just a quick quick quickie to say i'm in bagamoyo, the o.g. capital of tanzania for a beach weekend. filled with lights going out for a day and no disco, long bike ride to ruins and museum, no cell phone n feel like being ripped of home bc of it!, some overcast weather (perfect for beach weekend!), and rude german woman i wanted to kill! ok, those i the highlights. more details v. soon.

with love,
ar.

hi all, know it's been awhile. i have written (so read old posts), but they hate me n are having problems posting. good times. i mean if there weren't even a little mini drama in my life who would i be? what would my identity be?:) just finished talking to my honey so i'm in great spirits. yeah for hunny!:)

so i went on safari...serengeti national park, ngorgoro crater, and lake manyara. they were all national parks, we camped (my favorite!), woke up to watch the sunset, campfire, talked with lots of new people, and enjoyed the bumpy road to see lions, zebras, gazelles, impalas, elephants, giraffes, vultures, buffalos, wildebeasts, worthogs (did you know that worthogs are called pumbas, friends are called rafiki, and lions are called simbas-not just my niece's dog, but also the disney lion king!). anyways, it was amazing! not to mention, we saw lions feasting on a zebra and also on a wildebeast. so cool!!!! the scenary was breathtaking and the best part was it changed so much. some parts it was like rainforest, oh i almost forgot all the different types of monkeys-baboons, blue balled monkeys, and black monkeys, so cute!!! anyways, they was prarie, beautiful acacia and fig trees, mountains with brown earth and red earth. the best part is standing up in the car and taking it all in like that. oh, we saw hippos too, they're huge! oh my god, and crocodiles, so scary!

can't convey and pix are not uploading, but when i get home i'll hook you all up, promise. our guide totally sucked and didn't tell us anything, but it was still beautiful. we learned things with other guys while camping and then i went on a walking safari by myself (well, with a guide of course) to the foothills of mt. meru in arusha. now that was hard! started at 9 am and didn't get back 'til 7pm. could barely walk when returned bc all that damn hills. besides rosarito bike ride, the hardest physical challenge ive accomplished. we saw the entire city, went to see where the Masai lives, walked with cows and goats, and walked in a river (i love rivers, although freezing) saw the most amazing waterfalls.....fantasy island all the way.

bad trip back alone and was bitter and frustrated, but it's life, my life here sometimes anyways and you move on. back with the kids and they're wonderful. i missed them when i was away.

more for later....lots o love!

'greetings from lake victoria, the 2nd largest lake in the world. going on safari on a couple of days to serengeti, arusha, and ngorogoro. so excited! came here with three danish girls and an american guy and met up with two doctors from holland. it was cool, we went to their little village where they are working and toured their little underdeveloped hospital. it was like "niagra en bicicleta" by juan luis guerra for all you merengue fans!:)all the people were so nice, they thought we were doctors too! that's where we saw our first rainbow lizard, so cool! they made a lovely garden picnic for us. it was so sweet! that was of course after being on the bus for 6 hours to the dodoma, the capital, and then the train for 26 hrs! yeah, and we could only lie down, we couldn't sit! the best part was we missed our stop, losers! and had to go by taxi the next day. we saw lots of goats n cows along the way.

anyways, here in mwanza we have been touring the lake and we took this little boat to an island that could've been jurassic park. deserted, it's called saa nane game reserve, but no one was there when we went and then we saw some impala (kinda like a gazelle) in the bushes. it's this very green place with these huge boulders and very popular for bird watching. sound exciting yet? it was really relaxing and the lake is like an ocean and you know i love the ocean! we saw a baby crocodile in the lake and had some good laughs over that one. sadly no one jumped in to see if there were any bigger crocodiles...oh well. there was adventure to be had, as there was a caged lion and we got to give it water. yes folks, i have water to a lion! everyone else also petted it, but i was too scared! can't help it, i'm a scaredy cat. wish me luck on the next leg in the journey which is safari for 4 days. we will be camping too, so that will add an extra adventure. yes, i will be careful, promise.

also, happy birthday to my mom today and claudia tomorrow. my parents and sister in law are helping me with this other drama going on that i won't go into, but will just say that it really helps to have a very supportive family. love them!

much love to all and hlep to be in touch soon!