please feed the animals

A couple of days ago Eleanor and I were invited for a walk on the property of friends of a friend. They have a large plot of land boarding a coffee plantation and the invitation included the promise of "apples and lemonade from the garden." How could we turn it down?

The friend that invited me, Lisa, has three young children herself and a husband who does a fair bit of traveling with his job (he is one of two people in the Nature Conservancy's Africa office). On this particular Sunday we both had husbands who had been gone the better part of the week, and were looking for a reprieve from our children (or maybe it was the kids who wanted a break from us). I was so thankful to the older kids (6, 4 and 2) for being as patient and gentle and entertaining with Eleanor as they were- they really seemed to enjoy her, and I know that she enjoyed them.

The walk was beautiful, taking us above the airport where we had a stunning view of the mountain (Mount Meru) and could see the whole of downtown Arusha. The kids thrilled at watching the planes take off and the adults relaxed in the shade. Turns out that apples and lemonade and peaceful forest hikes were not all this property had to offer. Four years ago two zebra followed the cows home from their day of grazing, and they have been tagging along ever since. Each day they leave with the cows to wonder in the nearby fields, and every night they see the cows home. The zebra are not fenced, but they also do not leave.

As we rounded the last part of the driveway toward the house, there they where. Lisa pulled out a bag of bread. "Please," she said "feed the animals." 

Just one of the girls: Eleanor with Tierney (left) and Ashlyn.

Feeding the zebra.