Safari Ngorongoro (Elsa)

On 26th October 2016 my family and I went to Ngorongoro Crater National Park. It took the whole day to drive from Serengeti to Ngorongoro. We had to check out of Serengeti at the visitor’s center so we can go to Ngorongoro. When we got there it was about dinner time, but lot of cars filled with people were coming to sleep in their tents. When it was bed time it was really cold so that I could not go to sleep. At midnight I heard zebras walking and passing my family’s tent. 

At 5 o’clock we woke up to go in the crater so we can see a Black Rhino. As we were going to eat our breakfast someone yelled, “Rhino, rhino, rhino!” so we hopped in the car and we drove fast to see the Black Rhino. The rhino was running away from people taking pictures of it. The Black Rhino was cool to see. We got lucky and got to see a Black Rhino in the wild. People pretty much never get to see them. On safari you can see animals you haven’t ever seen before, unlike the zoo. 

This is the Black Rhino.

Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater National Parks (Ashagre)

On Wednesday we awoke and had breakfast. We drove and saw lions walking in the middle of nowhere. Then we got on a different path that took us to the lions. The lions sat under a tree that was too small for them. This was the closest lion picture I got. I slept on the way to our next campsite. The camp was not what I was thinking it would be. We did our homework and had dinner. We got ready for bed.

On Thursday we were driving to have a picnic in Ngorongoro Crater. We were getting the breakfast ready so we could eat but somebody shouted, “rhino!” So we put the food back and got in the car. We raced to see the rhino. Dad took a picture of mom holding the plates with food on it. We saw the rhino hiding. I took two pictures until my tablet was low on batteries so I couldn’t take anymore pictures. After that we went back to the picnic spot. When we were heading back I thought I saw a rhino but it was buffalo. Then we had a peaceful breakfast.

Serengeti National Park (Ashagre)

On Tuesday we awoke and got ready for the day. We had breakfast. In Tanzania they eat a lot of meat. The new animals that we saw were a crocodile and hippopotamus. Then we saw a whole bunch of cars looking at something. When we got close the people were looking at lions. There were a lot of female lions and cubs. Then we saw a male lion eating something which we couldn’t tell what it was. The female lions came close to people’s cars. I took a lot of pictures. Then there was a female lion and her cubs walking to where the male lion was because they were hungry. We went back to the campsite and had lunch. When lunch was done we did our homework. 

We got back to where the lions were. I tried to take a picture of the male lion but there was too much shadow. The female lion and some cubs tried to get some of the zebra but the male wouldn’t let them. If they tried he would make noise. We went away for a while. When we came back the meat was almost done. An elephant came and made the male lion get up. I took advantage and took pictures because it wasn’t too shadowy. The cubs and females went away. Then the cubs and lions came back. The male lion got up and walked a little ways. One of the females ate a little before the male saw. He ran toward her and she backed away. I took a video of of the lion peeing and one of the cubs came up to him and sniffed his butt. Then lion grabbed the zebra that was almost done and the cubs grabbed the leg too. The male lion stopped and pulled on it. Then it snapped and the lion walked away with with the zebra’s head. The female grabbed the bone that had meat on it and sat down. 

Safari Serengeti 2 (Elsa)

On 25 October 2016, my family, driver and the cook were in Serengeti National Park. We hopped in the car right after breakfast. We saw zebras, impalas and gazelles. A couple minutes later we saw a lion eating an animal, but there were a lot of cars with people. Then we moved on to see other types of animals and we saw a leopard on a tree with meat on the branch. Then we saw a hyena, elephants, giraffes, a crocodile, hippos, buffalos, zebras and other types of animals. Right after lunch we had a resting time until four o’clock and we went down to do our homework. Ashagre did his math while I did my writing homework. We put my writing down in my mom’s computer and edited. 

We went back to do more safari, and we saw the same lions from the morning eating a zebra. When the male lion was going to the bathroom the female lion was going to eat the zebra. A cub was eating the zebra when the male lion ran back to the female lion and the cub so he could get the food all to himself. The female and the male lion split the zebra apart so they each got a piece. The female and the male lion went in different directions. A cub grabbed the zebra’s tail and yanked it and got some meat from the male lion. When you have a meat do not act like the lions did. 

This is the leopard sleeping in a tree. 

This is the male lion chasing the female lion away from the food. Look at the cub's face.

This is the male lion taking the zebra away and the cub biting the tail to get a piece of zebra.

To Serengeti National Park (Ashagre)

On our way to Serengeti National Park we stopped at Ngorongoro Crater for lunch. We had a picnic lunch. There was a large bird flying around the tree that we sat under. I was eating when I saw the African Black Kite fly down and grab my mom’s sandwich. He dropped it and a large stork got it. Then the bird did it a second time and got my mom’s chicken. The bird scratched my mom’s face and lip. I said, “I don’t want to eat outside anymore,” so we went in the car to eat. 

