Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Partying on New Year's with Wild Animals

As we descended into the enchanted green crater of Ngorongoro, a sense of peace filled me just as the white fluffy clouds fill the rim of the crater. My Acumen Fund colleague, Jocelyn, and I decided to say goodbye to 2006 by taking a safari adventure on New Year’s Eve in the eastern edge of the Serengeti.

We found good company with lions, white rhino, elephants, flamingos, wildebeest, baboons, zebras, hippos and cheetahs....


We camped in tents and at midnight, we joined the local guides and others at our campsite in celebration. A surreal picture under the stars of dancing, hugging and singing to welcome in 2007.

As we drove home last night passing tribal warriors of the Maasai wrapped in crimson and purple cloth with gaping holes in their ear lobes, I thought to myself how fortunate I am to experience this gift in life. This is the most beautiful place on earth. What a way to start 2007.

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4 comments:

  1. keely stevenson2:16 AM

    Jocelyn just sent me the full list of animals that we saw on our New Year's safari: lion, buffalo, eland, wildebeest, white rhino, Thomson gazelle, zebra, grand gazelle, hyena, wild boar, golden jackal, cheetah, vervet monkey, hippo, baboon, hadada ibis, maribu stork, cattle egret, yellow-bill stork, flamingo, Egyptian goose, blacksmith plover, crown crane, hartbeast, guinea flowl, koribastard, black-bellied bastard, pelican, and dung beetle

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  2. Anonymous7:02 PM

    That is quite a list, I am very jealous of your New Year's party crowd. Hopefully next year I will make it to Ngorogoro crater. Goodluck in the New Year!

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  3. Anonymous7:23 PM

    You're obviously blessed to have such an experience is this. I wish you the best for 2007.

    In the Omidyar.net forum I'm trying to connect people from Africa, Europe and other countries to collaborate in on-line forums that increase visibility for youth serving organizations in each part of the world, share ideas, and draw resources. The link is http://www.omidyar.net/user/u715126713/news/5/

    I hope you or some of your peers in Africa will get involved.

    Dan Bassill.

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  4. Marc A. Pitman, CFCC12:17 PM

    Wow! That's more animals than we had on New Year's.

    Our dinner table(s) had 16 people--11 of them under 8 years old! Talk about animals. *grin*

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