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G-Man's Boring Lawyer Blog
May 24th 2007, 05:31 CEST by Gabe I'm kind of curious. |
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Part III, where we go to the Serengeti and an elephant take offense. We had a 5:00 wake up call on Thursday to get up shower and meet our driver from Ranger Safari to take us to the airport. Arusha has a small airport, but it is being renovated so we had to trek back to Kilimanjaro airport and hour away, hence our early wake up for an 8:00 flight. We were out of our lodge at 5:55, thankfully in a fresh set of clothes, and a couple of porters were waiting to help us with our luggage. Check out was a breeze and our tab was $50 for our 'dinner' when we arrived and all the drinks that we had. The hotel was kind enough to prepare a box breakfast for us since we were leaving so early. Our driver we not yet there and so we sat in a couple of oversized leather chairs next to the front desk and waited, and waited, and waited. The front desk called out Safari operator to see what was up, but before they could call back the driver arrived 35 min. late at 6:35. It turns out that while our flight was originally booked at 8:30 and then moved to 8:00, no one told him. So we get into the truck and race to Kilimanjaro airport. We arrive at around 7:20 and had enough time to check in. We were warned by the safari company that there was a weight limit of 15 Kg/person per person for luggage and that it had to be less than 18” high. Our luggage weighted in at 32 KG thanks to our light packing efforts. We had a short wait to get on the airplane. The airplane was a Cessna Caravan, a single engine plane with a fixed landing gear, high wing and a belly compartment below the fuselage for luggage. An employee escorted 7 of us across the tarmac to the airplane. We were asked to visually verify that our checked luggage was present before they loaded it into the belly of the airplane. Now we knew why that very big luggage was banned, it wouldn't fit! The airplane had seats for 12, or 15 people, but thankfully there were only 7 of us. We sat in the second row behind the pilot since we were getting off at the third stop. The pilot sounded South African and we were treated to a full forward view out of the cockpit being so close. After a quick taxi we took off and headed towards our first stop, which was Tarangire National Park. It was very cloudy and overcast, again, so we were unable to see Mt. Kilimanjaro despite it being relatively close to the airport. The plane didn't climb above the clouds and it was the one sight of Tanzania, and the biggest one, that we weren't ever able to see. The landscape was mostly brown with a few roads and houses. There was one relatively modern village that we saw, but for the most part it was desolate, but before long we were in the clouds. It was a half hour flight before we began our descent and broke through the clouds over Tarangire. The landscape was trees that from the airplane looked like different pieces of foam balls stuck onto a piece of cardboard like some kids art project. We was dried out river beds that you always seen when you watch an African nature show. I was scanning the landscape for our first glimpse of wildlife, but I didn't see any. We landed, let some people off and turned around and took off. On take off I was able too some Ostriches next to the landing strip, my first glimpse, but in a second they were gone. The plane turned north and flew to Lake Manyara for the next stop. The plane ended up flying over the lake to the east side and out of the rift valley the land rose 500 feet into the air below us. We turned around landed on an upward sloping hill. It was a bit odd to be looking out the cockpit and see land in front of us. We picked up another couple, taxied back to where we landed and took off, going up the hill. We weren't very far away from the runway when that same cliff that greeted us dropped away and were suddenly 1,000 feet high. The plane turned around and continued in a north easterly direction. The plane was climbing pretty steadily as there were mountains in front of us. Slowly we were watching the ground creep up underneath us. As we approached the mountains, off to the port side we saw Ngorongoro crater. It was an awesome sight to see the caldera. Clouds from around the mountains spilled over the edge and into the bowl. It was cool to see clouds inside of the caldera (my wife got a picture). Soon after passing we noticed that the ground got a lot browner. This was in the rain shadow of the mountains and as a result not as much vegetation as the areas we were at. However, quickly the land dropped below us again as we left the mountains behind and had no hope of seeing any wildlife. We had about a 40 minute flight from Lake Manyara to where we were going to land at, the Lobo airstrip in the Lobo section of the Serengeti national park. Two hours after boarding the airplane we descended through the clouds (they were here too) and landed at the Lobo airstrip. The air strips we have been using are nothing more than a flat dirt patch carved out of the bush with a wind sock at each end. We taxied to the end of the runway where a couple of different guides were waiting. We were able to spot our guide easily as we were given a picture of him in our itinerary. We were let out of the plane and set foot onto the Serengeti. They got our luggage out of the airplane, which we goatherd and said hello to our guide, Firoz. He took our luggage and was surprised at how light we packed. I guess some people still felt the need to over pack for their trips. He put out bags away, directed us to a "Chinese loo" that we could use if we needed to, though warned us that they were stinky. He left to take care of some paperwork with the park ranger that was waiting with them and invited us to get comfortable in the safari vehicle. The safari vehicle is beefed up Toyota Land-cruiser. The passenger compartment sits a little big higher