Final days of the trip

After the gorillas, we headed to Lake Kivu for a little relaxation before leaving Rwanda. However, we received a lot of news about Nairobi, where we were returning to for Visit #4, for two days. First came the US state department warning Americans to avoid Kenya due to an imminent terrorist attack aimed at tourists. Then came news of two actual bombings (with grenades) in Nairobi. Let's just say we weren't terribly excited to head there. And, as much as we have been thinking of ways to try to extend our trip, we were happy to only be having about 36 hours in Nairobi, knowing that most of our time would be spent sitting in traffic. //. We said our farewells to Nairobi and Africa, with our departure being in classic African style - the airport lost power. It was our first time standing in the dark at passport control. With the back up generators running the bare minimum (some lights and security screening), there was no air conditioning, and starting a 24 hour travel period sweaty was less than ideal. If you wanted to shop in duty free, you did so in the dark. //. Sitting here in London, it is hard to believe and a bit sad to realize that this amazing three month adventure has come to an end. Thanks for following along with us and we look forward to reconnecting with you soon. - Hugh & Betsy

Location:Airports

Gorillas!

Back to Volcanoes NP for our second day - It was finally time to go gorilla trekking. We started each day at the park by meeting at park headquarters, where the visitors were divided into groups of 8, assigned a guide and gorilla family, and then we drove to the trailhead parking - which was the side of the road in a rural farming village. Here we met an additional guide - an armed soldier. We were told that he was there to scare some of the other animals in the park, like buffalo, if necessary. However, we never saw any other animals there, and were later told that the government didn't want to take any risks with the tourists, particularly the potential to meet armed rebels from the DRC. (The border of the Democratic Republic of Congo is just a few kilometers away, as is Uganda). We walked about a half hour to a rock wall, which serves as the national park barrier. This part of the walk is through farmland, all the way up to the park border without a transition or buffer zone. From there, the walk depends upon which family you are visiting. Some of the families had moved very close to the wall, but the Amahoro group, which we were visiting, was about 1-1/2 hours more away. It was drizzling on and off during our hike, with some up and down, but the main thing we remembered was the mud, which was often higher than our shoes. (yeah for staying at a hotel that includes free shoe cleaning!) The equatorial rain forest itself was beautiful, and we really enjoyed the hiking portion of it. It felt kind of like we were explorers, since the path was not much of a trail, and the lead guide was using a machete to clear the brush and make the trail as we walked. Eventually, we reached our gorilla group and the rain stopped. We were very thankful to be able to take out our cameras for pictures. The first gorilla we saw was the dominant Silverback (mature male) who was doing the jiggy-jiggy with a female (our guide taught us that term). We were told that we should stay 7 meters (~22 ft) from the gorillas, but the guides would often bring us closer, and then the gorillas themselves would also wander as they pleased.


Most of the time the gorillas were either eating or lying around.


This little one was playing just behind one of the silverbacks.


The hike itself was not very hard. There were some challenges but in general the hikes we choose to do on our own (back home) are usually tougher. We had been a little nervous about the difficulty particularly after hearing form others. An Italian couple who hiked with us said that their hike in Uganda the previous week was definitely harder, and most of the people who had told us about it being difficult actually went in Uganda. Maybe its the location, but we would prefer to believe that we are just very fit instead. //. Betsy had briefly worked at the Indianapolis Zoo while in vet school and met Dr Jan Ramer there. Jan is now working at the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project which serves the populations in Rwanda, Uganda and the D. R. Congo. Jan gave us a tour of the facilities, explained their work and shared with us so much information about the gorillas and the work that MGVP does, which also includes helping with the health of the gorilla trackers and guides. Unfortunately, gorilla poaching still occurs, and within the last couple of months, government authorities in Rwanda twice recovered baby gorillas. The MGVP helps take care of them until they can be turned over to other facilities. Jan took us to a shelter that was temporarily housing one of the baby orphans.


