[Even though more than a year has passed since our Safari it is important to me to get my blog caught up. Sometimes it is just hard for me to write. That being said, as I tried to choose photos to post I was reminded of the beauty of the Safari and our unique experience. I am sure there are too many photos but when we had 3 cell phone cameras and an SLR camera there was bound to be MANY photos - I am guessing thousands. But as Sabrina said "more is not better it is just more" Oh well}
There are no adequate words to describe our experience with this Safari. After many months of planning and preparation [visa, yellow fever, typhoid, malaria, etc shots] we flew from Salt Lake City, Utah to Nairobi, Kenya. It was a delightful and precious time traveling with 2 of my amazing grandsons. We learned so much about so many things! Our drivers were so knowledgable teaching us so much about the culture, the animals, the politics, etc even some Swahili.
Going on safari was not really on my bucket list. Yet I found myself winging across the world with Ethan and Dallin. We left Salt Lake on June 5 for Nairobi with an 8 hour layover in Chicago - fun for the guys because they left the airport by train wanting to go see the 'bean' in Chicago and explore while I waited at the airport. Then we boarded and were on our way.
Sadly my suitcase decided it liked Chicago so it stayed behind and then took a side jaunt to the United Arab Emirates. Upon our arrival in Nairobi I had only my back pack which I carried. Thankfully I at least had my meds and my toiletries. We reported my lost suitcase and then met our driver, Oteli, who took us to our hotel.
It was late evening when we arrived and everything was locked up with bars on the outside of the Radisson Blu. We were cheerfully met by hotel staff with a nice glass of orange juice and warm wet washcloths to refresh ourselves. Our rooms were very nice and we were tired even though we had tried to sleep on the plane. We slept well after a room service meal at 2:30 AM.
We arrived!
Our driver, Oteti, met us at 8 AM after a wonderful breakfast buffet and drove to a mall with a store where I could purchase a few items of clothing since I had only what was on my back.
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| View from the breakfast room |
I purchased a track suit, an extra pair of sweat pants, 5 men's t-shirts since there were no acceptable shirts for women. I also got some underwear, a hat, some lotion and a brush. I was not sure how long it would take to get my suitcase and mourned the loss of some items, including my Purple cushion. It is amazing what you can get by without and since I had my medications and the critical stuff I was OK.
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| This was the small; and sketchy clothing department. |
Then our journey began. We were driven in a very nice jeep for every stage of our safari. As we crossed borders our vehicles and our drivers changed but each and all were great. It is hard to readily describe Nairobi and its surrounding area. There is such a vast dichotomy between poverty and modern affluence. Amidst high rise office buildings we found a family camped on a street corner cooking and selling food.
So many trucks and vehicles on the roads along with camels, goats and skeletal cattle. Our drivers also seemed to know just the right places to drive so we could see the amazing animals. We saw giraffes,elephants, lions, gazelles [Thompson gazelle and Grand gazelle], flamingos. hyenas, impalas, zebras, wildebeests, hippos, rhinos, baboons, monkeys, cheetahs, a leopard, termite mounds, cape buffalo, warthogs, jackels, mongoose, camels, donkeys, antelopes [tupi and eland], did-diks, crocodiles, walking eagles, secretary birds and many other birds including vultures. We also visited a Maasai village and flew in a hot air balloon. The peace of the savannah was amazing. It was awe inspiring. There just are not adequate words
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| It is very common to see cattle along the side of the roads. There is usually only one driver and often that driver is only about 12 years old. We learned later that sometimes the young boys do not make it home and it has been assumed t hast they have been eaten by lions :( |
After driving for a time I needed a bathroom break. Oteli stopped at what appeared to be a nice place but imagine my surprise [horror] when I went into the ladies restroom to find the 'toilet' to be hole about 12 inches across lined with small ceramic tile. There were no bars to hold onto nor anything to sit upon. Eventually I found one stall with an actual toilet but it seemed not to have been flushed for days! Very disconcerting experience to say the least! But practice makes perfect so as I was often faced with the same situation during our drives I learned to cope.
