Day 8  - 23/7/03  - Wednesday

Very early start (5 am) to clear out of the class room in time for pick-up (6 am). Got picked up a little late, but it was at least nice comfortable 4x4 buses, with 5 to a bus. Nice smooth roads (once off the school road) and comfortable seats, which is good because we were tired. We stopped for breakfast in Arusha around 8 am, continued onto lake Manyara. Arrived around midday we discover that 3 meals a day actually means 2 meals a day, an argument follows, finally that's sorted, we eat lunch and head into the park. First critters we see are a heron and a couple of guinea fowl... (Bodes well I think... ) We go on to see lots of elephant, giraffe, several types of monkey and baboon, lots of colourful birds, hippo, a pink flamingo line on the horizon of the lake, warthog, many gazelle of various species, and finally 2 tree lions lazing around as the sun sets, we also see German tourists with the largest zoom lenses known to man... We return to the lodge (a 1* with a very lumpy bed) dusty and smelly, food ready for us, and the first shower in a week! To bed.

A really amazing afternoon, seeing wild animals up close in their natural environment.