Our first full day in Makayuni included our first Safari. Fabulous.

Lark and Polasso

Evan, Amber, Carrie, Lynn, Colin, and Kyle

River, Ellie, Gabe, Phoebe, Brooklyn and Daphne

Kyle and Carrie

River

Kathy, Carrie, Jamie, and Liz

Amber, Evan, Mila and Joanne

Colin

Cael and Gabe

Kathy, Gabe, Kyle and Carrie

Lark and Adrian

Cael, Kyle, Carrie, Gabe and Jamie

Liz, Jamie and Stephen

Kyle, Gabe and Lark

Lynn

Colin and Evan

Amber and Mila

Adrian, Daphne, Liz and Jamie

Brooklyn, Kyle, Carrie and Lark

Back at the Boma - Birds are constantly pecking at our new windows....

Our first evening we gathered around the fire, were welcomed with the gifting of a traditional Maasai shuka, followed by dinner under the stars.
The Maasai shuka, often called the "African blanket," is a durable, brightly colored checkered or striped cloth worn by the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania. Primarily red to symbolize bravery and strength, it serves as a traditional garment, protecting them from harsh savannah elements. It is now a popular, versatile fabric used globally. 

Cooking a goat in honor of our visit.

Cam getting his shuka

Marcia

Gabe

Stephen

Kathy and Daphne

Phoebe, Ellie and River

Lark

Kyle

Liz and Gabe

Brooklyn and Carrie

Colin, Evan and Amber

Joanne and Mila

Clamian addressing our group with warriors standing on the left and the chief sitting on the the right

as usual we arrived to a fabulous community welcome! 
lots of dancing and singing. Followed by an outdoor circle welcome and a welcome drink - traditional Maasai drink blood and milk - they served us hibiscus juice, touted as blood just for some fun. 
​Then we got to see Adrian's and my new house.

Our new deck - Colin, Polasso, Lynn and another Maasai whose name I shamefully do not know.

Our new kitchen

Our new livingroom

One of two bathrooms in our new house - each bedroom has one

Birds greeting us on our new deck railing

One of two bedrooms in our new house

Part of our new livingroom

Lunch first day in the Maasai Cultural Centre

Selection of photos - 24 of us began our adventure to Tanzania - 15 leaving together from Calgary and 9 from Toronto. We all met in Amsterdam and took the same flight to Kilimanjaro Airport. East coast folks left March 14 - West coast March 15 and we arrived in Tanzania together on March 16. West Coast crew - From Vancouver Island: Adrian's daughter Liz and grandchildren , Owen, River, Gabriel and Ellie; daughter Carrie and partner Kyle; Sister-in-law Daphne and niece Phoebe; Friends Cam and Marcia from Kamloops; From Calgary, daughter Jamie and grandson Cael, Kathy Bohach and friend Stephen Butler.
East Coast: Lynn and Adrian. Lynn's  nephews Colin, Evan and partner Amber. Adrian's daughters, Lark and Brooklyn and from PEI friends Joanne and daughter Mila. Oh my!!! 
​We spent our first night at the Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha before heading to Makayuni.

Carrie and Kyle

Phoebe, Ellie and Brooklyn in Amsterdam

Kyle - arrival at Kilimanjaro airport

Evan and Amber

Joanne and Mila

Colin and Lark

Cam and Marcia

Kyle with one of our tubs of stuff for the community

Kyle and Carrie

Kilimanjaro arrival - Adrian, Cael, Lark, Stephen, Marcia, Owen, Cam and Lynn

Mila, Joanne, Daphne, Sdrian, Cael, Kathy, Gabe, Liz, River

Liz, Kyle, River, Jamie, Carrie, Ellie, Joanne, Kathy, Mila, Gabe and Cael!

Getting Ready for the bus to Makayuni

One of two buses from Arusha to Makayuni

Adrian's Mexican permanent residency card was ready early so we were able to fly back and attend Shannon's baby shower.
​Congratulations to Shannon and Justin on their first baby shower. Lots of friends, family, some games, great food and of course lots of presents. Thanks to Justin for being such a good sport! We're so excited to welcome baby girl Hennigar - due date April 4 - wonder when she'll actually arrive?

