Goodbye to Mario
We departed from Keekorok at 7:30 AM with a 4-5 hour drive ahead of us back to Nairobi. We retraced our steps through Narok and onward for the first 3 hours, and then took a right turn that took us up the escarpment and once again into very lush growth at the high elevations over 8000 feet ASL, stopping to take a picture of the Rift Valley far below. Once we reached Nairobi, we stopped at a shopping mall for several in our group to buy some safari shoes, and then went on a city tour, past old British colonial buildings, newer government buildings, including the offices of both the President and the Prime Minister, and finally past the burial site of Jomo Kenyatta, the first Kenyan President, across the street from our Intercontinental Hotel.
After numerous pictures with Mario, we paid him and said “Goodbye” and all thanked him for his excellent service. It is always a pleasure to watch someone perform who’s good at his job. He cared about all six of us, wanted to be sure that we had what we wanted and needed, and made the extra effort to see that his mission was successful, whether it was to find the Big Five for us or maneuver the van to get the best angle for a picture of the bird or animal as the case may be. If anyone wants to book a tour of Kenya or safaris in Kenya, they couldn’t do better than to contact him as he can book the tour directly. If so, let me know and I can get you his email address.
Miscellaneous observations, instructions and advice:
1. Bring a washcloth - although the hotels meet you upon arrival with wet washcloths to wipe your hands and faces of dust, you won’t get one in your room.
2. You see very few dogs. The Chinese who are building the roads are buying them up and eating them.
3. Right now, there are about 76 Kenyan shillings (Ksh) to a $1.
4. You may not take any pictures of police, military personnel, or motorcades, and as I learned today, not of anything on City Hall Way or the street where Kenyatta is buried (across from our Intercontinental Hotel).
5. When you see “Hotel” on a small building in the villages we pass through, it means “Restaurant.”
6. There are churches everywhere, at least in the Christian areas, with names such as “Jesus Winner Church.”
7. The road up the escarpment from the floor of the Rift Valley was built by Italian POW’s from Ethiopia in 1942.
8. The difference in elevation between the floor of the Rift Valley and the escarpment to the east is about 1000 meters (over 3000 feet), with the floor being about 5500 feet above sea level.
9. Hard to believe from what we passed through, Narok is one of the richest cities in Kenya - the ground is very fertile there.
10. When we stop and Kenyans selling their wares surround the van, if we won’t buy anything, they want us to give them pens - so bring plenty of pens.
11. Hakuna matata (sp?) - “no problem” and, just like any other language, a common phrase.
12. Charcoal is made from acacia trees, which are cut down, cut into pieces that are put on a fire, then covered with dirt for it to smolder, and then later cooled and sold in big sacks by the side of the road for about 1000 Ksh.
13. The Kikuyu are the largest ethnic group, hold most of the power, were the leaders of the Mau Mau rebellion resulting in the imprisonment of about 1.5 million Kikuyu by the British in the 1950’s.
14. The weather has been fantastic - cool nights in the 50’s and low 60’s, fair days without exception and temps in the 80’s and low 90’s, with only a sprinkle or two in the early evenings before clearing for the night.
15. We finally found the Southern Cross.
16. Masai Mara, if I haven’t told you, is 7200 feet above sea level, the same altitude as Santa Fe, where Dave and Jackie live.
17. The Masai people are allowed to cross back and forth into Tanzania without passport formalities, as the Masai Mara National Reserve is located in Tanzania as well as Kenya.
Sorry to hear about the weather back home, and also caught the news for the first time in a week. It’s amazing to be so out of touch, but nice too to be able to concentrate just on this new experience. What a joy. I love Africa (or at least South Africa and Kenya) and its people. It’s a very exciting place to be. I would really like to be able to fly here - I could fly into Keekorok. It has its own airport, with an open-air “terminal” (actually a 6’ by 12’ roof on 4 posts next to the dirt runway on hill nearby).
Off to bed in Nairobi with visions of new wonders in my head. What will Tanzania be like? The Ngorongoro Crater? Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti? Stay tuned.
Love, Nat, Dad, Matt and Tall Man (and sometimes Cheese Man)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Ngorongoro Crater
Reminiscence, Awful Stench; Ngorongoro Crater; Goodbye to Africa
Awful Stench
We awoke to my wonderful alarm clock and the room smelled awful. Maybe the toilet didn’t flush or it had backed up, but whatever it was, it smelled. Bay didn’t mention it so I thought maybe it was me. I have had a bad stomach for 2 days and maybe it was a result of that. After leaving the room for breakfast (Bay didn’t want breakfast), the odor was even worse outside, just like old lobster shells from a lobster dinner the night before. I went to our table and then went to the buffet to get some bread and tea, returned and still no one mentioned it. Could it really be me? Is that why no one is sitting next to me? Finally Jackie said, “They said the smell is the smell of baboon pee.” Well, that was a relief to me and I could stop holding my breath and exhale.
On the way in the front seat with Max, I asked him about the spelling of Masai as I had also seen it spelled Maasai. He had another spelling, “Maasi.” Anyone else want to chip in?
And he taught us that “sopa” means “Hi” in the Maa language, and “serena” means “bye.” our hotels, the Sopa Tarangire and the Serena Manyaro, used these Maa words in their names.
The drive up the rim of the crater was hairraising as we climbed over 2000 feet straight up, through a forest, and with me sitting on the downhill side, looking straight down, it scared the bejesus out of me. Especially when the Land Cruiser tilted to the left toward the valley far below. But we made it to the top.
Reminiscence
After the dinner where Bay got so many compliments, we returned to the room. I got out the laptop and started typing and she went into the bathroom to change into her jammies. A few minutes later, she returned, went to the desk, sat down in front of the mirror, sat up straight, and asked, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Isn’t she great?
And then today, Bay showed some pictures she had on her camera, including one of Dennis. Jane, a pretty psychologist from San Francisco, said he looked “distinguished and handsome.” We think she must have lost one of her contacts.
Ngorongoro Crater
Take a dog water bowl with a flat bottom that has a diameter of 12 miles, a rim 2100 feet high. Throw into the bowl thousands of animals, like hundreds of zebras, and thousands of wildebeest, 93 lions (the largest concentration in the world), warthogs, Thompson gazelles, Grant’s gazelles, rhinos, hippos, spotted hyenas, bat-eared foxes, and assorted other creatures. Add 392 species of birds, common (like ducks) and exotic (like crowned cranes). Sprinkle in a couple lakes, a swamp and small forest. Place hundreds of elephants in the forest at the top of the rim. Then get in your Toyota Land Cruiser and drive down the side of the rim and around the bottom looking at the animals, birds and scenery - that is a trip to Ngorongoro Crater. Can you see it? If not, look it up in Wikipedia until you see the pictures. It is spectacular and we had a wonderful day in it, stopping by one of the lakes for lunch. I can’t wait to show you the pictures of: a one-day old wildebeest; 15 lions at separate times; two lions cuddling each other while snoozing; a warthog running toward us down the road; hundreds of zebras; and then a herd of 50 elephants at the rim as we neared our hotel, Sopa Ngorongoro Lodge.
The hotel is like a ski lodge with spacious lobby, bar with fireplaces and large stuffed chairs and ceiling to floor windows on the side facing west toward the crater, and a dining room of the same configuration. Our room is huge as is the bathroom and faces the crater as well, and is right on the edge of the rim. We had a wonderful sunset, a delicious dinner, and then a chilly walk back to the room. Chilly, because we are 7,800 feet above sea level. Of course, chilly is relative. It’s probably 60.
