Zebra Tails from Ngorongoro Crater.

Here is a hilarious wave of Jambo from a group of zebras in Tanzania. What do you call a group of zebras, maybe tail wavers? Check out the video from the crater.

Any way, these guys are giving us all a good good-bye!

The Road to Lusaka

Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, was at one time the headquarters for the African National Congress (ANC). The road passes through many small and large villages that have very busy markets. Interestingly the schools are mostly empty, this day anyway.













One suggested reason for this is the famous Washington Consesus and the International Monetary Fund's requirements for loan refinance. This requirement forced all nations wanting loans to end free education and free health care. As a result the vast majority of folks living on $1.25 per day cannot afford to send their children to school.











An empty school with a young possible student herding goats.
















Here you see a manual water pump beneath a power pole with no wires.

Lions at Play

This was a pair of very hungry lions. You can see their ribs sticking out where there should be fat bellies like the pair of brothers we saw later in the day.




But that did not stop this frisky male from having a good roll in the dust.













Here you can see the brothers that were much closer to the herds of antelope and buffalos. There was a funny moment that I completely missed where two bull buffalos ran the more adventurous lion back towards us.
















No ribs showing on these guys!

Talking with Africans

Conversations started in the market, on the road, or on the street can lead to surprising responses. To greet some one with, "Jambo, jabari gani?" (Hello, how are you?), gets a big smile and, "Jambo, nzuri sana (Hello, I am well)".









However, conversations that start with "do you have pens, do you have money, here I give you this bracelet" often end in disappointingly antagonistic responses to, "no I don't have any."













One man said to me, "Take my daughter to America and educate her." He was very upset when I refused him. He told me I didn't care about his daughter, trying to make me feel guilty. I wondered after I finally walked away from him whether he even had a daughter and just wanted to pocket some money.
These Maasai definitely wanted to pocket some money.






This village in Botswana was where I bought the bag of dried Mopani Tree worms. They gave us a nice welcome after we gave them 15,000 Tanzanian Shillings. Then they put on the hard sell. Lisbeth, a young Norwegian, gave the ask for price of $40 for a $10 Maasai blanket.

Malawi Villages

Every turn in the road in Malawi is another village. This the poorest country in Africa is not surprisingly also the most densely populated country.








These are not the rural villages of Botswana and Zambia. These are the garbage filled slums of the cities of Africa stuck in a rural setting.





This country's population is almost 30% HIV positive!




The people for the most part, instead of waving at folks passing by, have their hands out begging.

Aren't Warthogs Cool

I just love these guys popping up in the grass, staring, and racing off with their tails held high.

Baboons and Hyenas

Hyenas and baboons for many reasons are the most disliked mammals in Southern and Eastern Africa. The baboons were sitting waiting for any chance to get into vehicles at the Cape in South Africa. The critters have a reputation for stealing food and other fun things at any opportunity. We of course have given them these opportunities.









The hyenas are thought to be extremely sneaky. Ernest Hemingway says of them in "Green Hills of Africa" that they will bite your face off if given half a chance. It is also true that hyenas along with Cheetahs, Wild Dogs, and Leopards a make many of their own kills only to lose them to that supreme scavenger the Lion.





My impressions were entirely different. I observed several generations of hyenas playing together with abandon. These guys have incredibly powerful jaws capable of crushing most bones.









A large troop of baboons crossed the road in front of us with the guidance and watchful eye of the boss male baboon. Every youngster, every female with a baby crossed the road before he did. This is a very well organized community.

Elephant Rehab 2

The babies fed and watered were lead off into the bush for afternoon naps, and the one to four year old juveniles rushed in for their milk and water.





One of these youngsters was 2 years old when the poachers killed her mother. She was so traumatized by that tragedy that she is still, 2 years later, quite frightened of all humans.

Elephant Rehab

Not far from the Blixen place is a Kenyan National Park with an elephant rehab center. Shortly after arriving a group 7 of very young elephants all under 3 months came trotting out of the bush with their handlers. The were draw to us by 5 liter baby bottles filled with milk sitting on the ground They each slurped 2 of these down in less than 5 minutes!






















The satiated youngsters then treated themselves to water. Those less than 3 weeks old were very comical because they had not yet learned to control their trunks.









After water it was tim to roll in the red mud!!














The hope at this rehab is to return all of these youngsters to the wild. Most had lost their mothers to poachers.