We can't remember her age (maybe 1 year?), but we were told that gorillas generally nurse until 3 years, and they were feeding her human baby formula. They limit contact with the gorilla so we were not allowed inside the shelter. Therefore, we had to stand on Jan's car to be able to see inside.


We are big fans of the MGVP and so if you want to learn more, check out gorilladoctors.org. // Our third and final day at Volcanoes National park and we visited the Susa gorilla family. This is the largest gorilla family, of about 33 individuals and getting to see them is considered the hardest trek. It was certainly a good hike, but only a little harder than the previous day, steeper and maybe 2-1/2 hours in, but with significantly less mud. This group was a bit more active. Two male youths, who were twins, were chasing each other, wrestling and biting, and would often run near us, twice even hitting Hugh while running past.


This mother may look fierce, but she is actually yawning.


This family had 3 silverbacks- the dominant one was sleeping, and this one was walking around.


And yes, we were really there; these aren't someone else's photos.


Don't you just love the hats! - Hugh & Betsy

Location:Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

Kigali, Rwanda and Golden Monkey Trekking

Nairobi, visit #3: arrive at our guest house, sleep, leave. 8 hours. // We returned to the Nairobi airport once again for our early morning flight to Rwanda. Seeing the gorillas was a huge priority for us while planning the trip, and by chance it worked out to be the last part before heading home. It is unbelievable to both of us how quickly our three months have flown by and that we were finally going to Rwanda. This trip we booked with a reputable tour company from the US and therefore felt very confident this trip would follow the itinerary we were expecting. // Upon arrival in Kigali, we were hoping for a cool passport stamp, since Americans currently do not need a visa to enter Rwanda. Yet all we got was a small stamp that makes you work very hard to see it even says Rwanda. //. Our first stop was the Genocide Museum, which is both a memorial to those who died, an educational centre to tell the history of Rwanda's horrific events, as well as, tell the story of other genocides that have occurred around the world. In 1994, almost one million Rwandans were brutally murdered, with the goal of wiping out the Tutsi sect of the population. If you've seen the film Hotel Rwanda, you know the story. (Speaking of, we were scheduled to have lunch at THE hotel from the movie, but after we mentioned that we liked African food, our driver decided to take us somewhere else). The museum was very well done and extremely sad and disturbing at the same time. This statue at the memorial shows a cell phone being used to indicate that the story of the genocide needs to be told to the world.


Kigali, the backdrop of this photo, is a beautiful city, even hillier than San Francisco.


We did a short driving tour of the city, and then headed northwest from Kigali towards the city of Musanze (formerly called Ruhengeri), which sits at the edge of Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park - the home of the gorillas! We were very impressed by the drive, as the road was in great condition, the country is very green, and the sides of the road were the cleanest of any African city we've visited. Rwanda has been doing a lot of public works, in order to improve the country, but also to rebuild in the aftermath of the genocide. They have re-organized many of the towns/districts, and many of them have new names. The last Saturday of the month is a public cleaning day, and the results can be seen. //. While waiting the first morning for our group and guide, we were entertained by a local music/dance group.


This day we were scheduled to go visit the golden monkeys, a threatened species that is in the park that they are now bringing tourists to go see. The hike was fairly easy, taking about 1-1/2 hours, and it was through a bamboo forest.


We would have enjoyed the hike on it's own, but certainly the monkeys were the true highlight.


There were lots of them in this group, well over a hundred. While we approach only within about 10 feet, once we are there, the monkeys run all around us


They are pretty fast, and they don't really sit still for the camera.


After the hike, we returned to our hotel.


Our hotel had great views of the volcanoes in the park, and spacious rooms, but had some drawbacks. The heat was only by fireplace, but since the windows didn't really close, it felt like we were sleeping outside, which in the mountains can be quite cold. And with the wood being young and wet, it didn't really burn that well. The shower was hot, but the water basically dripped out of the faucet. On the positive side, they do get credit for cleaning our shoes after hiking and for the additional entertainment, this time with children/teenagers.


