Whatever You Are Be A Good One: Take the road less traveled...

Tarangire Safari Lodge at Tarangire National Park in Tanzania is by far my new favorite place in the world. The gorgeous lodge sits on top of a bluff looking down into the National Park along the main river that runs through the area. In dry season, the river is the main source of water for animals and so while sitting in the relaxing, comfortable chairs drinking mango juice, you're able to see zebra, giraffe, hundreds of elephants, big cats drinking water and hunting, gazelle and countless other animals. In the wet season, you can still see many animals (in fact, I just watched a herd of elephant cross the river) but the concentration of animals is more spread out because there are more places they can get water from. Although not as many animals are in the one place, the land is green as far as the eye can see and is honestly one of the most breathtaking places I've ever seen.

We stayed in "tents" which had 2 beds, a bathroom and shower in them. My kind of roughing it :) We drove down here with a fellow teacher, John Lane who is pretty great, and reminds me of my brother so it was a fun weekend. We all just hung out at night, and during the day either relaxed or went on game drives. Robert Frost's quote "When two roads diverge, take the road less traveled" definitely rang true for us as we off roaded in Lane's rent-a-landrover to crazy, loosely traveled paths through the park to have some insane elephant encounters. We were within 20 meters (as close as 4 meters at times) to a herd of around 40 elephants in one of those encounters. At one point, the male bull who was alone on the opposite side of the road from the rest of the herd, turned towards us, trumpeted his trunk and postured like he was ready to charge. He was obviously not happy that we were so close to the rest of his herd, in addition to the 4-5 baby elephants running around (which are the cutest things I've ever seen). We witnessed teenage elephants rough-housing and wrestling with their trunks, baby elephants following their mothers, elephants using their trunks to break apart branches and almost got ran over by the giant bull.

Having the opportunity to make it to this lodge has been fantastic. Hearing the sounds, being able to see and smell a safari for one last time while in Africa is amazing. Looking out on this bluff makes me feel so small and at the same time a part of something so much greater. Nature is so immensely huge and intertwined and experiences like this really make me think about my place in this world and what I'm meant to do with the next 60 years of it! To look out and see a herd of elephants crossing a river on top of a bluff, while in Africa, I can't help but feel blessed and thankful that I can play a part. It's a serene feeling, and one that as corny as it may sound, but is good for the soul. I feel as if I should have the song "Circle of Life" playing in the background while reading/writing this ;)

I can't think of a way I would have rather spent my second to last weekend in Tanzania and last weekend with Ms. Laura. Only 3 days left before I fly out to Zanzibar to enjoy my last few days in Tanzania, and then back to the states. I say my goodbyes to my kiddos tomorrow since it's their last day of school before the term ends...definitely bittersweet.

If this experience in general has taught me one thing, it's been to take the road less traveled because trudging your own path always makes things a little more interesting :)

The "tents" we stayed in...