We were driving when our guide Maluta stopped the vehicle and looked at the tire and said, “Ah, it’s a flat tire.” I said, “I want to see.” We all got out of the car and saw that there was a flat tire. Maluta and our cook used a jack a wrench to put a new tire on it. Dad found where the hole was in the tire. When you touched the hole it hissed. There was one car who stopped and joked with our guide. Finally, we were on the road again. We stopped when we saw two cars stopped. When we got closer we saw that one had the hood up. The alternator was broken they said and they were trying to fix it. One of them said they saw cheetahs. So we went off-road and saw three cubs and the mama cheetah. I took lots of pictures because I was really excited to see cheetahs. We arrived at our campsite in the evening on Monday. The campsite had two kitchens and two bathrooms. We had dinner and got ready for bed. 

Trip to Serengeti (Elsa)

Mom, dad, Ashagre and I packed our bags for Serengeti. The drive from Tarangire to Serengeti is 5 to 6 hours. So I got in the car with my dad, my mom, my brother, driver and cook and got on the road. We did a lot of stopping and a lot of Maasai people were selling stuff like Tanzania t-shirts, bracelets and necklaces by our window. We said no thanks, but they kept trying to sell us stuff. 

We were driving fast on a very bumpy road and suddenly we got a flat tire. We had to get out of the car and our driver and our cook fixed the tire. They took the screws out, got the spare tire, and jacked up the car to fix the tire. My mom, Ashagre and I were standing out and looking everywhere. Everywhere we looked we saw animals. My dad helped the cook and our driver with the flat tire. A couple hours later we got to Serengeti and we saw giraffes, zebras, and other types of animals. We got to see a mama cheetah and her cubs, and we saw another cheetah a little while later. A long road trip can be tiring, but when you get there it will be cool. 

This is when we got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere in Serengeti.

This is the mama cheetah with her cubs.

Tarangire National Park 2 (Ashagre)

On Sunday we awoke and had breakfast. We got in the safari car and drove. We stopped when we saw a whole bunch of cars look at something. We got closer and saw lions sitting under a tree next to an important watering hole. We parked the car and watch excitedly. We all wanted to see the lions and the lions hunt. We saw a warthog and the warthog went around the watering hole instead of going where the lions were. The warthog got a drink of water and the lions saw it. The zebra came to get a drink of water but they were scared going down there because they thought the lions were going to attack them when they were getting a drink of water. There was a different warthog and this one went the opposite of the other warthog. When it was drinking water one of the lions got up and walked slowly and was ready to run and bite it. Suddenly the zebra made a noise that was warning the warthog to run away because there was something dangerous coming. Then the warthog looked up and saw the lion coming toward it so the warthog ran away fast. Right before the warthog ran the lion started to run but missed it. If the zebra wasn’t there it would have got the warthog. The lion moved to a new spot on a hill and two more did too. Nothing happened for a long time. Two warthogs came back to the river bed to drink. Then the lions went to get the two warthogs but went too early and the warthogs saw the lion so they ran. The zebra moved to the other side and the warthogs too. Some zebra and warthogs went down and drank for about a minute and the lion ran too early still. The zebra couldn’t decide to go get a drink when the elephants came. The elephant moved the lions to a different spot. Then the elephants left so the warthogs came back and the lions moved to their same spot. When the warthogs were done the lions tried to trap them but failed. So the lions got a drink and moved to new spot under tree. They kept trying all day.

On Monday we saw the lions again but this time they were eating something. I said they are eating wildebeest. We watched the lions eat until the elephants came. The elephants drank water and one elephant was staring at the lions. Then all the elephants were staring at the lions. Then the big elephant walked to the lions and some of the lions ran away. Three stayed behind. Then all of the lions went away. When the elephants left the lions came back. 

Tarangire National Park (Ashagre)

Saturday we saw impalas, wildebeest, monkeys and giraffes when we arrived at Tarangire National Park. When we were on safari there were a lot of bumps and I could stand on a seat and look out the pop up roof. After we set up our campsite we went back out on safari. We saw impalas, wildebeest, monkeys, baboons, zebras, warthogs, giraffes, elephants, and dik diks. On Saturday night I heard a lion roar and a hyena howl. On safari you have a cook and a driver and you get dinner, breakfast and lunch.

Safari Tarangire (Elsa)

On 22nd October 2016 my family went on a safari and it was fun. We got to see elephants, giraffes, zebras, impalas, warthogs, monkeys and baboons. I wanted to see lions but we did not see lions. When it was dinnertime we were having tea, coffee, and popcorn and our dinner with our driver, Maluta. When we were eating our dinner we heard a ROAR and I got scared. My mom said that its just a lion that is roaring, but I was still scared. During the night, the lion roared loudly at first, but quieter as it got later.

