Bone Safari & a Dip in the Water

  This is a giraffe skin and some of its spine...and our shadows

 I think we decided this is part of the shoulders of the giraffe...at first glance it kind of looks like a pelvic bone, though

                                                                     Kellie is examining some bones

               The giraffe skull! I learned that giraffes have very heavy heads. (I have one of its teeth as a souvenir!)

 

I forget what we decided this deceased creature was...a zebra maybe?

 

There's a bird in this picture, but it kind of blends in with its surroundings

 

On the way to the hot springs, we stopped at a cool, hollow tree worth taking a picture with!

 

Hot springs! Kellie had some fancy jumps off the rope swing

 

My moves were not as cool as Kellie's. This jump ended in somewhat of a belly-flop

 

The swing was great fun and the water was WONDERFUL!

 

Kellie, Lilli, and Sarah

                                                                                          Fantastic Five

At 4am, two Sundays ago, we staggered out to the car to set-out for our own safari in hopes of seeing elephants, giraffes, and zebras. We drove about two hours away to the Western slope of Kilimanjaro in the middle of no where. We experienced a gorgeous sun-rise as we drove around in search of animals. We saw huge, distinct elephant footprints, but no elephants. We saw some gazelle and other species of deer, but no giraffes or zebras. We saw many monkeys, but we've got those in the back yard...they're not so exciting anymore. There were beautiful landscapes and beautiful birds, but no lions. What we did come across, though, were many bones. We drove through some very large elephant bones, and zebra bones, but the most exciting was the giraffe bones because they were so impressive. There were so many of them altogether with much of the skin as well! We don't know how this giraffe died or how long its bones had been there, but it was an interesting find. My one year in anatomy and physiology class produced in me an interest in bones and how God created them all to work and fit together. This safari became somewhat of an educational field-trip as we all discussed and debated which bones were what and where they belonged. Since we didn't see many live animals, I decided to call this our bone safari. I still hope to see some live animals in the future.
We did see an ostrich on our way back. For as far as they eye could see, there was simply sand and rocks...and a random, lone ostrich. We chased it a little bit to help him get some exercise and then we headed to the hot springs.
The hot springs are located about an hour and a half away from the orphanage out in the desert. It's amazing how quickly the landscape changes in just a short drive. Past a few little villages, there is a natural lagoon type pool, like a little oasis. The water is sparkling clear and there is a small river that you can swim up to reach another quiet pool. The water is just cool enough to be refreshing from the hot sun and there is a great rope-swing that we made use of over and over again. Though we didn't see the animals we were hoping for, we managed to have a blast with the bones followed by a much appreciated soak in the hot springs!