a few hours later). By the time we were ready to push back, we were at the end of the line. We eventually took off an hour late and pretty hungry.

Getting de-iced before leaving Chicago

Next stop, Zurich

After dinner was served, Jo fell asleep quickly while Matt stayed up to get some work done. There was some turbulence and general economy-class comfort issues, but hey — travel isn’t supposed to be comfortable! We originally had a two-plus hour layover, but since we were late, that time was cut to about an hour. We didn’t bother with a lounge and headed straight to the gate. The Zurich airport is pretty big. We had to leave the gate area, find the tram, go to the next terminal, go through a customs/passport check (got a stamp!), and go through the shopping area. We finally got to the gate with plenty of time to spare, and the flight was delayed by about 15 minutes anyways.

Landing in snowy Zurich

The flight from Zurich to Florence was a much smaller plane (no-frills flying school bus!) and not a very full flight. We loaded up in buses to get to the plane waiting on the tarmac. Once again, thanks to the snow, our plane was de-iced. Shortly thereafter we were on our way. At least I think so. I passed out immediately. Fortunately Matt collected my Swiss Air chocolate for me.

Navigating the Zurich airport

Getting de-iced again before leaving Zurich

Italian Alps and Lake Como

When we landed in Florence (finally in Italy, woo!), we met up with Cordwood and Belinda. Originally, they were going to get in about two hours before us, but they had some weather delays, and after some finagling booked a different set of flights that got them in at the same time as us. We met Cordwood at baggage claim while Belinda went to get the rental car. Soon after, we all took the shuttle to the rental car area and we were on the way!

We found Belinda and the rental car!

Before going to the house, we made a stop at the Florence Marathon Expo for packet pick-up. While we had the good foresight to not run a marathon, we did sign up for the special 10K Florence is hosting this year as part of the marathon’s 40th anniversary. The expo is a crowded event in the city, and parking was a challenge. Matt and Jo jumped out to see if we could pick up everyone’s packets. Spoiler alert, we did! Eventually Cordwood met us inside for a few minutes before we went back to the car with Belinda waiting patiently in definitely a legal parking spot.

Packet pickup here

Excited to be at the Firenze Marathon expo

Ok, so now we are on the way to the house. Google says it will take an hour and 40 minutes, getting us there just in time for the official check-in cut-off time. We made it out of the city and got on the A1 headed south… and then… just stopped. Traffic was insane and we remained at a near standstill for quite a while — it is Friday afternoon/evening after all. We contacted the host of the house and got instructions to check ourselves in, so no more worries there. We also took the extra time to give Lily a call and see how she is doing over in Greece. We will see her next week. Stay tuned.

Eventually we were out of the traffic zone. We never saw an accident and hypothesized the backup was from when the highway went from four lanes to three. We made it to the house at 7:10pm — 40 minutes after the original google prediction. At this point, Matt wasn’t feeling too great. He was feeling sick since leaving the expo and was doing his best to close his eyes, sit still, & breathe very slowly in the back seat for the last few hours (dizziness? jet lag? sleep deprivation? bad peanuts? all of the above?). Upon arriving at Cortona, he went to lay down asap.

Entering Cortona’s old city

Jo, Cordwood, and Belinda went out in search of food. The plan was to pick up some bread and olive oil as well as other essentials, but all of the grocery shops in town were closed. We weren’t in the mood for a sit down restaurant meal either. Luckily, we came across a walk-up pizza place. We did some quick translating and ordered a sausage pizza. We walked around the town window shopping and getting a lay of the land while we waited for the pizza to be ready. Once it was, we took it back to the house to eat. We all were exhausted from the travel and turned in for an early night.

Cortona Clock Tower at night

Official Italian pizza acquired!

Tomorrow we’ll try those grocery shops again before heading to Perugia for a Chocolate Festival.

Day 16: Ngorongoro to Tarangire to Airport

by Joanna

Updated: June 8, 2025

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Today is our last wake up call in Tanzania. The higher elevation and the shady vegetation at Tortilis Camp kept temperatures a bit lower this morning. But when we awoke, the hot showers were ready to go at 5:45am sharp, exactly when the staff said they’d be ready. Hakuna Matata!

Early morning at Tortilis Camp

Loading up the luggage one last time

With our bags packed and portered, we gathered in the main tent for the breakfast buffet, settled our bar tabs, and tipped the staff for their generous service. Juma and Aidano finished re-puzzling our luggage into the back of the Land Crusiers and we were ready to hit the road at about 7am. Which one of our guides made closing the back door and spare tire rack of their vehicle look more dramatic? I’ll let you guess…

Today’s drive takes us back up past the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, through the misty exit of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and back down past Lake Manyara National Park. From there, we turn south and make a stop in Tarangire National Park before turning around and continuing east through Arusha to our final destination… the Kilimanjaro airport (good ol’ JRO).

