Des Animaux!

Friends,
We had the time of our life yesterday. An all day trip to Akagera national park yielded some of the most ridiculuously excellent animal experiences of my life. The San Diego Zoo is an amazing place for many reasons, but it's really got nothing on rural East Africa. Akagera is Rwanda's version of Yellowstone park.
We woke up at 3:15am, and Christine, Sister Augusta, and I took our packed breakfast and snacks along with us, and drove in a toyota SUV. (people only drive toyotas and suzukis here) The trip was about 4 and a half hours, and watching the sunrise over the Rwandan hills was pretty much as gorgeous as it gets. We stopped for breakfast on the side of the road outside of the park, (no one is allowed to eat and drive at the same time in Rwanda, so we just pulled over so the driver could join us) and then we entered.
As students we paid $25 each, and Sr. and the driver paid considerably less as Rwandans. Our guide was a girl about my age, perhaps a little older, in a park ranger uniform with binoculars. She took us for a four hour adventure through the park seeing all sorts of animals. Giraffes (about 10) Warthogs (15 or so) Zebras (30) Water Buffalo (100+) Impala (40 or so) Water Buck (7) Doves (5) Egrets (10) Each of these species were within 20 feet of the car at some point. We kept looking at eachother and laughing, it was an incredible experience. National parks are one of Rwandas major resources for tourism, and we had an amazing time.
One more day left, and i'll catch you later! We're heading to mass at the university.