It’s our last night, and the luxuriousness of our surroundings is in stark contrast to the poverty we have seen in both Kenya and Tanzania. Certainly eating my meal tonight, I could not help but reflect back upon what we had experienced and encountered on our long trips in the vans. Although long and often dusty, and as attractive flying between the parks would seem, I wouldn’t trade our van rides for the world. That is where we learn of the people, how they live, how they press to sell a necklace or scarf in order to feed their family, and the consequences of the drought and of the absence of tourists. What would we have missed? Well, we would have missed gaily clad women with firewood on their backs struggling along the side of the road; men pushing their heavily laden bicycles up the hills; a woman and her child carrying water in containers on their heads; the omnipresent smell of smoke; the charcoal bags on sale along the side of the road, and the smoking mounds of dirt in which the charcoal is made from acacia trees; market day in small villages; uniformed children with book bags on their way to school; well dressed people on their way to church walking along the side of the road; the goats and cattle crossing the road in the hope of greener pastures on the other side; dust devils; women creating and planting gardens along the side of the road because they have no garden plot of their own; women bent over digging up the soil to prepare it for planting; women hand-spreading seeds after the first rain; teeming mankind in the villages and the congregation of men just talking on the side of the road; very young boys tending flocks of cattle and sheep, up to 30 or 40 animals; the ubiquitous road construction and the alternate routes through the desert beside the new road; the dust kicked up by other traffic limiting visibility to 5’ or less at times; learning new Swaheli words like “njema” meaning “cool” from the roadside signs; the contrast of the roads in Tanzania (mostly good paved roads, some as good or better than home) and Kenya (other than the main east-west highway, poor to very poor dirt roads, or if tarred, with potholes all throughout the tar forcing drivers to drive with one side in the dirt on the side of the road; unusual signs for all the churches (for example, “Church of Jesus the Winner”); a woman carrying a suitcase on her head; Towumba or “Mosquito River”, a prosperous community with ample farms including rice farms; the Masai carrying sticks walking along the side of the road in their distinctive red garb to ward off lions; fruits, potatoes and vegetables for sale along the side of the road; “red bananas” having a reddish skin but the same inside; numerous police check points with their strip of nails on each side of the road,all of which we barely slowed up for; the Kenyans’ Range Rover, i.e. the donkeys everywhere, either bearing budens on their backs or pulling a wagon or grazing; and best of all, the smiles of the young boys who see your van coming, turn and ardently wave in the hope you will wave back. And we did.
In the end, this is a story about people, those on the trip and those we will leave behind but will not forget. Our group consisted of Dave and Jackie, Jane and Riz, Bay and me. Dave is a semi-retired engineer consulting on geo-thermal projects and formerly an employee at Los Alamos. He is smart, very well-traveled and most personable, and his wife, Jackie, a Brit, is extremely gracious, but strong, and far and away our best at game observation. Jane is a psychologist from the San Francisco area, and Riz does a lot of gardening. All four are knowledgeable about birds, although I got the feeling that Riz was the expert of the group. We got along very well and enjoyed each other’s company. The other group consisted of Hector and Rosa, a Mexican couple who have lived and prospered in Chicago for years, their sister in law, Irma, a Mother Teresa figure who is very attractive in a latin way with her dark hair and eyes, and most kind to all, and their friend, Janis, who had a hard time due to stomach problems, and then we had our senior citizens, the indomitable Virginia, age 81, who never missed a thing and who could not stop talking unfortunately, and Betty, who despite limitations in getting around, also did very well. And for me, as for past trips, Bay was a joy to have along and indispensable to the enjoyment I got out of the trip. She has a great sense of humor, and everyone fell in love with her, whether in her role as Queen Elizabeth, nurse, scientist or Cybill Shepherd (when she was thin).
Love to you all. May these writings give you the desire to come to Africa as it is a wonderful place. You need to meet these people. They are your brothers and your sisters, and they need you.
Love, Nat, Matt, DB, Rochester and Tall Man
Awful Stench
We awoke to my wonderful alarm clock and the room smelled awful. Maybe the toilet didn’t flush or it had backed up, but whatever it was, it smelled. Bay didn’t mention it so I thought maybe it was me. I have had a bad stomach for 2 days and maybe it was a result of that. After leaving the room for breakfast (Bay didn’t want breakfast), the odor was even worse outside, just like old lobster shells from a lobster dinner the night before. I went to our table and then went to the buffet to get some bread and tea, returned and still no one mentioned it. Could it really be me? Is that why no one is sitting next to me? Finally Jackie said, “They said the smell is the smell of baboon pee.” Well, that was a relief to me and I could stop holding my breath and exhale.
On the way in the front seat with Max, I asked him about the spelling of Masai as I had also seen it spelled Maasai. He had another spelling, “Maasi.” Anyone else want to chip in?
And he taught us that “sopa” means “Hi” in the Maa language, and “serena” means “bye.” our hotels, the Sopa Tarangire and the Serena Manyaro, used these Maa words in their names.
The drive up the rim of the crater was hairraising as we climbed over 2000 feet straight up, through a forest, and with me sitting on the downhill side, looking straight down, it scared the bejesus out of me. Especially when the Land Cruiser tilted to the left toward the valley far below. But we made it to the top.
Reminiscence
After the dinner where Bay got so many compliments, we returned to the room. I got out the laptop and started typing and she went into the bathroom to change into her jammies. A few minutes later, she returned, went to the desk, sat down in front of the mirror, sat up straight, and asked, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Isn’t she great?
And then today, Bay showed some pictures she had on her camera, including one of Dennis. Jane, a pretty psychologist from San Francisco, said he looked “distinguished and handsome.” We think she must have lost one of her contacts.
Ngorongoro Crater
Take a dog water bowl with a flat bottom that has a diameter of 12 miles, a rim 2100 feet high. Throw into the bowl thousands of animals, like hundreds of zebras, and thousands of wildebeest, 93 lions (the largest concentration in the world), warthogs, Thompson gazelles, Grant’s gazelles, rhinos, hippos, spotted hyenas, bat-eared foxes, and assorted other creatures. Add 392 species of birds, common (like ducks) and exotic (like crowned cranes). Sprinkle in a couple lakes, a swamp and small forest. Place hundreds of elephants in the forest at the top of the rim. Then get in your Toyota Land Cruiser and drive down the side of the rim and around the bottom looking at the animals, birds and scenery - that is a trip to Ngorongoro Crater. Can you see it? If not, look it up in Wikipedia until you see the pictures. It is spectacular and we had a wonderful day in it, stopping by one of the lakes for lunch. I can’t wait to show you the pictures of: a one-day old wildebeest; 15 lions at separate times; two lions cuddling each other while snoozing; a warthog running toward us down the road; hundreds of zebras; and then a herd of 50 elephants at the rim as we neared our hotel, Sopa Ngorongoro Lodge.
The hotel is like a ski lodge with spacious lobby, bar with fireplaces and large stuffed chairs and ceiling to floor windows on the side facing west toward the crater, and a dining room of the same configuration. Our room is huge as is the bathroom and faces the crater as well, and is right on the edge of the rim. We had a wonderful sunset, a delicious dinner, and then a chilly walk back to the room. Chilly, because we are 7,800 feet above sea level. Of course, chilly is relative. It’s probably 60.
It’s our last night, and the luxuriousness of our surroundings is in stark contrast to the poverty we have seen in both Kenya and Tanzania. Certainly eating my meal tonight, I could not help but reflect back upon what we had experienced and encountered on our long trips in the vans. Although long and often dusty, and as attractive flying between the parks would seem, I wouldn’t trade our van rides for the world. That is where we learn of the people, how they live, how they press to sell a necklace or scarf in order to feed their family, and the consequences of the drought and of the absence of tourists. What would we have missed? Well, we would have missed gaily clad women with firewood on their backs struggling along the side of the road; men pushing their heavily laden bicycles up the hills; a woman and her child carrying water in containers on their heads; the omnipresent smell of smoke; the charcoal bags on sale along the side of the road, and the smoking mounds of dirt in which the charcoal is made from acacia trees; market day in small villages; uniformed children with book bags on their way to school; well dressed people on their way to church walking along the side of the road; the goats and cattle crossing the road in the hope of greener pastures on the other side; dust devils; women creating and planting gardens along the side of the road because they have no garden plot of their own; women bent over digging up the soil to prepare it for planting; women hand-spreading seeds after the first rain; teeming mankind in the villages and the congregation of men just talking on the side of the road; very young boys tending flocks of cattle and sheep, up to 30 or 40 animals; the ubiquitous road construction and the alternate routes through the desert beside the new road; the dust kicked up by other traffic limiting visibility to 5’ or less at times; learning new Swaheli words like “njema” meaning “cool” from the roadside signs; the contrast of the roads in Tanzania (mostly good paved roads, some as good or better than home) and Kenya (other than the main east-west highway, poor to very poor dirt roads, or if tarred, with potholes all throughout the tar forcing drivers to drive with one side in the dirt on the side of the road; unusual signs for all the churches (for example, “Church of Jesus the Winner”); a woman carrying a suitcase on her head; Towumba or “Mosquito River”, a prosperous community with ample farms including rice farms; the Masai carrying sticks walking along the side of the road in their distinctive red garb to ward off lions; fruits, potatoes and vegetables for sale along the side of the road; “red bananas” having a reddish skin but the same inside; numerous police check points with their strip of nails on each side of the road,all of which we barely slowed up for; the Kenyans’ Range Rover, i.e. the donkeys everywhere, either bearing budens on their backs or pulling a wagon or grazing; and best of all, the smiles of the young boys who see your van coming, turn and ardently wave in the hope you will wave back. And we did.
