We arose early for another hearty breakfast and left on another game drive through the Tarangire Park.  This time we headed to the lowlands along the Tarangire River and were rewarded by finding elephants in great abundance (the other signature feature of this park, along with the baobab tree), both adults and babies.  A large troop of baboons diverted us for a while with their noisy antics, and we also saw many of the wildlife as yesterday such as impala (beautiful creatures but so very common it turns out… they are everywhere!), cheetahs, and giraffe.  A lioness and cub made an appearance and crossed the road right behind our jeep as we were stopped.

Other new additions to our experience include the dik dik, which is the smallest member of the antelope family, the bat eared fox, twiga (giraffes) and new birds such as the gray-headed kingfisher and southern ground hornbill.  Many of these birds are so colorful, it reminds us of the tropical birds of the Pacific.  We also encountered a herd of ostrich, with at least 20 or more young “fluffy” chicks and adolescents, all tended by one male/female pair.  Ostrich “pool” their eggs and select one pair of adults to tend the eggs all the way through hatching and raising.  This parenting duty lasts for about a year but once complete, that couple never have to participate in family rearing again during their average 40-year lifespan.  An interesting system!

After lunch back at the Lodge, we rest for a bit (it got quite hot out on the morning game drive—we make a note to bring a small thermometer on trips in the future) and then take a nature walk down to the lake with a guide and our same two Maasai guards.  We learn about many of the medicinal bushes and trees along the way as well as the Maasai way of starting a fire using plant material and two pieces of wood rubbed together (Craig suspects that in the absence of tourists this more likely involves matches and gasoline) and more birds.  We finished with another wonderful but large evening meal, another escort back to the bungalow, and a better night’s sleep.