than the drivers and can seat 6 or, 7 without the cooler. The vehicle is lifted to have a fairly high ground clearance, carries two fill size spares and has a snorkel. Ours looked very new. Inside the top opens up so that you can stand in the vehicle to watch the game while you are driving, or parked. It also doubles as a sun shade when the sun is at its strongest between 10 and 4. If it was going to be a group, it would have been very difficult. Inside there were pouches in front of our seat to stored misc. item and a water bottle holder next to the seat. Sitting behind the driver was an adequate amount of leg room. The other seats, however, were much tighter for the long legged, so another reason to avoid a group if at all possible. Most of the other 4x4 we saw were similarly equipped, but with varying degrees of newness. Some, however, had an open top, but it was nothing more than a soft top that rolled back so during the height of the afternoon the sun would be a force to deal with. The newest looking vehicles were affiliated with the premier luxury outfitters, Ker & Downy, and Abercrombie and Kent. Our driver finished up his paperwork and we got off on our way. He first asked us what we were interested in, if it was mammals only, or birds, or everything down to the trees and flowers. We said we wanted to know/see everything, and we were off "fishing" as he would say. He called it fishing because you're not guaranteed to see anything. There will be stuff out there, just no idea what or when. He told us the ground rules in the parks. The parks open up at 6:00 and close at 18:00. Since we were staying at facilities inside the park we were allowed to be on the roads until 19:00, but had to be back to the lodge/camp by then. These house, unfortunately, mean that you won't be able to see any nocturnal animals (even if you had the ways in the dark). The drivers had a strict speed limit of 25 KPH when on a game drive, and 50 KPH when driving somewhere. No loud music was allowed and people are not allowed to interfere with the animals, including feeding and yelling at them. There are no trash facilities inside the park (outside of the lodges/camps) and all garbage that is brought in must be brought out. Drivers must stay on the roads* and are not allowed to go off road at all. A years suspension if the penalty if you do go off road. He warned us to use our bug spray and showed us what a Tsetse fly looked like and that we should swat them. Of all the bugs they would be the most annoying, not the mosquitoes. Our driver explained that there was a fierce storm the night before and some of the roads were still very muddy and wouldn't be able to go to some areas. He explained to use the area of the Serengeti we were in (forest area) and pointed out some of the trees and flowers that we saw. In this part of the park you'll come across rock outcropping fairly frequently and he explained they are called Kopje (rhymes with coffee) and are a good spot to find lions sunning themselves. Unfortunately for us, we wouldn't get lucky and see them right away. For this afternoons drive we were going to have a game drive on the way to our hotel, the Migration Camp. We would stop and eat lunch, rest for a bit, before going out on an evening game drive. The first animals we saw were some Gazelles. We took pictures of them excited to see our first animals. We continued on our way and next came across a troop of olive baboons walking in the bush. The driver stopped the jeep (and turned off the engine, whenever your stopped for more than 30 seconds they kill the engine) and told us about the baboons. The troop was spread out on the ground foraging for insects and what not. We saw some big male baboons, but the cutest was a baby clinging to its mothers back as she foraged. Unfortunately I thought I recorded it, but never pushed start. So it goes (I got better baby baboon footage later anyway). We were very excited so far, but haven't seen any of the real African animals. Soon enough our driver spotted some zebra off in the distance. Perhaps knowing how excited people are to see their first animals, he stopped the jeep and let us take some pictures. We were like kids at Christmas rushing to capture those first zebra we saw. Even though they were 100 yards away, behind some bushes and under a tree, we were thrilled to see them. We didn't stay long as our guide knew full well that we would get better shots now that we got over our initial excitement. While we were driving I stood up in the jeep. The road is benign looking in pictures, but it can get very rough and if you're not careful and holding on you will get thrown around. The air was cool and crisp. As it was partly cloudy the sun was not heating things up, and with the wind in my face it was downright balmy. About an hour or two into our drive having seen baboons, gazelles (both, Grants and Thompson's), impalas, and zebra we finally saw the first one of the Big 5 (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, and Cape buffalo). I was standing in the jeep and off to the front left at about 11:00, thought the trees I saw a giant hose pulling at some tree branches. It took my brain a second recognize what I saw, but when I figure it out I yelled "Elephant!" The driver hadn't seen it, due to his low vantage point, and asked me where I saw it. I told him to the front left and we went slowly along the road until he saw the herd of elephants. Elephant herd are matriarchal and are comprised of only female elephants and their young. Males are kicked out when they are 12 years old, but the daughters stay with their moms to be part of the herd. This was a nice sized herd, about 20 or so elephants spread out. Some had already crossed the road to the right of use, but most were off to the left. Our driver crept closer to the elephants to get a better view of them. There was some open space between the trees and the road where they were headed. The elephants smelled us and were wary. Our driver told us that it would