Gray Sky Morning : Today, woke up early for breakfast, then raveled to Arusha National Park. But, prior to this, a large water buck pranced through the lodge! These are the spontaneous moments I live for. Brooke saw him take a dive through the pool first. Anyway, I hopped into the safari vehicle with Mi’chel, Nicole, and Christina, driven by Elisa. It was an invigorating day on safari. Meryl couldn’t join us because she was sick, so Brooke stayed behind with her at the lodge leaving us in “good hands.” This definitely had an impact on the morning, and I think our hearts sunk a little because it could have been any one of us that was sick. But she has a mountain of a medicine bag, very well equipped. The morning and afternoon it was kind of grey and cloudy. These are my favorite days to photograph. (grey, clouds, haze, fog, the elements... you name it!) Nicole (Brooke's best friend traveling with us college students!) spotted three giraffe right in front of us! I was able to walk close and really “see” the giraffe! Spokes of light emanated from tiny stars deep in his eyes. I truly enjoy the first gray of early morning. Let me just close and say I really bonded and enjoyed the peaceful presence of the giraffe. I look for him and find him still anywhere, in any distance, in any gray.

*additonal first day safari notes*

We did so much more than cruise through the foresty-like park standing up with the rooftop of the LandRovers open and watch monkeys soar from trees and bark at one another as they ran across the road. We finally saw a huge lake of flamingo, and soon these beautiful (exotic!) black crowned cranes, as we made our way down to a salty lake to go canoeing, and possibly approach animals on the shore to photograph them from the water!
Never been canoeing before, seriously this trip is all "firsts" for me! So, I ended up in a canoe with one of the guides (not one of ours, Jackson or Elisa, so sadly I don't know his name), and he was such a smart teacher! He spoke rapid Swahili across the water to the other guide, who was canoeing with Christina. I really loved this guide though, he was encouraging and told me I did "really good" and he didn't know I'd never canoed before. He asked me what I wanted to see, and broke out in laughter when I told him I'd love to see a snake. Now that would be true Africa! ...he seemed surprised! But he actually kept us closer to the shore than the other canoes, I believe, and actually as if he were looking out for snakes! We saw a deer, and a hidden buffalo that was in the grass. Surprisingly I never was tired while paddling, but I had a feeling once the excitement wore down I'd just wanna go to sleep at the end of the day!



-Once back in the Rover, everyone was pretty exhausted. We cruised for animals on the way out, and saw the carnivorous Hyena! He was hurt, limping, in fact.



Our initial view after entering the park. See--cloudy!