the lion and cub series

I only dreamed that I would be able to see something like this.  I didn't even count it as a possibility when we started the safari, but as luck would have it, 2 lions with 5 cubs in tow showed up in the Serengeti!

jambo mambo

After 30 hours of travel, we are home!  Poor Sister had another 5 hours of waiting (including a 3-hour delay at the Newark airport) and 6 hours of flying to finally get home.  I have a thousand (literally) pictures to sift through and organize before posting, but here are some of the highlights (good and bad :) ).

• Waking up the morning of our departure to find that Sister's flight was delayed 9 hours and that she would miss her connection and our meeting point in EWR.  We were only given the choice of rebooking the next flight out of SFO, which allowed only a very tight connection.  United continually gets worse and worse.  But she made it!
• Getting through the night in one of the nastiest hotel rooms I've ever stayed in in Arusha.  Power went out in only our room, coincidentally while I was on the pot.  Nice timing.
• Getting wonderful Abdul as our tour guide.  We thought we were sneakily talking about money in front of him in Spanish, but it just so happened that Abdul spoke Spanish too.  Foiled!
• Encountering a lion family, a hunt, and a cheetah (so hard to find!)
• Never getting tired of watching elephants and giraffes roam the African landscape
• The breathtaking Serengeti
• Using the bush toilet in front of a zebra/wildebeest herd, a safe time since they gave no indication that any predators were lurking. 
• Both P and I getting sick in Tarangire.  Rough night, but we still managed to survive traveling the next day to Dar es Salaam.
• Swimming with the dolphins despite being swindled by the tour guide
• Doing nothing but read and take naps in Zanzibar
• Bonding with Sister and Husband and forming unforgettable memories together

<3