Now this is fun!

I had so much fun doing this for Senegal, that I did it for Khartoum.
A is Khartoum American School
B is our house

Google Maps are awesome. I embedded this image, which means you can maneuver it just like on the real site. So go ahead, zoom in and out- see the sights of the city!


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Next year

I can't help it. I'm EXCITED to move to Dakar.
And instead of doing all the work I have to do to be able to leave here, I'm doing things like this.

This is our commute next year.
A is the International School of Dakar.
B is our bungalows. I think.

Oh, technology is fun.... you can even zoom in! Thank you, Google Maps!


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Our own masks!

My final exploratory class at KAS- mask making! (Thank you, Emily, for the wonderful idea!) It's been really fun to hang out with 5th and 6th graders as they chat and play with paper mache. Next stop- pinatas!

Em's new passport photos

As both of these masks are going in boxes to Senegal, we wanted to be able to share them with you now. We bought both of these in Northern Tanzania. We don't know much about either one, except that we love them. And isn't that reason enough? (Notice the birds on top of the second one!) We have fully accepted that we will become those people with the African masks on their walls when we return to the States. And we're both okay with it!

Night Shopping

We're making the most of the Khartoum nightlife. This means exploring the large, nutty shops that seem to keep creeping up in the city. Our suspicions were confirmed- there is absolutely nothing in those shops that we need to buy! But, it was fun to look!

After the safari...

We got caught up in the goings-on here in Khartoum, and I didn't really complete the posts on our holiday. After our safari, we hopped on a short 50 minute flight to return to Zanzibar. Yes, it really is paradise- and we were lucky to be able to see it twice! We spent three nights on the island- two days in Stonetown and two days on the beach. And it was awesome!

Dakar-ready

We've been sorting through the mess that is international shipping, looking for a way to get our stuff to Dakar. This even involved having a nice French man come and walk through our house with us while we said, "this, not this.... this, this.. not this, this...." And we think we have a company sorted.
Of course, we won't know the final cost until we have it delivered in Senegal. We've got $2,000 from our Khartoum contracts for leaving here. And we're expecting to use pretty close to all of that to send about 1.5 cubic meters of stuff to our house in Senegal. It's all so complicated!

In other news, we have arranged a car for Senegal. It's not a real sexy car, but we're convinced that its dependable and will do the job. The price was right, and the current owner has been really good about checking things out for us and getting her in good shape. We're excited to have it all arranged prior to our arrival. It also has diplomatic plates, which is a little fun too! (Don't worry, we don't need Senegalese drivers' licenses like we are supposed to have here. None of that drama!)The owner of the car is also helping us sort out some household help as well. Everything is falling into place!

Now, about selling our car here...

Last Hurrah

We're down to our last several weeks here in Khartoum. While that's exciting, its also our last few weeks with our kids and friends. To celebrate, six of us just bought tickets for a weekend in Dubai!
We're pretty excited to have a girls weekend in the city- two days, one night. There's plenty to do, but two days is just about right for us to do some shopping, see what all the fuss is about. We could even go skiing in the mall! We'll be there May 7 and 8. Once we get back, we'll only have two more weeks here. Say what?!

So, about those elections...

You can find a great article about Sudan's elections HERE All is quiet here in the capital.

Our new home!

We have received official word from Dakar- the bungalow with a pool, five minutes from the ocean? Yup- It's officially ours! Here are a few photos of the place. (including one Google earth image- see the five little round huts in the middle of the image? With the pool? We think that's us!)

Election Sunday!

Today, Sudan is hosting their first 'democratic' elections in over 20 years. You can see a slide show (and read some captions explaining the mess) HERE.

Lake Manyara

Our final day on safari- this time at Lake Manyara National Park. And wow! Check out the tree climbing lions! Our guide says he only sees them once a year! Lucky lucky!

other sights

The drive to Lake Manyara

Crater time!

We spent 6 hours cruising the basin of the Ngorongoro Crater, a completely natural and unique ecosystem. Animals travel in and out, but the steep walls ensures that there are always tons of animals to be seen inside. It feels like less of an adventure than the Serengeti, because there are lots of cars and people. But the game viewing is awesome! We had lions walking right next to our car, then circling warthogs, cheetahs, baby wildebeest. It was an awesome day!

Ngorongoro Campsite

A few photos from our wonderful campsite overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater. In the middle of the night, we woke up to some loud screaming and squealing. A bush pig attacked a tent near ours and ate their scented lotion. (Yes, with them inside the tent!) There was a lot of screaming, and in the end, the fancy NorthFace tent was destroyed. The two people spent the rest of the night with the cooks in the cooks' building (concrete with wire around the windows to keep animals out of the food).

The drive to Ngorongoro

We started our drive back towards Arusha- spending the afternoon in the car on the way towards the crater. The wildebeest and zebras were completely absent in the Serengeti- but in the Ngorongoro highlands, they were EVERYWHERE... This is also the area where the Maasai are still very active, tending their large herds of cattle alongside these amazing animals. The Maasai have a very iconic style about them- I'm sure you've all seen pictures. They are fascinating. We weren't comfortable taking pictures. (Mostly because in these days, they then expect money. And I don't do that.) So, enjoy the photos of the animals instead!

Final Serengeti game drive

Here are a few more pictures from the next morning, our last run through the Serengeti. We caught some early morning rain, but it cleared off really nicely. And we were lucky! CLOSE encounter with more elephants, tons of giraffes.. and our first cheetah!

Serengeti continued...

More monkey business

Once again, we managed to get ourselves into a little bit of trouble with monkeys. This seems to be a trend with us!
We were bumpin' along in the Serengeti and happened upon a few white vervet monkeys. We hadn't seen them yet, and were excited to take a few photos. We were both hanging out the top of the car, taking photos, when Emily started screaming "IT'S IN THE CAR!!!! AHHH!" I looked down through the top to see a vervet monkey in our jeep! The guide swatted at him with a jacket, and he jumped back out the window.
Em says he first picked up a book and wasn't interested. But he did find a small, sealed bag of popcorn in the seat pocket!! We were then able to watch several monkeys fight over the loot right next to our car!It probably is worth noting that these monkeys are known for the males having bright blue testicles. Sorta funny.

In the Serengeti

Some photos from the second day- over eight hours cruising the Serengeti plains. (Well, after an early morning campsite photo shoot.)

tracking a pride of lions... to no end. hippo out of water!