take a few minutes for them to get used to our smell and not fell that it was a threat. Between the heard we saw a tiny baby elephant. Our guide told us that it was very young, not more than a few months old, and it was very, very cute (got some super cute footage of the baby). There were a couple other babies too, including one that had grown tiny tusks. The guide explained that this is why they were more wary than usual, a very young baby with a couple of other youngsters. He turned the jeep on and crept a little bit closer, when one of the young females in the herd took exception to this. She flared her ears out in their aggressive posture and took a few running steps at us (she was bout 40 yards away) and trumpeted. All the other elephants stopped like statues, which the guide explained to us, are what they do when there's a potential threat. He explained that if she was going to charge at us we should sit still and not move. The elephant will think that the jeep is a stationary object and will stop. The elephants stayed still for a few seconds when the one that trumped at us turned around and crossed the road in front of us. We watched as the elephants closed ranks around the babies to put them in the middle as a defensive barrier. The group in front of us all crossed the road (but not the whole herd, there were still some stragglers to the left of us) and we left them alone to continue on our way to the camp. About a 10 or 15 minute ride before we came across our first giraffe's. They were a good distance away, about 200 yards or so, but they were beautiful to look at. They noticed us because I had zoomed in the video camera on the one closest to us and it was starting at us. The entire time it had stared at us and did not eat from the tree it was standing at. We continued further and came across some Wildebeest. We stopped and listened to the funny bleats. Mixed in with the heard were a few zebra. Our guide told us about the great migration and how the zebra and wildebeests compliment each other. Not far from the camp we found some vultures that had enjoyed a meal. It was a wildebeest that they found, our guide didn't know if it was a kill or a natural death, and all we could see were bones and a head. We snapped some pictures and moved on. We arrived to our tented camp for our first two nights in the Serengeti at about 1:15ish. On the bridge that goes over a small dell to the camp was a rock hyrax sitting on a step, which in turn startled my wife. Our guide said they were safe and not to worry, just don't try to pet them. They kind of looked like big rats. We checked in and were given the ground rules. The camp is in the middle of the Serengeti and there are no walls to keep the animals out. They can, and do, come into the grounds at night. We were warned that hippos are nearby and a pride of lions do live in the area. For that reason all guests must have an escort with them if they are out on the grounds at night time. Given that dinner service didn't start until 7:30 and it got dark at 6:00, you were going to be on the grounds at night. Inside the tent is a flashlight for us to signal to an escort if we need to leave our room. In addition to that there was a whistle attached to the key that we could blow if we needed to summon someone in an emergency, because there are no phone lines here. The tent itself was huge. It was built on a wooden platform that was fixed into the ground. It had wooden French doors to enter and on the opposite side were a small balcony with chairs to sit out on. The massive king size bed occupied the middle of the room. To the left were a similarly massive leather easy chair and table. In the left corner were a desk and a couple of outlets to charge things with. The camp was good enough to have a universal plug (but not voltage) that you could plug your items into. This was handy as it let us charge the camera and video camera at the same time. To the right behind small partitions were the dual bath room sinks. A shower and toilet flanked the sinks. We were told that hot water was available 24x7 and only to be careful with drinking the water. We were given 4 bottle of water a day. We were also told that laundry was included free of charge, which was great because packing light meant we would need to do laundry. Getting to the tent was a hike. We were in tent 12, and only tent 13 was further away from the main building. To compound that the entire way to the tent was down hill. We dropped out stuff off at the tent and went back for lunch. Since there are so few guests (13 tents) they had a small buffet for lunch. There were 3 different salads to pick from, some breads, a hot veggie dish, fried eggplant and some pork chops. From our table we were able to look out on a rock outcropping below us near the river where we spotted a hippo. It was too far to take a picture (plus it was in the room charging) but drove home the importance of going with your escort at night. We retired to the room for a quick nap as we were due to meet our guide for a 4:00PM game drive. We met our guide at the lobby at 4:00 for our afternoon drive. The overcast clouds had gotten a bit more grey and ominous, but we pressed on anyway. We went out on the same road we had traveled into camp and saw the same zebra and wildebeest, though the giraffes and elephants had moved on. We were only out an hour or so before the rains came. The guide had to close up the roof hatch and we turned around to go back to camp. There wasn't going to be anything else to see in the rain as the animals would bed down and wait it out. We turned around and drove back to camp. We discussed our plans for the next day and he suggested that we leave the camp at 6:00 and he would get a breakfast picnic and lunch for us to take. We would end up getting back at around 3:00 or so, but would be able to see a lot of things. It was a good idea and decided to do it. The sky opened up and it was raining buckets. It was slower going back to the camp and it we got back