Here's a picture that I drew of an elephant with a saxophone trunk..
 
Here is a video that I have been working on for 1,000 hours...

 
Today I gave sand painting a try. It was actually really easy. All I needed was sand and food coloring. I took a little bit of sand from my zen garden table... 
At first I tried making a little contraption to pour the sand for me. I used an old sand timer from a game and sawed off the end. I figured it would work pretty well because it comes out evenly. 


It did not work at all.


I ended up just using my finger to push the sand around.
Question of the day: What the heck do you do with a finished sand painting?
 
This is a paper making machine! I've always wanted to make my own paper, but  the one's online were way too expensive... So I decided to make one!


All it consists of is 4 pieces of wood nailed together in a rectangle the size of printer paper, a plastic grate, and some mesh. 


It makes pretty good paper, but it is hard to write on it. 
 
Hello everybody. 


I'm leaving to go home monday morning at 2 am. 
I'm kind of actually excited. 
I hope you continue to follow my blog
And I hope that those of you who hate hearing about my Africa trip will start following me again.
And for those of you who had no idea I had a blog before Africa... I make stuff... and then post it...


yeah


I think I've said enough

 
Today I went on a cruise.
But actually not really. I rode on a boat to get to an island around Dar. We got on the beach and ate some food that we brought under a shade umbrella and on some chairs. Then, the guy in charge came up to us, and told us that we would have to rent the chairs we were sitting on. And the shade umbrella that we were sitting under. It was 3 dollars an hour for the umbrella, and 1 dollar an hour for the chairs.
We decided to go for some free shade under a tree instead. There were only about 15 other people the island, so I guess they were a little desperate for money...

We explored the more remote part of the island. We hiked around in the thick woods. It was amazing! There were huge rocks all over the trail. It almost looked like lava rock, but we observed it more closely, and figured out that it was coral! This whole island used to be a coral reef!
After walking across the length of the island, we took one of the pathways leading off the main trail. We discovered a hidden beach with broken up coral and shells all along the shore. I had never seen so many intact sea shells in my life! They still had hinges and you could open and close them. Not many people had been on that beach. It was kind of our own little discovery
I was happy for an adventurous day.
 

Today I went on another safari.

I saw colobus monkeys, blue monkeys baboons, flamingos, buffalo, and a waterfall.
We actually went on a walking hike with a guide and he had a gun just in case an animal attacked us. That was pretty fun. I like hiking. It's fun. 
Good times in Africa.
 

Today I went on a safari.

After being in Africa for 3 weeks, I have finally seen some animals! It was amazing. My favorite animals were the elephants...

They are just so giant!! I don't know how the heck they get around.

We saw a few giraffes. It was funny to watch them stretch for the trees.


Pumbas!


Here are some zebras next to a baobao tree. There were a lot of zebras, so after the first few sightings, we didn't stop anymore.
We were lucky to see so many animals. And we even saw some lions, which is pretty rare. Especially up this close... they walked right in front of our truck!
I loved the safari! We were able to see a lot of animals up close. The only thing that I was disappointed in, was that I didn't see a lion kill. Yeah, but our guide said that he's only seen it a few times over the many years that he has worked. 
 
There is nothing better than a 9 hour bus ride in Tanzania.
 

Today, I had the best experience ever

A professor that Carol knows did a research project on the Kigogo music, so he took us to experience it. The village people treated us like kings! They had a nice little shade area with chairs, and they played for quite awhile. After the performance, they made food for us. They took us inside a small hut, and we sat on the floor. A man came around with water and let us wash our hands. 
The girl to the left of Carol is Francesca. She is our italian friend that allowed us to visit the children's home this past week. She knows how to speak italian, english, swahili, and japanese! She is awesome!



I have videos, so I will post them as soon as I get home.





And hey! I have a new blog design! 

New look, same great taste!