where the wild things are

Apparently, some of the wild things stay in Kenya and Tanzania, but that's no excuse to miss a safari opportunity in Rwanda! Last weekend, I ventured to the Eastern part of the country to a National Park called Akagera with the Brogdons and a few other folks including Russell Rainey, Rebekah Lewis and Lindsay Trotter. We saw giraffes (which might be my new favorite animal), zebras, buffalo, birds, hippos, a warthog, babboons, and cows. Unfortunately, the pacyderms were nowhere to be found, but all in all it was a great day. Our tour guide was slightly sub-par, considering he actually fell asleep during the safari and repeated the only fact he knew to the point of hilarity. It went something like this and always included several dramatic pauses and appropriate hand motions:

"that is a zebra." (long pause and a gesture toward the zebras, as if we hadn't seen the black and white striped creatures only 20 yards away).

"It has a single hoof (another long pause)...like a...horse."

Following this astounding insight he would shape his hand like a hoof and paw into the air, clearly driving the point home.One of the great things about Akagera is that they let you get out of the car, which we did here to stretch our legs and perform a little wild African yoga.


All in all, its a pretty rough life here, suffering in Africa. I mean, look at those dark clouds rolling in as I try to lounge by the pool and some of us obviously need to work on our tan.

For those of you still concerned for my welfare, I'm including a great shot of the Brogdons - the family currently housing, loving and feeding me. Aren't they fabulous?