In the end, this is a story about people, those on the trip and those we will leave behind but will not forget. Our group consisted of Dave and Jackie, Jane and Riz, Bay and me. Dave is a semi-retired engineer consulting on geo-thermal projects and formerly an employee at Los Alamos. He is smart, very well-traveled and most personable, and his wife, Jackie, a Brit, is extremely gracious, but strong, and far and away our best at game observation. Jane is a psychologist from the San Francisco area, and Riz does a lot of gardening. All four are knowledgeable about birds, although I got the feeling that Riz was the expert of the group. We got along very well and enjoyed each other’s company. The other group consisted of Hector and Rosa, a Mexican couple who have lived and prospered in Chicago for years, their sister in law, Irma, a Mother Teresa figure who is very attractive in a latin way with her dark hair and eyes, and most kind to all, and their friend, Janis, who had a hard time due to stomach problems, and then we had our senior citizens, the indomitable Virginia, age 81, who never missed a thing and who could not stop talking unfortunately, and Betty, who despite limitations in getting around, also did very well. And for me, as for past trips, Bay was a joy to have along and indispensable to the enjoyment I got out of the trip. She has a great sense of humor, and everyone fell in love with her, whether in her role as Queen Elizabeth, nurse, scientist or Cybill Shepherd (when she was thin).
Love to you all. May these writings give you the desire to come to Africa as it is a wonderful place. You need to meet these people. They are your brothers and your sisters, and they need you.
Love, Nat, Matt, DB, Rochester and Tall Man
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Tarangire
Tarangire’s for the birds; Sopa Lodge and Happy Tall Man; A Swim in the Horizon Pool; and African Rhythm
Five loud raps at the door and a “Jambo” are our wake-up call at 5:30, Struggling through the netting around our beds, we shuffle toward the bathroom to get ready for our early morning safari. It’s still completely dark out. We gather our cameras, binoculars, rain coats, and Bay her back pack, and walk to the lobby to meet Max and the rest of our crew. We start off before sunrise but as the light shines in the east. The mist covers the ground, and we only see the top half of Mount Tarangire for the bottom half is hidden by the morning fog. Riz and Dave are barking out “Bird to the right” and “Bird to the left up at the top of the tree” and Max stops so that pictures can be taken and the bird can be identified. We continue on like that for an hour or so when Jackie picks up on a jackal, and what a catch. The jackal has a large leopard turtle in his mouth and is eating its innards. He was about 15 feet away so we had quite a view of him tearing at the turtle and then picking it up and dragging it further away from us. We also saw some giraffes, warthogs (a cute family with 4 little ones), elephants, squirrel and some other small creature that stared at us from a baobab tree (later learned it was a hyrax), some live leopard turtles, dick-dicks, before we returned for breakfast.
The Sopa Lodge is very nice, with large open-air lobby, bar area, restaurant, gift shop, and separate lodges for the guest rooms. The rooms include an anteroom with a refrigerator, a large bedroom and a bathroom. But the most noticeable atribute is that the women at the front desk and in the restaurant are ridiculously beautiful although I’m told that it was not a requirement of employment there that you be beautiful. The only other explanation I could think of is that they were there as contestants for Miss Tanzania. Wrong again. I did ask Bay to take a picture of me with Happy so you’ll be able to see for yourself. Happy gave me an evaluation card to fill out and of course I said she was the best waitress I have ever had - of course, the others at our table didn’t concur saying that Happy only paid attention to me. Sour grapes if you ask me. And I noticed that Dave wanted his picture taken with her too.
We departed at 10 for Lake Manyara, about a two hour drive, first down the dirt road leading out of Tarangire NP to the main highway. Once we turned off for Lake Manyara, the paved road was lined with a center line, shoulders, and passing dotted lines. What a switch. Other than the four lane highway we were on in Kenya, this is the first highway we have been on that looked like a road in the US. We climbed the escarpment to the west of the Rift Valley, up a steep, winding, paved road for 2000 feet, past people pushing their bicycle up the hill, past sheep herds coming down the hill, and others just walking either up or down the steep hill. We turned right and followed a red dirt road to Manyara Serena Lodge on the very edge of the escarpment facing east across the Rift Valley toward Kilimanjaro. We checked in, had a quick lunch and immediately headed for the pool - the temp was about 90, even at an elevation of 4028 feet. We stayed at the pool (an horizon pool) for an hour or so. The pool sits on the edge of the escarpment looking out across the Rift Valley. We then returned to the room to prepare for our afternoon safari to begin at 3:30. We drove back down the hill, entered the National Park, and drove in the thick forest which comes out to an open grassland next to the lake and the hippos in the hippo pool, and scores of zebras (including a dead one killed by lions several days ago). Of course, there were numerous birds, a flamingo, pelicans, storks and the usual array, none of which I know but everyone in our van assures me we’ve seen before. For Bay and me, we’d rather see more lions and cheetahs, and fewer guinea fowls and horned beaks, but that’s just us.
Returning to the Serena Hotel, I watched the evening entertainment around the pool, consisting of 8 or 9 singers, a drummer, and a fiddle player, although it’s not a fiddle at all. But it sounds like one. It has one string attached to a cylindrical object about 8” long and 16” in diameter, a bow with a string and sounds very much like a fiddle. They were fantastic and they left before I could find out more or buy a CD. After a Kilimanjaro beer at the bar and chatting with the bartender and the waiters about their circumstances and ours in Maine, and them thanking us for coming to Tanzania where we are “most welcome,” we went to dinner. They had a trio playing African music so I bought their CD - can’t you just feel the rhythm, as Toby would say?
So I’m going to try to post the last two blogs now and check my email and then go to bed. We leave tomorrow at 8 for Ngorongoro Crater, supposedly Tanzania’s best attraction so we’ll let you know when I can.
Thanks for keeping up with all this. Good night.
Love, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB, Tall Man, etc.
Five loud raps at the door and a “Jambo” are our wake-up call at 5:30, Struggling through the netting around our beds, we shuffle toward the bathroom to get ready for our early morning safari. It’s still completely dark out. We gather our cameras, binoculars, rain coats, and Bay her back pack, and walk to the lobby to meet Max and the rest of our crew. We start off before sunrise but as the light shines in the east. The mist covers the ground, and we only see the top half of Mount Tarangire for the bottom half is hidden by the morning fog. Riz and Dave are barking out “Bird to the right” and “Bird to the left up at the top of the tree” and Max stops so that pictures can be taken and the bird can be identified. We continue on like that for an hour or so when Jackie picks up on a jackal, and what a catch. The jackal has a large leopard turtle in his mouth and is eating its innards. He was about 15 feet away so we had quite a view of him tearing at the turtle and then picking it up and dragging it further away from us. We also saw some giraffes, warthogs (a cute family with 4 little ones), elephants, squirrel and some other small creature that stared at us from a baobab tree (later learned it was a hyrax), some live leopard turtles, dick-dicks, before we returned for breakfast.
The Sopa Lodge is very nice, with large open-air lobby, bar area, restaurant, gift shop, and separate lodges for the guest rooms. The rooms include an anteroom with a refrigerator, a large bedroom and a bathroom. But the most noticeable atribute is that the women at the front desk and in the restaurant are ridiculously beautiful although I’m told that it was not a requirement of employment there that you be beautiful. The only other explanation I could think of is that they were there as contestants for Miss Tanzania. Wrong again. I did ask Bay to take a picture of me with Happy so you’ll be able to see for yourself. Happy gave me an evaluation card to fill out and of course I said she was the best waitress I have ever had - of course, the others at our table didn’t concur saying that Happy only paid attention to me. Sour grapes if you ask me. And I noticed that Dave wanted his picture taken with her too.
We departed at 10 for Lake Manyara, about a two hour drive, first down the dirt road leading out of Tarangire NP to the main highway. Once we turned off for Lake Manyara, the paved road was lined with a center line, shoulders, and passing dotted lines. What a switch. Other than the four lane highway we were on in Kenya, this is the first highway we have been on that looked like a road in the US. We climbed the escarpment to the west of the Rift Valley, up a steep, winding, paved road for 2000 feet, past people pushing their bicycle up the hill, past sheep herds coming down the hill, and others just walking either up or down the steep hill. We turned right and followed a red dirt road to Manyara Serena Lodge on the very edge of the escarpment facing east across the Rift Valley toward Kilimanjaro. We checked in, had a quick lunch and immediately headed for the pool - the temp was about 90, even at an elevation of 4028 feet. We stayed at the pool (an horizon pool) for an hour or so. The pool sits on the edge of the escarpment looking out across the Rift Valley. We then returned to the room to prepare for our afternoon safari to begin at 3:30. We drove back down the hill, entered the National Park, and drove in the thick forest which comes out to an open grassland next to the lake and the hippos in the hippo pool, and scores of zebras (including a dead one killed by lions several days ago). Of course, there were numerous birds, a flamingo, pelicans, storks and the usual array, none of which I know but everyone in our van assures me we’ve seen before. For Bay and me, we’d rather see more lions and cheetahs, and fewer guinea fowls and horned beaks, but that’s just us.