Safari Day 6 drive (detail)

Volcanic soil makes for colorful landscape photos

Our first pit stop was the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Gate where we need to submit our permits in order to exit (so many permits!). But more importantly, this is where we saw those elephant pants earlier. We found our signature colors, attempted some negotiating, and secured the goods. Go team elephant pants!!! (Jo/Moody/Lily/Melanie/Emily) Very soon we were back in the car… AND back on a paved road for the first time in five days, which was quite a nice change.

Leaving Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Checking out the Crater during check out

Our route took us by the entrance to Lake Manyara National Park and Aidano was gracious enough to stop the vehicle when Matt said he needed to take a very important photo he missed earlier this week.

Rwar Rwar! First down, Fightin’ Tree-Climbing Lions!

Next stop, a bathroom break/gift shop! This is our last chance to get any other Tanzania souvenirs we’d like to take home. Our magnet and ornament quota has already been filled, so we focused on consumables, including some Kilimanjaro coffee beans and Konyagi, a popular local gin. We also bought a water buffalo stamp to “send” a post card that was purchased on day one and will be hand-delivered by Matt to his co-worker’s son Ben (FYI, mailboxes don’t really exist here). Finally, we found a little malachite statue of a lion that Jo couldn’t resist.

Finally found a meerkat in Tanzania

Water Buffalo finally getting some respect

Our goal was to arrive at Tarangire by noon, and after making a couple turns off the more populated main roads, we pulled up to the gates of the park at roughly 11:30am. Making good time!

7km to the park entrance, it’s a bit more urban here than the Serengeti

The tagline for Tarangire National Park is “The Elephant’s Paradise” so there are DEFINITELY going to be some elephants here, right? Right?!? This park is known to be the home to over 300 of them. However, today they wanted to play hide and seek. We drove around and searched for elephants for an hour with no luck. We did see some zebras, giraffes, monkeys, warthogs, and a lizard though, so not a total loss.

You can see elephants here in the dry season

You can see elephants here in the wet season

But you can’t see any elephants today!

Will you accept warthogs instead?

One thing we did see was the famous Baobab trees. The park has some that are up to 5,000 years old (not a typo). This led us to search for young baobab trees to see what they would look like (surprisingly few). The bark of the baobab trees hold moisture, so in the dry season, animals will survive by eating the bark to get moisture. You know, animals like elephants.

Baobab tree, aka. “Tree of Life”

We stopped for lunch in the designated area. The picnic tables were situated inside a large cage. While there were some zebras and other animals nearby, we figured the cage was actually to keep the monkeys out. They were very crafty and consistently plotting ways to get food near the picnic area. We watched a pair of them working together as they attempted to infiltrate another company’s safari car through the open roof.

Heed the lunch area warning

The sign is referring to this guy and his cohorts

Now look who’s in the cages!

By the way, another hot take regarding game drives and lunches… maybe your stomach doesn’t feel great during a safari because you have no chance to digest breakfast while you are getting shaken to death in a Land Cruiser for four hours, and on top of that, you try to eat lunch and that’s gonna make you feel even more bloated. Or maybe Matt’s stomach isn’t back to 100% yet. Anyways, the chocolates and chips made a re-appearance in the lunch boxes, and nobody is complaining about that! 🙂

Needing to stay on schedule to get to the airport by 6pm, we started to drive back to the park’s exit. Were we really going to be shut out of pachyderm sightings in Tanzania’s official Elephant’s Paradise?!? Well lo and behold, about 10 minutes from the exit, Juma spotted about seven elephants a distance off the road. They were close enough to see without binoculars, but still a bit hidden in the bush. Thanks for making an appearance, you guys!

We exited Tarangire’s gates and navigated our way back to the main road. Juma slowed down and bought a couple Baobab tree fruits from a kid for show-and-tell-and-taste at our final pit stop. Meanwhile, Aidano did his best not to run over those kids when they carelessly jumped/rode in front of his jeep, making his best dad-face grimace and telling them to behave better (paraphrasing, of course).

The drive from Tarangire to the airport was roughly another four hours. Much of that time was spent in some crazy slow (Saturday rush hour?) traffic as we attempted to pass thru the city of Arusha. Eventually, we skirted around the city on a bypass route and continued toward the airport. For a few minutes, the sporadic clouds cooperated, and we were afforded a final glimpse at Kilimanjaro peeking thru the skyline to the northeast.

