All I want for Christmas is my TOOTH!

Dec. 25 - Day 9 - Christmas!

 

 

Awoken at 5am by monkeys cavorting around my porch, screeching, and bouncing all over the walls. When I finally got up at 6 and looked out the window, a herd of buffalo grazed not 50 yards away.

 

We had a nice breakfast and were on the road at 7:15. Same problem with this game drive, everything was far off the road and you weren’t allowed to four-wheel it. I would skip this particular park next time. We did get to see Wildebeast, which we had not seen before,










and a male ostrich who was quite pink. Justus said that was because he was ready to mate and he would grow even pinker as he got “hornier.”

You could see vast herds of elephants on every side. They were all at quite a distance but I counted four herds in one glance.

 


We did have a herd cross the road in front of us, led by a gigantic female. Justus told us that the matriarch is always the biggest female and the she directs the herd using subsonic sound waves that are inaudible to the human ear. (I looked this up since coming home and it is true.)

 

 

We also spotted the “giraffe antelope”, so named for its long neck and giraffe like appearance, though it is only as tall as an antelope. Saw one male with big horns that swept back over his forehead before arcing upwards.

 

Next we drove to the Tanzanian border where we had to stand in one line to declare exit from Kenya, then cross a fence and stand in another line to enter Tanzania. The visa cost $100 each, twice as much for U.S. citizens as anyone else.

 

We said goodbye to Justus who presented us with a bottle of Kenyan wine for Christmas. And we said hello to Samson, our Kibo guide for the duration of our trip.

 

After an uneventful drive to Arusha – uneventful except for a dead donkey who’d been struck by and a lorrie that had slid off the road and was being hauled out – we arrived at River Tree Lodge, a quaint old farmhouse estate on 10 lovely landscaped acres bordering a river along whose tumbling banks I now write.
 

 

This area looks like a Tarzan movie. There are massive, majestic trees in delightful shapes with twisting branches and hanging vines; bananas dangle in huge bunches and palm fronds wave in the breeze.

 

We get to our room to discover Enchanting Africa has arranged for us both to have one hour massages! Sweet! Then we go back up to the dining room for lunch.

 

 

 

We are thoroughly enjoying our stuffed chicken when Kathryn takes a bite of cauliflour – and breaks a tooth!!! Seriously! It breaks off from the cusp, vertically along the front side down to the gumline.









This was quite frightening and we didn’t know what to do. Consulting with the general manager, a German from Munich married to an American living in Tanzania, he said he wouldn’t go to a dentist in Tanzania unless it was an actual emergency – and even then he’d go to Nairobi!

 

He loaned us his laptop and we researched some things, and since Kathryn is not in any pain we’ve decided to simply hold out till we get home. We had some Jack Daniels to ease the stress and tried two Tanzanian beers – Safari and Kilimanjaro.

 

Dinner was a splendid Christmas buffet with turkey and beef and countless sundries. It was $30 each, and seeing it was heavily laden with all kinds of healthy stuff I wouldn’t eat, I opted to go for fish and chips, which were delicious.

 

 

 

When we got back to the room, a Christmas stocking hung on our door filled with cashews and candy, a Christmas ornament and a toy giraffe. Fun!