The pre- Safari Safari

 We met the first two members of the group the first night, Cathy and Susan. The next arrived the following night and we met them at breakfast. 

We'd deliberately come a day early to acclimate to the time change and rest before starting the safari.  That first night, we arrived close to midnight, and to our surprise were served a complete dinner. We chose parrotfish, and also had cream of cauliflour soup, and a flan for dessert. All was delicious. 

The next day we hired a driver and guide to take us to the local twice weekly market. We've been to many markets in many countries. This one was quite expansive, with largely produce, of which there was an incredible variety. We didn't see any other foreigners, nor were there many people buying things. It made us wonder what the vendors did with all the produce they didn't sell. Many came in by bus from outlying areas, and I also wondered how they were able to carry all that they sold. The great majority were women, some with young children who might have been their grandchildren.

The piles of produce were beautifully arranged in small piles, which Loring thought were arranged in advance to be a certain weight. We saw carrots, melons, many kinds of beans, much more.  I noticed thin green beans, even thinneer than the wonderful French haricots vert, and asked if I could try one. Our guide looked puzzled when I bit into it, astonished that we would eat them raw.  I didn't try to explain what veggies and dips were, but Loring explained that we often ate a lot of them when we were preparing to cook them. I wonder if he will try at home. Probably not. 

There were other areas of the market that sold clothing, and some that had shoes, both new ones and used. They were also artfully arranged.

One thing I didn't see were small restaurantas within the market for the vendors and locals and anyone else. We have seen them in many places in the past, but I didn't notice any here. 

Throughout the market people were friendly and said "Jambo" which means hello.  I knew that, probably the only word in Swahili that I knew, because years ago, when I was managing a children's bookstore, we had a book titled "Jambo Means Hello." Funny the things that stick in one's mind. 

The breakfasts here have been delicious and copious, at both places we've stayed. We've hardly needed lunches. But we were served them, boxed lunches with more than I could eat. I am still full from today's lunch, and it's almost time for supper. The lunches have been different each day, one day a beef stew with rice, plus fruit, juice, chips, chocolate bars, more. Another spaghetti with sauce, with as many accoutrements, and one day sandwiches with a  good filling that I couldn't place. 

Each day we set off at 8am after breakfast, and the first day drove to Tangire National Park, where we stayed two nights in a lodge, in tents. The tents were quite fancy, with bedroom and bathroom, and shower, and electricity. To us it seemed like glamping. But one of our fellow travellers was very excited because she had never slept in a tent before.

 The shower was the most interesting part. We each had a helper, a young man who brought hot water to mix with the cold when we asked him to. He stood outside the tent and hoisted up the bucket with a pulley. It was actually quite a good shower, strong and a perfect temperature. 

At night the men escorted us to our tents after dinner. They were pretty spread out, you couldn't see one from another, or hear others.

The first night two of our fellow travellers camae to dinner asking who was in tent !2. That was us. They said there had been a lion right outside our tent. But we'd already been up to dinner and didn't see it. But another couple came up rather late, and explained that the lion had been sitting  calmly outside their tent for almost an hour, and they sat there watching it until it moved along. 

Too bad we missed it. But that doesn't mean we missed seeing wildlife close up. We had an incredible first day, beyond anyone's expectations. I will stop here and describe it in the next post, because it's almost time for dinner. It's also time for Dolly to arrive to join us, along with the rest of the group.