Day 213 - Day at Meru Mbega Lodge in Arusha NP, Tanzania
Friday, February 1st, 2019.
We were going to wake up early to go to the viewpoint and try to see some animals. We didn’t -- we slept in until 8:00. We then got ready for breakfast at 9:00. We had a big breakfast of fresh fruit, juice, eggs, and coffee. Afterward, we walked to the viewpoint to look for animals, but we didn’t see anything. The main reason we chose to stay in this lodge was that it's on the edge of the Arusha National Park and we read that from there you could see a lot of animals. Well, we haven’t seen much yet. The park is so big and the grass so tall that who knows when we will see something. In any case, we will see animals when we go on a safari. We chose not to jump at the offers we got when we first arrived at the hotel. We have three weeks here and that's plenty of time to do research.
We spent hours in the lobby, which is a large, beautiful palapa with comfortable chairs and tables under the thatch roof, no windows. All around you is a lovely view of plants, trees, and birds. There are so many noisy birds and bugs around, too. It is just beautiful.
After I finished my blog post, Gregory and I walked to the nearby village, if you can even call it a village. It was really just some shanty stores with corrugated tin roofs. There was a butcher shop, some small fruit stands, two shops selling fabrics, one of which had a seamstress. We crossed the street and we saw a tiny pharmacy which had very few products, an almost-empty "super" market, and a bar where Gregory bought some local food and beer. I took some pictures of the children in the area.
When we came back, Sunshine had just finished her homework and Daniel was already playing his games! We brought them drinks and bananas. We also had made jelly and butter sandwiches for lunch. I’m so mad at myself for not bringing peanut butter from Addis Ababa since we all love it and it was so cheap there. I always like to buy food in advance and have something just in case, but this time, I didn’t even carry fruit. I know I was sick, but I had no excuse. I didn’t even think about it. I figured we were going to be in a hotel and wouldn't need anything.
In the lobby, we met a nice family from Germany who had been traveling with their kids for two months. The mom publishes children's travel books and travel blogs. Very cool. We chatted with them for a while. Afterward, Sunshine and I went to the room for a photo shoot on our balcony. After she finished with her photos and left, I hung out on the balcony reading my book and enjoying the view. I also took a nap. This is a great hotel to rest and relax. It was a very nice present we gave to ourselves. Tomorrow we go to our Airbnb and if we like the house a lot, we might just stay there for the whole time instead of visiting other places. Gregory expressed his frustration at not having much free time, because he spends all his time doing research and hasn’t had much time to write.
We were going to wake up early to go to the viewpoint and try to see some animals. We didn’t -- we slept in until 8:00. We then got ready for breakfast at 9:00. We had a big breakfast of fresh fruit, juice, eggs, and coffee. Afterward, we walked to the viewpoint to look for animals, but we didn’t see anything. The main reason we chose to stay in this lodge was that it's on the edge of the Arusha National Park and we read that from there you could see a lot of animals. Well, we haven’t seen much yet. The park is so big and the grass so tall that who knows when we will see something. In any case, we will see animals when we go on a safari. We chose not to jump at the offers we got when we first arrived at the hotel. We have three weeks here and that's plenty of time to do research.
We spent hours in the lobby, which is a large, beautiful palapa with comfortable chairs and tables under the thatch roof, no windows. All around you is a lovely view of plants, trees, and birds. There are so many noisy birds and bugs around, too. It is just beautiful.
After I finished my blog post, Gregory and I walked to the nearby village, if you can even call it a village. It was really just some shanty stores with corrugated tin roofs. There was a butcher shop, some small fruit stands, two shops selling fabrics, one of which had a seamstress. We crossed the street and we saw a tiny pharmacy which had very few products, an almost-empty "super" market, and a bar where Gregory bought some local food and beer. I took some pictures of the children in the area.
When we came back, Sunshine had just finished her homework and Daniel was already playing his games! We brought them drinks and bananas. We also had made jelly and butter sandwiches for lunch. I’m so mad at myself for not bringing peanut butter from Addis Ababa since we all love it and it was so cheap there. I always like to buy food in advance and have something just in case, but this time, I didn’t even carry fruit. I know I was sick, but I had no excuse. I didn’t even think about it. I figured we were going to be in a hotel and wouldn't need anything.
In the lobby, we met a nice family from Germany who had been traveling with their kids for two months. The mom publishes children's travel books and travel blogs. Very cool. We chatted with them for a while. Afterward, Sunshine and I went to the room for a photo shoot on our balcony. After she finished with her photos and left, I hung out on the balcony reading my book and enjoying the view. I also took a nap. This is a great hotel to rest and relax. It was a very nice present we gave to ourselves. Tomorrow we go to our Airbnb and if we like the house a lot, we might just stay there for the whole time instead of visiting other places. Gregory expressed his frustration at not having much free time, because he spends all his time doing research and hasn’t had much time to write.
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EZRF4SC4XyVhAwQP7
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