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| This was actually an upgraded version! Some of them were pretty rustic. |
We drove toward Mombasa on a narrow 2 lane highway. It is a main highway which LOTS of trucks. The speed limit was 80 KPH [50 MPH]. It was exciting to see the landscape and almost immediately we saw giraffes along the side of the road! There were many shanty type villages along the way with hotels, markets and street vendors. Many of the truckers would stop and stay at these hotels before driving into Nairobi where the costs are much higher.
At one point there was an accident ahead so our driver just drove into the ditch and bypassed it all and got back on the highway. There was a LOT of traffic, mostly trucks.
Our eyes were constantly filled with many new sights. A giraffe in the distance, many goats, cattle and people hawking fruit along the way. Oteli regaled us with stories of how he courted his wife. After being examined [yes he was naked] by the women of the village and being approved by the village council he presented her father with cattle, some money and a bottle of Jack Daniels. He was accepted and they were married and had children. Both are well educated. But an interesting custom.
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| A group of women taking advantage of the shade. |
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| The grass along the roadside was up for grabs and was harvested and carted away by whoever got there first. |
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| A market |
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| The hotels looked sketchy to me. I would never choose to stay in one. |
After some time we left the highway turning onto a dirt road which was well packed and not too bad. We made our way to the Amboseli National Park and our first resort.
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| Many of the roads on which we travelled were packed dirt. Some were better than others but one road towards the end of our journeys was totally rutted and I just 'held on' for the several hours it took us to drive along there. |
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| Entrance to Amboseli park |
Soon we entered Amboseli park which is home to about 1200 elephants. What a thrill to see elephants here and there against the backdrop of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Just before reaching our lodge we passed ruins of an old resort that had been destroyed by encroaching wetlands.
Our lovely resort, Ol Tukai Lodge, was on slightly higher ground. What a treat to again be greeted with warm washcloths and glasses of juice [and good toilets!] while presenting our passports. Our rooms were in little duplexes and very nice.
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| The food was buffet style with many options and the dining room was outside. |
After a quick nap for me and pool time for the boys we met Oteli for our first game drive.
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| Ethan teased the monkeys. They had no fear of humans. |
We were firmly cautioned by the staff that we must NOT take any food away from the dining tables or the monkeys would attack us to take the food. We were also told to make sure our windows were firmly shut or the clever monkeys would find a way in to wreck havoc with our belongings.
In some respects it was hard to be housed in such lovely accommodations when we knew that many of the native people lived very rudely, in poverty without water or electricity.
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| Just WOW! |
Our first sighting of wildebeest
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| What's not to love? |
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| In the evening before dinner we were always treated to entertainment |
The next day we resumed our journey to go into Tanzania with many things to see along the way.
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| moving harvested grass to home. |
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| Ofttimes items were carried on their heads. |
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| Hyenas are not very beautiful |
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| The homes of hyenas. Because of the heat they burrowed down and only came out to hunt. |
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| Cattle were preferable but sheep sometimes worked. |
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| Since most little areas did not have running water there was a schedule for water delivery. At a designated spot everyone would gather to get water. Often the women would carry a large container home on their heads. |
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| A town near the border of Tanzania. Red is a prominent color of the area representing the Maasai people. |
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| Interesting inside down birds nests at our stopping area. |
We had to present our passports and pay $USD100 each, in cash, to cross the border. And then we were in Tanzania and in a town. Here we saw a lot of people and learned an interesting thing about hierarchy of transportation.
Of course everyone could walk -many things were carried on top of their heads, especially by women. A man with better fortune would have a bicycle to transport his items.Then the next step up would be to have a motorbike. And of course then a tuk tuk but those are rare. But if a young man was fortunate enough to get a motorbike it was not for fun. He was then in a good position to earn a decent living because the motorbikes are taxis. We were also warned not to hold our cameras or phones out the window because motorcycle drivers would come by and grab them from us.
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| It was sad to me that's there was so much trash in the streets but our driver explained that there are no garbage hauling services. But still it seems like they could police their own area, |
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| I cannot imagine using a motorcycle for my transportation. |
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| The was so scary to me. If you look closely you can see 3 passengers behind the driver. I feared for the little guy on the back but I guess being secured by a shawl tied around them was considered safe! |
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| One of the fortunate men who had a bicycle to transport his stuff. |
We drove through one town that had a LOT of monkeys.They are so cute but do cause trouble. I can only imagine he havoc they cause when they get into the homes.
