FOREWARNING: Due to an allergic reaction to the malaria medication we were required to take on this trip, my face may appear more puffy than it really is in these pictures...LOL.
Room with a view of a Full Moon on the Masai Mara in Kenya
"Guess Who?"
the children of a Masai Village in the Masai Mara The Masais teaching me how to dance a baby goat to feed the community marking my territory in a Lion's den
Mara Serena Air Strip Saying good-bye to our fearless tour director "The plane...the plane!" boarding Safari Link "OK Captain, everything checked and ready for take-off!" waving good-bye to our guides/drivers/friends "Farewell Masai Man!" take off! view from plane of Mara Serena Safari Lodge view from the plane of a Masai Village on the Masai Mara approaching Nairobi Live Large in Nairobi Bill with wild woman in front of the Carnivore Carnivore Menu "Please don"t cut my head off and feed me to the lions!"
text and more pics to follow...
POSTCARDS FROM KENYA
As far as I can remember, I always dreamed of Africa. On my 4th & 5th birthday parties, while my peers had superhero figurines on their cake, I had wildlife safari animals on mine. I eventually grew up to be a lover of animals, travel, adventure, and photography. What better place to visit, to combine all those interests, but Africa!
I initially felt a bit guilty that, unlike some of my friends who go to Africa for missionary/charity/tsunami relief/HIV-AIDS related work, I was simply going there for a Wildlife Safari. I finally learned that the word “Safari” is Swahili for “Journey”. And boy what a journey it surely was. Although we were not totally immersed in the poverty stricken areas of the region, and were lucky enough to be situated comfortably in luxury safari lodges, we did witness some of it just by simply looking at the side of the road, across the plains, and during a visit to a MasaiVillage. The Kenyans are a beautiful friendly people. Tourism plays a vital role in the economy of this nation. The more I spread the good word, hopefully, the more people will come to Africa. The more visitors come, the more job opportunities will be available to them. So in essence, at the end of the day, my visit here was not completely without any altruistic purpose.
POSTCARD FROM NAIROBIAIRPORT
After enduring an 8 and a half hour flight on coach from London, we are finally on African soil. I must say that Kenya Airways wasn’t as bad as it was described by some friends in the industry. Thank God, since we didn’t purchase any travel insurance. The flight fortunately was not that full, so we had vacant seats between us. They surprisingly had video on demand, which some other airlines don’t carry on their economy class cabins. Immigration went smoothly for me this time. The Kenyan officer didn’t care what passport I had and just said, “Jambo!”, which is “Welcome” in Swahili. As we waited for our bags, I watched “Sex in the City” on the video monitor. So Africans do like watching skinny white women copulate. As soon as we got all our bags and were ready to exit, someone immediately asked me if I was going on a wildlife safari. Jeesh…was I that obvious? I knew I should have remove the camera, camcorder, and binoculars around my neck!...LOL
POSTCARD FROM NAIROBI
We are a group of 20 divided into 2 Minivans and 2 Land Cruisers. After we met our tour director and drivers/guides and exchanged pleasantries, I noticed that once again I am a minority. I’m the youngest, non-white, non-breeding person in our group. We are from different parts of the U.S, mainly the West Coast and the State of Florida. We were transported from the airport to our hotel on the vehicles that we were actually going on for the safari. We arrived very early in the morning so by the time we hit the road, it was full of Kenyans walking on the side of the streets and fields. I asked why were there so many people on the road. Our guide simply said, “Rush Hour”. Unlike the freeways of L.A., the roads of Nairobi are congested with more people than cars. They do have public transportation where it seems they jam-pack 20 people in a 12-seater van. I gather that it is too costly for most of the common folk to afford. I guess that’s why Kenyans do well in long distance/endurance sports. We spent our first day just meeting our tour director/drivers/guides and fellow tour mates. We rested our jet-lagged bodies at the NaroibiSerenaHotel, one of the Leading Hotels of the World.
I am the result of an accidental and final creative effort between my mother, a writer & retired hotelier who comes from a musical family, and my father, a joker & retired airline man who has an enormous zest for life. People who know them well have said that I've inherited the best of their gifts. This is an attempt to share parts of my mundane life, which include entries about my family, my "in-laws", my friends, my pets, my travels, my adventures, my goofing around, and some of my feeble endeavors in writing, poetry, and song writing, etc. Hope you like my bloggerole of rigmarole ... my bloggerdash of balderdash!
"Guess Who?"
the children of a Masai Village in the Masai Mara
The Masais teaching me how to dance
a baby goat to feed the community
marking my territory in a Lion's den
