December 13, 2004 -- A collection of pictures taken at Tarangire River Camp and Tarangire National Park can be found at Maasai Steppe.
After breakfast, we take an early game drive through Tarangire National Park. This morning, the Park shows its true nature of rugged landscape, large herds of elephant, varied wildlife, and exceptional avifauna.
The park has over 3000 elephants and we probably saw them all. Bird life was incredibly diverse. We saw hammerkops building their nests. Many birds of prey were also identified; for example, Verreaux's eagle owl, Bateleur eagle, African fish eagle, and the brown snake eagle.
Elephants captured most our attention but other species large and small were also identified. We saw numerous dwarf and banded mongoose poking their heads out of termite mounds and various antelopes such as the waterbuck, impala, and reedbuck grazing or browsing. While crossing one of the many tributaries that drain through the park, we identified a nile monitor lizard sunning itself on the rocks.
In addition to Tarangire's dense and varied wildlife, the park also provides wonderful vistas of Savannah grasslands interspersed with open acacia woodland studded with large Baobab trees. By mid-day it was impossibly hot -- the sun was unrelenting. We return to camp for lunch.
Following lunch, most of us spend a leisurely afternoon around camp talking with staff members and Maasai askari. We learn more Swahili phrases such as Mambo? Safi! which means What's up? Things are cool!, or Vipi? Poa! which is yet another way to ask What's up? and respond with Cool! to use when greeting friends. We take pictures, Polaroids, look at Vermont and Florida picture books and world atlas to pin point our hometowns, and pass out maple syrup. What a fun afternoon!
A "nature walk" with our Maasai askari Julius and Ngorongoro took up the rest of the afternoon. Julius and Ngorongoro taught us about various plants and how and when the Maasai use them for medicinal purposes. They also demonstrated the art of making fire by rubbing sticks together, using dried elephant dung and grass as fuel.
Back to camp for showers, then meet around the campfire for popcorn, followed by a delicious dinner. Some retire after dinner, others meet around the campfire, with hyenas calling in the valley, to exchange ideas about our respective cultures with our Maasai hosts. These cultural exchanges are the essence of foreign travel making this day a treasure to keep for a lifetime.