The next day we saw six lions and they were laying in the shade under some trees by the water where the animals drink. The animals would not drink because the lions were trying to hunt their prey, but the lions did not get their prey. We saw the lions try to catch their prey five or six times until Ashagre and I got bored so we left to see the other animals. We saw the same animals as yesterday baboons, monkeys, warthogs, impalas, zebras, giraffes and elephants. The most exciting thing that happened was seeing a leopard that was in a bush. The leopard ran out of the bush because there were lots of people looking at it. Then an ostrich chased the leopard. Seeing animals in the wild is better than the zoo.

This is me on the first day of safari in the back of the car looking out the pop-up.

Going to Kilimanjaro (Elsa)

My family flew to Kilimanjaro Airport in a little plane with other people. Then we a rode to a hotel called Pamoja Lodge. At night time we had dinner at our hotel and I was really tired. Each minute I was falling asleep. My dad said, "Azam!" a couple of times and I woke up. My mom shook me to wake me up. Sometimes I woke myself up.

When my family was in bed, in my mind I was imagining that someone was in the bathroom, so I went to my mom and dad's room. My mom said that I was imagining and try to go to sleep. I went to the room my brother and I were sleeping in and tried to go to sleep. I kept hearing the wind making lots of noise and I went to my mom and my dad's room. So my mom came into my room. She checked in the bathroom. She said that there's nothing in the bathroom. A few seconds later, we heard a noise. It's the tree branch making noise on the roof. My mom asked, "Do you remember Peace Begins With You?" Peace Begins With you is a chant you can say when you're scared or hyped up. So I did Peace Begins With You and I fell asleep. 

The next morning, I said that I had a good sleep. My mom said that's good it was just the tree making the noise on the roof. Then my mom, dad, my brother Ashagre and I had breakfast. Ashagre and I did our homework. Ashagre did typing and I did reading and math and writing. My family and I had some lunch. Sleeping in a different time zone is weird and sleeping in different places can be scary.

My brother and I doing homework in our hotel room.

Our Adventures (Ashagre)

Yesterday we were in Dubai. We had a five hour plane ride to Dar Es Salaam. My sister and I watched movies on the plane ride. When we got off the plane I was tired. We had to get a visa stamp which took us an a hour because Emirates was one of the big airlines and there were a lot of people on the plane. Then we outside and looked for our driver. My mom found him and he said he was was going to get the car because he parked it far. I was guessing which car he had. He finally arrived with a sliver Toyota. That was not the car I was thinking he would bring in. I kept falling asleep and waking up and my mom would keep waking me and my sister up. We got to our hotel and signed in. We were on the fifth floor. We put our stuff in our rooms and relaxed for little while. We went down for dinner and ordered our food. When we were waiting for dinner I kept falling sleep and my mom was laughing because I kept falling asleep because of jet lag and then my sister was falling sleep too. Then our food arrived. I wanted to go to bed instead of eat. So I put a little amount of food on my plant so I wouldn’t fall sleep when I was eating. When I finished eating I was asleep. When I awoke everyone was done eating except my sister. Finally we went back to our hotel and got ready to go to bed.

We were going on a adventure on Wednesday. I got up at 7:30. I looked around the room and I was expecting my sister to be in the room snoring but she wasn’t. I thought that they forgot about me or it was prank. I walked out my bedroom and looked to see if my mom was in the room. Then I saw the shower door closed so somebody was in it. Then my mom come out of the shower room. I told her I thought you were showering Elsa. I showered and got dressed for the day. We walked to the National History Museum. It was about evolution and early humans. Then we got lunch. I got beef and rice and thats what my sister got. My mom and dad got chicken and rice. Then we went to the fish market. On the way there people would call me rasta because of my hair. It made me feel a little weird. The fish market didn’t small well. The people soldd fish, corn, octopus, and lots more. We walked back to our hotel. My mom asked for a bottle of water. We went to get dinner. When we came to the door I said it isn’t open until 7:30. Then dad said no thats for the buffet. We got the same food as on Tuesday. Then Elsa and dad and mom started to sleep because dad awoke at 4:00 in the morning and Elsa awoke at 6:30 and my mom awoke three times so she didn’t get enough sleep. Mom and dad and Elsa took the elevator because they were too tired to go on the stairs but I took the stairs and it was faster. We got ready for bed. 

