Recently in Ruaha

Almost every tourist who comes to Tanzania makes three stops: Serengeti Park, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar. These are the "biggies," with scenes straight out of Hemingway novels and National Geographic magazines. They're also in more accessible parts of the country, the North and Coast.

To see where I live, in Southern Tanzania's highlands, tourists must spend a valuable day or two on the road. For that reason, they don't come. Foreigners in Iringa remain a novelty. Here's a typical view of the Southern Highlands:

Last week, I was reminded of this seclusion when I went on a safari in Ruaha National Park with my Japanese friend Shingo (who I have referred to as Neck as his name is Swahili for Neck). Shingo and I drove through the park for two days and saw just two other vehicles.

The safari was Shingo's idea and he prepared with panache. In honor of Japan, we molded rice balls and steamed okra for lunch. Here are the rice ball making supplies.

This a completed rice ball. You just put sushi paper on the bottom and - voila - tasty goodness.

We packed up the rice balls and other materials and drove into the park. This is where we stopped for lunch. It's on the banks of a river full of flubby, bubbling, belching hippos.

Another view from the lunch stop:

In order to get a good view, we popped open the roof of the truck and stood on our seats. Like this:

And then we realized how infintely more fun it was to sit on top of the truck, like this:

It was like a safari roller coaster! Here's a picture I took while sitting on the top of the truck (still nowhere near as tall as this giraffe): Later, the rain came. You can see the rain in left side of the photo below. Shingo was kinda bummed about the rain. To cheer him up - and in honor of America - I insisted that we start singing songs by his favorite performer, Madonna. So the rain poured down and Shingo and I stayed on top of the truck singing Karaoke versions of Rain, Ray of Light, Lucky Star and Jump.

It was Karaoke on safari! Midway through Lucky Star, Shingo pointed out that Karaoke is a Japanese tradition. In fact, the word Karaoke is Japanese for "singing without orchestra" or "empty bucket." Ah, how cultures can collide in the middle of rural Africa.

After the rain, we returned to a campsite and watched the moon rise. I had never seen a moonrise and it made my heart stop. In the middle of the night, an adult male elephant stopped by our banda while grazing. This too was a first-time experience. My heart stopped again and I'm pretty sure I peed in my pants. Nevertheless, it was incredible.

Here's a photo of me. The only one from the day. I'll try to get better about putting pics of myself on here, per some of your requests. :)

xo

Shannon