- Hugh & Betsy

Location:Rwanda

Beach on the central Kenyan coast

We would never have thought that we could be mistaken for Italians. Granted, for most of our time in Africa, people have assumed we were from the UK. It seems to me that in North America (US and Canada) we have one style of accent, while the UK and the related English speaking commonwealth countries (Australia, Ireland, etc), have another, but to the average African we apparently sound all the same. However, for a few days we are in the beach town of Malindi, which has the nickname of the Little Italy of Kenya. // Almost all of the tourists here are Italian, most of the hotels are owned by Italians, and most of the restaurants are run by Italians, so obviously we've been eating well. In other cities, we have had miscommunications with hotel management because of their less than perfect English, but never thought that Italian language skills would have been beneficial in Africa. Because of this, when we are walking or being driven around, the local Africans, especially little kids, will greet us with Ciao and start talking Italian to us, until we don't respond, and then they try some English. //. There was a little bit of excitement in getting to Malindi. Shortly after we boarded the plane, they informed us that the Nairobi airport was going to be temporarily closed by the Kenyan military. The Kenyan military has been mobilizing for their attacks against the Somali terrorist organization Al-Shabaab, and the air force needed the airspace. We got off the plane, returned to the terminal, and after a little more than an hour, were allowed back on the plane for our flight. But apparently, the Kenyans aren't alone in the fight. We did hear on the regional news that the US military has also participated in attacks on the terrorist organization. //. Although credit card acceptance is low here, like some other places in Africa, this is the first place that it has been suggested we use paypal. //. The weather is very good here. Warm enough to sit in the shade by the shore, but not oppressively hot. Interestingly, and luckily, it currently only rains at night. We spent most of our time at the beach or the pool. We had some classic honeymoon moments, sipping fruity cocktails on the beach under palm trees.


Before leaving Africa, we decided to go scuba diving in the Indian Ocean one more time. This was the easiest dive yet for us, in regards to the boat ride, ocean entry, etc. The visibility was also the best we've had, exceeding 40 feet. There were a lot of fish and some impressive coral, including massive brain coral that were over 15' in diameter. Could have been one of our favorite dives, but being in the water with the giants, like humpback whales, whale sharks and manta rays, like in Tofo, will always be unmatched. //. Malindi is the location of one of the first Portuguese settlements in east Africa. Vasco da Gama stopped here on the way during his first visit to India, and shortly thereafter, the Portuguese established themselves here. There is now a monument/pillar marking their visit, and there is also a church built in the late 1500s, apparently the first Christian church in E. Africa. We didn't include pictures, so you will just have to imagine how not impressive it is. The best part of making the visit to the tourist site involved the local attendant at the pillar. We were discussing with him some ideas for lunch, told him we were interested in eating Swahili food, and wanted to know where he would go. He was very excited that we wanted Swahili food, so he called a friend to watch the entry kiosk for the pillar and then walked us to his favorite "restaurant"' where no English was spoken. Some of the food was good, and some was not, but we liked the culinary adventure, and the price was clearly the cheapest meal we had in Kenya. The rest of our meals in Malindi were Italian, and we were very happy about that. A few of the restaurants served a delicious, hot platter of rosemary focaccia instead of the typical bread basket, which was awesome, and being on the coast the seafood (fish, calamari, etc.) was especially good. There were also some amazing prawns (for Hugh only) which were so long that both ends hung over the edge of the plate. However, in Betsy's classic style, she still always wanted to change what she ordered just a bit from how it was written on the menu. For example, instead of having mashed potatoes with her calamari D'iavola, she thought it would be very reasonable to request a side of pasta instead. This is an Italian restaurant after all. But NO, the Italian chef would not hear of it. There was no way pasta went with this dish, but he would agree to rice instead of potatoes. Betsy loved the calamari but still stands her ground that it would have been best with pasta. // Near Malindi, is this geologic formation called the Marafa depression. Apparently, during a drought 250 years ago, the people of a rich village were too lazy to walk for water, so they used the milk from their animals for everything: drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry, etc. The gods became angry at the village's laziness and had the ground swallow the village. And this is how we were told the depression was created. Pretty good explanation we think.


