Here we go again...

We have just confirmed the Tanzanian Environments program for Summer 2013! It's very exciting to be on to more adventures and on days like these I feel incredibly fortunate to have the position I do. I'll try to keep posts short and interesting for any of you who followed the last summer program and want to hear about what this group is up to.

For those of you who were following last year's students with vicarious envy you may be excited to learn that I'm working with WWU to plan a community travel program for 2014. This program will focus on learning about Tanzania's nature and culture through travel experiences without the coursework component of the Study Abroad program.

Safari Njema (safe travels)! Tim

Serengeti: Lions, lions, lions

We had a bumper crop of lions this morning in the Serengeti, including seeing a female lion chase and kill an immature gazelle and then bring it to her cubs. After even more lion viewing we left the Serengeti via Nabi Hill and stopped at Oldupai (not Olduvai as frequently misspelled) Gorge before arriving at Ngorongoro Crater. We are camped on the cold hard ground once more but we did get out for a final goodbye dinner at Serena Safari Lodge, a posh place on the crater rim.

Tomorrow we leave early for a game drive in the famous crater and then leave immediately after lunch to make it to the airport where most of our group will fly back home.

Too soon, too soon! But our memories will endure...

Momma bringing home the bacon (gazelle bacon, in this case)

Just traveling along with the pride...

A posh meal for our final  night together

The Milky Way shines brightly overhead from Simba Camp on Ngorongoro Crater rim

More Serengeti

This afternoon we saw some great sights, though not as famous as the carnivores still plenty interesting!

At the hippo pool

Hippo fight!

Morning game drive

We continued our streak of seeing a lot of animals today on our morning game drive, waking up at 5:30 and departing just before dawn. We went back to visit our family of lions but also saw leopard, cheetah (distantly), and some other great sights. Here they are in the order we saw them, with lots of other spottings omitted!

We will go out again this afternoon before returning to another night at the amazing Halisi Camp. Then tomorrow we make our way to good old tent-and-sleeping-bag camping on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. The day in the crater is our last day, most students fly home that evening! What a trip it has been.

Land hippos!

Dik-dik, a tiny antelope

Juvenile lions waiting in the grass

A leopard sits in the shade under her kill stashed high above

Serengeti afternoon and evening

Dinner at Halisi Camp

In Serengeti

We awoke early this morning and got right on the road from Wasso to Klein's Entrance to the northern Serengeti. Things went great! We were inside the park by 10 AM and saw a ton of game by noon.

We are at our campsite now (I had a bit of a surprise for the students as we are staying at a much nicer camp for two nights than in the rest of our itinerary) resting during the heat of the day. We will leave soon for an afternoon game drive.

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

On the 16th we took a walk to the shores of Lake Manyara, where flocks of flamingos (both lesser and greater) were abundant offshore:

 The morning of the 17th started with a walk to the shores of Lake Natron, here Ol Doinyo Lengai serves as a backdrop to our walk:

That afternoon we took a walk from Engaresero village up a narrow gorge to a series of waterfalls. Our Maasai guides were extremely helpful in getting us through the deep water and steep rock sections.

Finally in the Serengeti, getting up close with the wildlife. See if you can spot the elephant in this picture:

Nearly to Serengeti

Hello all, after much driving we are camped at the village of Wasso,
Tanzania, about 2 hours from the northeastern entrance to Serengeti
park. Our itinerary had called for us to spend tonight inside the park
but unfortunately our supply vehicle had a problem with the master
cylinder that took a few hours to repair. We turned around to meet it
instead of sleeping in the Serengeti without tents!!

We are on the way there first thing tomorrow morning. We have had a
couple exciting days at Lake Manyara and Lake Natron/Engaresero.
Pictures coming soon we hope!