Returning to the Serena Hotel, I watched the evening entertainment around the pool, consisting of 8 or 9 singers, a drummer, and a fiddle player, although it’s not a fiddle at all. But it sounds like one. It has one string attached to a cylindrical object about 8” long and 16” in diameter, a bow with a string and sounds very much like a fiddle. They were fantastic and they left before I could find out more or buy a CD. After a Kilimanjaro beer at the bar and chatting with the bartender and the waiters about their circumstances and ours in Maine, and them thanking us for coming to Tanzania where we are “most welcome,” we went to dinner. They had a trio playing African music so I bought their CD - can’t you just feel the rhythm, as Toby would say?
So I’m going to try to post the last two blogs now and check my email and then go to bed. We leave tomorrow at 8 for Ngorongoro Crater, supposedly Tanzania’s best attraction so we’ll let you know when I can.
Thanks for keeping up with all this. Good night.
Love, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB, Tall Man, etc.
"Rochester and Elizabeth"
The Long March; the Blessing; “Rochester and Elizabeth”; Tarangire and a girl named “Happy”
Up at 6:30, and for me down to breakfast for a roll and two slices of watermelon due to stomach problems, and chatting with Dave and Jackie. Then we gathered our bags, said goodbye to James until Saturday, and boarded a larger bus to take the entire crew to the Kenya-Tanzania border. Believe me, the bus was much worse than the vans, and the roads were just horrendous, at least for the first 30 miles or so of the approximately 80 mile trip to the border. The road was a dirt road next to the new road being constructed and due to the dryness, extremely dusty. We would close the windows as each car we encountered passed us, or if another car from behind passed us, or if we got behind a truck or too close to another vehicle. There was absolutely no leg room for me so I sat with my legs in the aisle as bags packed in the rear fell on me when the driver jammed on the brakes. I finally tried to get some sleep, and at least shutting my eyes helped - the scenery was unremarkable, just dry, dead looking landscape with leafless bushes and dust covered trees and bushes beside the road. It was really the first time that I was uncomfortable in a vehicle.
Things improved once we reached the border. Simon ushered us through the process, first exiting Kenya by stopping on the Kenya side, having our passport stamped, then by filling out a form we picked up at a curio shop for Tanzania, passing through No Man’s Land (where there were 20-30 large trucks parked) and through the gate into Tanzania where we took our form and passport to the Immigration windows and had our passports stamped. Luckily, all of us had our visas already. We transferred our bags to a Toyota Land Cruiser with Francis, an older man, being our driver. We scraped through the huge trucks blocking our exit, and were off on a nice paved road headed for Arusha. We crossed a desert land on the north side of Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania (to Kilimanjaro) of 4500 meters, and being very shy enshrouded in its curtain of dark clouds. Once we passed through the desert land, we encountered sprinkles, and then a steady rain, and the world came to life, the smells of wet earth and bushes and trees invading our stuffy Land Cruiser - what a treat. Francis turned to me and said that the people think that the rain is a blessing, and that we have brought his people this blessing. What a nice thing to say, and I thought that if we could have bestowed this blessing on his people, we certainly would have. And he had been thrilled with the Obama sticker I gave him - he is also a member of the Luo tribe from western Kenya, the same as President Obama’s father.
We stopped for lunch at the Arusha Coffee Lodge, a beautiful lodge next to coffee fields supposedly owned by a Swiss company (Nescafe? Scherteinleib Coffee Company?). After lunch, we received our briefing for our itinerary in Tanzania, and the lady in charge handed out the packets, the last one being for “Rochester and Elizabeth.” So I have even more names in Africa than I do in the US, and it was later spelled as “Mathaniel Rochester” - so that must be where Matt came from. And to make matters worse re Bay, as Francis turned over the Land Cruiser to Max to take us for the rest of our stay here, he told Bay that she must be 23 as she reminded him of his daughter who is 20 and in her second year of college. Did I tell you that our party thinks she looks like Cybill Shepherd in “Moonlighting”, looks good in pink, has white teeth, is either a scientist or a nurse and is now 23? Oh, and has a very sexy voice. Did I?
The road to Tarangire was mostly pavement and passed smoothly. Max is a 26 year old unmarried Tanzanian from Arusha and had gone to school to study English and wildlife so that he could be a guide. Once we got to Tarangire gate, I moved from the front seat to the back seat so that I could stand up to take pictures as we would do a game drive into our lodge, Tarangire Sopa Lodge. We were immediately confronted with 15 elephants, something that this park is known to have in abundance. By the time we arrived at the Lodge, it was almost dark, and 7 PM, 11 hours after our departure. And tomorrow we get up at 5:30 for a 6:15 game drive!
But what a treat we (or probably I should say “I”) had a dinner. Our waitress is named Happy and she is beautiful, 27 years old, very petite and speaks so softly that only I can hear her. After saying hi and asking how she was in Swaheli, she asked me if I knew any other words. I said yes, and then said in Swaheli, “I want to eat something now.” Her smile disappeared and she rushed off to get her pad and came running back to get my order, even before the 4 ladies at the table. Whoops! I tried to explain that I was just showing her I could say other things, but she didn’t understand so I ordered my meal. From then on, when she came to the table, she came to me first and wanted to know if we would be here for breakfast and how may days we were staying, etc. I think she’s great! I could get used to this, I’m sure. Just kidding, honey.
So it’s 11 PM now and I need some sleep, so good night to you all.
Love, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB, Rochester, Tall Man, etc.
PS Quiz for the day. How did the Secretary Bird get its name? Good luck. We already have three answers from two guides. And there’s always “Because God made it that way.” Any others?
Up at 6:30, and for me down to breakfast for a roll and two slices of watermelon due to stomach problems, and chatting with Dave and Jackie. Then we gathered our bags, said goodbye to James until Saturday, and boarded a larger bus to take the entire crew to the Kenya-Tanzania border. Believe me, the bus was much worse than the vans, and the roads were just horrendous, at least for the first 30 miles or so of the approximately 80 mile trip to the border. The road was a dirt road next to the new road being constructed and due to the dryness, extremely dusty. We would close the windows as each car we encountered passed us, or if another car from behind passed us, or if we got behind a truck or too close to another vehicle. There was absolutely no leg room for me so I sat with my legs in the aisle as bags packed in the rear fell on me when the driver jammed on the brakes. I finally tried to get some sleep, and at least shutting my eyes helped - the scenery was unremarkable, just dry, dead looking landscape with leafless bushes and dust covered trees and bushes beside the road. It was really the first time that I was uncomfortable in a vehicle.
Things improved once we reached the border. Simon ushered us through the process, first exiting Kenya by stopping on the Kenya side, having our passport stamped, then by filling out a form we picked up at a curio shop for Tanzania, passing through No Man’s Land (where there were 20-30 large trucks parked) and through the gate into Tanzania where we took our form and passport to the Immigration windows and had our passports stamped. Luckily, all of us had our visas already. We transferred our bags to a Toyota Land Cruiser with Francis, an older man, being our driver. We scraped through the huge trucks blocking our exit, and were off on a nice paved road headed for Arusha. We crossed a desert land on the north side of Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania (to Kilimanjaro) of 4500 meters, and being very shy enshrouded in its curtain of dark clouds. Once we passed through the desert land, we encountered sprinkles, and then a steady rain, and the world came to life, the smells of wet earth and bushes and trees invading our stuffy Land Cruiser - what a treat. Francis turned to me and said that the people think that the rain is a blessing, and that we have brought his people this blessing. What a nice thing to say, and I thought that if we could have bestowed this blessing on his people, we certainly would have. And he had been thrilled with the Obama sticker I gave him - he is also a member of the Luo tribe from western Kenya, the same as President Obama’s father.
We stopped for lunch at the Arusha Coffee Lodge, a beautiful lodge next to coffee fields supposedly owned by a Swiss company (Nescafe? Scherteinleib Coffee Company?). After lunch, we received our briefing for our itinerary in Tanzania, and the lady in charge handed out the packets, the last one being for “Rochester and Elizabeth.” So I have even more names in Africa than I do in the US, and it was later spelled as “Mathaniel Rochester” - so that must be where Matt came from. And to make matters worse re Bay, as Francis turned over the Land Cruiser to Max to take us for the rest of our stay here, he told Bay that she must be 23 as she reminded him of his daughter who is 20 and in her second year of college. Did I tell you that our party thinks she looks like Cybill Shepherd in “Moonlighting”, looks good in pink, has white teeth, is either a scientist or a nurse and is now 23? Oh, and has a very sexy voice. Did I?