Diving back to JRO… one last peek of Kilimanjaro thru the clouds

A few miles before the airport, we stopped for our final pit stop to take our good-bye group photos, trade Instagram handles, and sample the baobab tree fruit Juma procured earlier. The results? Well, it was a little bit like unsweetened astronaut ice cream. Not too bad. Or as Aidano warned us, “Be careful, you’re gonna need some sugar with that!” Ah, classic Aidano. But then again, do you know which guide is gonna make sure you get to the airport at 6pm if that’s when you need to be at the airport? You know who!

Final group shot

This guy knows what he’s doing!

After arriving at the airport, we said goodbye to Juma and Aidano, performed some necessary luggage re-packing in the parking lot (stashed that coffee and gin in our checked baggage), and strolled up to the check-in desks. There wasn’t much of a rush, as we had to wait in line for customs to open anyways.

Once it did, we got through security and had plenty of time to relax before the flight. We wandered the gate area for a while, checking out a few little stores. But we had successfully purchased everything we wanted and did not need to buy anything else. Then we determined that between us and the Dallys we had enough lounge guest passes for everyone. So we proceeded to have dinner and enjoy the fancy lounge life with our remaining time before boarding.

IS.. THIS… THE… TANZANITE EXPERIENCE?!?! OMG!!!!

That’s our plane!

The first flight was direct to Amsterdam, but with a stop in Dar es Salaam. Some passengers got off while others boarded. Anyone continuing to Amsterdam stayed on the plane. The process took about an hour and we were off again. We paid for exit row seats, which was nice considering the extra time added on the flight with the pit stop.

Dar es Salaam

Next stop, Amsterdam

Once we arrived in Amsterdam, the group scattered to catch their next flights. Adam had a tight connection and left right away to get to his gate. Emily had a seven-hour layover and immediately fled the airport into Amsterdam for a plant show. We hung out with the Cordinas until their boarding time arrived about an hour later. Aaron’s flight was supposed to depart 20 mins after the Cordinas, but got delayed five hours. So he hung out with us in the Priority Pass lounge… which we finally managed to enter after spending a hour at Starbucks. (FYI, Priority Pass is pretty lame these days.)

Splitting up to get our flights back home

Bye everyone!

We said goodbye to Aaron and boarded our flight back to O’Hare. Everything went well and we landed on time. Thanks to Global Entry, we went through customs in about 12 seconds, but then waited an hour for our bags. We decided to take a taxi home to save some time. There was a line to get a taxi, and the usual Chicago traffic, but it still helped. We made it home at about 4:30pm and immediately went to pick up Poe (they close at 5:00pm). Happy to be back home, we unpacked and went to bed early to try to get back on Chicago time.

Found our gate

Next stop, home.

It was an amazing trip and so happy we got to spend it with friends.

PS. Animals seen yesterday:

Impala
Monitor Lizard
Black-Faced Monkey
Zebra
Stork
Heron
Ibis
Warthog
Digdig (the smallest Antelope)
Baboon
Eland
Giraffe
Egret
Waterbuck
Elephants! (Hide and Seek losers)

Day 15: Serengeti to Ngorongoro Crater

by Joanna

Updated: June 8, 2025

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Waking up today, we have officially logged three nights at Nyumbani Camp, which — fun fact — is the longest we have stayed in one place consecutively on this entire trip. And three will remain the maximum because today we venture onward to our next destination. But more importantly, Matt was feeling much better this morning and ready to take another stab at a timelapse sunrise shot with the Osmo Pocket.

Here comes the Sun

We finished packing our bags, called for our security escort, and arrived at the main tent for breakfast. After powering up for the day, we loaded the trucks and departed at 7:30am as planned. We headed southeast, where we will leave Serengeti National Park, re-enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and eventually reach the Ngorongoro Crater by late morning.

Goodbye Nyumbani staff

Safari Day 5 drive (detail)

It was a long drive with a few rest stops along the way. There aren’t a lot of different washboards — er, I mean roads — to pick from when planning your travel in the Serengeti, so this was the same route we drove a few days ago (heading the other direction). However, this time, it was earlier in the day and there were no rain showers, so we saw a few more animals on the route, including lions, baboons, and the usual topi, gazelle, etc.

Whoever introduced Christianity here… stellar job

Ready to see more animals

Try all the Fantas!

