Saturday, August 13th:

After breakfast we had a last long drive from our remote campsite to the airstrip.  As we had become accustom to, the plains were packed with wildebeest and zebra and occasionally herds of trotting big eland.  Once we reached the airstrip, we had to wait around for an hour as small planes came and went.  Finally our plane arrived.  We said goodbye to Joseph and flew to Arusha.

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We had a great view of the volcano Oldonyo Lengai and the ridge we had hiked down.

A driver met us at the Arusha airport and took us to the “Maasai Market” where we shopped for souvenirs. Then we continued east of Arusha and up into the hills to the Kiboko Lodge. The lodge is alongside a marsh where ibis nest in the acacia trees.

The young men who run the lodge gave us a tour including getting a stalk of sugarcane and helping out in the garden a bit.  We spent the afternoon enjoying the first internet access in days  While the girls played with their new slingshot and pangas (knives).

In the evening huge flocks of black ibises and white sacred ibises swooped in to roost in the yellow barked acacia around the swamp. Flocks of small quellias and weavers soared around the marsh grasses.

Sunday, August 14th:

We had a very quiet morning at Kiboko Lodge.  Carrie got organized to travel home and the rest of us read, wrote, and did artwork.

After lunch, along with a Canadian couple on Carrie’s same flight, we all went with Nout the lodge founder to visit the Watoto Foundation.  The foundation is on a large property and includes dormitories, a school, vocational training workshops, a gardens, cow and pig sheds and more for rehabilitating hardcore street boys from Arusha. Kiboko lodge is staffed by graduates of the Watoto Foundation and proceeds help fund the program.

We had a tour and then Carrie and the Canadians departed for the airport.  We had tea with the manager and then returned to Kiboko lodge.