Mzungu in a canoe

I went with a bunch of other interns out to Lake Duluti last weekend, and canoed around the placid and beautiful lake. The reason I titled this post the way I did is because I didn't see any locals out in canoes, despite beautiful weather, and both of our guides looked at us like we were crazy when we asked them if they canoed at all. The lake, which is a crater, is beautiful and calm and so serene, despite the water being green and filled with parasitic worms.

This is what we went canoeing in...just kidding. Those are two of the birds that I attempted to capture. They allowed me to get pretty close, but my poor camera wouldn't zoom any more before they flew off. We also saw kingfishers, cormorants, and another type of really pretty bird that I can't remember (and didn't get any pictures of). And we also saw...


water monitors! I was super excited about these, because I LOVE lizards and reptiles. Apparently these bad boys get up to nine feet long, so the ones we saw were only babies. This one here was probably about three feet long, tail included. He looked pretty harmless sunning himself on that log, but our guide said they bite.

The best part about the whole trip was how exotic the lake was. Everything was green and leafy, there were lots of vines hanging down, and we even saw some bamboo. After pine trees and shrubs in the USA, the vegetation here never fails to show me that I am, after all, in Africa. The other part that I love is the flowers--they grow everywhere! Some just pop up randomly, and all of them are so pretty and colorful that I try to get pictures of them all. I'm so pleased with the close-up feature on my camera, as I said, because it captures them so well. I never thought I would enjoy flowers as much as I am, and I never thought I would get just pleasure out of taking pictures of them!