at around 6:45. Waiting for us at the drop off point were some porters with umbrellas, which was great. We went to the checking/lobby area and parked ourselves on one of the big overstuffed leather sofas to wait out the rain. There was no sense going down to the room in that mess and coming back for dinner, so we watched the video we shot (including the elephant trumpeting at us) and talked until it was dinner time. Unfortunately there was a big family on safari too that was at the couches next to us making a racket. We wanted peace, but they were having their fun. It wasn't just mom, dad and the kids, but it looked like one of those things where grandpa was taking the whole family on a dream vacation so there were a few old people, a bunch of young/middle aged parents, and about 4 or 5 kids. The dining room was small. It would have felt romantic with the lighting only coming from candles and but that family went to eat at that time too. If we weren't bushed it would have been better to wait. Dinner was served in a candle lit room with a few electric light and candle at each table. The rain cooled things off considerable, it was chilly without a sweatshirt, so they carted in portable heaters for the dining room. This is where we learned that dinner would be a 4 course affair. The first course was shrimp lasagna with a cream sauce. It was excellent. It wasn't traditional lasagna, but a layered course assembled on the plate. This was followed up with a soup. It was good, nothing special. For dinner we had a choice of fish, beef, or pork and their various accompaniments. I chose the pork and my wife chose the beef. The food was very good. My wife said the beef had a different flavor, I suspect because it's probably grass fed, than what she was used to, but good. Dessert was a choice of a tart or ice cream and fruit. We got one of each, but I wished I got the tart instead. The ice cream was OK, but nothing special. The tart was very, very good. We left dinner and made the arrangements for a 5:00 wake up with coffee and went with our escort back to the tent. Our escort is armed with a flashlight that they swing to and fro looking for animal’s eyes in the darkness. They have nothing else, so we weren't really sure what they would do if they saw something. But we didn't see anything that night, so all is well. We retired to bed and awaited a full game drive tomorrow, not knowing what excitement was in store for us. Part IV to be continued…. * there are exceptions to this rule, if you're important enough. Stay tuned for when we go to Tarangire for the full details. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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Giraffes are awesome. fuck your song
and fuck your dance fuck your keeping me down and under |
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They are. The Robot Chicken sketch makes them even more awesomer. Is that his first joke? Keep swinging. "…a four-dimensional real vector space equipped with a nondegenerate, symmetric bilinear form."
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I thought you said they weren't going to be so fucking long anymore. |
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tl;dr My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in
"I'm not sure it's possible to make a "subtle" jab at Matt's writing ability." - Ergo |
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2bad4u |
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I like them long. Keep going. Actually, the liberalism of the media - as a general thing - IS a major fallacy. What the media is, is a whore. -LP Johnsen Family
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Excellent read. Thanks. |
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Don't worry about the length, but do clean up the typos. I'm fighting the urge to copy it into Word and fix all your spelling mistakes and missing words. Horrible song of the nonce: Left Behind
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Also, needs more sex. |
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I thought you said they weren't going to be so fucking long anymore. Yea, I guess I lied. Pretend it's like PC used to be and instead of one post it's really 40. Don't worry about the length, but do clean up the typos. I'm fighting the urge to copy it into Word and fix all your spelling mistakes and missing words. I ran it through word before hand and that caught a bunch of stuff and trusted it so that I didn't need to proofread it. I was also tired after typing it up and didn't want to spend another 15 min doing that. I should though. I do trust that everything is spelled right, it's probably the wrong word/form though. Also, needs more sex. You'll have to fill in the blanks yourself. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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Cheesy What an awesome adventure. |
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Poof: I hope you get an A when you submit that as your fifth-grade writing project. |
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I actually like the post, cheesy. I'm just a smart ass by nature. It's failing I've learned to live with. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in
"I'm not sure it's possible to make a "subtle" jab at Matt's writing ability." - Ergo |
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m0nty, please take the following under consideration as extra credit to bring my grade up to an A+: Go fuck your mother. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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I'm going to have to mark you down to a C- due to that foul language, young man. Additionally, I think some detention is in order. |
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Cheesy- That's cold, bro. I'm sure m0nty wants the first time to be with someone more special than his mom. I watched Aliens, and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt.