Our hotel was run by some expat Italians, and you can easily tell the Italian influence: a great building, the sense of style of the furnishings (a mix of Swahili, African and Italian); plus, the Internet operated like the Italian train system. Here we are on the balcony outside of our room.


We had one taxi driver for our entire time in Malindi, which is not unusual for us in Africa. After many times in the taxi together, our driver Omar started telling us more about his life. His wife is from England and spends about 9 months of the year there. Because of this, and because he is Swahili and allowed to do so, he decided to also have a second local wife. The local wife knows about wife #1, but not the other way around. We are curious how wife #1 will react if she ever moves here full time. //. Leaving Malindi was as smooth as arriving. Our departure was only slightly delayed but we were informed that our scheduled direct flight to Nairobi was now going to stop in Mombassa along the way. There we had to de-plane for awhile so they could refuel. We arrived only about 1-1/2 hours late, at 21:30, which wasn't so bad except that we had an early morning flight to Rwanda. Only one more adventure to go before our return to the USA. - Hugh & Betsy

Location:Malindi, Kenya

Nairobi, visit 2

With our return to Nairobi being unplanned, we did not have time to arrange our hotel. Late the night before arriving, we sent an email to the guest house we had previously stayed at, requesting a room. Without having internet access during our transport, we headed to the guest house without knowing whether there was room or not. Of course, there wasn't, which was a bit awkward, but we were easily able to find somewhere else. //. We spent most of the first two days dealing with the tourist police over the safari tour issues, running errands, and shopping, but we did a little bit of sight seeing in downtown Nairobi. The main convention center has a rooftop observation deck which we visited for a view of the city.


While shopping we visited an outdoor sports store. They had a limited selection of the brands we are used to, like North Face, Teva, Hi-Tec, but generally it was other brands. One store had a lot of Tatonka, a brand we had never heard of before, but it was unusual and noteworthy; after all of the brand and place names generated from Masai, Swahili, Arabic, and other African languages, to see a brand that uses a Native American word for it's name. //. The following day we went back to being a full time tourist, heading to Karen, a Nairobi suburb, named for the author of Out of Africa. (I am going to interrupt the story to mention that the iPad may be a cool device but the spell check function makes the most ridiculous corrections). The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust operates an elephant orphanage that has been quite successful in saving and returning elephants back to the wild. For the late morning feeding, tourists are welcome to come and watch.





After being fed human baby formula, the elephants like to roll in the mud and push each other around a bit.


We then visited the Giraffe center, where they are helping to breed and raise giraffes. We learned that there are 9 subspecies of giraffe, and since we've only seen 4 of them, apparently we have more countries to visit. We watched a young giraffe nurse from its mother, which with their long necks, looks quite awkward. Tourists get the opportunity to feed the giraffes, and if you hold a pellet in your lips, they will be happy to take it from you.


We also had a mini safari in Nairobi National Park, where Kenya was able to create a preserve for wild animals just on the outskirts of the city. We were able to see lions, zebra, antelopes, giraffe, etc, and often with views of the city skyline or jumbo airplanes coming in for a landing at the nearby airport.





The next day, we headed to the Lake Naivasha area where we went hiking on Mt Longonot. We were starting to get concerned about our Rwanda trip coming up in less than a week, as we will be trekking in the forest and apparently there is the possibility of it being quite difficult. We haven't been exercising that much and so felt the need to be a bit active in preparation. Mt Longonot is a dormant volcano, and looks just like a stereotypical crater would, with the crater floor now covered in a forest. There are still some steam vents coming out of the ground, with many more in the surrounding area. We had hired a guide, mainly because we needed a driver to take us there and back, but James turned out to be the best and most qualified guide we had in Africa. Normally, he guides mountaineering trips up Mt Kenya or Kilimanjaro, and was trained by NOLS, a leading American mountaineering company that used to have a training center in Kenya and had provided very low cost training to some locals, like James. If James could guide people of Mt. Kilimanjaro, we felt more than confident that he would be good for our day hike. Unfortunately, there was a lot of litter in the park, so after lunch, all three of us filled our empty plastic bags with trash on the way down.