The road to Tarangire was mostly pavement and passed smoothly. Max is a 26 year old unmarried Tanzanian from Arusha and had gone to school to study English and wildlife so that he could be a guide. Once we got to Tarangire gate, I moved from the front seat to the back seat so that I could stand up to take pictures as we would do a game drive into our lodge, Tarangire Sopa Lodge. We were immediately confronted with 15 elephants, something that this park is known to have in abundance. By the time we arrived at the Lodge, it was almost dark, and 7 PM, 11 hours after our departure. And tomorrow we get up at 5:30 for a 6:15 game drive!
But what a treat we (or probably I should say “I”) had a dinner. Our waitress is named Happy and she is beautiful, 27 years old, very petite and speaks so softly that only I can hear her. After saying hi and asking how she was in Swaheli, she asked me if I knew any other words. I said yes, and then said in Swaheli, “I want to eat something now.” Her smile disappeared and she rushed off to get her pad and came running back to get my order, even before the 4 ladies at the table. Whoops! I tried to explain that I was just showing her I could say other things, but she didn’t understand so I ordered my meal. From then on, when she came to the table, she came to me first and wanted to know if we would be here for breakfast and how may days we were staying, etc. I think she’s great! I could get used to this, I’m sure. Just kidding, honey.
So it’s 11 PM now and I need some sleep, so good night to you all.
Love, Nat, Dad, Matt, DB, Rochester, Tall Man, etc.
PS Quiz for the day. How did the Secretary Bird get its name? Good luck. We already have three answers from two guides. And there’s always “Because God made it that way.” Any others?
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Bring a washcloth
Lion King
Off at 6:30, getting up in the dark and wearing a sweatshirt due to the windchill in the van, we struck out for new parts of Masai Mara. James accompanied us again with his video camera, and what a show he would get. It was slow going at first, with few animals to see, but we got a call that there were some lions and off we flew to see them. Again, they were at large dirt hills, this one about 20’ high and near a stream so there were bushes under which they could sleep (at least until we showed up). There were four lions, two males and two females. One male was lying at the base of the hill and the females were walking back and forth behind him. The other male was about 15 feet to the right of our van but hidden by the bushes. We all got some great pictures. And as one van backed up next to us to leave, he almost came upon the lion in the bushes. Being rudely woken, he got up, glared at the van, and with great disdain started walking directly at our van from the rear (where Bay and I were sitting) - Bay immediately sat back down in her seat behind the safety of the closed doors and windows while I’m hanging out of the open roof trying to take the picture of a lifetime. The lion passed not 2 feet from me - right next to the van. I could have patted him as he went by.
As we prepared to leave, Mario exited the van to look at the ground to see if it was safe to drive over, and unbeknownst to him, his wallet dropped out of his pocket as he leaned over. Fortunately, he got a call later than someone had found his wallet and they had it at another lodge. How lucky is that! He is a good man, even though I call him “Cheese Man.” The rest of the morning safari was spent traveling over hill and dale, seeing a secretary bird, giraffes, a wildebeest, crowned cranes, warthogs, etc. A male crowned crane has extra tail feathers hanging down just in case you see one and want to know how to tell the difference.
And have I told you that some in our group think that Bay looks like Cybill Shepherd (sp?) in “Moonlighting” and that she is a scientist? And 29? With very white teeth? And she looks great in pink?
Masai Village
Against my better judgment and the piece in the Lonely Planet book, I agreed to go to the Masai village. The cost was the same as the Samburu village ($20) to “help with the education of their children.” Our Masai guide spoke good English and we started off with two dances by the men, followed by the dance by the women. The rest was predictable from our previous experience and the only thing saving me this time from the onslaught of the ladies selling their wares is the promise that I had a gift from the people of America to give to the chief and the Masai people. So they escorted me around the market but there was minimal pressure to buy bracelets, necklaces, knives, figures of animals or Masai warriors, all set up in twig huts in a circle, being their market. The chief’s son and the “Secretary General” followed me and held the things I chose to buy, not telling me how they were until I completed the circle. Then they informed me that the cost would be $40. I said “$20” and they counterofferred $30. I said $20 again, and they replied $25. I again said I would only pay $20. They said OK and shook my hand. I gave them the money. They wanted me to be sure that when I gave them the gift, I handed it into both their hands. So I pulled out an Obama-Biden campaign bumper sticker, and told them that this was a gift to the Masai people from the people of America and they thanked me and the people of America. I put it into both their hands and the Secretary-General took it and opened it up.
The new part of this visit was the letting of the blood of a cow. The Masai’s diet consists of milk, blood and meat. And they get the blood from a cow and demonstrated how they do it. They put a belt around the cow’s neck, letting the pressure build up in the veins like us giving blood. They keep feeling the cow’s neck to be sure they have the right vein and that it is expanding with blood. Then an elder comes with a bow and arrow and shoots the arrow into the vein - the blood spurts out and they catch it in a pitcher getting about a pint before the flow slows to a trickle. Then they put pressure with the belt on the wound, like the nurse putting pressure with the gauze on the pin prick in your arm, and the blood coagulates. They won’t use this cow again for bloodletting for 3 weeks. One of the Masai men then picked up the pitcher and took a big drink of the blood.
Not too surprisingly, the Masai who addressed me also called me “Tall Man.” They are also a tall group, with one or two approaching my height.
Big Five
This would be our last safari in Kenya and we had seen all the big five but the elusive leopard. After lunch and a swim at the pool, it was 4 and time to leave. This time we travelled west in the reserve and it was very quiet. But the scenery was spectacular and we had a lot of laughs with false viewings of this and that, me with stumps, and Dave with red-headed whatever. After an hour and forty-five minutes, we turned back toward the lodge.
As the limbs of the green-leafed bushes were dancing in the evening winds, bobbing up and down, the storm clouds gathered in the north. And you could smell the electricity (ozone?) in the air as Jackie noted. We heard a melodic sound. Another songbird? No, that’s Mario’s cell phone. After 30 seconds of conversation, we rocketed up to a speed of Mach 1 from 15 km. per hour, and we all lunged for the closest available handrails. The spotted hyenas, warthogs, wildebeests, elephants and God knows what were just a blur as we approached Mach 2. We careened from ditch to ditch as Mario yelled, “We’re going to try a little experiment.” Like a Toyota van lifting off? On we sped past the Lodge until we slid to a dusty halt beside two other vans, and they cried out, “The leopard has just left.’ Not to be denied, Mario, and Mario only, drove over rock outcroppings scraping the bottom off our van, and circled behind the ledge. Behold, there is the leopard, 5 feet in front of us and it was a race to see who could get to the cover of the stream first. The leopard won, but not before we got a few pictures. God bless Mario! He did it - the Big Five. Not in one hour, like Prince Charles decades ago as the picture in the bar says, but in time for our departure tomorrow. When he has a mission, get the hell out of the way!
Back to Nairobi tomorrow with a 7:30 AM departure. I will be very sorry to say “Goodbye” to this spectacular country and most especially to our friend, Mario. He has taken good care of us and wanted us to see his beautiful country and learn as much as we could while we were here. We will miss him, but I plan to keep in touch.
Good night to you all.
Love, Nat, Dad, DB, Matt and Tall Man
Off at 6:30, getting up in the dark and wearing a sweatshirt due to the windchill in the van, we struck out for new parts of Masai Mara. James accompanied us again with his video camera, and what a show he would get. It was slow going at first, with few animals to see, but we got a call that there were some lions and off we flew to see them. Again, they were at large dirt hills, this one about 20’ high and near a stream so there were bushes under which they could sleep (at least until we showed up). There were four lions, two males and two females. One male was lying at the base of the hill and the females were walking back and forth behind him. The other male was about 15 feet to the right of our van but hidden by the bushes. We all got some great pictures. And as one van backed up next to us to leave, he almost came upon the lion in the bushes. Being rudely woken, he got up, glared at the van, and with great disdain started walking directly at our van from the rear (where Bay and I were sitting) - Bay immediately sat back down in her seat behind the safety of the closed doors and windows while I’m hanging out of the open roof trying to take the picture of a lifetime. The lion passed not 2 feet from me - right next to the van. I could have patted him as he went by.
As we prepared to leave, Mario exited the van to look at the ground to see if it was safe to drive over, and unbeknownst to him, his wallet dropped out of his pocket as he leaned over. Fortunately, he got a call later than someone had found his wallet and they had it at another lodge. How lucky is that! He is a good man, even though I call him “Cheese Man.” The rest of the morning safari was spent traveling over hill and dale, seeing a secretary bird, giraffes, a wildebeest, crowned cranes, warthogs, etc. A male crowned crane has extra tail feathers hanging down just in case you see one and want to know how to tell the difference.
