Awesome Visit to Mt Meru Waterfalls

Today we went to the waterfalls of Mt Meru which is about a 25 minute drive from our house and then an hour and a half hike into the jungle. Check out the video of (s)Mack being tarzan on the bottom of the post (right before it starts he asked me if he could swing with just one hand).
So here are several pictures of the amazing trip down into the river and then barefoot along the river into the waterfall. It was the coolest waterfall any of us have ever seen. About 150 meters high. Smacks found a frog that Jessica is holding in her hand. The funny thing is that Janet Balentyne, who did all of our shots and immunizations for the trip, specifically told us not to touch any animals, and the kids have not been good at all on that front. Mainly she was talking about the dogs, which are wild and have some nasty diseases associated with them apparently. But they have a long list of animals from lizards, to turtles to kitties to frogs to goats and cattle that they all love to pet.

I can tell you that on a trip of this length in a place such as Tanzania you do fall in love with the culture and the slow pace. Standing in lines for an hour is no big deal. When the electrical company turns off your power for non-payment and you wonder why you never got a letter informing you prior to the disconnection, it is no big deal. Everywhere you go all you have to do is smile at someone (and there are typically 50-100 someones about ever kilometer) and the chances are likely they will give you a smile back that is so big you walk away thinking you just made their day. So many people we have met come here and then keep on coming or decide to stay for good. I'd say the weather alone is a reason to live here, ever single day is roughly 80 degrees during the day (lots of humidity) and 60 at night, without fail. Perhaps a little rain will fall.

Back to the waterfall. When we got there Mackie proceeded to go directly under the waterfall (he's the daredevil of the family...we have to be careful what we dare him to do!) It was chilly down there even though when we popped out of the jungle canopy it was the typical hot day. For some reason there was quite a lot of wind even though we are way back into a grotto with 3 sides. Do you see the size of that tree (click to enlarge and see a picture of Mack with Roger, our guide?!?! The jungle here is incredible.