We saw two giraffe on the way down in what appeared to be some sort of mating ritual. The female would walk slowly in a circle, followed closely by the male. When she would pause, he would get close and look like he was going to jump up on her back, but then he would stop. I think they knew we were watching and maybe they needed some privacy. //. Our first trip to Nairobi, we spent huge amounts of time sitting in traffic but everyone said it was unusually bad because of the international trade fair going on in the city. Well two weeks later and it's still just as bad. Even in the suburbs of Karen, you sit in traffic. It is not uncommon to sit in traffic for 30 to 60 minutes, or longer, when simply trying to go to different areas of Nairobi. We have met many Americans who live here in Nairobi and love it, which amazes us because we don't know how they have the patience for the traffic on a daily basis.

Location:Nairobi, Kenya

African interlude

Here is a mix of things we wanted to write about. BOOKS. In comments to our blog, a good book was recommended to us which I will probably wait until my return to read, but I thought I would share what we've been reading while here in Africa, which we've enjoyed. Hugh: Disgrace, by Coetzee, a So. African fiction writer. The fact that this occurs in So.Africa is not as critical to the story as some of the other works below. Shadow of the Sun, by polish reporter Kapuscinski who lived in Africa for the last couple of decades. Very good travelogue. I will read more of his works later. /. Ways of Dying, a novel by Zakes Mda, a So. African writing about a slice of life in a small poor village and an urban township. /. Diamonds, Gold and War, by Meredith. Long detailed history of South Africa from 1800 to 1905, in which you see how the country was formed and the seeds of the apartheid policies that would develop. It focuses a lot on the pivotal figures Paul Kruger and Cecil Rhodes, who I had heard of but did not truly know anything about. /. None to Accompany Me, novel by Nadine Gordimer, So.African Nobel prize winner. Follows two middle class families, occurring at the time when the government was transitioning out of apartheid. /. Desertion, novel by Gurnah, a Zanzibarian author writing about the meeting of cultures on the East African (Kenyan) shores around 1899. I am in the middle of it and thoroughly enjoying it. Favorite book so far. /. Betsy also read When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, by Godwin, about a white man born and raised in Zimbabwe, and how things have changed since Independence, particularly the deterioration of the country under Robert Mugabe. She can't wait for me to read it. //. MONEY. Africa truly needs to come up with their version of the Euro as I am starting to collect a pile of useless coins and paper notes. (Although with economic news in Europe right now, it looks a lot of people are not sure if the euro is such a good idea). However, while bargaining in the Kenyan curio shop near the Tanzanian border, I did enjoy pretending to be confused that we were bargaining in TZ shillings, which has a value less than 1/10 of the Kenyan shilling. //. Since we started the trip and been looking at exchange rates, the Kenyan shilling has lost 15% of its value, with half of that occurring in the last 2 weeks. I (Hugh) am able to check my ATM bank transactions online (although it is a bit of a pain because my bank's computer servers do not accept inquiries from computers with African Internet addresses). At first, we thought my bank at home had the exchange rate wrong, in our favor, prior to our awareness of the falling value. People here are quite upset about their loss in purchasing power, since as in many non-European countries, the US dollar is used in many transactions. Many items are labeled with it, most hotels, tours, plane tickets, etc. are listed in dollars, or other foreign currency, and I have to often ask if I can pay in the local currency, which they will still take. One issue we did have with US dollars concern the dates printed on it. In the US, we ignore the date but in Africa it is quite important. They will not take dollars printed before 2001, and we have even been faced with requests for 2004+ or even 2006+. //. FOOD. We were warned by some others who came to Africa that we were not heading for culinary greatness. However, the low expectations were exceeded as the food here has been fine. Of course, we have had some bad meals on occasion, but in general the food has been tasty and safe to eat. Unlike India, where we were paranoid about everything we ate, avoided almost all raw foods and still got sick, here we do often eat salads and fruits and have not had any significant setbacks. There is a small concern that with about 10 days left and one Kashi bar remaining, Betsy may go into withdrawal. (Peter, thanks for the offer of air freighting a box in, but I think we are going to use this as an opportunity to break the cycle of addiction). However, we are looking forward to the food at our next destination, the Kenyan beach resort of Malindi, also known as Little Italy. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Safari - Tanzania

