Reflective blog by Lexi Rice

Something that surprised you about your experience today?

What surprised me most was when the elephants came within a few feet of our trucks. In my truck, the elephants came the closest and we could have touched them if we reached out of the window. This was the coolest/scariest thing that I have experienced on the trip thus far, Eric said by the look of our faces Kendra and I looked seriously concerned. Elephants are very emotional animals and it was interesting to see them hiding their babies and getting frustrated with our presence. We were asking Nickson, our driver if we should move but he knew that we should stay and experience it!

An aspect of the day that you didn't think anyone else noticed.

The Tanzanian stars are unbelievable! Often due to light pollution, we don’t get to see as many stars as they do. The stars filled the whole sky and it made me realize that it can take the smallest things in life to make us happy!

A part of the day that everyone needs to hear about.

The people that we have encountered with are amazing! From our tour guides to the workers at the places we stay the people are so kind, knowledgeable, and overall fun to be around. You can really tell that our tour guides love their jobs and have explained to us that they are treated very well. This experience has really brought me back to reality and it has been so nice to have the whole group unplugged and focused on being here.