Safari Portraits

 We are home from safari in Tanzania and are recovering from jet lag. The three of us took about 5,000 pictures on two cameras and three cell phones. Bill took over 60 videos on his phone which he compiled into a 30 minute movie. I'll be sorting through my photos for days! Here are some of my favorite close ups.

Everyone wants to see the big cats on safari and we weren't disappointed. We saw more lions than we could count! This big boy was napping with his brother so close to the road we could hear him breathing!

 Lion cubs are the cutest! Julia decided she could be a lion because they sleep most of the day. Our guide taught us to be patient. Eventually, someone will wake up and do something interesting or at least open his eyes.

 Our guide really wanted me to see a cheetah on my birthday. Finally on the way out of the Serengeti, he spotted this beauty perched on a termite mound. We watched her (him?) stalk some prey, but she gave up after a short chase. There were a few lions not far away watching the action, hoping to steal dinner away from the cheetah.

I could watch zebras all day. I just think they are beautiful and fun.

We saw lots of pregnant mamas and cute babies. 

 

We were so close to some of the animals that I couldn't fit them into the frame of the photo!

 

Giraffes are goofy and gorgeous at the same time.

Impala are just too cool.

We had several magical elephant encounters. 

 

Can you even stand the cuteness?

 

 Being this close to buffaloes is slightly terrifying.

The hippos have to show you how big and mean they are.

 

I hope you enjoyed this little sample of our trip. I'll have more for you soon.

Traveling to Tanzania

Good morning from Tanzania! I'm posting from the balcony of our room at the African Tulip in Arusha. Julia will be joining us in about an hour, so I'm a little excited! 

Let me go back and start at the beginning. We left home a little after 10am Friday to drive to JFK. Luckily, traffic wasn't bad and we arrived at the gate 3 hours before the flight. 

I had prepared my sewing kit with some parts for a Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses quilt, so I kept busy with that. A lovely woman from the UK asked me about it and wished she had thought to bring her cross stitch. 

The flight from NY to Amsterdam was long, but uneventful. I watched two movies, ate two meals, and slept for about an hour. 

We had about a 3 hour layover in the frigid Amsterdam airport. Poor Bill was a Popsicle by the time we left. Walking to our gate, we passed a shop selling Dutch bulbs. They had amaryllis bulbs as big as my head! I'm definitely buying one on the way home. I hope I can get it through customs. 

Flying to Tanzania during the day was fun. I stitched while Bill slept. When he woke up we were flying over Egypt. He took a bunch of pictures of the Nile (they are on the big camera) and he was pretty excited when we crossed the equator. I watched two more movies, ate two more meals, and finished a Lucy Boston block. 

A full moon guided us into Tanzania. We were lucky to catch a glimpse of mount Kilimanjaro. We were greeted at the airport by our guide for the week, Cornell, short for Cornelius. He got us settled at the hotel and we made plans for today. 

I was happy to get a good night's sleep last night. My breakfast was fine, but something didn't agree with Bill. 

As we chill on the balcony waiting for Julia, we can hear a marching band playing a few blocks away! We can see the hotel entrance, so I think we'll wait right here...