Eventually, we reached Ngorongoro Crater and checked in at one of the three entrances you can use to enter the park and drive down to the bottom. When we reached the crater floor, we immediately saw a bunch of animals. Because the crater is relatively small, there are a lot of species that have learned to live peacefully together that may not otherwise enjoy each other’s company in larger spaces. We saw many zebras, gazelles, and wildebeests together. Hyenas were waiting around lions. Flamingos, cranes, and egrets filled the shore.

One does not simply walk into Ngorongoro crater

Flamingoes. Not sure which type – sorry, Oscar

Blue heron takes flight

A dazzle of zebras

One of the animals we hadn’t seen yet was the rhino. They are not found in the Serengeti and there are only 27 left in the crater. We drove to where one might be, and were lucky enough to spot it.

Found a rhino!

Having completed the Big Five, and feeling hungry, we got our lunches in the car to start eating as we drove to the designated lunch spot. Before we got there, we saw some very lazy and full lions hanging around the road. They had a half eaten water buffalo carcass near them. Some of us originally thought it was a zebra because we saw stripes. Turns out those were ribs.

Passing out bag lunches to the other car

Open road

Ostrich

Lunch was at a hippo pool where we were able to get out and walk around. Since we ate most of our lunches in the car already, we bought ice cream from a zebra-painted snack truck and stretched our legs for a while. From there, we drove up out of the crater to our lodge for the night.

Group shot at the lunch spot

This is where we are

Hanging around the lake

Having a great time

No clouds blocking the Crater view today!

The road to Tortillis Camp was again not paved and we all received a free “African massage.” It also made for great napping. The lodge is at about 9,000 feet, which meant it was also a bit colder here. When we pulled up, we were welcomed with another rendition of Jambo Gwana, this one specific to the lodge and the crater.

Following the song, we entered the lodge and were served juice and samosas to enjoy during our briefing from the lodge manager. Completing your samosa earned you WiFi.

Our “Oldupai” tent… Maasai for “the place of the wild sisal plant”

Our room for the last night

We had time to settle in and relax before Juma and Aidano joined us for our last dinner. Juma and Aidano’s fun “Odd Couple” dynamic was once again on display as Aidano sat quietly at one end of the table trying to stay warm under a cozy Maasai cloak, while Juma held court at the other end, eyes lighting up telling stories about animals, his aversion to snow, and his parents. He joked Lily and Melanie were more than welcome to come back to Tanzania, but the rest of us, well, probably too old.

The dinner itself was buffet-style, after a first course featuring cream of banana soup, which was very tasty. These Tortilis Camp guys must also know how to party because Emily ordered a gin-based drink and they gave her the entire 250ml bottle.

Dinner with Juma and Idano

Near the end of dinner, the entire staff started singing songs and dancing in the dining room as a celebration of our trip and an a goodbye. Juma joined in the festivities and sang along with the group.

No longer cold after his cardio workout, Juma re-joined us at the table for last questions and stories. We hung out until we got too tired and went back to our tents to sleep. The staff gave us hot water animals to help keep us warm throughout the night and noted our requests for when we wanted hot showers in the morning… 5:45am please! Thanks!

Tomorrow we leave early, have a long day of driving, go for one last game drive, and then fly back home.

PS. Animals seen today:

Lion
Baboons
Topi
Gazelle
Giraffe
Common Waterbuck
Impala
Zebra
Wildebeest
Water Buffalo
Flamingos
Stork
Ibis
Hippo
Lizard
Egyptian Goose
Cranes
Water Starlings (on Zebra backs)
Warthog
Hyenna
Elephants
Vultures
Rhino!!!! BIG FIVE FREQUENT DINING CARD COMPLETE!
Kori Bustard

Day 14: Serengeti

by Joanna

Updated: June 8, 2025

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Throughout the night we were reminded of our remote location by the local animal antagonists. Namely birds, water buffalo, and hyenas made their presence known with various grunts, calls, and howls. Good thing they haven’t figured out there are delicious humans inside these chewy canvas tents.

By the time we poked out heads outside to see the sunrise, most of the animals had piped down or moved away, but the water buffalo remained, happily grazing right outside our tent.

Ok, who was making all that noise out here last night?

Friendly water buffalo says hi!

Starting a bit earlier – around maybe 5:30am — Matt woke up and wasn’t feeling great. A fun mix of nausea, cold sweats, and an uneasy stomach was too much to overcome for a 6:30am Safari start time. So he opted to stay put in the tent and bid the group farewell for the day.

Honestly, is being sick fun? No! But is being able to sleep it off in a comfy tent in the middle of the Serengeti fun? Yeah, sorta. Just a bummer when you wake up around noon, and they offer you chocolate ice cream, but you have to decline because there’s no way your stomach is ready for that.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang marched off to the dining tent with security details, and spotted a colony of hyrax along the way. Fun fact, a hyrax is a small (4-12 pounds) rodent looking animal that is actually a mammal and the closest relative to elephants.