We mentioned in an earlier post that we had taken a chance booking with our Safari tour company, and while there have been a couple minor things we wished were different, overall the trip in Kenya had been great and we've been very happy. During our time in Tanzania, we became severely disappointed with our tour company. Let us just say, do NOT book anything with MICS Tours and Safaris. // Our combined Kenya/Tanzania safari was organized through a Kenyan company, who had apparently outsourced the Tanzanian portion to a partner company. According to our Kenyan tour company, the Tanzanian company had completely dropped the ball and NONE of our reservations for lodging had been made, some of which we had specifically contracted for and were popular lodges. We found this out after we waited two hours at the border for our new Tanzanian driver (keep in mind we were already a couple hours late due to flat tires and being stuck in mud) because he claimed he just found out he was guiding our trip the day before, and this was the quickest he could get to the border to meet us. Our new guide Asseri, showed us our itinerary and it was completely different from what we wanted, what we paid for and what we were expecting. For instance, the first afternoon, we were planning on leaving the border and heading to Lake Victoria for one night. Change #1 - the lake victoria portion was cancelled because we didn't have a hotel reservation. Okay, we now had an extra few hours in the Serengeti, which was not the worst thing. Our tour operator guaranteed us that the new lodges would be as good as what we booked, but when we showed up at the tent, it was clearly not the Serena lodge. // The ride to get there was quite exciting. With the late arrival of the driver, and certain errands, we were late to head to the Serengeti. Our driver did not tell us that the gates to the park close at 6 and that we would be stuck outside if we did not make it. He just drove as fast as he possibly could, causing pedestrians in many towns to signal him to slow down, or to just jump out of the way in fright. Clearly, this driver had different thoughts on speed than the previous one. We made it with just a couple of minutes to spare, which is when we got the explanation for the high speed. //. But over the next couple of days there were lots of problems. The driver didn't have money to pay for park fees, fuel, etc. Hotels didn't have reservations or payments. Our driver would take us to parts of the parks with almost no animals. We would skip or curtail game viewing to call the tour operator or to find internet to get payments. We would sit in hotel lobbies for hours hoping to be allowed to check in. We had to come up with some cash of our own or be abandoned in some small Tanzanian town by driver. A couple of times our tour operator suggested we make the hotel payments and he would be sure to pay us back, even though he obviously couldn't remember to wire our driver the funds. Our previous enjoyment of a refreshing towel and our bet over which variety of welcoming fruit juice we'd receive upon arrival was replaced with concern over whether we would have a place to sleep. //. But enough of our troubles for now. In between moments of frustration and anger, we actually did have some good animal viewing. The amount of predator cats we encountered in the Serengeti were more than anywhere else. We saw lots of cheetahs, including some young cubs. We saw an unfortunate warthog family cross the path of two cheetahs, who pounced and picked off one of the young warthogs. The warthog parents gave chase but the cheetah without the warthog in its mouth easily chased them away. In the Ngorongoro crater, there was one cheetah that had a bloody face and bloody paws - he must have been having a good time.


We saw leopards, both in trees (with a half eaten gazelle up there as well) and on the ground...


There were of course several prides of lions


And a new predator cat for us, the serval cat. We were originally told that the serval was nocturnal and hard to find, but we saw two in the Serengeti and another in the Ngorongoro crater.


Here some hippos, three of them trying to decide where best to enter the water and join the ~30 already in.


There were lots of hyena in the parks. At one point, we came across three lions with their warthog lunch, and a pack of hyena kept trying to get close and join them for a snack, but one of the lions would stop and chase them off.


And we did see some baby giraffe. As it's forbidden to get out of your vehicle while on game drives in the national parks, we couldn't get an exact comparison but we think these guys were about Betsy's height.


