Tanzania, day 4

February 26, 2012

Today we went on our second safari into Tarangire National Park, arriving at 8am in hopes of seeing some predator animals. It had begun raining last night, and continued on and off in the morning, leaving the air smelling sweet and cool. 

Today I noticed another cultural difference, or to be more specific, our effect on the local culture here. The children will sprint to your car, a few just to wave, but most of them to beg. When we stopped today to look at a bird, two small kids (one about the 6, the other maybe 10) ran up to the window. 

The older one reached in the window and tapped on my arm, then pointed to me pen. "Pen?" he asked. I wasn't sure if he was showing off his knowledge of english or asking for it, so I asked "You want my pen?" to which he promptly said "yes" and without hesitation, grabbed the pen from my hand. He then asked for my journal (which I sadly needed) and for a dollar, and I had to tell him no. 

It seems like a part of this trip is the realization that we simply have so much more than other nations, especially in places like Tanzania, where much to my surprise the children ask first for pens before money or sweets. (These are the three things they usually ask for, usually in that order). 

Ecotourism is an important part of this continent's source of income, and with savannas and grasslands declining, it takes help from both sides to save the plains. 

While ecotourism brings money into these countries, it also can encourage begging in local villages. Is this begging really such a bad thing though? It seems like some folks who have it rough are merely taking advantage of the possibility that those who have money to spend might give some of it to them. Is that a bad thing? In different shoes would we be any different?

Today on safari was another elephant day. We sat in the middle of a large herd for about an hour, watching them eat, play, and watch us. There must have been forty or so, just ignoring us and grazing. 

We watched three little ones playing, with the smallest pushing the other two around. We started calling him "diesel".  At one point, one of the little elephants got knocked over in a tussle, and an adult came marching over to help it back up. Even the little ones tried to help, pushing the fallen little elephant with their heads. 

We eventually noticed an even smaller elephant, its head barely seen over the tall grass. We watched it suckle its mother, and when the mother wandered away, it tried to jump into the fray with the "big kids." Mom came back in a hurry to break it up, and took the little one away. 

After lunch we saw friends of our professors. Charles and his wife Lara. Charles is British and Lara is American, and they have spent years studying elephants in Tarangire National Park. They have a rather convenient tented home on the edge of the park, and we even saw elephants wandering in their back yard. 

They are also raising their two young girls here, but only for part of the year, because there are lots ad lots of things that eat children in Tanzania. 

Because it was after lunch, and getting warm, and we still hadn't quite gotten over jetlag (there's an 8 hour difference, so 8am in Tanzania is 12am back home) we started getting heavy lidded, and I know I especially struggled valiantly to keep awake while Charles told us about his work. Across the circle from me, some fellow students had to suppress giggles as they saw my head occasionally bob as I fought sleep. 

I did catch some points of Charles very interesting talk, despite my occasional battle with a want to nap, and he told us that Tanzania was one of the first countries to encourage the complete ban of ivory, and after that happened poaching greatly decreased because it wasn't worth anyone's time anymore. Elephants began to make a comeback. 

However, nowadays with the economy being sucky, poaching is again on the increase. 

It's a never ending battle to save the elephants, and the problem is we want to keep everything the way it is. We want to save everything, but we simply can't. Things are always changing, even without human influence, animals are always moving, and humans are forever taking more and more land and space for themselves. 

How things stand is that right now we still have space, and maybe even time, and maybe we even still feel like we can save everything, but there WILL come a day when we have to pick and choose what we save and what we let go extinct. 

How do we choose between lions and elephants? Or between rhinos and cheetahs? How can we let ourselves fall into a state where the only option is to pick the few that we can save?

I am afraid that this is already the road that we are racing down, and with the growth of technology, though amazing and great, there might be a decline in the love f nature and the outdoors. 

What if one day even zoos fail?

If everyone with their flying cars and microchip computers are too busy playing minecraft in 3d and virtual solitaire to want to see the world that our ancestors came from? 

If elephants disappear and the entire human race just shrugs and goes back to watching movies on their ipad 3000. 

That is my greatest fear. Not that animals will go extinct, that is inevitable. But that we simply won't care.

Rant aside, we had an exceptionally great day. Lara gave us seems from a baobab tree, which tasted tart but good. 

 Afterwards we drive back to camp, and on the way we spent about an hour trying to watch a lioness and a few young lions laying mostly concealed in some tall grass.

I think this is a lioness picture...I couldn't get a clear shot

Some idiots stood on top of their jeep to get a better look, and this scares lions. The lions didn't move until the idiots drove off, and we all did a silent cheer. 

We got back to the ledge and has some free time, so Annie and I went swimming in the pool, and on our walk back discovered a Giant Millipede! (COOL!)

We walked around showing to everyone, though I didn't hold it since I'd just sprayed myself with 100% DEET before we found it.