Tsavo Expedition

So I survived the five nights at Tsavo National Park. The expedition was very, very fun, but it was also definitely a challenge at times. We left early on Saturday morning and the drive was only about two and half hours long, but we took a few stops on the way, so we got to camp in the afternoon. We set up camp and all of our tents and once we were all settled we went for a game drive. The park was very different from Amboseli, and the parts we drove through the first day had dense vegetation, so we didn't see many animals where we were. We only had time to drive around for a couple hours, and then we went back to camp for dinner. The cook, Aurther, can do some crazy/unbelievable/amazing things in the kitchen, and made really great food during the trip. They brought a portable gas stove to cook with, but one night we had a birthday, and he figured out how to make a cake by steaming it since there was no oven. It was really cool, and impressive. After dinner every night we had a camp fire and we would all get to relax and hang out which was also pretty fun. The first night we saw a GIANT scorpion. There is a picture of it in the post below this one. It was scary. Luckily no one got stung or anything; he was just spotted on camp. The first night we also had a leopard in camp! The guards saw him before he got past the perimeter of camp, and they didn't tell any of us because they didn't want us to spook him, but they told us the next day, and it was pretty cool/kinda scary to hear about. But our guards were out every night all night so we all felt safe.

The first night we also had a thunderstorm. And when I say thunderstorm, I mean torrential, violent rain, and thunder that sounded like snapping static electricity instead of rolling grumbles. It was kinda scary, especially because we were in little pitched tents! Everyone ended up getting a little flooded and wet, but by the next afternoon it was so hot again everything got the chance to dry out. March to May is the 'wet season' in Africa, so we will probably start to see some rain every now and then, but it still shouldn't be too much. It has rained a couple times, but it never lasts long, and it stays pretty warm, so its actually a nice break from the heat sometimes.

So I really liked the camp fires at night, and the game drives during the days. On the first full day we had a day trip to the Chyulu Hills. It was amazingly beautiful. The hills were huge, and sooo green. We hiked to the top of one. It was a good little workout. All of the hills are at least a mile high, so we were dealing with some elevation changes too. The last picture in the post below is of the hills. Once we got to the top we had lunch and a field lecture about the area, and could see for miles and miles. It was crazy.

I'm running out of internet time so I will try to continue this post tomorrow. The trip overall was A LOT of fun, but I was definitely glad to get back to a shower today, and to be in a real bed tonight. I'll fill everyone in on more soon!! Thanks for reading : ) TTYS!