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Mission Accomplished Indeed!



We went to Eureka Campground this weekend for a little break from Lusaka, and to try out our new camping equipment. Eureka sits next to a small private game park. Resident in the small private game park are seven giraffes. We saw lots of giraffes. Or, more accurately, we saw seven giraffes many times.

We were also very pleased with all our REI purchases in Arlington. Our Hobitat 6 worked wonders. We used our blow-up mattress and slept well both nights, and the Hobitat's vestibule was a godsend when it poured rain on Saturday afternoon (thanks, Diana!) Jack and I slept through the rain in our lovely tent. Katherine and Sam took refuge in the campground's bar with our friends and played boggle.

Our tent, in all its 6'10" domed glory.



Comfortable inside, too. I took this photo at 5:40 AM. That's right. I was up at 5:40 AM on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. What the heck is wrong with me? Friday I slept until a comparably late 6:30.



You know you've graduated to car camping when you have the aerobed AND the pack 'n play.

Three of our seven new friends. On Saturday afternoon they walked kind of close to camp so Jack and I went out to look at them. He decided he wanted to hug them. I told them that he couldn't because they are wild animals.

He decided to hug them anyway, and started towards them. They, of course, ran off. Jack, of course, cried because he couldn't hug the giraffes. But at least the giraffes cooperated enough to be seen.



So we were able to follow and watch giraffes in their natural habitat three different times this weekend. We had zebras eating among our tents, saw a number of different types of antelope, hundreds of monkeys, a small herd of buffalo, and a bunch of ostriches. When we asked Jack what his favorite part of the weekend was, he said "eating marshmallows and finding that big stick!"


Photographic evidence of Jack finding his treasured stick, all the while oblivious to the giraffe in the background watching him. Or, perhaps, as he said, finding the stick was just much more important than seeing some silly giraffes.