And have I told you that some in our group think that Bay looks like Cybill Shepherd (sp?) in “Moonlighting” and that she is a scientist? And 29? With very white teeth? And she looks great in pink?
Masai Village
Against my better judgment and the piece in the Lonely Planet book, I agreed to go to the Masai village. The cost was the same as the Samburu village ($20) to “help with the education of their children.” Our Masai guide spoke good English and we started off with two dances by the men, followed by the dance by the women. The rest was predictable from our previous experience and the only thing saving me this time from the onslaught of the ladies selling their wares is the promise that I had a gift from the people of America to give to the chief and the Masai people. So they escorted me around the market but there was minimal pressure to buy bracelets, necklaces, knives, figures of animals or Masai warriors, all set up in twig huts in a circle, being their market. The chief’s son and the “Secretary General” followed me and held the things I chose to buy, not telling me how they were until I completed the circle. Then they informed me that the cost would be $40. I said “$20” and they counterofferred $30. I said $20 again, and they replied $25. I again said I would only pay $20. They said OK and shook my hand. I gave them the money. They wanted me to be sure that when I gave them the gift, I handed it into both their hands. So I pulled out an Obama-Biden campaign bumper sticker, and told them that this was a gift to the Masai people from the people of America and they thanked me and the people of America. I put it into both their hands and the Secretary-General took it and opened it up.
The new part of this visit was the letting of the blood of a cow. The Masai’s diet consists of milk, blood and meat. And they get the blood from a cow and demonstrated how they do it. They put a belt around the cow’s neck, letting the pressure build up in the veins like us giving blood. They keep feeling the cow’s neck to be sure they have the right vein and that it is expanding with blood. Then an elder comes with a bow and arrow and shoots the arrow into the vein - the blood spurts out and they catch it in a pitcher getting about a pint before the flow slows to a trickle. Then they put pressure with the belt on the wound, like the nurse putting pressure with the gauze on the pin prick in your arm, and the blood coagulates. They won’t use this cow again for bloodletting for 3 weeks. One of the Masai men then picked up the pitcher and took a big drink of the blood.
Not too surprisingly, the Masai who addressed me also called me “Tall Man.” They are also a tall group, with one or two approaching my height.
Big Five
This would be our last safari in Kenya and we had seen all the big five but the elusive leopard. After lunch and a swim at the pool, it was 4 and time to leave. This time we travelled west in the reserve and it was very quiet. But the scenery was spectacular and we had a lot of laughs with false viewings of this and that, me with stumps, and Dave with red-headed whatever. After an hour and forty-five minutes, we turned back toward the lodge.
As the limbs of the green-leafed bushes were dancing in the evening winds, bobbing up and down, the storm clouds gathered in the north. And you could smell the electricity (ozone?) in the air as Jackie noted. We heard a melodic sound. Another songbird? No, that’s Mario’s cell phone. After 30 seconds of conversation, we rocketed up to a speed of Mach 1 from 15 km. per hour, and we all lunged for the closest available handrails. The spotted hyenas, warthogs, wildebeests, elephants and God knows what were just a blur as we approached Mach 2. We careened from ditch to ditch as Mario yelled, “We’re going to try a little experiment.” Like a Toyota van lifting off? On we sped past the Lodge until we slid to a dusty halt beside two other vans, and they cried out, “The leopard has just left.’ Not to be denied, Mario, and Mario only, drove over rock outcroppings scraping the bottom off our van, and circled behind the ledge. Behold, there is the leopard, 5 feet in front of us and it was a race to see who could get to the cover of the stream first. The leopard won, but not before we got a few pictures. God bless Mario! He did it - the Big Five. Not in one hour, like Prince Charles decades ago as the picture in the bar says, but in time for our departure tomorrow. When he has a mission, get the hell out of the way!
Back to Nairobi tomorrow with a 7:30 AM departure. I will be very sorry to say “Goodbye” to this spectacular country and most especially to our friend, Mario. He has taken good care of us and wanted us to see his beautiful country and learn as much as we could while we were here. We will miss him, but I plan to keep in touch.
Good night to you all.
Love, Nat, Dad, DB, Matt and Tall Man
Lion King
Off at 6:30, getting up in the dark and wearing a sweatshirt due to the windchill in the van, we struck out for new parts of Masai Mara. James accompanied us again with his video camera, and what a show he would get. It was slow going at first, with few animals to see, but we got a call that there were some lions and off we flew to see them. Again, they were at large dirt hills, this one about 20’ high and near a stream so there were bushes under which they could sleep (at least until we showed up). There were four lions, two males and two females. One male was lying at the base of the hill and the females were walking back and forth behind him. The other male was about 15 feet to the right of our van but hidden by the bushes. We all got some great pictures. And as one van backed up next to us to leave, he almost came upon the lion in the bushes. Being rudely woken, he got up, glared at the van, and with great disdain started walking directly at our van from the rear (where Bay and I were sitting) - Bay immediately sat back down in her seat behind the safety of the closed doors and windows while I’m hanging out of the open roof trying to take the picture of a lifetime. The lion passed not 2 feet from me - right next to the van. I could have patted him as he went by.
As we prepared to leave, Mario exited the van to look at the ground to see if it was safe to drive over, and unbeknownst to him, his wallet dropped out of his pocket as he leaned over. Fortunately, he got a call later than someone had found his wallet and they had it at another lodge. How lucky is that! He is a good man, even though I call him “Cheese Man.” The rest of the morning safari was spent traveling over hill and dale, seeing a secretary bird, giraffes, a wildebeest, crowned cranes, warthogs, etc. A male crowned crane has extra tail feathers hanging down just in case you see one and want to know how to tell the difference.
And have I told you that some in our group think that Bay looks like Cybill Shepherd (sp?) in “Moonlighting” and that she is a scientist? And 29? With very white teeth? And she looks great in pink?
Masai Village
Against my better judgment and the piece in the Lonely Planet book, I agreed to go to the Masai village. The cost was the same as the Samburu village ($20) to “help with the education of their children.” Our Masai guide spoke good English and we started off with two dances by the men, followed by the dance by the women. The rest was predictable from our previous experience and the only thing saving me this time from the onslaught of the ladies selling their wares is the promise that I had a gift from the people of America to give to the chief and the Masai people. So they escorted me around the market but there was minimal pressure to buy bracelets, necklaces, knives, figures of animals or Masai warriors, all set up in twig huts in a circle, being their market. The chief’s son and the “Secretary General” followed me and held the things I chose to buy, not telling me how they were until I completed the circle. Then they informed me that the cost would be $40. I said “$20” and they counterofferred $30. I said $20 again, and they replied $25. I again said I would only pay $20. They said OK and shook my hand. I gave them the money. They wanted me to be sure that when I gave them the gift, I handed it into both their hands. So I pulled out an Obama-Biden campaign bumper sticker, and told them that this was a gift to the Masai people from the people of America and they thanked me and the people of America. I put it into both their hands and the Secretary-General took it and opened it up.
The new part of this visit was the letting of the blood of a cow. The Masai’s diet consists of milk, blood and meat. And they get the blood from a cow and demonstrated how they do it. They put a belt around the cow’s neck, letting the pressure build up in the veins like us giving blood. They keep feeling the cow’s neck to be sure they have the right vein and that it is expanding with blood. Then an elder comes with a bow and arrow and shoots the arrow into the vein - the blood spurts out and they catch it in a pitcher getting about a pint before the flow slows to a trickle. Then they put pressure with the belt on the wound, like the nurse putting pressure with the gauze on the pin prick in your arm, and the blood coagulates. They won’t use this cow again for bloodletting for 3 weeks. One of the Masai men then picked up the pitcher and took a big drink of the blood.
Not too surprisingly, the Masai who addressed me also called me “Tall Man.” They are also a tall group, with one or two approaching my height.
Big Five
This would be our last safari in Kenya and we had seen all the big five but the elusive leopard. After lunch and a swim at the pool, it was 4 and time to leave. This time we travelled west in the reserve and it was very quiet. But the scenery was spectacular and we had a lot of laughs with false viewings of this and that, me with stumps, and Dave with red-headed whatever. After an hour and forty-five minutes, we turned back toward the lodge.
