Home Sweet Home

We got home around 9:30pm tonight, Tuesday July 19th.  What is up with the weather on the westcoast?  Has summer not come yet?  We left New York with temperatures in the 90s.  It is 12:50am and Hannah and I are wide awake. We should be going to bed but we kind of feel like having "lunch".  We are still on Tanzanian time which is 10 hours ahead.  It was an incredible trip.  We look forward to sharing the details with all of you.

The dorky hats (that started this blog)  were super helpful on the safari but the kids are delighted that they have been donated to a group that supports children with albinism (lacking pigment) on the island of Zanzibar and they never have to wear them again!

Hope to see you in person very soon.

Love,
the Wells family

Beaching in Zanzibar

We are now in Zanzibar, a Tanzinian island on the east coast of Africa just south of the equator. The water is a bright green and the sand is pure white. We have been resting and swimming for the past two days. The food is great and there is lots of seafood. For Emma's birthday we ate dinner on the beach. Having a great time and coming home the 18.

monkey taking my bun

After a short safari  ride we went back to the migration camp for lunch. They gave us buns as a snack. my bun was sitting on my plate in the corner and this monkey came flying in and took it right off my plate. it scared me a bit but I learned to protect my food. From then on i never left my food out of sight!

      submitted by Hannah

Serengeti Pt. 1

After leaving the Ngorogoro crater, we jumped into the truck for a two hour drive to the Serengeti. The park is seperated from the crater only by a sign. There was no rest as we immediately went for oiur game drive. The park was completely different from the crater, with plains and shrubs replacing the many trees we saw. We were also lucky enough to see not one but two cheetahs and and a couple leopards and their cubs lazing in the trees.

simba saturday

At ngorogoro crater and wildlife galore. Couldn't believe the number of lions.

Lake Manyara

 On Friday we had our second day on safari and our second park. After a wonderful time with the maasai we entered Lake Manyara a combination of rainforest and dried lake bed. This is much smaller than Tarangire but boasts an abundance of animals and birds most notably baboons, monkeys, eland, elephants and barbets. It is also home to the tree climbing lion which can be difficult to see (but not for our sharp eyed guide Rafael).

The Colourful Maasai Experience By Emma

Yesterday (Friday July 8^th African time) we went and visited a Maasai community. As soon as we neared the village, our jeep was surrounded by running kids wanting to shake our hands, say sopei (hello in Maasai), and see if we would offer them any money. After negotiations with the chief we were allowed to visit and interact with the village. Upon getting out of the jeep we were greeted by a welcome dance. The welcome dance was full of jumping and singing. A couple times Nick and Chris were pulled into the semi-circle to join the men in the jumping and then I was pulled into the semi-circle with one of the women to do a little dance. After the dance and a few pictures with the entire group, we were shown the inside of a Maasai hut. The huts are small, but it is amazing how many people could fit in the 2 room hut.  Then we did a little shopping and bought some bracelets that the women of the village had made to sell at the market or to foreigners to make some money.  Following that, I danced and played with the kids of the village and they got a laugh out of the funny jig I was doing. They were also really fascinated with Chris because of his blond hair and blue eyes. After some more dancing with the kids it was time to say goodbye. Overall this was an experience of a lifetime and it is amazing to see people who have so little but are still laughing and smiling.

The kids waiting outside the jeep

Maasai Village Chief

The men getting ready for the welcome dance

Chris joining the men in the dance

Outside of the hut

Us and the entire group

                                                                                                         

Tarangiere

It was our first real day of safari. We entered the park excited by the first animal we saw (again a monkey) only to discover the vast array of animals throughout the park with little interaction with other tourists. The highlights include elephants feet from our car, giraffes walking nearby and our first of many zebras.

Arusha

Walk in the rainforest
     We went for a walk in the rainforest to see monkeys and to get some fresh air. We saw colobus monkeys. Colobus monkeys have a big long white tail. We also saw blue monkeys. They didn’t seem to blue to me. They weren’t very scared of us. The walk was nice. It was so cool to see the colobus monkeys!

                         Submitted by Hannah

Finally off to Tanzania

Arrived two hours before our flight only to find that Egyptair had "lost" our seats. So after some hurried conversations in arabic (by our guide, we're not that good at speaking the language yet) we got bumped up to Business Class. However no one got to enjoy the perks due to sick and tired children. The footrest also proved to be a problem with the Wells men's legs being too short to stretch out and lie down. Arrived at Aremeru Lodge, a beautiful, lush oasis.

Face to face with Tut

Today we went to the Cairo Museum and saw king Tut's golden coffin and the golden burial mask. The coffin was 120 kilagrams of gold which is worth about 4 million in gold alone. Through out the museum we learned about the different dynasties and kings, through the statues. The inside of the sarcophagus's had very intricate drawings. Our family has learned thank you, please, hello and goodbye in arabic. overall cairo has been a great expirence and definitley more facinating in real life.

submitted by Christopher

First day in Cairo

 Riding off into the desert after trading Mom and Emma for a camel apiece

                                                   Ugly creatures and not the friendliest

Amazing that these were built 5,000 years ago. Dad wants a tomb like that. More to follow

Cairo

We arrived at Cairo yesterday evening after 26 hours in transit