Beautiful sunny day today. We headed out earlier than usual, only to discover our closest coffee places hadn't opened yet. We ended up a bit further away at the same cafe I had my Latte Brulee, and you guessed it - I had another one, complete with photos this time.
​Every day is a good day for a wedding here - Adrian snuck a shot of this bridal party getting their photo done.
Managed to capture a few more pictures of the tradition of Mexican mojigangas (giant papier-mâché puppets) that show up at vibrant parades, cultural exhibitions, and play an integral role in San Miguel de Allende's celebrations, particularly as a key element in weddings and local festivals. 
The main square is always full of entertainment, afternoons, evenings. Tonight local musicians and folks were having a great time on the bandstand - Adrian captured a short video.

Recovery Day - we had way too much fun at Pegasus last night. In slow motion today. Only managed one picture of our fabulous dinner at the restaurant right next door to our hotel. Fabulous flank steak, cactus, onions, mashed potatoes, guacamole and a lovely salad. I do love the food here.

Lovely Day in San Miguel. We had breakfast in the city square and then walked to meet Adrian's friends, Doug and Elaine. We got to see their apartment here. So interesting, the apartment complex has 4 units with shared courtyard and rooftop terrace. All residents happen to be artists. Doug and Elaine rent year round and only visit 2-4 months of the year. Way more affordable than buying apparently. Such great architecture here - when walking the streets you only get to see the elaborate doors behind which the living spaces often include open air courtyards and rooftop terraces.
After visiting their apartment we walked to their favourite local restaurant 1910 and then continued to explore new parts of the city. Sorry more art photos.
After our visit with Doug and Elaine we headed back to our hotel for a rest. Lunch wasn't big enough to hold us through until tomorrow so we headed out to our favourite bar, Pegasus, for a St Germaine Spritz and a snack. Well - what a night. Our one drink turned into many more and our snack was a few peanuts. When we arrived there were three local men having a great time and well on their way at the end of the bar. Not long after our arrival we ended up making friends with them and then the drinks really began flowing. We had a fabulous time, they were lots of fun and working through the language issues is always interesting. I don't think I've seen Adrian have so much fun in a while. Great day in SMA.

It's official the rooftop restaurant across from our hotel is our new goto breakfast spot. Another great breakfast - complete with cappuccino! From here we returned to our hotel to catch up on email and for Adrian to do his Spanish lesson. Today's highlight is a couples massage at a near by spa. 
We went to the Essentials Spa and had wonderful very deep tissue massages. Definitely a highlight. Late afternoon we headed back out for a walk through SMA, visited an art gallery and stopped for a Margarita. We went back to the same restaurant we ate at last night to try their famous volcano bowl. I love the Mexican tradition of serving Tortilla chips, with pico de gallo and usually some hotish sauce with their drinks, so civilized. The volcano was an amazing lava bowl filled with flank steak, chili, cheese, onions in a green chili sauce, served with guacamole and refried beans. Absolutely delicious and an incredible amount of food. We split the volcano and didn't come close to finishing it. We ended the day with a lovely walk back to our hotel via the central square which was filled with music and dancers. Adrian watched the hockey game before bed. 
Fun note for the end. SMA';s beautiful cobble streets and wonderful architecture contains lots of spikes to deter the birds - these pigeons just decided to make the efforts their home!

Today we started with a traditional Mexican breakfast on a rooftop restaurant across the street from out hotel. From here we went for a long, uphill trek, to get a great view of the whole city. We rewarded ourselves with another coffee after our big trek and decided on an afternoon siesta. Around 4 pm we headed out to find a watering hole. We ended up on a great street full of women's clothing - a destination for another day!  We chose a great one bar - soccer on the big screen Aperol Spritz to drink and a great - if way too big a meal to follow. Lovely day.