As the limbs of the green-leafed bushes were dancing in the evening winds, bobbing up and down, the storm clouds gathered in the north. And you could smell the electricity (ozone?) in the air as Jackie noted. We heard a melodic sound. Another songbird? No, that’s Mario’s cell phone. After 30 seconds of conversation, we rocketed up to a speed of Mach 1 from 15 km. per hour, and we all lunged for the closest available handrails. The spotted hyenas, warthogs, wildebeests, elephants and God knows what were just a blur as we approached Mach 2. We careened from ditch to ditch as Mario yelled, “We’re going to try a little experiment.” Like a Toyota van lifting off? On we sped past the Lodge until we slid to a dusty halt beside two other vans, and they cried out, “The leopard has just left.’ Not to be denied, Mario, and Mario only, drove over rock outcroppings scraping the bottom off our van, and circled behind the ledge. Behold, there is the leopard, 5 feet in front of us and it was a race to see who could get to the cover of the stream first. The leopard won, but not before we got a few pictures. God bless Mario! He did it - the Big Five. Not in one hour, like Prince Charles decades ago as the picture in the bar says, but in time for our departure tomorrow. When he has a mission, get the hell out of the way!
Back to Nairobi tomorrow with a 7:30 AM departure. I will be very sorry to say “Goodbye” to this spectacular country and most especially to our friend, Mario. He has taken good care of us and wanted us to see his beautiful country and learn as much as we could while we were here. We will miss him, but I plan to keep in touch.
Good night to you all.
Love, Nat, Dad, DB, Matt and Tall Man
Off at 6:30, getting up in the dark and wearing a sweatshirt due to the windchill in the van, we struck out for new parts of Masai Mara. James accompanied us again with his video camera, and what a show he would get. It was slow going at first, with few animals to see, but we got a call that there were some lions and off we flew to see them. Again, they were at large dirt hills, this one about 20’ high and near a stream so there were bushes under which they could sleep (at least until we showed up). There were four lions, two males and two females. One male was lying at the base of the hill and the females were walking back and forth behind him. The other male was about 15 feet to the right of our van but hidden by the bushes. We all got some great pictures. And as one van backed up next to us to leave, he almost came upon the lion in the bushes. Being rudely woken, he got up, glared at the van, and with great disdain started walking directly at our van from the rear (where Bay and I were sitting) - Bay immediately sat back down in her seat behind the safety of the closed doors and windows while I’m hanging out of the open roof trying to take the picture of a lifetime. The lion passed not 2 feet from me - right next to the van. I could have patted him as he went by.
As we prepared to leave, Mario exited the van to look at the ground to see if it was safe to drive over, and unbeknownst to him, his wallet dropped out of his pocket as he leaned over. Fortunately, he got a call later than someone had found his wallet and they had it at another lodge. How lucky is that! He is a good man, even though I call him “Cheese Man.” The rest of the morning safari was spent traveling over hill and dale, seeing a secretary bird, giraffes, a wildebeest, crowned cranes, warthogs, etc. A male crowned crane has extra tail feathers hanging down just in case you see one and want to know how to tell the difference.
And have I told you that some in our group think that Bay looks like Cybill Shepherd (sp?) in “Moonlighting” and that she is a scientist? And 29? With very white teeth? And she looks great in pink?
Masai Village
Against my better judgment and the piece in the Lonely Planet book, I agreed to go to the Masai village. The cost was the same as the Samburu village ($20) to “help with the education of their children.” Our Masai guide spoke good English and we started off with two dances by the men, followed by the dance by the women. The rest was predictable from our previous experience and the only thing saving me this time from the onslaught of the ladies selling their wares is the promise that I had a gift from the people of America to give to the chief and the Masai people. So they escorted me around the market but there was minimal pressure to buy bracelets, necklaces, knives, figures of animals or Masai warriors, all set up in twig huts in a circle, being their market. The chief’s son and the “Secretary General” followed me and held the things I chose to buy, not telling me how they were until I completed the circle. Then they informed me that the cost would be $40. I said “$20” and they counterofferred $30. I said $20 again, and they replied $25. I again said I would only pay $20. They said OK and shook my hand. I gave them the money. They wanted me to be sure that when I gave them the gift, I handed it into both their hands. So I pulled out an Obama-Biden campaign bumper sticker, and told them that this was a gift to the Masai people from the people of America and they thanked me and the people of America. I put it into both their hands and the Secretary-General took it and opened it up.
The new part of this visit was the letting of the blood of a cow. The Masai’s diet consists of milk, blood and meat. And they get the blood from a cow and demonstrated how they do it. They put a belt around the cow’s neck, letting the pressure build up in the veins like us giving blood. They keep feeling the cow’s neck to be sure they have the right vein and that it is expanding with blood. Then an elder comes with a bow and arrow and shoots the arrow into the vein - the blood spurts out and they catch it in a pitcher getting about a pint before the flow slows to a trickle. Then they put pressure with the belt on the wound, like the nurse putting pressure with the gauze on the pin prick in your arm, and the blood coagulates. They won’t use this cow again for bloodletting for 3 weeks. One of the Masai men then picked up the pitcher and took a big drink of the blood.
Not too surprisingly, the Masai who addressed me also called me “Tall Man.” They are also a tall group, with one or two approaching my height.
Big Five
This would be our last safari in Kenya and we had seen all the big five but the elusive leopard. After lunch and a swim at the pool, it was 4 and time to leave. This time we travelled west in the reserve and it was very quiet. But the scenery was spectacular and we had a lot of laughs with false viewings of this and that, me with stumps, and Dave with red-headed whatever. After an hour and forty-five minutes, we turned back toward the lodge.
As the limbs of the green-leafed bushes were dancing in the evening winds, bobbing up and down, the storm clouds gathered in the north. And you could smell the electricity (ozone?) in the air as Jackie noted. We heard a melodic sound. Another songbird? No, that’s Mario’s cell phone. After 30 seconds of conversation, we rocketed up to a speed of Mach 1 from 15 km. per hour, and we all lunged for the closest available handrails. The spotted hyenas, warthogs, wildebeests, elephants and God knows what were just a blur as we approached Mach 2. We careened from ditch to ditch as Mario yelled, “We’re going to try a little experiment.” Like a Toyota van lifting off? On we sped past the Lodge until we slid to a dusty halt beside two other vans, and they cried out, “The leopard has just left.’ Not to be denied, Mario, and Mario only, drove over rock outcroppings scraping the bottom off our van, and circled behind the ledge. Behold, there is the leopard, 5 feet in front of us and it was a race to see who could get to the cover of the stream first. The leopard won, but not before we got a few pictures. God bless Mario! He did it - the Big Five. Not in one hour, like Prince Charles decades ago as the picture in the bar says, but in time for our departure tomorrow. When he has a mission, get the hell out of the way!
Back to Nairobi tomorrow with a 7:30 AM departure. I will be very sorry to say “Goodbye” to this spectacular country and most especially to our friend, Mario. He has taken good care of us and wanted us to see his beautiful country and learn as much as we could while we were here. We will miss him, but I plan to keep in touch.
Good night to you all.
Love, Nat, Dad, DB, Matt and Tall Man
Lake Nakura to Masai Mara
Lake Naivasha to Masai Mara
Security and the War
Up at 6, off at 7 is becoming a too common refrain. I asked the porter about the fireworks I heard as I was preparing to go to bed last night - I even went outside to see if I could see them. The porter said there were no fireworks, those were guns, security people shooting at thieves. It went on for about 20 minutes so it must have been some kind of pitched battle. But everywhere we stay is behind a gated entrance and we certainly feel safe. As we drove to Lake Naivasha, I read about the area and the huge disparity between rich and poor, leading to home invasions, armed robbery and murder. And remember the trip to Samburu, we encountered cattle being driven by soldiers down the road and Mario told us that those cattle had been recovered from rustlers. Then yesterday at a pit stop at a curio shop, we read in the paper that the soldiers had gotten into a firefight with the rustlers and several were killed in the Samburu area. They have recovered over 800 cattle, but 100 more were stolen, usually stolen by those in northern Kenya who are starving.
And then we passed some refugee camps on the main highway between Nakura and Naivasha, and Mario explained that these people had been driven out of their homes during the War following the last election about a year ago, and they had become “displaced persons.” They were not going home There were numerous white tents in each camp. When Kabika, a member of the Kikuyu tribe won, Odinga, a Luo, claimed that the election was stolen, triggering a intertribal war that lasted for two months - it was resolved when Odinga was offered the post of Prime Minister or some such powersharing arrangement brokered by outside leaders. And the frontline of that war was the highway we were on which is the boundary between the Kikuyu land and the Masai land. Thousands were killed, the Masai fighting with their spears, the Luos throwing rocks, and the Kikuyu slaughtering them with their guns and then beheading them with machetes. The Kikuyu tribe is the most populous and the first Kenyan President, Jomo Kenyatta, is a Kikuyu. Mario told us every other President since Kenyatta has also been Kikuyu. “They are very dangerous people. And they say that it is wrong to steal, unless of course you don’t get caught.” So it appears that the dominant tribe is using its power to enrich itself at the expense of the others. Mario is a member of the Gomba (sp?) tribe from southeastern Kenya, and their weapon is a poison-tipped arrow that causes you to faint and then die. I guess I better stop calling Mario “cheese mon.”