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Wait, so yottie thinks I'm Jesus? |
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No, he thinks you're a spectacularly lonely single man. You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religions. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, intelligent enough. --Aldous Huxley
DVDs |
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So yottie thinks I'm Jesus? |
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Even Jesus had twelve actual real friends he'd chill with in person. I watched Aliens, and I didn't even get a lousy t-shirt.
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They were just into him for his power. And in hindsight maybe "11 real friends" would be more accurate. "…a four-dimensional real vector space equipped with a nondegenerate, symmetric bilinear form."
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Hey now lets not forget the one woman Jesus was traveling around with. So really there's no way m0nty could be Jesus. |
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Jesus surrounded himself with yes-men to compensate for the fact he would never grow a beard as good as m0nty's. - words and stuff -
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Come to my arms, my Welsh brother! |
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However, Jesus will always win the "my dad can beat up your dad" argument. |
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Like he's ever around. "…a four-dimensional real vector space equipped with a nondegenerate, symmetric bilinear form."
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Just because nobody mentioned it in the Bible doesn't mean Jesus wasn't married. Actually, the liberalism of the media - as a general thing - IS a major fallacy. What the media is, is a whore. -LP Johnsen Family
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jjohnsen (#764): Just because nobody mentioned it in the Bible doesn't mean Jesus wasn't married. That brings up two points that are absolutely untrue. One, the Bible leaves things out or only talks about the things it wants to. That would have one assume whole books might have been left. That just can't be true. Two, that Jesus may have been a mere mortal hence susceptible to those wily, evil females. That also must be untrue. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in
"I'm not sure it's possible to make a "subtle" jab at Matt's writing ability." - Ergo |
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I'm confused. Either Perkins comment is saturated in sarcasm or he's a fundie. |^^^^^^^^^^^^ |||__
| こんにちは | ||'|"\,__. |_..._...______===|=||_|__|...,] (@)'(@)"""*|(@)*(@)*****(@) |
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Which seems more likely to you. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in
"I'm not sure it's possible to make a "subtle" jab at Matt's writing ability." - Ergo |
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He's being sarcastic. Actually, the liberalism of the media - as a general thing - IS a major fallacy. What the media is, is a whore. -LP Johnsen Family
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And don't forget, I think at the center of the universe, there could be a giant pink bunny running the place. My intelligence, then, is not absolute but is a function of the society I live in
"I'm not sure it's possible to make a "subtle" jab at Matt's writing ability." - Ergo |
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Apocyrypha for the win! |
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Well, Jesus DID spend most of his later life hanging out with a bunch of young guys. In the desert. All by themselves. I find marriage to be highly unlikely. You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religions. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, intelligent enough. --Aldous Huxley
DVDs |
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Cheesy "Thes Es Efrika, Bro" Poof [On Baboons] We were very excited so far, but haven't seen any of the real African animals. Yeah, fucking baboons best get their shit together if they want to be real. Maybe maul more tourists or something. [On Giraffes] They noticed us because I had zoomed in the video camera on the one closest to us and it was starting at us. Giraffes can sense quality audio-visual equipment. [On Dangerous Animals] On the bridge that goes over a small dell to the camp was a rock hyrax sitting on a step, which in turn startled my wife. You could have died! MP3 Of The Week: Hello? Hello? Is this thing even on?
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Humor! I responded with laughter. "…a four-dimensional real vector space equipped with a nondegenerate, symmetric bilinear form."
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No, you responded with a post describing behavior observed with real humans, like you do every time. You are a failed attempt at an AI. 2005 TOTY 10000 badge winner and proud carrier.
