July 8, 2005 We were glad that we did not have to use the whistle during the night. On our drive north to Lake Victoria we spotted a Cape Eland, which is the largest of the 74 species of antelope (the smallest being the dik-dik). We exited the national park and stopped for our potty break. There was an interesting sign indicating the mileage distances to different points. We entered the area where the largest tribe in Tanzania, the Sukumu, lives. We s...

July 7, 2005 Our game drive this morning started with viewing a male ostrich chasing a female. It was quite comical and amazing to see how fast they could run. Phebe provided commentary for this event. We thought the male was trying to catch the female to mate with her but apparently the mating ceremony is a very beautiful dance and he was just chasing her to help her ovulate. We drove a little bit further and found a cheetah in the grass but it was quite a...

July 6, 2005 Our game drive was started with an elephant setting. No matter how often we say, "No more elephant pictures!" we always seem to change our minds. Today's pack had some young babies. We saw other babies today as well. There were five baby giraffes in one herd and of course there were more adorable baboon babies hitching rides on their mother's backs. They look as though they were riding a horse, sitting upright in a saddle. We watched ...

July 5, 2005 Today there was no fog and it was quite a bit warmer as we headed on a road circumscribing the crater to depart our lodge. Every inch of road today was very dusty and bumpy. In the Ngorongoro Conservation area we saw many Maasai villages. In one area the perimeters were made of poles instead of the acacia thorns due to the lack of acacia trees in the area. We were awed by the vastness of the Serengeti plains before us. This is a very flat sh...

July 4, 2005 There was dense fog and it was very cold as we left our lodge for a game drive. We needed to descend the steep crater wall using a series of switchbacks. As soon as we broke beneath the fog bank we were greeted with a glorious sunrise that Phebe termed a "Hallelujah experience". Almost right off the bat we spotted a cheetah. Our driver jockeyed his position and it ended up crossing the road right in front of us. It was comical to see a j...