The skycapes are beautiful and the landscape varies. We drove up a long hill, almost a mountain and saw so much green.
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| Dallin spotted this Baobab tree which he knew about from reading The Little Prince. so of course we had to stop and take photo. |
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| There was just so much beauty. It is hard to really represent it in a photo but I found it breathtaking. |
We stopped at a tanzanite mine. Apparently the tanzanite stone is ONLY found in Tanzania.
Tanzanite is the blue and violet variety of the mineral zoisite (a calcium aluminium hydroxyl sorosilicate), caused by small amounts of vanadium.[3] Tanzanite belongs to the epidote mineral group. Tanzanite is only found in Simanjiro District of Manyara Region in Tanzania, in a very small mining area approximately 7 km (4.3 mi) long and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide[4] near the Mererani Hills.[5] from Wikipedi
We did not realize as we were driving that we had a specific time frame that we had to obey because the gates to our next stop closed just before sundown. We arrived just as the guards were preparing to shut the gates. 10 minutes longer and we could not have gained admission. We learned that all the parks and reserves had a curfew around 6:30 PM for humans so the natural order of things would not be disturbed for the animals. If people arrived late the drivers plaid a hefty fine.
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| Our home for a couple of nights. |
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| The amazing view from the look out. |
Ngorongoro is an old volcano crater and home to a wonderful variety of animals.The lodge was beautiful! we had good rooms which since it was cooler came with a nice warm water bottle to warm our sheets each night. And the dining room was great with lots of good food options.
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| Not sure why I was only one with food. I guess the waiter had yet to bring food to the guys. |
Early the next morning while it was still foggy, Amani began our trip into the crater. I can't say enough about how beautiful the sky appeared!
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| We were not the only tour vehicle out early. |
As the sun dissipated the fog we saw many animals in their natural habitat. This crater is a refuge for many animals and interestingly those that live here do not have the urge to participate in the 'great migration' that we witnessed later.
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| Amani explained much about the plants which I cannot remember. |
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| Still foggy. |
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| Hyena with her pups. |
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| These lions were literally on the side of the road. We found them first but soon other drivers saw us and came over. |
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| Did you know that hippos are one of the most dangerous beasts? They are huge and kill many unsuspecting folks every year - especially near the water. |
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| So many tour vehicles! We were early in the season but in the summer months it is like a major traffic jam. |
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| The Secretary Bird |
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| Wildebeest |
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| The majesty of the zebras is hard for me to describe. We came over a ridge and saw a whole field full of zebras. It was an indescribable feeling. |
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| I loved the tour vehicles we had! They were air conditioned when we needed it, the top would be raised while viewing animals so we could easily standup to take pictures and get a better look. |
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| A lone elephant. We learned that when an elephant is old and its teeth can no longer chew the rough grasses they take themselves off to feed on softer grass and then soon die. I cannot remember how much an elephant needs to at each day but it is a LOT and if they cannot chew they starve. |
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| Many drivers came here for a lunch break. |
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| More hippos. Amani was making strange noises to try and get them to react. He did not get much of a reaction. |
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| On our way out of the crater. |
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| Butterflies!!! |
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| Butterflies at rest at the edge of the stream |
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| We came across a small herd of elephants |
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| More pre-dinner entertainment. |
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| Our water bottles. |
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| From our lodge |
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| A Maasai village spotted after we left Ngorongoro |
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| A Monument of two skulls near Serengeti to commemorate the findings of Louis and Mary Leakey. One is the "famous" Lucy. |
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I have awesome grandsons! As soon as we entered the Serengeti Amani turned off the road and drove toward a group of rocks in the middle of the Savannah where we found lions!     the cheetahs are very well camouflaged and often hard to spot but Amani found this one with her 2 cubs first. We were watching as she was watching the gazelles and all of a sudden she broke into a very fast run and caught and killed a gazelle. By the time other drivers saw the kill was done. The mother left her cubs as she was in pursuit of the gazelle By then many trucks had arrived separating the mother from her cubs. She had their dinner but there were too many trucks around for the cubs to get to her. We left so things could get back to normal hoping the others would leave soon as well. We learned that cheetahs are VERY fast but that their hearts aren't very big. When they exert themselves as she did there is no energy left. Often hyenas will come and take her prize because she will be too tired to fight them off.                   Time to feed the truck. Notice the pumps drop down.        Each hut had 3 rooms that were nicely appointed.                    |
It just amazed me how they just marched along, often in single file, as part of the migration.
