Some faces of Burma

Head of the enormous Reclining Buddha, Yangon

Woman praying by Reclining Buddha

Muslim boy at Scott Market

Monk cleaning his food bowl

Small girl dancing

Yangon, Burma

Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, shimmering with gold leaf

We arrived in Yangon yesterday morning, with 14 people in our group and the remnants of a big typhoon that's churning in the Sea of Bengal, on the west coast of Burma.  That storm several drenched us and the city yesterday, leaving streets flooded for a while and pedestrians knee deep in water.  We were visiting the huge Shwedagon Pagoda (the most important pagoda in Myanmar) last night when the second deluge started, so we squeezed ourselves under a small tent with about a hundred Burmese until the rain tapered off.

When you visit a pagoda, you have to go barefoot, regardless of what might be underfoot (dirt being the best option and animal poop being the worst), so the water didn't bother us.  Also pretty warm, so our clothes dried fast.

We're all pretty tired, after a 30 hour trip to Bangkok and a very short night there.  But, today, we head out for several meetings designed to help everyone understand more about Burma, its politics, culture and economy.  These include a man who advises foreign companies on making investments in Burma, the political and economic counselor at the US embassy, and the manager of a brand new Ford dealership that's a joint venture with a Burmese company.

Under the new regime of the last 3 years, so much has changed.  Cars that cost $100,000 two years ago now cost $20,000, so more people can buy them and have done so.  Traffic is very clogged.  There are lots of dealerships now, all brand new, so we'll learn more about how they are doing today.

Last year when we were here, there were no ATM's.  Now, they're everywhere.  We haven't tried them out yet to see if they work, but will do so today.  Where we saw almost no international brands a year ago, except for Chinese, now we're seeing more, particularly from SE Asia--Korean and Taiwanese brands, some Thai, even a few from Europe and the US.  Our guide tells us that McDonald's is looking at Yangon for a store--always a sign that a country has arrived.

Tomorrow we fly to Bagan at 6:30 a.m.  Flights around Burma leave very early from Yangon so that they can complete a circuit to other major towns and cities and return to Yangon by evening.  So, our departures will get later as our trip progresses.

En route to Burma

We've been busy since our return from Kenya and Tanzania 3 weeks ago, so not much on the blog scene.  Now, we're in Tokyo on our way to Burma (Myanmar) via Bangkok where we'll spend 2 weeks with our group of 16 people seeing this lovely and rapidly changing country.

Myanmar emerged from 6 decades of global isolation 2 years ago when the ruling generals held elections for president and elected one of their own, Thein Sein.  President Sein, however, has not continued the military regime, but has opened the country slowly, but steadily.  The result was the freeing of Aung San Suu Kyi, the long-imprisoned leader of the country's opposition, and her election to Parliament.  Particularly important for Myanmar has been the partial lifting of economic sanctions in response to the political opening.  And, of course, the visit of President Obama a few months ago.

There will be more elections in 2015, when Suu Kyi's party is expected to win most of the seats in Parliament, making it very likely she will become the Prime Minister.  Unimaginable 3 or 4 years ago.

We visited Myanmar a year ago and loved it.  This is a heavily Buddhist country where monks in deep red robes walk through the streets, barefoot, in long lines with their alms bowls under their arms begging for food.  Every family will cook a little extra food to give to the monks on their twice daily movements through the villages and towns and cities.  See my blogs about Burma from a year ago for more on the importance of Buddhism in Myanmar.

I will try to blog and send photos, but the internet is sparse in Myanmar, hard to find or access and very slow.  If I can't send from there, I will post stories and photos of our trip when we get home, after November 6.

More Ngorongoro Crater photos

Cape Buffalo

Speckled Grouse

A snoozing hyena doesn't look ferocious

Crowned Crane, common in Ngorongoro

Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater teems with wildlife

The Ngorongoro Crater is roughly 12 miles across by 13 miles long, surrounded by the mountains forming its perfect rim.  This is a small area so rich in ecosystems and wildlife that it is one of the premier game parks in the world.

The Crater's ecosystems include savannah, marshlands, shallow clear and salt water lakes and forests, providing a homeland to a large variety of animals.  Lions and cheetahs represent the cat family, though cheetahs are struggling to survive here.  The Crater's 120 hyenas have killed most of the cubs over the last few years.  When we were here 3 years ago, we saw 6 cheetahs and 31 lions.  Today, we saw only 2 cheetahs and 3 lions (though many more lions live in Ngorongoro).

Wildebeest and their companion zebra abound, as do Thompson's Gazelles (multiplying with fewer cheetahs to eat them),  Grant's Gazelles, Cape Buffalo, elephants, hippos, countless bird species (thousands and thousands of pink flamingos), monkeys, baboons, hyenas, jackals and 28 Black Rhinos who are rarely seen since they hide out in a roadless area.  Nonetheless, we were lucky enough to see 2 of the Black Rhinos, close enough to photograph and enjoy with our binoculars.

The jackals tend to follow the cats as they hunt, ready to eat the dregs after the cats have eaten all they want.  They compete with the many vultures for the scraps.  The Golden Jackal, a beautiful little dog, is common in the Crater.  Below are photos of some of the animals we saw today.  There will be other posts with more photos.

A male ostrich resting

Photos from Ngorongoro Crater

Hippo rolling over to stay cool

Vervet monkeys grooming each other

Undisturbed lion strolling among gawking touists

View across the Ngorongoro Crater

Cheetahs--my favorite of the big cats

Cheetahs are the fastest, and certainly one of the most beautiful, large cats on earth.  They can run up to 90 mph for a maximum of 100 yards, depending on their bursts of speed to catch their prey.  Beyond that, they tire quickly and lose their meal since the small antelope they hunt can outlast them if they can outrun them.

Yesterday, we watched a cheetah mother and cub.  She was quite skittish, which isn't typical for East African cheetahs, who are quite used to all the trucks rumbling through their terriroty.  She took off running for the trees while her cub went in the other direction, not sure what to do.  Eventually, she circled back towards her cub, but only after she felt safe.  As a result of their minimal mothering, 90% of cheetah cubs die before reaching maturity.  That is an awful toll, resulting from starvation to attacks by larger cats.  Cheetahs weigh only about 80 pounds at full maturity, so are no match for leopards and lions.

In Samburu, in northern Kenya, we watched 3 cheetahs running through the grass.  They slipped behind some bushes high above the Samburu River before emerging to cross right in front of our Land Cruiser, stopping to drink water from the puddles left after a heavy rain.  They were not hunting as they were fat from an earlier kill.

We have usually seen cheetahs in groups of 2 to 4, often all sitting on a termite mound to survey the surrounding area.  They prefer the Thompson's Gazelle as food because it is small and easier to catch than the larger antelope and gazelles.

Cheetahs sleek build is a wonder to see.  They are aerodynamic, with small heads merging into a lean, but muscular body.  In the photos below, you can see the distinctive black teardrops running down from their eyes and the beautiful spots that make them hard to see in the deep grass.