Day 3 - Awakening

Have you ever seen the Disneyland commercial where the kids (and parents) are so excited to go to Disneyland the next day that they can't sleep? Well that was how I was feeling last night! I just kept thinking "I'm too excited to sleep!" Or maybe the lack of sleep had something to do with the constant buzzing from the mosquitos in my ear all night. I found out this morning that Kim had gotten up and put earplugs in her ears to help mask the impending doom of the little buggers! I'll try that tonight.

We woke up to that Africa air! I wish I could bottle that stuff and bring it home, it's just yummy! Kim was very disappointed when we noticed the clouds were totally covering any view of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

A driver met us to take us to our next hotel in Arusha, about an hour away. On the way I asked him what the fences were for... He said they are put up around the airport to keep the animals off the runway! 

When we arrived in Arusha we got to see how many Tanzanians live. They are very poor people trying to make a living any way they can. The town of Arusha is lined with dust covered storefronts and streets vendors.

One man was washing old used shoes in a bucket and then laying them out for sale. This was a typical site.

After we checked into our hotel  we got to experience our first real encounter with African wildlife! As we were enjoying our lunch Kim looked over and said "Oh hey, look!"  In the tree nearby was a troop of baboons looking down at us! I grabbed my camera and managed to get a few photos before they took off. (I even snapped this one on my phone for the blog- FYI most my photos will be coming later when I can upload them)

Later we went for a walk to look for more baboons and asked a guard if it was ok to walk down a certain trail. He cheerfully responded, "Yes! Do it!". So we did. And quickly noticed he was following close behind. He proceeded to give us a tour of the flora in the area telling us all about the coffee beans grown there and the trees the baboons loved so much. He told us his name, Manansay. And when I asked if I could take his photo he said, "Yes! Do it!". So I did.

Cheers for today!