The Juhnkes: March 2008

Trip to Tanzania

I recently took a trip to Tanzania for work to become "familiar" with the country. Myself and my traveling companion (Mike Smith pictured here) spent 11 days traveling the country. This picture is taken from our hotel room in Dar es Salaam overlooking the Indian Ocean. It was a nice warm get away from January in England.

Road Construction

This new section of road (the darker section on the right) was recently laid down by road works personnel. To protect it while it "cures" the roads department in Zanzibar (an island off the coast of Tanzania) place the rocks you see in the picture to keep cars off of it. Pretty imaginative, cheap and effective.

Market Day for the Masai

Masai people from neighboring villages converge to this market place once a week to exchange goods. Our guide told us that the Masai men really fancied home made beer.

Tanzanian Road

This image is not typical of most roads in Tanzania but we really appreciated them whenever we found one like this.

Baboons

Baboons are cute when they are little. These two were pestering each other for who would rule the branch they were hanging off of.

Who Has the Right of Way?

This elephant would not give way or even move to the side of the road so we had to back up for approx 1 mile through the forest to allow him to pass to the river he was walking towards.

Rural Tanzania

This is a typical picture of what the more fertile part of Tanzania looks like. Many still farm with ox-drawn plows but some do have tractors. They plant two crops per year typically. Some of the higher elevation land is suitable for coffee plantations.

Hyena

Imagine pigs with the cunning and stealth to hunt in packs and kill any animal or human and the hyena is your answer. These things have to be the most vile creatures that walk this earth. They kill on every opportunity without regard to their hunger. It is told that even hungry lions will not eat from a carcass that hyenas have eaten from.

Giraffe

Giraffes are probably the easiest animal to spot in the Serengeti but they are still one of my favorite. We spotted this group our last evening in the park.

Cape Buffalo

Cape Buffalo are extremly aggressive and territorial, this group was quite agitated by our presence.

Mongoose

These Striped Mongoose were hanging out around the sidewalk to our hotel room. One thing we did not worry about was being attacked by cobras at night while walking back to our room.

The Serengeti

This was the view from our hotel room. The Serengeti stretches out for as far as the eye can see. We were not allowed to venture far from the hotel because of the danger posed by all the nearby predators.

Anthill in Rural Tanzania

We were told that the soil in this part of Tanzania was very conducive to the liking of ants. Mounds like these were all over the place for miles and miles.

Christopher Turns Nine Years Old

Christopher's birthday cake reflects his hobbies and interests to a "T".

Time to Open Presents

Part of Christopher's birthday party involved a pizza party at RAF Alconbury.

Christpher's Birthday Party Activity

This year Christopher picked rock climbing for his Birthday Party activity. All the kids had a good time and were sufficiently tired by the end of their hour on the wall.

Pinewood Derby 2008

The 2008 running of the Pinewood Derby was another exciting event at RAF Alconbury this year. Christopher put in a lot of hard work on his race car, how would it fare this year against the competition?

And They're Off

The cars all look pretty close coming out of the gate, but which car will be the fastest to the finish? Christopher's car is the red, white and blue one on the far lane.

The Finish

Christopher watches as the cars cross the finish line, but who's crosses first? Christopher's reaction hints at the outcome.

Christopher Wins!

Christopher won first place in his Den and went on to win first place over all the Alconbury Pack for the second year in a row....way to go Christopher!