Mini-safari

One of the perks of living in Musoma is that the Serengeti is only an hour and a half South of us. To celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary we went to a small low-profile tented camp outside the gate to relax, swim, and play for 3 days. One of those days was spent in the park. Here are some pics from our little vacation.
The Western gate of the Serengeti. These were just a preview of the many bones we saw inside the park. Apparently the predators have been busy.

A small homestead on the road to our lodging. Most people who live in this area are subsistence farmers.

Twiga

Any guesses for which animal's skull this is? (see answer after the last photo)

Heron with 2 crocs. We stopped in the shade of a tree next to this river for lunch in our truck and watched several birds tease about 8 crocs. Actually the birds and crocs seemed entirely uninterested in each other.

Lilac-breasted rollers. We've taken up bird watching a bit since entertainment is hard to come by in Musoma, and a good friend gave us a bird book. We were glad we brought the book on this venture into the Serengeti because even though we saw no big cats or elephants this day, we had a good time watching and identifying 18 new (to us) species of birds.

Warthog, impala, baboon

Alpha male baboon

Jack peeking through a beaded curtain at a very nice tented camp where we stopped for an afternoon siesta for the kids, who slept on the cozy chairs in spite of the hippos harrumphing loudly right next to us.

Tessa in the beads.

'Dusty and Jack show their chiefly positions of power.

Tessa sitting in a chair whose cover is entirely made of tiny glass seed beads. Incredible.

The four of us on our anniversary.

Answer: hippo

You Know You're a Missionary When...

-you have enough luggage under the beds to host the town's population of mice.
-you have at least three Action Packers (plastic storage lockers) which are covered in fabric and being used as furniture.
-you know how to scrap your meal plan and come up with something good and fast when the electricity goes out an hour before dinner.
-you cook with grams, cups, milliliters, Fahrenheit, and Celcius.
-you have a system for bathing, flushing, and washing dishes without running water for days.
-you've figured out things you never would have understood back home - electricity, computers, plumbing, and exterminating.
-you keep a flashlight next to the bed, and you use it frequently.
-you're satisfied having accomplished three out of seven errands when you go to town.
-your main reason for using child car seats is to keep kids from flying around while you bump and bounce over washed-out dirt roads full of pot holes.
-you bring Bibles in two languages to church, plus a dictionary, and still only catch 1/4 of the sermon even though you were paying attention.
-broccoli and lettuce seem exotic, while mangoes and papaya seem boring.
-you use cloth rags for cleaning instead of paper towels, and it's not because you're environmentally conscious.
-you write newsletters and take family photos every month.
-you laugh when you see a magazine photo making a mosquito net look charming or romantic.