escapewindow | iii: lake manyara. plantation lodge. 7 oct 2012

Our second safari started in the morning, which made for a cooler drive and more active animals. This was back at Lake Manyara, but the difference between this morning and the previous afternoon was stark.

We saw a baboon grooming a blue monkey, which Marc Baker (our guide) hadn't ever seen or heard of before. Turns out someone has seen the reverse, also at Lake Manyara. Perhaps this is an interspecies friendship or romance.

We watched a family of baboons in the trees. Ammy, our driver, told us that you can watch baboons and elephants all day; they're always doing something interesting. Lions tend to sleep.

We saw our first hippos way off in the distance, snoozing. Along with wildebeest, zebra, a warthog. We were all excited by this, but had this happened a few days later we wouldn't have even blinked. The trip really did improve day by day.

We stopped when we saw an elephant (with both tusks this time) eating seeds by the side of the road. We were so close, and he let us watch and photograph him for a long long time.

Some more photos from the morning, including a baby baboon and a peeing giraffe:

In the afternoon we walked around the coffee plantation, which was nice, since we didn't get much exercise the rest of the week. The whole "don't leave the vehicle or you'll get eaten" rule kind of put a damper on that. Daniel from the Lion Project, who we met later, jumped rope for exercise.