The Colony of Hyrax on High Rocks is a little-known Dr. Seuss Book

After a delicious breakfast, we met Juma and Aidano to start one last game drive in the Serengeti. Today’s plan was to head to the east area of the park, known as a popular hang out location for the big cats. (Blog Note: without Matt on today’s excursion, we have no map, so you’ll need to trust this author’s conceptual understanding of cardinal directions. Or use your imagination.)

About 10 minutes after heading out, “big cat day” was an immediate success! We spotted a leopard (leopard pun!) walking around in the grass. Juma was extremely excited because in his six years as a safari guide, he has only seen leopards on the ground three times. In all other instance, he only saw them in trees — like the one we saw yesterday. It was very cool to watch.

Leopard – you can tell because of the rosette pattern on the fur…

…which is better for camouflage

After our leopard wandered off into the Serengeti, we continued driving and saw more usual suspects, including elephants and impalas. These are not big cats, but we’ll allow it.

Impala out for his morning drive

As the game drive continued, the recent rain showers created some drama for us on the Serengeti “roads”, where the combination of standing water and a parade of Land Cruisers is capable of developing some impressively large mud pits. Naturally, Juma’s truck got stuck in these mud pits not once, but TWICE (spoiler alert)!

Was Juma stressed? Nah, not really. Even when we he later needed an assist from another car’s bumper to escape one of the quagmires, he looked like he was kinda having fun. Apparently 4-wheel drive is important here. And to be fair to Juma, it turns out his truck does NOT have 4-wheel drive. WHAT?!? (Well, maybe this is not too shocking for the same vehicle that currently has two broken windshield wipers, a snapped antenna, and a dash board that rattles harder than a magnitude 9.5 earthquake.)

Speaking of which, Adam has safari jokes too… “Glad I brought that nitroglycerin with me!” and “Hope you didn’t want your martini ONLY stirred!”

When we arrived in the east area of the park, we heard from other drivers that a cheetah has been spotted (cheetah pun!) near a fresh gazelle carcass. We followed the herds of cars and eventually saw it emerge from the tall grass. Our position was not ideal, so in a ballsy maneuver, Juma pulled off the car path and cut over some grass to get a better view. To quote Aidano watching Juma from the other car, “Oh no, that is not allowed.”

Cheetah – you can tell by the simple spots and black tear stripe on the face

Not as great for camouflage

After our cheetah encounter, we turned around and headed toward a nearby road where a pair of lions were spotted. Along the way, Juma’s truck got stuck in the mud for the (aforementioned) second time.

Serengeti roundabout

Approaching the lions, the male was taking it easy, but female lion got up and started walking down the road. At first we thought she was pregnant, but then a cub appeared and followed behind her. We followed them down the road for a while. The mom kept getting farther ahead from the cub who looked a bit worse for wear. He found a shady spot under a tree and took a nap while mom probably left him behind for good, er, I mean definitely waited up for the cub a bit further ahead.

Chill lion

Next, it was lunch time. We were pretty far from the visitor center, so we had a picnic in the bush. While we were technically in lion country, our biggest predators were all the little scavenger birds surrounding us.

Lunch spot. Look out for wildlife (mostly birds)

After lunch, we decided to head back to camp rather than spend another couple hours on the game drive. (For more on this wise decision, see yesterday’s hot take on post-lunch game drives) We were all a bit full, hot, & sleepy, BUT the best argument to return was that our “big cat day” objective was already 100% mission accomplished. Then — to add a cherry on top — we also caught a quick glimpse of a family of servals on the way back. These cats are small and sneaky, so we didn’t get that great a look, but a fitting addition our cat day lineup, nonetheless.

Arriving back to Nyumbani Lodge at around 3pm, we dispersed to our tents to relax and re-organize our stuff for tomorrow’s departure. Matt was awake and feeling steady enough to get up, but had zero appetite for anything. We both took it easy on our front porch and watched as water buffalo and giraffes milled about in the plains in front of us. Both Juma and Mkaka stopped by to check on Matt’s status, which was very nice of them. Juma is awesome.

Not a bad view if you have to rest all day

Back with all the big cat stories!

