Last day with Banjika students -- safari and then farewells


What’s up families! It’s Shuga and Becks (Shaan and Sam) writing today’s blog. We had an early start this morning where we had to be at school before 7 am to leave for the Ngorongoro Crater. We drove there in safari jeeps alongside other Menlo students, and once we got into the park, we integrated with our homestay siblings into the jeep groups, and set off around 9:30.  Our safari kicked off with a bang as we saw herds of zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, and pumbas (warthogs). Along with seeing all these beautiful creatures, the highlight of our safari was definitely seeing three rhinos, a herd of elephant, and hippos, along with all the majestic scenery of the crater walls (we took plenty of photos). We took a pause from animal-spotting for lunch around noon, which was next to a calm lake brimming with hippos. Our safari came to a close at 4, when we had to bid our homestay siblings farewell. It was very emotional, with many tears, hugs, and posing for dozens of photos. After a (kinda) inspirational speech delivered by McVeiny (Cole), we drove back to the crater gates to take one last group photo, and then started back to the hotel. We had some pool time as a group before dinner, and now we’re off to bed before our final day in Tanzania. See you soon!
Best,
Sam and Shaan


      
plenty of zebras                                                                    baboons all over the road on the way out


 can't see them in this picture, but hippos popped their head up every couple of minutes while we watched them during our picnic lunch

 
                                                                            and then a very emotional series of goodbyes

   

     

  
lots of hugs                                                        and then more hugs at the crater overlook













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