Happy Earth Day!

To all of those who dedicate their time and resources to the protection, rehabilitation, and conservation of the eco-systems of Africa and the wildlife that inhabits those lands, I dedicate this post to you. Thank you for making the Earth a better place. 

All photos were taken by Samantha Angelo & Peter Ostrega in Tanzania, The Grumeti Reserve, January 2014.

To Tony Fitzjohn and Kevin Richardson (seen below), who have dedicated their lives to raising awareness about lions and the growing fear of their extinction. 

My observation of lions in the wild: 

Lions are the most loving animals I've ever seen, they show constant displays of love, friendship, admiration, and affection towards one another. Their favorite things to do are roll around in the grass, play and nap with their families, lick/nudge heads, and most of all climb trees. The love within a lion pride is inspirational and unbreakable. I saw nothing else like it during my time in Africa. Although lions have very short life spans (10-15 years) they make the most of packing as much tender love and affection into those years as possible. 

“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

Hot Air Balloon Safari

We woke up at 4am, packed our bags, and bid farewell to Faru Faru and our very favorite server/friend Paul, he greeted us in the main lodge at 5:30am just to see us off and make sure that we had breakfast before we left. 

We both gave him a huge hug and thanked him for his unrelenting kindness and karibu sana. I'll never forget his smile, so blindingly white and genuinely full of joy. There is no smile in the world quite like a Tanzanian smile.

 We drove for 10 minutes in complete darkness, until the sky started to turn light blue and we could dimly make out the half moon shape of the striped hot air balloon on its side, slowly filling with air.

 We were greeted by our pilot who taught us how to sit/lay on our backs until the basket is pulled upright by the force of the balloon. So we laid there with the flames right above our heads until all of a sudden we were pulled upright, and then ever so gently lifted from the earth.

Just as we took off the sun started to peak over the horizon and it was so peaceful, so quiet. When the pilot wasn't blowing air into the balloon it was completely silent, and we glided over the tree tops and herds of gorgeous animals. 

The Animals from Above

Water buffalo grazing on some delicious Serengeti grass.

A family of seven lions roaming through the plains, we met up with them after the ride was over.

Come on this adventure with us! Your Hot Air Balloon Safari Awaits!

 I made my first imovie from the (iphone only) footage that I took during the ride. This video is entirely my creation including syncing it with the piece of music that kept playing in my head during the balloon ride, Mahler 1!

What to look for:

Notice the herds of animals running in the opening of the video w/the trumpet fanfare. The birds that you hear in the background are the original audio from the video, I felt like the real chirping birds fit in perfectly with the music!

Notice the giraffes and zebras having an early morning snack on the hill side.

Later in the video notice the 7 lions that are frolicking through the plains, the cubs were adorable!

During the part of the video with the balloon shadow, notice the lines in the earth, those are elephant tracks, elephants actually cause quite a bit of damage to their environment and they often knock over trees as well.

Last but not least did you see/hear that the hot air balloon flames at the end line up perfectly with the music?? That was not planned at all. Love it!

Thank you to our guide Joe Kibwe for taking these gorgeous photos from the ground as he followed the balloon in his Land Rover.

"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."

- Gustav Mahler

Wild Family Portraits

By S. Angelo

   "Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!" 

- Albert Einstein

I absolutely loved this handsome family of water buffalo..say cheese!!

Giraffes are notoriously careless parents, yet these three seemed quite attached.

As uncute as the warthog is portrayed in The Lion King, I couldn't help but be completely smitten by these adorable oinkers. Each time we saw them they were in a perfectly straight line, organized from largest to smallest, and prancing/trotting through the plains. It got me every time!

"The impressive phalanx lengthened out into single file, and the pads of the giant beasts struck the path with a harsh grating sound, throwing up clouds of dust that was pink from the presence of quartz fragments in the soil. Along the path, just over a yard wide, passed a procession of swinging, lifting trunks, huge wobbling bellies, immense flapping ears and rhythmically beating tails. At its head marched the leader, a young mother of personable appearance and well balanced proportions, followed by her son, a contemporary of Fil." - Anthony Hinton, Wild Animals of Africa

The zebras were easily frightened as we drove up to them, which caused them to launch into a full gallop, then come to a screeching halt, freeze, and stare right at us.

From the pool at Faru Faru we watched a family of baboons playing with their new born. The tiny baby baboon kept jumping on his father's back and hanging from his neck. From time to time the father would toss him up in the air. I studied this loving behavior for no less than an hour. It was so cute, I almost cried.

These five wildebeests decided against migrating this year, they were the only ones left behind.

The perfect patch of shaded grass for this beautiful lion pride.

"What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family."                             - Mother Teresa