Northeastern Connecticut's Neighbors Paper

Kenya and Tanzania Safari
Written by Charlie Zizza

         My grandfather wanted me to experience the wonders of nature on an African safari and decided he would be the one to take me.  He planned the ten-day trip for my February winter vacation.  Even though I had to get shots and take medication to keep away certain diseases, I knew it would be a well-earned break from the stress of the seventh grade, not to mention an adventure to always remember.

            After three days of traveling by airplane (British Airways), Taxi (Pollman’s), and jeep (Ranger Safaris), we finally got to our destination, the Serengeti.  We stayed at a lodge on a mountaintop in the middle of the Serengeti National Park, which is Tanzania’s largest and most famous reserve.  The main language in West Africa is Swahili and the natives don’t get the education that we have here in the United States.  

The next morning, we finally got to do what we came to Africa for… to go on a safari! Leo gave the tour from Ranger Safaris.  The first things that we saw were monkeys.  Massive groups of monkeys were crossing the road. The monkeys were all shapes and sizes. That was just the warm up.   Many more animals were about to be encountered, including impalas, giraffes, hippos, and different birds. That was just the first day of the safari. There were still five more days left and the best part was coming up in a couple days.

The first day of the safari was only three hours because we were looking forward to a five-hour road trip to the next stop. The second lodge was even better than the first, which was very nice.  By the time we got there it was nine o’ clock.  Since we had to wake up at six the next morning, we went to bed as soon as we got there.  When we woke up, Grandpa and I ate a quick breakfast.  The sun was just rising as we were leaving the lodge for a full day of searching for animals in the Serengeti.  That day we encountered a leopard!  Our tour group was considered very lucky because most of the time someone can go on four or five safaris without seeing a leopard. They are very rare and even if you happen to pass one, you most likely won’t notice because they blend in when they sleep in the trees.  Water buffalo were the next thing on the list.  We searched for about an hour and we finally found an enormous herd of water buffalo.  Many were extremely close to the jeep.  In fact, one of them was so close that I could reach out and touch it if I was crazy enough.  The next day we basically did the same thing because we stayed in the same place.

The best stop was coming up.   We were going to the Ngorongoro Crater.   At this stop we saw giraffes, rhinos, cheetahs (which were actually hunting and created a stampede!),

flamingos, an elephant that tried to attack the jeep, three prides of lions, and my personal favorite, the crowned crane.  This bird is a very colorful crane with a feather on the top of its head that looks like a crown.

On the last day of the safari, everybody exchanged email addresses before we got in the jeep to leave for our last outing.  We had seen the “ Big Five”, which includes lions, water buffalo, rhinos, leopards, and elephants.  Leo likes birds a lot and he asked us if we wanted to see some.   We all agreed because we had already seen the big five and all of the other main animals.  He showed us lots of very interesting birds and told us many interesting facts about them. At the end of the safari when he was driving us all back to the Nairobi airport, he quizzed us on the birds that we had seen that day and the facts that he told us.  Leo is a very smart tour guide and knows almost everything there is to know about the animals we saw.

On the way back home, we had to wait seven hours for our first plane to arrive.  I was exhausted from the time difference and the energy it took, but overall it was a great trip.  I really hope I can go on another exciting trip like this one.

Written by Charlie Zizza

Cromwell Middle School

Seventh Grade

  

  

  

 

 

CT Drama Association Festival of Plays to be held at E.O. Smith
by

On Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24, E. O. Smith High School will host a festival of short plays performed by High Schools from across the state.  Bill Prenetta is the festival Director and Lenore Grunko is serving as Host.

The Festival will fill two days with plays and adjudication and give the students a chance to see and learn from each others’ work.  They will also be participating in discussions and a workshop on mime.  Students can register for the entire Festival, including three meals for $45.

Tickets are also available at the door. For $10, the public can buy a pass to all the plays.

E. O. Smith Drama Club will be reviving their fall play for the competition, with cuts to fit it into the 50 minute time frame. “The Mousetrap” by Agatha Christie is directed by Lenore Grunko. “Mousetrap” will lead off the festival on Friday, as the host school. As is traditional, there will be a  FREE show of  “Mousetrap” the night before the competition, Thursday March 23, open to the public at the E. O. Smith Auditorium.  More information will be available in the Chronicle calendar on that date.

In last year’s competition, EOS Drama Club won the People’s Choice Award (student’s vote) as well as commendations for Theatrical Excellence, and Comic Rhythm and several acting awards for cast members for their production of “All in the Timing”.