The pictures turned out in the opposide order... always a problem!
Pic 1: Me and my babies Wolfgang and Impolala in the landcruiser.
Pic 2: Dancing new years eve! Dr. Per, Clement and Modi in action!
Pic 3: The socalled sunset... a cloudy one.
Pic 4: This is how close the elephants were!!!
Pic 5: Lunch at Happy Days in Karatu.
I decided very spontaneously to go on a safari on new years eve. Bjørg and Vigdis planned this trip with Clement a long time, and at the last minute me, Per and Modi dragged along. Really glad I did since most people here at Haydom went to Zanzibar those days. We travelled early in the morning the 31st. Stopped for a nice lunch in Karatu before we were off to Tarangire national park. I have never seen so many elephants in my life. We probably saw more than 100. Also saw some lions, a leopard, storks and much more. In the evening we had a good and expensive dinner at the Tarangire safari lodge were Bjørg, Vigdis and Clement also were sleeping. The hotel was full so me, Per and Modi had to sleep in a tent out in the bush 7 km from the hotel. Luckily there was a guard with a gun. Really didn’t feel like being eaten by a hyena that night. I actually woke up in the middle of the night, I dreamt that a huge elephant was running toward our tent. Scary.
The new years celebration was good. Strangly all guests went to bed around 11pm except us. We were dancing with the staff at the hotel and shared champagne with them at midnight! Really nice evening actually! The next day we were woken up at 6am to watch the sunset. After that we went on another safari where Clement actually got us lost in the middle of nowhere. Pessimistic Kristin was sure we were going to run out of fuel and get eaten by elephants and hyenas out there. Luckily we made it! After that we drove the ladies to Arusha airport, they were off to Zanzibar. Me and my boys did some shopping, Modi visited his family, and then we drove to Clements parents in Karatu to stay the night there.
Next day we took the landcruiser back to Haydom. We bought some extra seats so we didn’t have to sit so crowded. Me, Modi and Clement shared a row of seats. But in the row behind us 3 adults and 5 children were sitting… on 3 seats. And one of the girls really wanted to sit next to the mzungu (it actually means white possum), and I also had her 3 months old brother in my lap on the trip! (Those storks really did a good job, went to Tarangire empty-handed, and I come home with a baby boy and a little girl!!)
All together it was a really nice trip! Even though I spent shitloads of money it was worth it. And now I cannot afford to fly from Haydom to Dodoma/Arusha…
