tulip odds

I certainly hope that my odds of having a 'good' day teaching are a bit better than some days with photography. I took about 70 pictures of this tulip. It was winter and there was little else to photograph.Come spring the odds got a little better. I took about a dozen pictures of this poppy. It was in town and I am still nervous to take pictures when there may be people around. This silliness is difficult to work with when I am attempting to take pictures of people, but perhaps I force myself to get a good shot faster. (or use an angle that has worked before.)

No Ant Hills Either

I could say that we took more interest in the ant hill because we were in Tanzania and that makes everything new and exciting but
I think Sheryl and I would both take interest in bugs when we have the time to be interested in bugs.
After growing up with the horror stories of the siafu eating the parakeets, Sheryl was a bit fearful of them. (okay, so was I) Perhaps her siafu fear has encouraged her study of ants in general.
The siafu march through the forests in long lines. They live on the move without any place in particular to call home. (So how do they sleep? - Do ants sleep?) They do not have the nastiest bite, just a bit of a pinch. The fire ants in the Southern US are far nastier as far as just the bite is concerned. The siafu are famous for their effectiveness in mass. They are capable of killing large prey by asphyxiation - smothering by crawling into the mouth and nose. Mom remembers the crib legs being placed in cans of kerosene to keep the ants away from the babies.
Our cousins use these long lines of ants to lead unsuspecting folks into the forest, have them stop near the line, and then point out something to stop and look at (thereby giving the ants a chance to get 'em). They didn't try this on us, but I think we may have panicked if they had.

Octagon

Our first night on safari we stayed at the Octagon lodge. I don't think any of us are accustomed to such luxurious accommodations. The roses that were on each of our beds were beautiful.
This is the staff at the lodge with our party. We spent some time talking to the staff. One of the men is working here and his wife and children live and work in Arusha so he sees them about twice a month. It is difficult to afford the transportation cost to see them more frequently than that.

Sheryl sitting at the table in the gardens at Octagon. We came out of the showers in shifts that evening because somehow we ended up with one set of shampoo/conditioner for the five of us. (Life is rough.)

No Trees in America

I took so many pictures of trees at the Lake Manyara visitor center that Mufasa, the guide who worked there, asked if we had trees in America.
We do. I take pictures of them too.
.

Exploring and through the windows

We all went adventuring to see the zebra that hang out at the neighbor's house. This is Sheryl walking across one of the bridges on the way back to Dorobo.
I had never noticed that the hair on the zebra is different lengths in the stripes.


Life without OSHA.

Yesterday's Sunset

This is yesterday's sunset. It was -8 degrees when I took this, I guess it looks a bit chilly too. Sunsets don't often lend themselves to a vertical composition so I snapped this while it was there.

Time to chase butterflies

While I was staying at Dorobo before the rest of the group arrived, I had time to go exploring and chase butterflies. The most amazing butterfly I saw wouldn't let me get anywhere near it. I don't know what kind of butterflies these are (two are moths), they may as common as sulfur butterflies are here.