game drive 2

saturday morning and time for our last day at tsavo and a final safari.. we set out once again wrapped in blankets, legs a little achey from our climb the day before. it was back to tsavo east, this time on a different truck with benches spanning the sides as opposed to in tight rows. unfortunately we weren't very lucky with the animals.. most people in my truck ended up falling asleep either strewn over the benches or lying on the floor. i for some reason was in a really good mood and sat up on the open side, legs dangling out the window, music in my ears, smiling and just taking in the landscape flying past. it's sad how quickly you can become accustomed to things though - the giraffes and elephants going about their business seem such normal sights now, but regardless it still made me happy watching the majestic beasts wandering about the savannah. i wish there was a way to keep that child-like awe and excitement in life intact forever..

for lunchtime we pulled up at this beautiful lookout called 'crocodile point' where flat plains stretched out around us and splashes of greenery followed the twisting ribbon of water down along the rocks beneath. scattered hippo heads would every so often emerge, only eyes and wiggling ears visible above the surface.. a few crocodiles dozing in the sun.. then it was onwards to a small gorge in the national park where big, smoothed orbs of marbled brown stone flanked a torrent of water. the shapes created by erosion were so beautiful - holes and twists and ridges all polished by the wind and water around.

the drive back out of tsavo east and to camp was once again fairly uneventful.. i think it just goes to show how privileged we were to have such a phenomenal first game drive earlier on!! i'm becoming more and more aware of how much good it's doing me to be outdoors pretty much 24/7.. i feel so vibrant and healthy and alive, trees make me happy, the red dirt makes me happy, even the irritating acacia thorns that get caught everywhere somewhat make me happy.. it's so wild and untamed..

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our last night at tsavo and also tall sam's birthday [we now have 4 sams at camp to make life easier for us: sammy d (old sam), sam thomson (new sam), tall sam and short sam (both girls).. phew..] i think it's now our 6th birthday celebration and we couldn't really give the boys a wild night and not do the same for her.. so the mischief commenced once again. amongst the most memorable moments were sam stubbing her toe and yelling out to everyone she'd been bitten by a rhino for the entire duration of the night -_- and also someone's retarded idea to go steal snacks from the younger group of gappers who were spending the night in tents on the property.. i didn't really know what was going on until a few people showed up carrying pringles, chips, biscuits and the like.. poor things :(

thankfully (and regretfully) no fire extinguishers were set off and the night ended with minimal casualties..