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CAPTCHA? |^^^^^^^^^^^^ |||__
| こんにちは | ||'|"\,__. |_..._...______===|=||_|__|...,] (@)'(@)"""*|(@)*(@)*****(@) |
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Part IV, where we eat breakfast with the lions Our 5:00AM wakeup call arrived in the form of one of the staff members banging on our door. I had ordered some coffee, so I opened the door to let him in with it. He took his duties at waking people up very seriously and after setting the coffee tray down he said to my wife, “Mama, wake up. Mama needs to wakeup.” I thanked him and escorted him to the door. It was either creepy or endearing; personally I think it was a little bit of both. I poured us some coffee to help shake the cobwebs out of our heads. Included with the coffee tray were a couple of cookies to hold us over till our breakfast. We showered and got ready to go. Before leaving we made sure to have our laundry set out for the day. We packed up our things and were ready to go. I grabbed the flashlight off the desk, opened the front door and signaled to the escort that we ready to leave. Exactly at 6:00 we met our guide in the lobby area of the camp. Our breakfast and lunch were already loaded in the jeep, so we walked over and piled in. The sun hadn’t risen yet so it was quite cool out. The clouds did not break following the rains the night before and when the sun finally did rise we did not get to see an African sunrise. On our game drive Firoz explained to us that we had a good opportunity to see lions. They hate water and would avoid it at all costs. Following a rain they could be found lounging on the road since it dries faster than the bush. While driving on the road that led to the airstrip we landed at, our guide spotted some animal spoor on the road. A kopje was not far off to our left which would have also been a good place for lions to escape the wet ground. However, he determined that they were hyenas, as evidenced by the claw mark in the print, and not lions. We passed a tree that had vultures roosting in it. He told us that vultures won’t fly out of the tree until around 10:00. Their wings get heavy in the dew and will wait for them to dry out, as well as the ground so they don’t get wet again. We spotted our first predator of the day walking down the road after almost two hours of driving. It wasn’t the lions we were after, but a mated pair of silverback jackals. The jackals are fairly small animals and would have been difficult to see in grass of any significant length. To me they looked like large foxes. Our guide told us about the game that the hunt, small reptiles, birds and mammals, and that they mate for life. After a few minutes watching we continued on our way. We had driven only another 10 minutes when Firoz let out a loud “Yes!” and clapped his hands together. He had found us our first pride of lions. They had been hanging by the road but the sound of us coming made them get up and move before we saw them. Firoz spotted them ahead of us and to the right moving into the bush. It was a large pride; there were at least ten lions that we could see. The pride included juvenile lions that were nearing maturity, including some males that were going to be kicked out soon, but no cubs that we could see. The dominant male of the pride hangs out away from the lionesses and the cubs for his peace and quiet. This meant that he was the closest one to us on the road. He was a blond male, but not very large according to our guide. He speculated that this male was relatively new to the pride and that had recently taken it over. The view of the pride, other than the male, was not very good, but we were able to get a couple of good pictures through the trees. We sat and watched them for about 15 minutes when we let them be. It was almost 8:30 when we left the lions and so our guide suggested that we stop to have breakfast. We weren’t near any campground so we would have to set up in the bush to eat. We turned on to a side road not far from where we watched the lions and continued for a couple hundred meters where we parked next to a tree. Firoz took out the picnic basket and set up a portable table. He unpacked a basket that would have had enough food to feed 5 people, forget about the 3 of us. In the basket were a selection of pastries and breads, three different kinds of cold cereal with milk (in a box, but not cold), hard boiled eggs, yogurt, a selection of sliced meat (looked like cold cuts), and hot water for coffee and tea. We stood under an acacia tree and ate. Firoz remarked that the lions were only 300m away, but don’t worry, we were fine. After eating he packed everything up and we were on our way. The next 45 minutes of our drive were uneventful until we came across another guide parked on the road. Firoz asked him what they see and he told us that there was a cheetah in the bush about 40 yards away from the road. We had driven by this area on our way to where the lions were and had not noticed anything. Indeed, the cheetah was very well camouflaged in the bush (we have a picture that demonstrates this). We could only pick out the cheetah when it moved its head or flicked its tail. We spent several minutes watching the cat lounge while our guide gave us background information on the animal. Things got a little more interesting when the animal stood up. We now had “action” shots and could take a picture of more than its face and ears. It started walking around gingerly, not doing much, but in an instant its posture and tone change. It was staring intently off in the distance at something. Our guide said what we were all thinking, “she’s on the hunt”. It crept around the bush a little bit, sneaking forward to the plain where wildebeest, zebra and some antelopes were gathered. Our guide told us that cheetahs don’t rely much on stealth and that when she spots her prey she will take off after it. All of us were watching the cheetah intently. She paused with her gaze fixed in the distance and started walking slowly towards the field. Her pace quickened until one explosive moment she was off at full speed across the plain. I was trying to follow her as much as possible with the video camera, but I lost her as she raced towards her target. Zebra and wildebeest scattered at full speed away from the cheetah. Our eagle eyed guide, however, did not lose her in the commotion and provided the play by play, “I can see her, she is going after a baby antelope. They are both running away, I think she is going to get