Tarangire Part 2!

Giraffe!

Here are my second set of photographs from this Safari. Seeing all the animals was very inspiring me and I can't wait to get drawing them! Here is a cheeky snap of me and Anni :)

Baboons!

Giraffe having a little chat with a female ostich.

The jeep got to go through areas of water and mud, it was great!

The big tree's and scenery were beautiful!

Really loved these elephants!

This monkey joined us on our lunch break, he was around the picnic area trying to steel everyones food! Very Cheeky!

Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage Centre, based on the outskirts of Arusha is a lovely complex filled with huge traditional wood carvings. The centre has several shops dedicated to this selling arts and crafts and also has a huge art gallery.

There is so much detail in the pieces of work and with them being so tall they are simply amazing. Around the centre there were so many life size animals, they looked so realistic.

Outside the front of the gallery building were a herd of wilder-beast, which looked like they were made from cast iron. I love how they have become rusty over time, giving them an aged feel.

The centre had also created its own Masai village and below is a picture of me about to go have a look inside one of their huts. It was a great place to visit and was lovely and relaxing.

Trekking up Mount Meru!

What goes up must come down!

The views from the mountain were absolutely stunning. Me and Anni chose to visit mount meru waterfalls on another weekend we had free. To get to them we had to climb an area of mount meru, even though it felt like we had climbed the full mountain! Many people lived along the mountain and we saw these cheeky children who loved the camera :)

Women walked up and down with their supplies on their head. They made it look so easy walking up and down, especially when we was both struggling to balance on the rocks and dusty ground.

The mountain had a variety of terrain, these tree's where in an area at one part which was flat towards the top where we was walking. It was like a forest with tall tree's. Many had been planted rather than grew there naturally. On the other hand, below is a tree which has grown naturally. It stood alongside the hill in open space, and was extremely tall. But made beautiful imagery.

On the way up, there was alot of overcast, so it wasn't till the mid-afternoon the sun came out and it was very hot. It was a good job we was going down at this point or I think we might of passed out. I thoroughly enjoyed the walking, it was such a beautiful day!

This is the view of Arusha from park way up the mountain side on our trek. You could see for miles. It was great to see how far we had walked. We tried to make out our daily walk to place from a distance.

Monduli Masai Market.

The first weekend after our arrival me and Anni went on a visit to the moduli market. It was about an hour or so journey from Arusha and located at the top of the mountain. It was an extremely hot day in which we didn't think to wear sun cream and got very burnt!

We arrived to the market location which got to its busiest in mid afternoon, there was so many beautiful bright colours, with all the Masai wearing their traditional fabrics, as you can see from the pictures. The market was really interesting, women were selling beautiful fabrics in which I bought some. For about a metre and a half in fabric it only cost 2500 shillings which is the equivalent to £1.25 and their patterns are so gorgeous!

Before the market, Samuel took us both on a fantastic but tiring walk around the bush. This was the first time we had been walking about in the 'wild' rather than Arusha itself. I was slightly nervous we would come across anything wild but the nearest thing was a Gazelle- which popped out when Anni was going to the loo in the bush.

Surrounding the market and all over the land are many Masai Villages. Their homes consist of these huts made from mud and straw. They are so huge inside, ready to hold large families and their livestock. We were both lucky enough for this family to let us inside and welcomed us into their home. It was very dark but very strong.

The scenery was amazing. Samuel took us to this spot on top of the mountain and you could see for miles, unfortunately my camera I had with me doesn't show this very clear. Even though there was some wind and clouds, we didn't realise how hot and burnt we was actually getting. On our trips we took a packed lunch and it was so peaceful to each it in the bush, with just the sound of the birds and cattle with their bells.

The Masai walk for miles to get to this market every saturday. Many of them bringing their livestock of cattle and goats. Whilst in Africa one of the most shocking things was seeing the slaughter of animals. At the market there was various skins hung and animal meat for sale, even though this was quite a shock to see I felt it extremely interesting to watch.