Living "The Lion King": Part 3

After the long day of animal-spotting, we were exhausted to say the least, though I'm not sure what from as we were sitting in the vehicle all day, and I promise you none of us got out of the vehicle to run with the zebras or anything... maybe it was running from the elephant that did it... Ummmm, let's just leave it at we were exhausted. As the day came to a close and the hum of the truck lulled our sleepy selves in and out of napping consciousness, a few of us were coherent enough on the drive home from the crater to watch the most beautiful sunset - so soft and pretty with streaks of every shade of yellow, orange, red, pink, blue, purple, all encircling the blazing African sun and silhouettes of the dusty, rugged mountains. *sigh.

But before you get too romanticized with the view, remember that in some parts of Tanzania, giraffes are a lot like deer in Minnesota where they just run out across the road in front of your vehicle. Kind of like one did on our way back!! We were all dozing and watching this unforgettable sunset when all of a sudden, one of the girls screamed, "Giraffe!" and our driver slammed on the brakes just in time as this huge giraffe ran probably 10 yards (that seems to be the closest distance we ever get to these animals!) in front of our truck. The giraffe got across the road oh-so-gracefully, then stopped running and did the classic "Giraffe in Africa" pose, complete with the head turn and pause. It was one of the coolest but most bizarre parts of the entire day. After he'd had enough pictures taken, the giraffe took off running again. Where he was going, we may never know...

*The above picture isn't of this particular giraffe but one we saw on our way to the hostel we stayed at the day prior. Giraffes aren't in the crater basin because the vegetation isn't suited for them, so that's why it was such a treat to see them at all (although I'm sure the giraffe would have appreciated circumstances besides us almost hitting him...).

So there you have it, one of the many touristy things we did while in Arusha! Sorry it took so long to post about it, but it's difficult to find wireless connection here that is stable enough to follow through with posting pictures. Hope you enjoyed this adventure and are looking forward to many more!