Walk to "Lake Manyara"

Hello again!

Yesterday was an intense one. We set out at 8:15 am for a walking safari to Lake Manyara. We can see the lake from our boma, and a bunch of us were excited to finally walk out to it. We were led out by one of the leaders of our boma, "Emseea" (I'm not sure how to spell it...)

He showed us different plants and natural medicines, including one that had a root that could cure back pain... and gonorrhea. Another was a tree that gave you the munchies, in the event that you had killed a cow and didn't want to waste it. There was also an apple that cures stomach flu, and a whistling acacia... that whistles. =D Nearly 5 minutes into the walk however, we saw a heard of giraffes and several empala. It was beathtaking.

After a hot, but enjoyable 3 hours, we stopped at a baubab tree to rest. Rather than rest, Karen and Cliff immediately started climbing it. Becca, Will, Chris, Alexa, Charlotte and Vicki followed once they were told it was safe. After that, we headed out to the lake that looked somewhat closer.

The trees and bushes vanished, and we were surrounded by nothingness. The occaisional gazelle ran by, or a giant heard of cattle, but there was nothing around us. After another 2 hours, we stopped in a giant mud puddle and looked around. Emseea looked at us and said "This is the lake."

Yes. Lake Manyara is dry and we've been looking at a mirage for 5 days. It was frustrating, but funny. I'd never thought mirages could be so convincing.

We trudged on through the desert for another couple hours, and finally made it into town to get picked up and driven back to the boma. The rest of the night was relaxing after we scarfed down a speghetti dinner.

Today, we'll be having another truly Maasai experience. We bought a goat in the market earlier, and later, Emseea and some of the other local guys will show us how the Maasai kill a goat. We'll be drinking the blood traditionally and then having a barbeque. I'm sure there'll be a detailed update on this in a few days!

That's about it!
-Jess