This house with such a steep roof is called an "American House'. Because of TV it is believed that American houses all have pitched roofs.
As we drew close we saw the skies filled with smoke. At first we thought there were clouds and that there would be a storm, But NO, all the old dry grasses were being burned in preparation for the migration arrivals.
But amazingly enough within one day green shoots were showing above the ground.
We learned that there are 3 stages of the migration. The first stage of zebras and wildebeest will mostly be eaten because the predators are hungry. The second stage is much larger and most will safely arrive. The third stage is much smaller and sometimes does not even make it all the way.
This lodge was awesome! It actually was a series of tents which did not have phone or internet. If we needed help we were to blow our whistles and guards would come to help us or escort us to dinner so we would be safe.
Who knew tents would have hardwood floors or be SO huge. Again we had our nightly hot water bottles. I also asked for an extra blanket as it got pretty chilly in the night.
The guards were on duty all night long and did use the bows and arrows from time to time to keep us all safe. They said that each night various animals would come to the tent area.
We got up at "o'dark thirty" to drive about an hour to reach the launch site for the hot air balloons so we could enjoy the sunrise from the air.
And we made it!!! the hour went so fast and it was marvelous. But even though I had no problem getting into the basket I could not seem to get out which of course made me laugh. So Ethan said he would lift me out. When I asked him if he had any idea how much I weighed he flexed his muscles and said "that's OK I'm strong" And he was strong enough to lift me up and over the basket ledge.
The champagne breakfast set up near the field were we landed. We of course had orange juice 😉
The one and only leopard we saw. was way up in a tree with its tail just hanging down and we only got a photo with a telescopic lens. I guess they are shy.
Next stop was a Maasai village. The Maasai wear red. We were each given red cloth the first place we stayed. The men posed for a photo with us after we had been given an overview of the people and their ways.
After showing us through the village and explaining about the huts - after they marry the girls/women build the huts themselves with branches and mud. It take about 3 months. The women also make a lot of beautiful things. The bead work is incredible! We went along the stalls choosing a few items we liked but when the reckoning came it was over $800 US.!! We choked and put most of it back. They are raising funds for the school which you can see in the back to the right.
When they saw us putting things back because it was too much money they offered to have us use our credit cards. They had some of those portable machines. That made me laugh because although they live without modern conveniences and eat mostly meat and blood [ for real] they are defiantly savvy and must plug into electricity somewhere.
It was awesome experience to be there. I am glad we saw it.
After using the good bathrooms we were accosted by a large group of aggressive women. They offered to be in a photo with me and that was lovely. But then they wanted money. I was running short on cash and gave them $5.00 US but they wanted $10 and I did not have enough if they wanted me to by anything. So the most aggressive one got very angry and said they have 10 mamas who each needed a cut. I felt bad But I only had enough to pay for a few things and not even everything I would like to have bought.. Even as we were driving away she stuck he had into the car and insisted on $10. The drive finally just pulled away. Note to self make sure to bring plenty of cash on th e next trip.
Our final driver was Michael who loved all things American and hope to visit someday. He was born in a hut with a dirt floor and went to the local school. His first language was the language of his village and the next was Swahili and then English.
He was very knowledgable but was not as interested in driving us through Nairobi as the boys would have liked so we got to the airport quite early. And then we got on our flight to home.
My errant suitcase finally made it to Nairobi and Michael had it in his car when we crossed the border back into Kenya. But I survived with my makeshift wardrobe and gave almost everything I had purchased to Michael before we left him.
I was able to buy a few things in our travels. I have now framed the painting and it is hang in my kitchen/dining area. I enjoy my necklace and of course I got magnets for my magnet board.
What an adventure we had! So grateful to spend this adventure with two of my favorite people!