Recovering on the porch

Chilling on the porch

By dinnertime, Matt was feeling good enough to at least rejoin the rest of the group. We dialed up our security team and walked to the dining tent as the sun was setting over our last evening in the Serengeti. Commence timelapse photography! (or at least a couple attempts)

Our escort to diner

Dinner was delicious as always — soup, pork chops with vegetable rice, carrots and broccoli — but after giving the soup and carrots his best shot, Matt stuck with a simple scoop of white rice. Best not to derail the day’s recovery. Not even that chocolate ice cream they offered at lunchtime sounded good to him yet. But wait, “did you just say something about Chocolate ice cream?” inquired Lily and Melanie. And thus, at least some of us finally enjoyed that chocolate ice cream. Hooray!

Tomorrow we leave the Serengeti and head back toward Ngorongoro Crater. The drive will take several hours, so an early morning start is planned. With this in mind, Mkaka and Dickson accompanied us back to our tent and we wasted no time going to sleep. By the way, that red light lantern we bought for this trip is great! A+ trip gadget.

PS. Animals seen today:

Water Buffalo
Hyrax Colony
Leopard (on ground 10 mins from camp!)
Heartebeest
Spotted Hyena
Gazelles
Ostrich
Secretary Bird
Elephants 🐘
Black-Striped Jackal
Cheetah (by her fresh kill)
Lions 🦁
Servals
Warthog
Common Eland (aka. biggest kind of Antelope)

Day 13: Serengeti

by Joanna

Updated: June 8, 2025

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Our alarms went off at 3:30am this morning because it is Epic Hot Air Balloon Ride over the Serengeti Day!!!

Ready by 4am, we used the walkie talkie in the room to call for an escort to take us to the main tent. On the short walk to the front tent, we dodged some water buffalo droppings, then saw two of them sleeping just off the path. So the security protocol here is legit.

We met the rest of our balloon team at the bar — Aaron, Emily, and Lily — and enjoyed some very good coffee and a delicious muffin while we waited for Kingston to pick us up. The rest of the group (Adam, Cordwood, and Melanie) is sleeping in today and will go an a morning game drive. We’ll all meet up later around lunchtime.

Tickets to fly

Kingston (aka. self-proclaimed “Balloon Guy”) arrived and we drove for about an hour to the take-off site. Once we were there, we waited for the remaining guests to arrive. In the meantime, we were given ginger coffee (weird), ginger tea (delicious), and little hot air balloon shaped shortbread cookies (adorable).

Hot air balloon lounge snacks

Firing up

Eventually, the rest of the passengers arrived and we met our pilot Paul Sparks, who had the most awesome Zimbabwe accent. He provided the safety briefing and explained how we will start with the basket on its side. We will use the Gemini “astronaut position” for take-off and landing.

The before photo… proof of life

Assume the Astronaut position

Hot Air Balloon route (light blue)

From the air, we saw a bunch of animals including large dazzles of zebras, a ton of gazelles and impalas, elephants, and even a lion (and more!). As noted before, the word Serengeti comes from a Maasai word meaning “endless plains”. We really experienced that from the balloon as we could see the park in all directions seemingly to go on forever. It also explains why the drives take so long.

Going up

Balloon Safari

Balloon selfie

Balloons over the Serengeti

Balloons!

Hot air

After about an hour, we landed and celebrated with champagne. Paul explained the history of the first ballon ride (they thought it was smoke that provided the lift), how we got the name pilot (the hot air balloon was invented by a frenchman named Pilot) and why flights are celebrated with champagne (to prove you are not the devil when you land in fields and set them on fire). For what its worth, Paul did a MUCH better job of explaining this French invention than the French did when we did the hot air balloon ride in France. Thanks Paul!

Touchdown!

Traditional champagne toast

The most important part of ballooning

When we were done with the story and champagne we were driven to our breakfast spot about 30 minutes away. They served an amazing, fancy breakfast in the middle of the Serengeti. Paul sat at our table and we learned more about his life and ballooning. We were given certificates for completing the balloon ride. These were much easier to earn than the Kilimanjaro certificates.

Flight certificates. We’re the pilots now.

Breakfast buddies

With our epic hot air balloon experience concluded, we drove back to the visitor center to meet up with the rest of our group.

Now on the game drive together, we started spotting animals. The guides are really great at finding animals, but a clear hint is when there are a bunch of safari cars bunched in the same area. We followed suit and our drivers asked the other drivers what everyone was looking at. Turns out there was a leopard taking a nap in the tree! There are pretty strict rules about staying on the roads, and the tree was a bit off the path so we couldn’t get any closer. When we were satisfied with the blurry pictures, we moved on to find other animals.