Have I mentioned that some in our group think she is a scientist and that she looks like Cybill Shepherd in “Moonstruck” and that she had very white teeth? Bay wanted to make sure I passed that along so I didn’t want to forget (actually I can’t forget because she keeps asking if I have passed this along yet).
Lake cruise
We turned down the road to a lodge, paid our tickets for the boat ride and then drove down to the lakeside. The lake is quite shallow, especially within 50 yards of the shore, so shallow that we, in our grand canoe-like vessel, had to wallow through the mud for 100 yards or so before we were out of the mud. And what a treat it was. It was cool at 9 AM because we are at about 6000 feet elevation and the lake is surrounded with grassy hills, and plenty of trees. We saw several groups of hippos in the water, resting and keeping cool, so close together that one would have his head on another’s back. “Excuse me, do you mind if I lay my head on your butt.” And there were birds on some, eating insects and such off them. We were also fortunate to see a hippo grazing on land. I reached my hand in the water to feel the temperature (it was very warm), and Bay was horrified, getting out her bottle of hand sanitizer. I held out my hands and she poured copious amounts of the sanitizer in them and I immediately cleaned my hands lest I contaminate anyone. We also saw amazing birds, including a Goliath heron, eagles, etc.
“Spotted land”
On we went, this gallant group of 7, Riz and Jane, Dave and Jackie, Bay and I, from the main highway onto a “shortcut” being a dirt road, then gravel, then big rocks, but ever forward toward Narok, the gateway to Masai Mara. Dust devils to left and right of us, dust kicked up by vans or trucks ahead of us or meeting us, the strong wind sweeping across the plains - you didn’t know whether to leave the window all the way down due to the heat (about 90) and let in the dust, or put it partway up keeping out most of the dust but heating up the vehicle. We refueled in Narok - the girls had to pick up toilet paper on the way into the ladies room, and everyone had to put some coins in the box when they exited. The toilets were filthy and although we had water, there were no towels to dry our hands. Of course, we were besieged by those seeking to sell us trinkets but we’re much more experienced now and can keep them at bay - “Niko sowa” (sp?) meaning “I’m okay.” Only 100 km left, with the last 60 km on a dirt road, and before we could leave civilization, Mario had to buy a lottery ticket. With his promise that I would have a real job with him if he won, I punched in the numbers on his cell phone. Alas, he did not win. He should have let me buy the ticket if he really wanted to win.
When the white men came, they drove the Masai, were living in the beautiful Mt. Kenya territory all the way to the southwestern border of Kenya and into Tanzania. Iti is as beautiful here as anywhere, with large vast open spaces with 2-3 foot high grass, trees spotting the open landscape (“spotted land” or “masai mara”), abundant trees and bushes next to the streams in the valleys between the hills. It reminded Bay of New Zealand, and me of South Dakota. You all must come here - it is heaven on earth, and you see abundant wildlife as it has been for thousands of years. The migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeests starts near our lodge, Keekorok Lodge, the first lodge in Masai Mara, built in1963. We cleaned up, had lunch and reboarded our van for a safari.
“Go to the top of the hill and take a left”
Off we went in the beautiful, sunny, hot afternoon, accompanied by James who is filming some of the trip for Friendly Planet.
Security and the War
Up at 6, off at 7 is becoming a too common refrain. I asked the porter about the fireworks I heard as I was preparing to go to bed last night - I even went outside to see if I could see them. The porter said there were no fireworks, those were guns, security people shooting at thieves. It went on for about 20 minutes so it must have been some kind of pitched battle. But everywhere we stay is behind a gated entrance and we certainly feel safe. As we drove to Lake Naivasha, I read about the area and the huge disparity between rich and poor, leading to home invasions, armed robbery and murder. And remember the trip to Samburu, we encountered cattle being driven by soldiers down the road and Mario told us that those cattle had been recovered from rustlers. Then yesterday at a pit stop at a curio shop, we read in the paper that the soldiers had gotten into a firefight with the rustlers and several were killed in the Samburu area. They have recovered over 800 cattle, but 100 more were stolen, usually stolen by those in northern Kenya who are starving.
And then we passed some refugee camps on the main highway between Nakura and Naivasha, and Mario explained that these people had been driven out of their homes during the War following the last election about a year ago, and they had become “displaced persons.” They were not going home There were numerous white tents in each camp. When Kabika, a member of the Kikuyu tribe won, Odinga, a Luo, claimed that the election was stolen, triggering a intertribal war that lasted for two months - it was resolved when Odinga was offered the post of Prime Minister or some such powersharing arrangement brokered by outside leaders. And the frontline of that war was the highway we were on which is the boundary between the Kikuyu land and the Masai land. Thousands were killed, the Masai fighting with their spears, the Luos throwing rocks, and the Kikuyu slaughtering them with their guns and then beheading them with machetes. The Kikuyu tribe is the most populous and the first Kenyan President, Jomo Kenyatta, is a Kikuyu. Mario told us every other President since Kenyatta has also been Kikuyu. “They are very dangerous people. And they say that it is wrong to steal, unless of course you don’t get caught.” So it appears that the dominant tribe is using its power to enrich itself at the expense of the others. Mario is a member of the Gomba (sp?) tribe from southeastern Kenya, and their weapon is a poison-tipped arrow that causes you to faint and then die. I guess I better stop calling Mario “cheese mon.”
Have I mentioned that some in our group think she is a scientist and that she looks like Cybill Shepherd in “Moonstruck” and that she had very white teeth? Bay wanted to make sure I passed that along so I didn’t want to forget (actually I can’t forget because she keeps asking if I have passed this along yet).
Lake cruise
We turned down the road to a lodge, paid our tickets for the boat ride and then drove down to the lakeside. The lake is quite shallow, especially within 50 yards of the shore, so shallow that we, in our grand canoe-like vessel, had to wallow through the mud for 100 yards or so before we were out of the mud. And what a treat it was. It was cool at 9 AM because we are at about 6000 feet elevation and the lake is surrounded with grassy hills, and plenty of trees. We saw several groups of hippos in the water, resting and keeping cool, so close together that one would have his head on another’s back. “Excuse me, do you mind if I lay my head on your butt.” And there were birds on some, eating insects and such off them. We were also fortunate to see a hippo grazing on land. I reached my hand in the water to feel the temperature (it was very warm), and Bay was horrified, getting out her bottle of hand sanitizer. I held out my hands and she poured copious amounts of the sanitizer in them and I immediately cleaned my hands lest I contaminate anyone. We also saw amazing birds, including a Goliath heron, eagles, etc.
“Spotted land”
On we went, this gallant group of 7, Riz and Jane, Dave and Jackie, Bay and I, from the main highway onto a “shortcut” being a dirt road, then gravel, then big rocks, but ever forward toward Narok, the gateway to Masai Mara. Dust devils to left and right of us, dust kicked up by vans or trucks ahead of us or meeting us, the strong wind sweeping across the plains - you didn’t know whether to leave the window all the way down due to the heat (about 90) and let in the dust, or put it partway up keeping out most of the dust but heating up the vehicle. We refueled in Narok - the girls had to pick up toilet paper on the way into the ladies room, and everyone had to put some coins in the box when they exited. The toilets were filthy and although we had water, there were no towels to dry our hands. Of course, we were besieged by those seeking to sell us trinkets but we’re much more experienced now and can keep them at bay - “Niko sowa” (sp?) meaning “I’m okay.” Only 100 km left, with the last 60 km on a dirt road, and before we could leave civilization, Mario had to buy a lottery ticket. With his promise that I would have a real job with him if he won, I punched in the numbers on his cell phone. Alas, he did not win. He should have let me buy the ticket if he really wanted to win.
When the white men came, they drove the Masai, were living in the beautiful Mt. Kenya territory all the way to the southwestern border of Kenya and into Tanzania. Iti is as beautiful here as anywhere, with large vast open spaces with 2-3 foot high grass, trees spotting the open landscape (“spotted land” or “masai mara”), abundant trees and bushes next to the streams in the valleys between the hills. It reminded Bay of New Zealand, and me of South Dakota. You all must come here - it is heaven on earth, and you see abundant wildlife as it has been for thousands of years. The migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeests starts near our lodge, Keekorok Lodge, the first lodge in Masai Mara, built in1963. We cleaned up, had lunch and reboarded our van for a safari.
“Go to the top of the hill and take a left”
Off we went in the beautiful, sunny, hot afternoon, accompanied by James who is filming some of the trip for Friendly Planet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)