The Red Boat (Ashagre)

On Sunday I awoke to the sound of the TV blaring. I got up and changed and walked outside and saw my dad watching the news. We got our bags and put them in the trunk. We went to the ferry terminal. We got on the boat. The ferry can carry more people than the Catalina Express. It can carry about 500 people. When we got to Zanzibar we had to wait until our bags came in the cart. The people would push the cart fast and a man would hop over a rope so he didn’t trip. The rope is supposed to slow down the cart. It felt like he was going to trip over the rope any moment and get smashed by the heavy cart. The boat terminal was crazy. People were rushing and people pushing carts would make a lot of noise. People pulling carts would drop the handle and that would make a lot of noise because it echoed. 

Finally we got out of the boat terminal and went to our hotel. When we entered our room I went to the bathroom which stunk because the plumbing wasn’t that good in Zanzibar so smells come from the sewer. We checked into our hotel and walked down to the Ethiopian restaurant but I checked the sign it said they were open for lunch from 12:00 - 3:00. It was past 3 o’clock so we had to go back for dinner. We walked to this place where they had a lot of meat and less vegetables. I got spinach and white rice. We sat outside because it was hot in there. They gave me a lot of rice so I ate a lot of that first. We walked back to our hotel and did nothing until we got hungry. So we walked down to the Ethiopian restaurant and we ate. The tibbs could have been a lot better at the Ethiopian restaurant. We got back to our hotel and got ready for bed. 

This is me riding on the ferry VIP class.

This is where we ate lunch in Stone Town.

The Honey Badger Lodge (Ashagre)

On Saturday we got up and ate. After we ate Elsa and I went back to our hotel and brushed our teeth. We started to pack our bags. Then our dad came into the room. We asked him for our medicine. If you don’t know why we have to take the medicine its because it prevents us from getting sick from malaria. After we were done packing our bags we put our bags behind a corner of the hotel’s front desk. 

Elsa said I am going to change clothes so I can go swimming in the pool and she asked me if I was going into the pool. I said maybe. It got too hot to sit around so I changed so I could go in the pool. Elsa and I played in the pool for a couple of hours. I got out of the water and relaxed. Elsa was still in the pool. When Elsa was out of the water we had lunch. Our mom said we can swim until 4:00. We played in the pool for a while. I got out of the pool and changed. One of the font desk people told us that your driver is waiting outside. So we got our bags and put them in the trunk. We drove to dinner. 

Then we were at the airport. We looked at a sign. We were delayed 2 hours. We kept getting bit by the mosquitos. Finally we checked our bags in. Then we boarded the plane. We went outside to get on the plane. We landed at Dar Es Salaam at 2:00 in the morning. Finally we got in our room and got ready for bed. 

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.