Magugu

Yesterday we went down to Magugu, about a 2.5 hour drive from Arusha, to give out Christmas presents to the children who attend the Joshua Foundation school. Magugu is a small town with rundown buildings, no sealed roads, and women selling peanuts everywhere (they also grow peanuts). On the way down we passed Lake Manyara, where the tree climbing lions and the flamingos live, and some of the most giant baobab trees I've see yet. Actually they were the first baobabs I've seen so they all looked enourmous to me. The school is pretty large with about 420 students attending. They have nursery school up through Form 2 which would be about 9th grade for us. Probably less than half were there for presents having already gone home. It was great to see how excited everyone was and it was hilarious to see the kids breaking into them early. The nursery school children were adorable, the presents were almost too big for them to carry. I've included pictures of Magugu and some of the school with the group handing out presents. Oh, in Magugu when we first arrived we had chai and chapatis ( i=ee), which are basically fried crepes though they tend to be a little thicker. Then for lunch we went back to the same resaurant and I had pilau, whcih is a rice dish with some sort of meat. I didn't eat the meat, which was probably beef, though others did, but the rice was delicious. it was spiced with something that gave it a very gentle floral taste, sort of like jasmine rice. Anyways, it was good. Oh and coke is my hero right now.

On the wildlife front we saw two guineu fowl and one monkey tail as it ran away. I don't have my safari plans sorted out but that should be done by the first of this coming week.