On Thursday I awoke by the sound of my dad singing at 3:30 AM. We all got dressed and got in the car. We were going to the airport. When we arrived at the airport and looked at the departures. We waited in line to drop our bags. When it was our turn she said we had to wait until our destination showed on the screen. We waited until our destination was on the screen then we got in line and drop our bags off. We were going to Kilimanjaro Airport. I looked at the sign and saw Kilimanjaro and the gate number which was 7. I told my family that we were on gate 7 and they looked at sign. We sat on a chair and I eat a Cliff Bar. Then I told my mom that I was going to read and she said why don’t you do that too Elsa. Then we walked outside to the plane. I haven’t ever walked outside to get on a plane before. The plane wasn’t what I was thinking it would be. I though it would be smaller than it was. The plane ride was 1hour and fifteen minutes. When we got off the plane mom wanted to take a picture of the plane and so did I. I went to go to the bathroom. We looked for our driver. Our mom saw him. We got in the car. Our driver talked a lot. He said it is too early to check in our hotel so we got breakfast. We got Tanzanian donuts. He said it is too early still. So we went to a museum. The museum had African art like paintings and carvings. Then we went to check into our hotel. We went to the office of our safari company to pay. We had Ethiopian food for a late lunch. The tibbs were really good. Then we got back to our hotel and did our homework by the swimming pool. Tomorrow we’re having a relaxing day at the hotel before we go on safari. I can’t wait to go on safari!

This is me at the National History Museum next to pictures Tanzanian rock art.

This is the airplane we rode in.

This is me at the art museum. 

Dubai and the Tanzania National Museum (Elsa)

When my family and I were at Dubai airport my mom said that she saw a lots of people wear different clothes. When I saw a lady wearing a dress, a scarf that is on her head and a jeans under her dress and I said that she looked weird. My mom said that she wanted to wear them and different people have different definitions of what is normal. 

On 19th October 2016 (I learned in Tanzania and many other countries people write the day first, then the month, when writing the date) in Tanzania my family and I went to the National Museum and we saw pictures of homo erectus and other early humans and some animals in the museum. Before we left the museum I saw a picture of a human that just killed an a animal and there were people cleaning a human skull. I’m excited for the big day on the 21st October 2016 when we start our safari.

This is me in front of a picture that shows early humans and other animals.

This is the picture that I wrote about in my blog.

Introduction 2 (Ashagre)

  Hi my name is Ashagre and I am glad to be back.We are leaving on Sunday October sixteenth. First we are going to get on the plane for sixteen hours. Then we get to sleep at the airport. We get to sleep for five hour and the we get on a another plane for five hours. We stay in a hotel for two nights in Dar Es Salaam. Then we get on a small plane. We arrive at Arusha and we stay there for 2 nights. Then we get to go on safari.

We get to see all kinds of animal like zebra, lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, serval , wildcat, chimpanzee, olive baboon, vervet monkey,
black and white colobus, blue monkey, greater and lesser galago, greater kudu, wildebeest, thomson's gazelle, African buffalo, gerenuk, waterbuck, giraffe, African elephant, black rhinoceros, rock hyrax, warthog, hippopotamus, banded mongoose, wild dog, honey badger, spotted hyena, golden jackal, secretary bird, bateleur, African fish eagle, augur buzzard, white backed vulture, saddle billed stork, lesser flamingo, lilac breasted roller, ostrich and superd starling. We are sleeping in Tarangire National Park for two nights. Then we are moving to Serengeti National Park. We are sleeping there for two nights. Then we go to the Ngorongoro Crater National Park and sleep at the Honey Badger Lodge for two nights.

Then we fly back to Dar Es Salaam. Then we get on a boat for one hour and thirty minutes. Now we are in Zanzibar. We stay in Stone Town for two nights. Then we stay at the Jambiani Pakachi Beach Resort for four days. Then go back to Dar Es salaam. Then we go back home. I am excited to go on safari because we get to see all kinds of animals there. But I am  sad  that I don't get to see my family.     

                                  

Introduction (Elsa)

Hi my name is Elsa, and I am going to tell you about my trip to Tanzania. My family is going to leave  for Tanzania on October 16th through November 7th.That means that my family and I will be leaving tomorrow.We're going on a safari for 6 days straight and 5 night straight.We might see elephants, giraffes, and lions. We are also going to Zanzibar. Zanzibar is a little island. It has shallow water.

My family might eat Ethiopian food. I'm from Ethiopia and I lived there for the first 6 years of my life. In Ethiopia there's people who are protesting the government so it's not safe to travel there.

I'm excited to go to Tanzania.

Me and my brother Ashagre looking at the airplane we would take to Ethiopia in 2014.

I'm excited to get on the plane! (2014)

Introduction (Ashagre)

Hi my name is Ashagre and I am going on trip to Tanzania. I didn't really want go to Tanzania because we were going to Ethiopia. I was adopted from Ethiopia when I was five. Now I live in California. Sadly there were a lot of protest in Ethiopia and we're going to see my family but we couldn't because we didn't want to be involved. When they told me that we were not going to Ethiopia I was sad that I didn't to get to see my family. I thought we were not going on trip at all but my mom said we we're going to Tanzania instead. My mom explained where we were going in Tanzania. I was excited to go on a trip and sad that I don't get to see my family.

Me in Ethiopia in 2014.