My father's son

My father’s son; Peter’s white linen suit: Mario; Crossing the Equator; Simba’s pups

I am my father’s son, and Janet had to pee

Last night at supper, we signed up to have someone wake us anytime any animals showed up. And animals showed up, at 1:00 or so, at 2:00 or so and again at 3:30. There was a wild pig the first time (I couldn’t see it without my contacts); and deer or antelope the second time (yawn), but the third time the knock came at the door, I moved to the window while Janet headed the opposite way to the bathroom. I looked down at the waterhole flooded with the spotlights from the hotel - nothing. Then in the corner of my left eye, I detected movement. I turned and watched this dark figure slink from left to right, on the other side of the pond, hoping that it was a leopard, but not seeing clearly and wishing Bay would hurry back. But, oh no, she went on and on and on, while the shadowy figure passed across my sight, and just going into the forest at the right when Bay reached my side. At breakfast, someone asked, “Did you see the leopard last night?” Well, yes I did, but with my eyesight, it might as well have been a raccoon.

We found Peter’s white linen suit!

Several days ago, Ursula sent me an email telling me to look out for Peter’s white linen suit that he wore to meet her and a friend many years ago. He arrived in this suit, it being too small and making him look like a pimp or Mafioso. After two days, Ursula and her friend finally convinced Peter to give away, and he did to a taxi driver who was thrilled. Well, we have discovered it and I even have a picture to prove it. It is now owned by the Assistant Manager at the Hotel Serena at Mt. Kenya. His name is Titus and it looks great on him, fitting him to a “T” and making him look very professional. So, Peter and Ursula, rest assured that your suit has been put to good use, and it has finally found a home with an honorable young man.

Mario

David is our driver and I have named him “Mario” because he is an excellent driver under very adverse conditions, 3 or 4 speed bumps in a space of 200 yards every mile or so in some areas; dodging pedestrians, goats, cattle, and other impediments to a safe trip like a real pro (like Mario Andretti); and then when it got really tough, driving in the dusty dirt for hours beside the road under construction and maintaining his good sense of humor (he wants to laugh, he said, every time I speak Swaheli) and patience. David, 2 brothers and 2 sisters, grew up in the home of a “white man” in which his father was a cook. When David got to be school age, the white man told his father that it was time for David to go to school and the man saw that David was educated. David is not a cook, and now thanks the white man so that he could get a job “better than being a cook.” His father died of prostate cancer at age 67 six years ago, and his mother has moved out of Nairobi and lives with her divorced daughter. One of his brothers is a taxi driver and the other works in a hotel, and he feels they are very fortunate. He said he did not know what happened to the white man or his family. They haven’t kept in touch. As he was telling me this, we are driving by these huge farms growing acres and acres of wheat and pyretheum or something, a natural bug repellent I believe, or a farm that raises flowers to send around the world. I asked him who owned these enormous farms - each time he replied, “A white Kenyan.” As you will see, there is great discrepancy in wealth in Kenya. So I am sitting shotgun on the front seat of the van with Mario and we are having a good time kidding each other. At one point, I asked a Swaheli question, whether I should refer to this woman who had helped us as “bibi” (meaning young woman) or “mama,” meaning older woman. He laughed and said I should say, “Assante sana, Madame.” And I corrected him, that Madame was a French term. Bay pipes up from the back, “Oh, and now you’re correcting his Swaheli?”

Crossing the Equator

We left Serena Mountain lodge at 9 and arrived at the Equator an hour and a half later. There was a sign saying “Equator” and we were given a demonstration of pouring water in a pot with a hole 20 yards north of the Equator, where the two matches in the water turn clockwise, and the reverse 20 yards south of the Equator. And the water pours through the hole in a spiral as well. At the Equator, the water poured out without any spiral whatsoever. Bay and Nat, meet the Coriolis Effect. Unfortunately I also met a few other people as there is a “shopping center” at the site of the Equator, and I had promised David that I would come see his wares at Store No. 6 after the demonstration. After picking out two items, he said that the price was 6000 Ksh, or about $75. After haggling, I said I would pay him $20. He objected so I started to leave when I was surrounded by others saying “No problem.” I was then turned over to Dennis to do the “paperwork” in the next store, and while he did the papers, I was to look as his wares and pick something out to “sustain” him and his father sitting at the front entry. I declined and after some unpleasant discussion, I said I had a present for him. I left the store, got my suitcase out, took out an Obama bumper sticker that I had brought with me, and only by giving that to him was I able to leave his store with my purchases and without buying something from him. Of course, others surrounded me and wanted an Obama sticker, pin, or maybe shoes or my Harley hat. We left.

Later en route I had a similar experience, and when I refused to buy anything, I got quite a lecture about my responsibility to him and his family, They were poor, I was not, and I had a responsibiltiy to help him. Sounded right to me. Two bracelets and giving him a pen later, I was freed from my responsibility. Bay just shook her head.

Simba’s pups

We continued on, the last 1 1/2 hour over dry, dirt, dusty roads next to a new highway in the early stages of construction by ... the CHINESE. Mario did a great job, and after a slight hiccup going to the wrong hotel, we arrived at 2:30. We had lunch and then joined Mario for a game drive through the Samburu National Park or Game Preserve or something. He told us to say “Stop” when we saw something and he would stop for us. Wrong, We would see an elephant or giraffe or lion, yell “Stop” and he would keep on going because he had already seen the animal and got us to a better position for pictures. After following two male lions down a dry riverbed and watching them drink their fill in a small pool, we moved on and soon came upon a female lion with 3 small “puppies” as we were told. The puppies were playful, jumping on each other while the lioness looked on, panting in the 90 degree heat. We also ran across 7 giraffes together, a zebra, elephants, impalas, and many other types of antelope, and many varieties of birds. It was a spectacular show and will be tough to beat in the coming days.

MIscellany

There is a Mt. Kenya - I got up early and there wasn’t a cloud in the 48 degree dawn sky, and we had a view of Mt Kenya with its glaciers for much of our ride. Spectacular.

We had Mary as our waitress at the Mountain Lodge and she was great, although worried about Bay’s inadequate food intake.

It is much hotter here in Samburu and shorts are the thing to wear.

Our van has a top that pops up so that all six of us can stand up and take pictures. We can’t get out of the vehicles.

The water from the faucet is incredibly hot here so you must be careful.

We are all on malaria medication and tonight sleeping with mosquito nets around our beds.

Dave, a retired ex-Los Alamos alum, and his British wife, Jackie, are in our van. They’re from New Mexico and are very nice.

Please forgive the length of these emails.

Good night.

Love, Nat, Dad, DB, Matt, etc.