And we haven't been posting a lot of elephant pictures recently as we did have quite a few earlier, but there have definitely been elephants everywhere. Elephants are one of the species that we regularly see young ones, but these were probably the youngest we've seen. Our guide estimated this little one was probably about 2 years old, because it was at the height of its mothers belly.


// Eventually, the anguish and anxiety became too much - we decided we had enough of the problems, did not want to pay out more cash, paying a second time for travel costs and hotels, so we decided to end the safari. We had been to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, but did not get to experience Lake Manyara, Tarangire or Amboselli NP. We had our driver take us to Arusha, which was his hometown but also a major travel hub. Of course, this last 2 hour journey with our driver was nerve wracking. He realized that the tour company was going to screw him out of his money and that he clearly was not going to get a large tip from us, and he started to get angry. We were getting quite nervous with the fast driving and his bad mood. We had previously borrowed the driver's extra SIM car for my cell phone to call our tour operator while trying to resolve the problems. Now, realizing that we were off of our itinerary, and no one back home would no where we were, I sent a short text message to my brother on the cell phone giving him our location and letting him know I would text him in 2 hours. It was a long 2 hours. But we arrived at the hotel, and our driver had calmed down by then. We slept in pleasant hotel which made some sort of claim to be involved with a John Wayne movie, and the next morning took a bus to Nairobi. The whole situation is obviously extremely frustrating and we are disappointed to not be able to finish our Tanzanian safari. But we loved Kenya and are happy at least that portion was the type of safari we were expecting. //. Now, safely in Nairobi, we are working on the plan for the next few days. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tanzania

Safari - Mara Pt 2

Being in a far away land, we are not as in touch with the news in America as normal. Likewise, we are more aware of the news here in Kenya. There is a trial going on at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands concerning the violence following the 2007 Kenyan elections that is broadcast live on tv, although the video quality looks like that of a webcam. The trial involves several top government officials, and we even saw part of the testimony of Uhuru Kenyatta, son of the founding president and currently the vice-prime minister, and head of the opposition party. Even though it is on every TV in Kenya, not sure if anyone in the US is following it. But we do know that some people in the US, particularly parental types in Ohio, are following the news regarding recent violence in northern Kenya. In two separate incidents, armed Somali gangs, crossed the border, kidnapped (and killed) European tourists, and turned over the hostages to Somali pirates. One of the attacks occurred on Manda island, where Lamu airport is located. We were planning to go to Lamu and were in the process of paying for the trip. Lamu is supposed to be a very cool place to visit, with beautiful beaches and a preserved old town, similar in many respects to Zanzibar. It is now a UNESCO heritage site and everyone who knows of it has recommended it. But, as unique as the opportunity to meet Somali pirates may be, and the fact that accommodations in Lamu must be a bargain now, we have decided that we would prefer a beach town much further from the Somalia border. We now have plane tickets to go to Malindi instead. Meanwhile, the Kenyan government may invade southern Somalia, without US or European support, but with military aid from the Chinese. // Meanwhile, back to the main story. 1-1/2 days in the Masai Mara reserve, and just too many experiences, such as a beautiful sunrise.


There were lots of lion encounters.





And now that we've shown you both females and males, you probably want to see some cubs.


These cats were hanging on a hillside with a great view of a water buffalo herd and a wildebeest herd, which are the black dots in the background.


We also got to see the animals we see commonly, like the zebra, do things we hadn't seen before. Who knew zebra's liked a good dust bath so much...


... And the young zebras, with brown stripes that turn black as they mature, nursing from their mothers.


Not often are the hippos spotted fully on dry land.


These hippos are getting ready to head out for dinner, after a "stressful" day sitting in the water. A common consensus among guides, and tourists as well, is that hippos really have the good life. They hang out in the water all day and maybe play with a family member, they have no real predator, except humans, and their only challenge is finding a good spot to sleep at night when they come onto land. They are actually very vocal as well. If we could post audio clips on the blog we would, because it is really fun to listen to them groan and grunt to each other.


