Shaking the Tree - Peter Gabriel

Tarangier Tree of Life
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Jambo (Swahili hello)!   Aah, the last night in a tent has passed and I can't say I'm sorry about it.  I need a bed, a hot shower and a real toilet with a seat.   But there's still a day of safari left at Tarangier National Park.  This is the least visited of the parks on the Tanzanian Northern Circuit and on arrival I wondered why.  The facilities were amazing.  Nicest bathroom I've seen since leaving the States (bathrooms become a big deal in the 3rd World) and the landscape was really pretty.  There were long flat plains and rolling hills littered with the flat top acacia trees you might have noticed in my pics and the park is famous for its bilbao trees.  They are monstrous trees that grow for as long as 500 years.  Disney has one at the center of their new Animal Kingdom park down in Orlando called the Tree of Life.  I can see why they chose that name.  The tree is hollow inside to store water during the rainy season so it and many other animals that rely on it can survive during the drought.  To reinforce Bobbo's quote of Michael Crighton, life finds a way.

Tarangier Safari Fashion Statement
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The landscape is lovely but the longer we drive the more I realize we aren't seeing many animals.  Hundreds of square miles of open plains and we see a few giraffes and a couple dozen elephants.  The grass is pretty high for the dry season so maybe they were all hiding but after seeing so much at the other parks it was strange to be shut out.  Tarangier is supposed to have big herds of elephants but no luck there either.  We did see some young bulls tusk-fencing but far from a herd.  Still, it was a lovely ride through the country and we had a nice picnic in a scenic spot.  Like the Gabriel song says, maybe I'm looking for my womanly side after all that predator aggression earlier in the week.  Seriously though it was a nice relaxing way to end the safari.  And as for that picture of myself posted here, that is my new chapeau I designed to combat the equatorial sun.  Laugh if you want but I tell you by August everyone will be wearing them in SoHo.

Tarangier 7
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Safari over and it's off to Zanzibar in the morning.  I can't believe some of the things I've seen and am really thankful I was able to experience such an amazing few days.  Assante to all.