her. Yes, she got her. She got the baby antelope. Now she is going to rest to regain her strength before she eats. Oh, I see some jackals out there. They are going to try and steal the kill from her. If they’re going to do it they need to do it now after her run when she is tired. If she gets her strength back she will take the kill away from them.” The cheetah was far off in the distance and even though Firoz tried to show us where it was I was unable to see it. After our adrenaline wore off we exchanged superlatives with the English couple in the other jeep that watched the hunt with us. It was very exciting to watch a cheetah on the hunt, but in the end anti-climatic because by the time it is over it will be so far away that only those with professional camera equipment would be able to see it with the kill. Still, it was our exciting moment we had in Africa to date. Firoz started up the land cruiser and we continued on our way south to the central part of the Serengeti. We came upon a herd of zebra that were spread out to both sides of the road. A few were on the road that galloped out of the way as we drove though. We laughed at how we geeked out over the first zebras we saw and now they were only a few feet away from the car. We stopped and took a bunch of pictures. Along the way to the central Serengeti were a number of small streams that we had to ford. The park did pour concrete for the vehicles to drive over, so it wasn’t some exotic river crossing. The streams were a beautiful collection of rock outcroppings and tropical trees that wouldn’t grow elsewhere in the Serengeti. At one stream crossing we saw a juvenile Nile crocodile. It was only about 4 feet long. Further along in our journey we were able to see giraffes up close. They were only about 30 feet from the car and you could hear leaves being ripped from the tree. When they would walk you would hear a gentle swishing sound as their legs moved through the grass. What we did not expect to see were their hind quarters and neck twitching involuntarily. It made them look neurotic and creepy. Our guide explained that the twitching is a defense against the flies and that it shakes them off their body. It was an odd sight and not one that I got used to seeing. Nearby one of the streams we found some hippos in a pool. They were resting in the water not doing much. There was a baby present. The guide explained to us that the reason the water is brown is due to the hippos and their excrement. They’ll defecate where they swim and it will pollute the water. Apparently they’re not very clean animals. Near the pool we were able to see the path that was worn down by the hippos as they always exit and enter the water to feed. He explained that so many people end up getting killed by hippos because they’re out after night and cross one of these lanes while a hippo is moving and they attack them. By this time it was around 12:30 and we pulled into a visitor center for lunch. There were picnic tables, so Firoz set up lunch while we went to the bathrooms, which were among the cleanest in the park that aren’t in a lodge. Apparently the ground rules are that, due to space limitations, once you are done with lunch you clean the area and vacate it. The only table with room that Firoz found was with some bloke that had finished eating and was having a smoke. We sat down and unloaded our basket and proceeded to eat while he smoked. He mumbled something like, “have a good day” when he left. Firoz thought he was Russian, but I thought he was English. Either way it was tough to tell since he mumbled. Lunch was another meal with a lot of food. We were given saffron couscous, cucumber salad, an eggplant dish, and strips of some type of meat (I think pork). I was a bit wary at first in eating the meat as it wasn’t very cold. I think they packed it with ice, but I feared that melted a few hours back. Perhaps foolishly, I put my faith in that the staff wouldn’t make a lunch that would give their guests severe GI distress and put my fears aside and chowed down. We talked with Firoz a little bit about the migration camp we were staying at and what it was like for him. At the migration camp they employ only single men and they stay there for six months at a time. No women work there, save the wife of the South African couple that manages the property, as they think that having women there would cause trouble. While they work there, their room and board is paid for, but I don’t think that there is a lot of downtime/days off for the staff. The guides are housed in a dormitory type building. They don’t get a choice for dinner and are given one course taken from what is served to the guests and some extra rice (or starch of the day). We finished up lunch and Firoz invited us to explore the visitor’s center while he loaded up the jeep. The visitor center was built around a kopje and had a short walking path to learn about the Serengeti Park and the great migration that goes on. We walked around it but did not stop and stay too long. There were a lot of those rock hyraxes at the kopje. It was a bit disconcerting to be looking over one of the rocks and see dozens of beady eyes staring back at you. We quickly walked through the path to get out of there. At one point we walked underneath a candelabra tree that wigged us out even more (our guide had told us it was a poisonous tree (actually a cactus) that would make you go blind if you got sap in your eye). So we walked back to our 4x4 as fast as possible and continued on our drive. There was a lot more 4x4 traffic in this area of the park than what we had seen the day before. It was not uncommon to see several jeeps in the area with you. In addition to the 4x4 traffic were a significant number of trucks going through the area. We asked about this and learned that they are either bringing supplies to the camps as everything must be trucked in (fuel for generators, etc.), or they were only passing through the park. It is too big to drive around it so the truckers had to drive through it for their routes. All of this extra traffic certainly took away some of the allure of the Serengeti. Going into it you feel like it’s this exotic location, but it is most definitely not the road less traveled. For our afternoon drive our guide was trying to find a leopard for us. It is the most difficult animal of the big 5 to see as it is nocturnal, secretive, and can hide very well in trees. We saw herds more of wildebeest, zebra, giraffes, gazelles, and birds, but no leopard. The