With our trip to the Masai Mara over, it was time to head to Tanzania. In the morning as we left our hotel, our guide told us that the hotel had run out of fuel before he had a chance to fill up. We stopped at some other "nearby" locations, but they were also out. So we headed out hoping for the best, with our driver no longer feeling a desire to go slowly. Keep in mind our previous post about quality of the roads and African massage. At some local village, our driver begged a motorcycle repair shop to sell us 10 liters (2.5 gallons) and the fuel was delivered in plastic water bottles, looking like it had been siphoned. Now on our way, our driver was concerned about timing and really sped things up. Well, in his haste he managed to get us stuck in the mud two times, requiring help from others. We finally got more fuel, started driving faster and eventually got a flat tire. But, he did have a working spare. And then finally, we arrived at the border, a couple of hours late, anxious to meet our next guide for the Tanzania portion of our safari. We thought we were happy to be here after 5 hours of driving adventure, but in reality, the true "adventure" was just beginning.

Safari - Masai Mara National Reserve

We had a very early morning departure from Lake Nakuru because it was going to be a long drive with lots of time for "free massage", to quote our guide Bedan. Free massage is code word for very bumpy, uneven gravel roads. We have heard some other guides use the same term, so I don't think our guide can take credit. After seven hours of free massage, and feeling more stiff than loose, from gripping our chairs in order to not fly out of them with each bump, we finally arrived at our hotel in the Masai Mara. Truthfully, the roads into and out of the Mara are terrible - these roads are the reason people often fly from place to place. But, it's all an adventure to us. We must also add that each of our hotels on safari has greeted us with a chilled scented towel (think Halls Menthol-lyptus) and a glass of fresh juice upon arrival. The towel was especially appreciated today. It has also become a bit of a joke between us who can correctly guess the the type of juice we will be served. There has not been a clear winner yet. Passion and mango blends are the most prevalent. //. Our visit started off in the way you'd want a safari to be... A family of warthogs - the really tiny ones are cute...


A giraffe sitting down, which even our generally unimpressed guide was happy to see (and these are Masai giraffe, which is the only subspecies we should be seeing here and when we go to Tanzania)...


...herds of zebra... and another new antelope species, the topi. Betsy was very confused when she overheard another guide saying that a lion seemed to be watching the turkey. She didn't know there were wild turkeys here in Kenya. But actually the guide said the lion was watching the topi. Ah, the beauty of foreign accents. // We then came to the Mara river and there were animals everywhere! There were 7 female lions "eating" a wildebeest that they had just killed.


Within 30 yards was another wildebeest dead in the water, with a crocodile nearby, either guarding it or using it as bait to lure more prey. And another 30 yards away were three hippo in the water watching the whole scene. And then we had to look the other way, on our side of the river, because a male lion with a large mane showed up. Where to look and what to photograph - Truly, we were really enjoying our visit to the Mara. //. Later, an episode that was really enjoyable was watching a hippo who wanted to exit the river, but there was a lion sitting near the bushes where he wanted to exit. The lion kept scaring him back into the river. But then the hippo had enough and just came out and walked directly towards the lion, who decided she'd be better off backing up. Slowly, but surely, the hippo took command of the territory until the lion walked off. King of the jungle, ha. //. And, this is October in the Mara, which means the great migration is here. A couple million wildebeest have arrived from the Serengeti and are enjoying the fresh grass before going back next month. It is hard to capture in a photograph, but imagine there are about 100,000 wildebeest around you, with a few thousand zebra, walking, munching on grass, wandering aimlessly, and the herd stretches to the horizon.


// We always like to see the different species mixing together


We had a picnic lunch by the riverside, and saw some smaller wildlife.


We also noticed by all of the bones that we were not the only ones to have eaten here.


At one point in the drive, our guide wanted to show us how close we were to Tanzania, so he took us across the border. Although marked, there was no one there to stamp our passports. After a couple of minutes, we came back to Kenya and continued our trip.

Location:Kenya