Safari Day 3 drives (detail, green=AM, orange=PM)

Lazy leopard in a tree

As we were on the road, we came upon a lion family – two females, a male, and a cub. They were walking right along the cars for a while. Apparently they were looking for food. One of the females ventured into the grass and we couldn’t see her anymore. But then a flock of birds suddenly fled the area and the lioness jumped up to try to catch one. She missed. We left the lions to themselves and continued the drive on the way to lunch.

Lions looking for lunch

Grazing giraffe

We went back to the visitor center in Seronera and found the picnic area for our lunch break. There were a reasonable number of people vying for tables and chairs, but we eventually claimed a spot along with the hundreds of small birds that were happy to lurk by our feet for scraps.

Here’s a possible hot take… game drives after lunch may not be the best combo. It’s hot out, the sun is blazing down on you, and there’s not a cloud to be found in the sky. Now imagine you’ve just polished off a box lunch of pasta, bread, rice, chicken wings, fruit, yogurt, and other various deserts. YUM!!! But what do you think is gonna happen once you get back in a warm, bumpy vehicle??? NAP TIME, BABY!!!! Which is fine, but not helpful for viewing animals.

Actually, game drives in general have their pros and cons. “Safari-ing is not actually an old-person’s game,” says Matt. They are unique for sure, but also hot, dusty, bumpy, sleepy, and sun-burny. Sitting in a vehicle for six days after climbing Kilimanjaro seems like it would be nice, but it sorta makes you feel super lazy and a little-stir crazy. Alternate theory… after floating gloriously above the Serengeti in a balloon, it’s hard to go back to Land Cruisers.

Anyways, after lunch we embarked on an afternoon game drive and (provided you were still awake) spotted more animals before heading back to the lodge — including our closest encounter with a group on Giraffes so far.

Arriving back at the Nyumbani Collection Lodge at roughly 5pm, we had time to participate in the “spear throwing” activity they offer. Mkaka demonstrated and we all took a few reps trying to throw the spear so that it successfully sticks in the ground. Most of us nailed it. We event challenged one of the lodge staff members to throw the spear further than Mkaka… results were too close to call.

Back to camp

After the spear-throwing, we had time for another activity — a walk around the property. Mkaka took the lead and some of the other staff joined as well. Mkaka was able to identify all the droppings around camp (hippo, lion, water buffalo), all the tracks (hyena, impala, water buffalo) and could even identify where a water buffalo was sleeping. He’s a real everyday Aragorn. Plus, walking around felt really nice after spending the last few days in a car.

Short stroll around camp

Overly complicated spear posing instructions

We had some time to relax back in the tents before dinner. The food was once again delicious, featuring lamb roast, soup, and a fancy Italian desert. Some people have now had enough soup to last a lifetime and took a pass on that course, so we’re gonna need you to turn in your Soup Bros membership card. Tomorrow is another game drive in the never-ending Serengeti. The mission: Large Cats.

PS. Animals seen today:

Water Buffalo in camp
Praying Mantis on windshield
Hyenas
Little Bunny
Marshall Eagle
Gazelle
Impala
Lion
Elephants
Giraffes
More Water Buffalo
Wildebeest
Zebra
Monitor Lizard 🦎 (Kenge)
Leopard! In a tree!
Lion Family hunting Helmet Birds
Egyptian Goose
Heartebeest

Day 12: Lake Manyara to Serengeti

by Joanna

Updated: June 10, 2025

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With only one night at Serena Lake Manyara Lodge, we woke up today and finished packing our bags before heading to breakfast. We slept in the farthest possible rondavel from the main reception and dining area but thankfully the porters were ready and waiting to take our bags for us. We were seated at the same table as last night and enjoyed the big buffet.

Take care, Cheesecake Factory Hut!

We finished, checked out of the hotel, and helped Juma and Aidano load the vehicles. They recommended we swap drivers so we could get to know them both (and their different personalities and styles). This was a great suggestion because Juma and Aidano are a fantastic odd couple. So for today, Matt, Jo, Lily, and Cordwood rode with Juma and the rest of the group rode with Aidano. The plan for the day was to drive to our next lodging in Serengeti National Park with a stop in Olduvai Gorge along the way.

Safari Day 2 drive (detail)

Early on, we stopped at one of the various road-side market shops we saw featuring paintings, carvings, textiles, etc. Just to be clear, this was not the “TANZANITE EXPERIENCE”. However, in the back room, they will try to sell you “raw” tanzanite rocks, which is a bit shady because we’re not even sure you’re allowed to leave Tanzania with such material. So no thanks. But Matt did barter for the perfect Kilimanjaro fridge magnet which is probably safe to take out of the country.

