Well, I made another book.
This is a scrapbook that I made for my Aunt Carol and Uncle Boyd because they were so awesome to take us to Africa!
 
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!
 
Today we went to the children's home! This was our last day there. We did a bit of square dancing while I played the accordion, we did a relay race (which didn't really work out), and we taught them how to read music! At the end we handed out cookies and everyone LOVED them. Everyone here in Tanzania has never tried cookies before, so every time we hand them out, people would go nuts over them
This is us in front of the gate...


 
Today, I went to the children's home! This time we were able to sneak a few pictures...
Everyone got haircuts. All the girls and all the boys were completely bald.
This is friendship tag






And hey! Here's a picture of Ally and I at the shabiby supermarket!
 
Today, we went to the children's home (again). On our way over there, our taxi driver got a little lost, and we happened to run into another one of our taxi drivers that has taken us back from the children's home. He talked to our current taxi driver and told him where to go... What are the chances??
At the children's home, we split up into groups and one group went into another room with Carol to do music, and our group went into a large room to do art with Ally and I. It was fun!! Who wouldn't want to do art with cute kids for 2 hours?


Here's a song that they made. Watoto means children
 

Today I was a baker.

I baked some ridiculous rolls, and stupendous scones 



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