My first night in Africa

The room is simple but very nice. There are two single beds with a white mosquito tent around them. The beds have pretty fresh orange flowers on them. It is a very earthy natural looking room. There is no air conditioning or heat for the room outside of opening windows and a small fire place in the corner of the room that does not look like it gets used. The bathroom is nice with a lot of space. There is a small desk in the room by a window. With the window open, I look out into a small bit of the forest I am now living in. I can hear many different bird or bug sounds, an occasional cow in the distance and even rooster or chickens at times. I cannot see another room from my window all though there are 40 of them scattered around the compound.

The room is cool and damp, (everything is damp here). It has an earthy, almost musty smell but it is clean. Before I went to bed, I decided it would be nice to walk back to the lodge to send a quick e-mail home to let my wife and daughter know that I had made it. I had little trouble finding my way back to the lodge following the trails. I had a flashlight but did not need it with the trail lights. There is a computer at the lodge that I could send an e-mail from. When I was ready to go back to my room, one of the lodge workers asked if I needed a guide back to the room. Being the good Boy Scout that I am, and having a good sense of direction (or male ego), I declined and started off in the right direction. I soon however, found the maze of trails through the forest more confusing than anticipated. I was lost! Fortunately, I knew the area was small and after backtracking and trying again I made it. I had actually walked right passed my room once before.

By the time I got to bed it was just about midnight Tanzania time. Eight hours ahead of central time in Kansas and about 30 hours after I started my day at home the day before. As I was finally in bed, I it was to the sound of a gentle rain. As I found out, it rains just about every night here until the dry season sets in in a few weeks.