Roadside Tanzania Etsy

Serengeti National Park is several hours to the northwest of Lake Manyara. To get there, we drive through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and right past the Ngorongoro Crater. We will spend more time here on our return journey in a couple days, but for now, we just needed to kill a few minutes while Juma and Aidano got our permits (a common theme). In the gift shop, we spied comfy-looking pajama pants with elephant designs on them. Mental note to check these out on the way back.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate

OK, so here’s the main thing we are conserving…

As we drove along the rim of the crater, we stopped at a scenic overlook of the crater. Unfortunately, it was completely covered in clouds. Gonna check back in a couple days.

Today’s Crater view

Back above the clouds

We hopped back in the cars and continued the drive northwest thru the remainder of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The Maasai tribes of Tanzania live in these Ngorongoro highlands — in their traditional fenced-in villages — where they tend to their livestock (cows, sheep, goats, etc) while somehow carefully (and safely) sharing the land with the wildlife (zebras, buffalos, giraffes, etc).

Masai village

The Masai call the sound of cowbell “ngor ngor” (hence Ngorongoro crater)

Next stop: Olduvai Gorge. Still within the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area is the Olduvai Gorge Museum. It is right here where anthropologists have found some of the oldest (first?) humanoid skills and other fossils leading to a better understanding of human evolution. We had time to walk around the exhibits on our own before our docent gave us a short lecture about the museum, the conservation area, and the geology. We overheard one random tourist in the museum telling a guide he actually worked on the excavations years ago.

Olduvai Gorge

Gorge-ous weather today

The museum also had a picnic area where we stopped to eat lunch (featuring delicious chocolates for desert) before continuing the journey to the Serengeti. By the time we entered Serengeti National Park, there was some evidence of sporadic rain showers in the area. The animals seemed to be taking shelter and we didn’t see much, but we did see some lazy lions pretty much right away, so no complaints.

It is also notable that once you enter Serengeti National Park, the Maasai tribes are not longer allowed to graze their livestock here, so the amount of humans we spotted from the road (not counting other Land Cruisers) drops to basically zero. Now the view becomes a vast savanna of grasslands and open plains with scattered trees and shrubs. In the Maasai language, Serengeti means “endless plains”. Accurate.

Serengeti darf nicht sterben!

“Serengeti Shall Not Die” won Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1960

Water buffalo still getting no respect

No more people, just impala and zebra

A fairly obvious item, but the roads in Serengeti National Park are not paved (nor had they been since Ngorongoro Crater). With so many safari trucks driving on them daily, they are also not in the greatest condition. This made for quite the adventure in the rain.

First it was simply bumpy and loud, but then one of Juma’s windshield wipers stopped working. Then it was lost entirely (joining his radio antenna’s demise from earlier in the day, yikes!). Then the other wiper stopped working as well. I’m not saying our two vehicles mirrored our guides’ personalities EXACTLY, but if one truck’s motto was “Live Fast, Die Hard!”, that would definitely be Juma’s truck. Meanwhile, you can bet it all that Aidano’s truck has never missed a 10,000-mile tune-up.

After about an hour, we stopped at a gas station(!) that appeared out of nowhere (technically, a park administration area called Seronera) and Juma enlisted one of the attendants to help him attempt to repair the one remaining wiper. Of course, by now it had pretty much stopped raining anyway. We also managed to see a few more animals along the way including a hippo pool full of… hippos!

Hmm, looks like rain

Not currently hungry, hungry. More chilly, chilly.

Scraggly tree

Thumbs up for that bloat

Serengeti AAA… trying their best

Who needs windshield wipers anyway?

Finally, we made it to the Nyumbani Collection lodge. This is a permanent tented camp inside the border of the park. We checked in and were given the security briefing. We met the staff, including Mkaka, a Maasai who handles security in the lodge. Security, you ask? Well, because the camp is in the park, and not fenced off in any manner from the wildlife, we need to be escorted between tents. We were brought to our tents and given the tour. Each tent is complete with electricity and running hot water. Its really a hotel room with canvas instead of walls.

Tented paradise

After settling in, we use the walkie-talkie to get an escort back to the bar/dining tent for dinner. Everything was delicious, including butternut squash soup (for the Soup Bros) and steak. As we finished, we met Kingston, who will be our driver to our hot air balloon adventure tomorrow. He will pick us up at 4:30AM, so as we got back to the room, we went right to sleep. A little chilly in the tent, but perfect under the covers.

PS. Running list of animals seen today:

Marshall eagle
Giraffe 🦒
Ostrich
Secretary Bird
African Rabbit
Gazelle
Brown Eagle
Black Jackal
Sleeping Lions
Hippos!
Hyenas
Water Buffalo, RESPECT!!!
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