Last weekend Joel drove Me, Bryant, Eric, Laura, and Charlie (Eric and Laura's 18mo) to Arusha national park, which is about 1/2 hour from our house, though it took about 45 minutes because they have installed approximately 24 large speed bumps on either side of a bridge on the Arusha-Nairobi road after a recent medium-sized bus accident killed 16 people. Ok, I exaggerate there may have been 4-8 speed bumps on either side, but it was slowing traffic down significantly. (Which I'm sure was the goal. I hope the families of the 16 fatalities feel better now.) Anyway, in one day we saw a lot. We saw the elusive colubus monkey (but I didn't get a great picture) and some baboons, we saw a crater and 2 kinds of lakes. We saw some giraffes, zebra, water buck, gazelles, warthogs, flamingos and a bunch of other birds. It was really a fun day. Charlie was amazingly well behaved for an 18 mo old - he was curious but polite and never got upset or tantrumey although we spent at least 6 hours driving. Pictures follow, plus a few of Zanzibar. . .

Me + Giant water buffalo skull + alkaline lake:


Flamingos in the alkaline lake:


The regular lake at the park:The Meru Crater at the park:Me on the beach at Matemwae:
One more beach picture - the view of the seaweed harvesting at Matemwe: