22 March 2012

Safari–Journey to the Serengeti

The most idyllic moment of my life occurred on this morning.  It makes me sad that my limited narrative skills will rob the recounting.  But, for the sake of memory, I’ll do my best.
I think it rather fortuitous that I woke up early that morning.  Nick was still asleep, the vents on the tent were rolled back, and I could see Africa all around.  The night before gave no hint that we had such a fantastic view.  I quietly crept out to the deck and saw this:IMG_8684
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I love showering.  It’s probably my favorite thing to do.  One of my favorite things at least.  And sometimes I feel weird to say that I went all the way to Africa and went on Safari and my favorite memory is this outdoor shower.  But it’s just the truth and I can’t deny it. 
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While I showered the sun came up, the mists rolled away, and wowza.  I’m just not doing it justice.  Chelsea?  Amy?  Want to tackle this one for me?  Could you write it out all pretty like?
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A nice guy brought us hot cocoa and cookies so we sat and looked at the view.
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Here we are at breakfast.  I wrote this note in my journal:
8:04 am  Out of the corner of my eye I notice Mark discreetly spit his coffee back into his cup.  It was salt, not sugar, he added.
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This is a random picture to include in a safari journal, but Angie french braided my hair for me, and it was the first time I’d had that done since I was like, 10 or something.  That’s 18 years french-braidless ended, just like that.
I remember at breakfast I kept raving about the fantastic shower, and asking everyone if they had had such a fantastic shower, and my goodness, did you shower this morning? Wasn’t it the best shower ever conceived?  I noticed Jeanette didn’t look as thrilled as I thought one should look after a shower experience like that, and Martin quietly informed me that their shower hadn’t had any hot water.  Poor, poor, poor Jeanette.  It really was the shower of a lifetime.
We said goodbye to Oliver’s camp, piled in our Land Cruisers, and set off back thru Tarangire. 
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Today I got to be in Mama Empey’s car.  I was excited.  IMG_8726
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There are a lot of pretty birds in Tanzania.  All these amazing bird photos are from Martin.
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We ate lunch on the road since we had a bit of a trip to our tented camp in the Serengeti.  Here is my delicious boxed lunch.  Sometimes I still think about this lunch and wish I could have it again.  It was sooooooooooo (repeat for 15 seconds) nice to have all my meals prepared.  I mean, yeah.  Nice.  So savory.  I ate it all.  And then I ate the parts that other people didn’t want to eat.
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Okay, I’ma have to stop here for today.  I really wanted to get all of this day finished, but I might go blogging crazy.  So it ends here folks.  I’ll pick up after lunch next time. 
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5 comments:

Kim Davis said...

It's on my photography bucket list to photograph one of those African trees. Oh man...the thought of being able to take those pictures...and then to top it off with a shower like that. No words.

Kim Davis said...

Wait, were you in Africa? Is that tree really African?

Kayli said...

This is amazing Nicole!!! So so amazing.
Looove the picture of giraffes crossing the road. Giraffes just might be my favorite safari animal.

However, my favorite part of this post was "That’s 18 years french-braidless ended, just like that." Awesome.

Also, if you want to write a really amazing description, it's all in the similes. Something like... the shower was like a delicious blanket of hot fudge sauce for my soul.
Yep.

kelley said...

Since I grew up a tom-boy and didn't grow my hair out until I was 12, I have never in my life had my hair french-braided. Maybe we should have a slumber party, play MASH and french-braid our hair.
I love taking a shower at beach houses in those outdoor showers. There is something totally cool about being able to see the sky. I can't even imagine how much cooler it was in Africa.
Btw, whenever I read these Africa posts, I start singing "Africa" by Toto in my head.

Amy Rose said...

Sounds much better than the showering experience in Maine. For some reason half the photos didn't load, so I'll have to come back and look at this again.