guides keep in contact with their radios and when someone sees something interesting will tell everyone else so they can take their clients there. On this day in the Serengeti (an area the size of Belgium) no one saw a leopard. The afternoon was not a total washout; we did see our first cape buffalo (another one of the big 5, so we’re 3/5 at this point). It was too far away for really great pictures, but we would see a lot more of them elsewhere. We also encountered our first monkeys, called vervet monkeys. The guides informally call them blue balls monkeys, because, well, their balls are blue. They do stand out when sitting on a tree. By this point in the day it was around 2:30 in the afternoon and getting late. We spent some extra time looking for the leopard and had a 2-2:30 hour drive back to camp. The camera batteries had died right after we saw the monkeys and the video camera was on a sliver of life left. It was time to head back. It was at this point we saw a cheetah walking out of the bush to the left of us. We stopped the jeep and Firoz got on the radio to tell all the other guides. It crossed the road 10 feet in front of our 4x4, but we didn’t have the juice to get any still pictures. I was able to record some video of it as it went off to the right. Behind us we could see a few other guides coming up to watch it. We left the area and took the same roads back to camp. We didn’t see anything new on the way back, but we weren’t looking hard. It did thunderstorm for the third afternoon in a row. Before getting back to camp we agreed to leave the next morning at 7:30. We would be checking out of the Migration Camp and moving to the Serengeti Sopa Lodge. We got back to camp at 5:00, two hours later than intended in what turned out to be an 11 hour game drive. It was an exhausting day, but a rewarding one and definitely worth it. We went back to our room to rest and change before dinner, even taking a short nap. Dinner that night was another 4 course meal. It was relatively unremarkable except for dessert. For dessert they had “hot chocolate mouse.” We both ordered that not sure what we would be getting. What we got was a small molten chocolate cake that was prepared in a coffee cup. It was excellent and I could have had four more. We finished dinner and made arrangements for a 6:30 wakeup call the next day and met an escort back to the tent. On our way back the escort found an animal with his light. My wife, told all these stories of hippos and lions, jumped at the eyes in the darkness, but they quickly turned and jumped away. It was only a hare. We retired to our room exhausted but wondering what, if anything, Africa could deliver tomorrow that could top today? As it turns out we would not be disappointed. Part V to be continued… <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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Awesome. Actually, the liberalism of the media - as a general thing - IS a major fallacy. What the media is, is a whore. -LP Johnsen Family
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Cheesy: Where do I send the bill for my RSI treatment? |
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See: extra credit work for m0nty. <Hugin_len> Basically, cheesy doesn't have awful taste in music, he's simply very white.
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I'm not sure how many IT guys here would know this, but I have a school problem. I was concentrating on three general ed classes because I thought my first IT class wasn't testing until next term. Now I realize the term ends a month later than I thought and so I actually have to test on this stuff in three weeks. I don't have time to do the classwork for it, and all I know about it is it covers these four areas. p004588 The graduate demonstrates a basic working knowledge of networked resources. p004589 The graduate can describe the role and basic functioning of hardware and software needed for Internet business. p004590 The graduate understands how to organize and produce a simple but functioning Web site. p004591 The graduate is able to demonstrate knowledge of Web Browser functionality, specific uses, configuration, and customization. Anyone have an idea offhand of a book(s) that could teach me this stuff in three weeks, or am I screwed? I accept all mockery that will be given to me about this as long as it comes with suggestions. Actually, the liberalism of the media - as a general thing - IS a major fallacy. What the media is, is a whore. -LP Johnsen Family
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jj-- That's pretty basic stuff. You should be able to round up that knowledge from websites in a few days. 3 weeks? Piece of cake. You never see animals going through the absurd and often horrible fooleries of magic and religions. Only man behaves with such gratuitous folly. It is the price he has to pay for being intelligent but not, as yet, intelligent enough. --Aldous Huxley
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I'm kind of confused here. The first two sound like they could be about in depth topics while the last two sound like something out of a 'how to use a computer for beginers' course. |
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Were you going to class? I'm confused as to how you can get to the end of a term without knowing what was covered in the class. Based on what the outline says, I suspect you could pass the exam without knowing what was covered in the class. Assuming that you own a computer and know how to create a web page and change your browser settings. Horrible song of the nonce: Left Behind
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The first two sound like they could be about in depth topics while the last two sound like something out of a 'how to use a computer for beginers' course. Yeah, but based on the last two the first two probably are things like "a network is a bunch of computers connected by wires" and "the internet is not a big truck, it's a series of tubes" and not a detailed description of how data is transmitted over CAT5 cable as square waves. Horrible song of the nonce: Left Behind
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I was playing with my 8525 while watching the losers in portland line up for a n iphone. Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.
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Who is more loserish? The loser? Or the loser that watches the losers? |
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