Click here to view these images and many more in the slideshow. 

Well, we got into Tanzania and met up with our good friend Stephen Greenwood who is has been stationed in Arusha since July working on a documentary project. It felt really great to get back to Tanzania cause it kind of feels like home now. I was just there six months ago, speak a bit of the language, and TZ is the first place I really traveled outside the United States.

We stayed at a cool little lodge called the Outpost. Great service, wonderful clean rooms and super hot shower were super refreshing!

Stephen’s project was originally with an organization that is building an orphanage and school on some property outside the city limits of Arusha but during his time there he has discovered an orphanage called CCF that has been essentially completely abandoned by their directors. I don’t have all the details, but Stephen has more on his blog: observations.

Basically, there was an orphanage started that was running great and flourishing just a few months ago but then it was abruptly abandoned by it’s directors and sponsors. There are now about 10 boys living in the facility with no direction, with only themselves to lean on.

The crazy thing is how motivated these kids are. They get up super early in the morning to sweep out their facility. Some of them are determined to become professional futbol players so they get early to train and lift weights. They’ve made their own dumb bells out of coffee cans filled with concrete and sand.

These kids were super inspirational to me because it’s amazing how hard they are working and seeing how they take care of and look after each other is really unbelievable. It’s hard to figure out what drives them so intensely in their studies and work ethic, but they are certainly determined to overcome their situation, and they are doing it as a team.

The night we visited was the night before the US presidential elections. Of course in Tanzania, and most of Africa for that matter, everyone was following the elections quite closely and very excited about the possibility of Obama winning. Here’s a shot of one of the boys watching the election polls.

They were able to have power because there was a business next door that they are bumming off of. Otherwise I don’t think they could do it. You’ll see more images from CCF in the slideshow you can see here: View Slideshow.

We spent a few days in Arusha just seeing some of the things the Stephen has been doing with his organization and relaxing. It was really great. Then it came time for safari! The night before we left it started pouring rain and it ended up going all night and all the next day. When we got to the Crater it was hardly visible. In fact, we got to this viewpoint that I shot from last June and all we could see was thick white fog! We were so bummed!

I was able to take advantage of the crummy conditions and create a few dramatic shots that I wouldn’t be able to get otherwise…Like this one of the Maasai warriors in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

We did make it down into the Crater though and were able to see a few fun things, though the weather remained dreary and mostly overcast the rest of the day.

That night we stayed at Wildlife Crater Lodge, on the rim of the Crater and had a great night. The food there is wonderful and it’s a great place to crash after a long day on safari. The next morning we woke up and headed back to Arusha but stopped at Lake Manyara National Park on the way back. Lake Manyara is known for it’s dense elephant population and we saw a lot of them.

Hope you enjoy the images! Right now we are in Johannesburg, South Africa. Officially the furthest south I have ever been. We left Zambia this morning and later today will leave to fly into Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates… This airport is awesome. Definitely the biggest one we have been in for awhile. And much nicer than the airport in Nairobi, which we ended up staying in for just about exactly 24 hours cause of delayed/cancelled flights. Whew that was a long day!

We haven’t booked a hotel yet and have just found out that the Hilton is $800/night! My goodness! Guess we won’t be staying there. Hopefully we can find a place a bit more moderately priced.

Thanks everybody for all your comments and for keeping up with this blog. It’s always so much fun to hear from you and know that you are watching! We return home in less than 10 days! We are getting pretty excited and have been so thankful for all your prayers throughout the trip. 

Images from Zambia will be up soon. We had a really great time photographing the LifeSong ministry there. A great operation. 

Click here to view these images and many more in the slideshow.