Letter 1: Introducing Aunt Melinda

Hello to you all. My name is Melinda. I am Laxmi's great-aunt. My husband Lee and I have just returned from three weeks in East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania). While we were there, we saw 451 species of birds and thousands of mammals of many kinds. Your teacher heard about our trip and suggested that her classes might be interested in a few emails with pictures of the animals we saw and comments about what we learned about their ecology. So, this note is to introduce us. This is me with some zebras who were grazing nearby while we were having a picnic.	Melinda and Zebras Ngorongoro Crater (Click on any image to enlarge it)
On this trip, we spent most of our time in national parks among the wild animals. We traveled in this car. Because the animals in the national parks are wild, it was too dangerous for us to get out of the car most of the time, but as you can see the roof of the car could be raised, so we were able to stand up and see the animals safely from very close up.	Our van Serengeti
This pride of lions was only a few feet away from us, which was really thrilling. And it was good to know that we were safe from them (and they from us).	Lion pride Serengeti

Actually, one of the more dangerous parts of the trip was when we were picnicking with the zebras in the first photo above. The zebras were not dangerous (they just moved away if we got too close to them). But what was dangerous was the Black Kites. A Black Kite is a medium-sized hawk, and like all large birds, it is very intelligent.

We were on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater (a huge crater left by a volcanic explosion long ago), and there was only one place where people were allowed to get out of their cars to eat (one place where lions and hippos and buffalos don't come, so it was supposed to be safe). However, the Black Kites have learned from observation that if they go to that place about noon every day, they can often steal food from people having picnics. As birdwatchers, we knew to sit under a small tree to protect ourselves, but while we were eating our lunch, many Black Kites were circling low above us. Whenever one spotted an opportunity, it would plunge out of the air and grab a sandwich or a piece of chicken or a hard-boiled egg from some very surprised picnicker. A few people got scratched by the sharp claws but luckily nobody was seriously hurt.

I will be writing you more about our adventures among the wild animals soon. I will also be happy to answer any questions you have.

Aunt Melinda