Mom and my sister Carla packed up and headed home yesterday. In their two-week visit, I took 993 photos, and Carla took about 700. So it’s pretty tough to narrow those down into a 5 Photo Friday post, so I plan to do some more posts with more photos later, but for now I’ll share a few highlights from the trip.

First off, it would be impossible for Mom to come to Tanzania and not get a least one goat as a gift. This trip she got two. So, in true Tanzanian style, we threw a party and ate them! One of them was roasted; the other made into goat and banana stew. Mom was presented the roasted goat as a gift solely meant for her, but she opted to share with all of the people at the party.

The man on the left is our neighbor from the village who made the trip into Arusha to roast the goat. The man on the right is one of Kakasii’s older brothers. (This photo is courtesy of Carla.)

After the party we took a 4-day safari to Lake Manyara National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. One of the lodges we stayed at was right next to the Ngorongoro forest and we found a small group of waterbuck grazing outside our rooms.

We intended to spend about three nights in the village at our farm following our safari, but the heavy rain and accompanying mud kept us inside mostly so we cut the visit short. We did have time, though, to share Max and Elly’s new puzzles from Grandma with Asia and Selma, two of our farm caretaker’s daughters.

Mom and Carla’s suitcases were stuffed with lots of fun surprises for us–including marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars! So we took advantage of one sunny afternoon to make s’mores.

Mom and Carla are both very generous supporters of ELIMAA School, and we wanted them to see the work they help make possible. So, even though the school is closed this month for holiday, the students and parents organized a special program to welcome us. The children sang and the mothers of some of the students also sang and danced.

It was a full couple of weeks, filled with lots of fun and good memories. We were sad to say goodbye, but grateful that in just a few months, Max, Elly and I will be heading to Nebraska for Max & Elly’s 2016 US Summer Tour. We hope we’ll get to see you during our trip!