On our way to Lake Manyara we go through a small town. We stop so that the cook can pick up a watermelon. While he is at the stand people who want to sell us their goods bombard our truck. They have T-shirts, wooden figures and beaded stuff. That’s one thing I couldn’t figure out, where they got all those beads. Do they trade goats to get them? Anyway, the people are yelling at me. “Hey lady, this would look very pretty on you”. Ok, all they really said was “you buy necklace?” I like to pretend they were really nice to me.I could really use a T-shirt considering I have been wearing my clothes for three days straight now. “How much for the shirt” I ask. Twenty dollars! Do I have blonde hair? Even if I did have a sign on my forehead that read ‘potential sucker’ I still wouldn’t pay twenty bucks for a T-shirt from a street person.You want what? No, I’m not giving you my sunglasses for a T-shirt. Five bucks, that’s almost four thousand shillings. The guy accepts. The riot starts as soon as I get my money out. “Hey lady” echoes from 15 other people. I start to go into my high horse speech of I work hard for my money and I will not be thought of as a rich American, but decide against it. The truck is getting ready to leave. I look down at the purchase. The damn thing says hakuna matata. Now not only have I made a bad-buying decision but everyone now knows that it’s the only Swahili I know and it’s because I watch Disney! I yell out “Merci Beacoup”. This way they don’t know if I am thanking them or cursing them. I win again.

We arrive at the park. The entrance looks amazingly like the state parks at home. The visitors office kind of melts into the trees. It is really green here, compared to the places I’ve seen so far. I ask Gebra why and he tells me that there are a lot of natural springs in the area. They run down from the mountains (The west wall) and are filled with sulfur. He promises to take me to a hot spring before the end of the day. The first animal we come across is a baboon. It’s obviously in heat. She’s not the most attractive baboon in the world but she’s sure to get some walking around like that. Makes me want to buy those cheek less leather chaps when I get home. I remove my micro-cassette recorder from my backpack with the intention of gathering every moment that I can. I find it hard to record the natural sounds when everyone else on the truck is talking about their bad backs and how their asses hurt. I rewind the tape and listen. The wind is the most prominent sound with little bits of “doesn’t that sting” and “my doctor recommended it” in the background. Maybe later I’ll record more. Who knows blackmailing could be my new profession. Throughout the rest of the day I see elephants, giraffes, zebras and monkeys. They are pretty much right next to me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful in my life. Well, there was that one guy from the Netherlands that I met in Costa Rica.

We head back to camp. After lunch we will leave here and head to Lake Eyasi. The road is very dusty and made up of red dirt. I don’t have a mirror but Michaelle Anne tells me that when I take my sunglasses off I have a ring around my eyes. I’ve always wanted a nickname but I don’t think I like raccoon girl. Suddenly the truck stops right in the road, I guess it’s time to tinkle. Mimicking a giraffe I stick my head outside of the truck and see John, our driver, shake his head in disgust.