09/26/12 - Jessica Sauer

The group woke up this morning and we were in a completely new environment. The pie trees and green grass turned into dirt and mountains. The whole group was looking fantastic this morning in our great new gear and we were ready to start our new journey. It didn’t take us long to get into the jungle, and after a quick lunch with the native animals we were ready for our safari to begin. Our first stop involved meeting with the head tribe members so we could get an understanding of how their jungle was ran and maintained. The next stop on our excursion was a surprise to us all. We had never seen so many exotic and beautiful animals, but it was bizarre that after traveling all the way to the jungle we weren’t seeing anything that was alive. We soon found out that we would be meeting with a tribe that hunted not the animals, but the poachers. This tribe worked to capture all of the illegal animals that were being killed and traded and by the looks of it, they were working very hard. We saw hundreds of dead animals from tigers and sea turtles, to giraffe skulls and elephant tusks. Animals were being hunted for furs and leathers, and this tribe was trying their best to put a stop to these murders. We learned a great deal from this tribe, but we were also ready for our journey to continue. The next portion was the wild safari that we were all looking forward to. We saw mere cats and parrots, antelopes and hyenas, the safari leader was a very knowledgeable man and he told us stories about the 15,000 acres of land around us. Before it was a home to these beautiful animals it was a human hunting ground and he and his fellow tribe members were doing their best to turn the place around. Our group really learned a lot on this jungle safari and I’m ready to meet new tribes as our excursion continues. Jessica Sauer