Thursday, October 31, 2013- Antananarivo to Narobi
Dick got up and went out to the outdoor lounge to work on the computer. I got up shortly after and began getting organized to leave. We went down for breakfast then headed down again around 9:15 to meet our driver. The drive to the airport went fairly well, with heavy traffic, but only one bottleneck at construction.
Check in went fine and we headed through five different passport kinds of checks- one at check-in, one at exit visa, one before and one during security check and one at the gate. In addition we had to identify our luggage plane side before it would be loaded onto the plane. Even with all that, we were off in good time- phew after the last flight! Dinner on board was among the best we’ve had- chicken, potatoes, and veggies, salad, pound cake, and apple tart.
The three hour flight went fairly quickly and it was 81 degrees when we landed in Nairobi to the strains of “I Can See Clearly Now”- a good omen. We had filled out our visa forms this morning, so it was pretty easy to get them done and $100 later we were both official visitors to Kenya. From there we had a frustrating time with the ATM’s and ended up getting some money from them and the rest by Dick changing $300 American. A woman approached us in the lobby with offers to get us a taxi and she helped us with money changing, so we went with her to her office and purchased our taxi ride to Hartebeest Camp for $27. She took us outside to where the taxi would pick us up, and after about 15 minutes it came.
Traffic was terrible at first and it took us an hour to go the 15 K to the hotel. The driver was patient, listening to a Christian radio station, and actually knew how to get to Hartebeest Camp- turning down a very small road. He honked and they opened the gate, met us, and carried in our luggage. We asked to see the room and were well satisfied. The bed has a pink satin quilt and the toilet and sink are floral Victorian china- charming! There is a smell of mothballs though- from the kitchen sink and shower- as a deterrent to creepies coming in, we guess.
We paid for our two nights in American dollars, then went out in search of dinner. The hotel had an outdoor bar and they showed us the menu there. We both ordered chicken curry and after a good long wait, had much more than we could eat. But the people there were lovely and we enjoyed the evening.
Friday, November 1, 2013-Hell’s Gate National Park
Robin and Kepha were here around 6 so we hurried up and got out. We drove to a mall, passed security and got breakfast food to go. As we at our take-out breakfast, we drove past the Great Rift Valley to Hell’s Gate National Park where we were amazed to see zebras, giraffes, gazelles, wart hogs, water buffalo, rock hyrax, antelope, Colobus and vervet monkeys, secretary birds and loads of other birds. We walked Hell’s Gate Chasm- which had steep and slippery places. Our guide gallantly helped me up and down the toughest places. Even so my jacket and pants were dusty and dirty from the journey. Waterfalls brought water of varying warm to hot temperatures down to pools below. I picked up pieces of obsidian ( volcanic glass) and volcanic ash- which we later saw bobbing in the lakes we visited in the area.
At the border of Hell’s Gate was a huge geothermal plant with pipes leading in every direction. Kepha’s brother works there, so he came out when he was phoned and the brothers had time together.
Lunch was at Fish Eagle Resort, a lovely place on the lakeshore. While dinner was prepared we walked to see birds. Dick found lots of interesting water birds to photograph. I had really nice tillapia for lunch/dinner, and Dick had a salad. After we went to a lake where we saw thousands of flamingos. A second stop showed more flamingos plus one hippo who came up every so often for a breath, but stayed under water most of the time.
A party was under way to celebrate the opening of a campground to add to the businesses owned by a man who also owned several hotels nearby. He invited us to join them, so we had beer and wine and meat roasted by men in chef’s caps. It was an extraordinary ending to what had been our most enjoyable day in Africa of all the time we’d spent on the continent. By the time we got back to Hartebeest Camp at 9, we were tired but thrilled with the day we’d had!
Saturday, November 2, 2013- Nairobi National Park to Jacaranda Hotel
We were up at 5:30 and ready by 6, but Robin was 15 minutes late- he’d stayed up until the wee hours planning what we’d do today. We had breakfast at a typical Kenyan Cafe and got money at an ATM, and then we were off for Nairobi National Park- a huge park expanse within the city limits of Nairobi.
After paying a hefty admission price, we were met by a tribe of baboons blocking the road. They eventually gave way and we continued on. Soon we were following a large male lion down the road and he went to the side, lay down and stayed there for quite a while, so we got some amazing photos. We saw giraffes in the distance, then herds of zebras, Thompson’s gazelles, hartebeests, and antelopes. We stopped often to photograph birds by the side of the road, and also got to see the big ones- Secretary birds and ostriches. Twice we stopped at picnic areas and walked around- one with a herd of zebras grazing right there. We spent over six hours in the park, seeing giraffes dwarfing the trees by the side of the road as they ate the tops. Lots of baby zebras and giraffes accompanied their moms.
Around four we left the park. I got a T-shirt for Gracie while Dick and Robin were off tracking birds around the parking lot. We decided to eat at the restaurant there and had a good meal sitting outside. It rained for a short time, but stopped before we left. As we left, a wart hog ran through the area where tents were set up for wedding dinners.
Kepha drove us to the Jacaranda Hotel where he and Robin helped us get our bags in- competing with the hotel bellmen. We were sincerely sorry to see them go. They’d become good friends in the time we had together.
Our room at the hotel is very nice. We made cups of hot chocolate and began our work on catching up with photos and journal. A hotel man came in to lock our windows and draw the curtains and he gave us an adaptor plug to allow us to charge computers and camera batteries. Security here is tight, with a man walking the corridor with a big stick and a gate man determining who gets into the compound!
Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013- Nairobi to Kigio Wildlife Conservancy
We were up before 7. I took a cold shower- not by choice, then we went down to the Jacaranda Hotel’s sumptuous breakfast. I had fruit, a small chocolate glazed doughnut and bacon, while Dick was good and stuck to fruit and cereal. We had our luggage taken when we got back then met in the lobby until it was time for our meeting. At the meeting Marcie gave us name tags, luggage straps, safari hats, and a blanket like the Maasai wear. She explained the safari days and our airline arrangements. We were all assigned to a driver- ours is Raphael, and we’re with two men and two women who seem lots of fun.
Our first stop was at an overlook for the Great Rift Valley. I looked at some hematite necklaces but the man wouldn’t give me a price. After a while he found me outside and talked me into going back in. He originally quoted me a price of 450 shillings (around $6) for one but that seemed too much. I eventually offered 325, but when I looked for how much I had, I refused again. He proceeded to offer me one for 200 or two for 300, so I took him up on that. It was the strangest bargaining session I’d ever had.
We drove on seeing baboons, zebras, wart hogs, Thompson’s gazelles, giraffes, impala, eland, and a dik-dik. The road to the resort was rough, but no worse than what we’d encountered in the last couple of weeks. The resort was lovely with a central thatched dining room and nearby equally charming thatched bathroom. We were offered glasses of watermelon juice and Dick and I wandered around the grounds until it was time for lunch. We had sweet potato soup, fish or cheese pasta, and zebra cake for dessert- all very good. I signed up for the evening safari drive that Kim and Julie are going on too.
We were shown to our cottage- Robin Chat which is huge, beautifully decorated, thatched like all the other buildings and has a great bath area. The room must be around 50 feet long and 20 feet wide and has screens that can be unzipped for access to a porch the length of the cottage. Everything used in the construction is a renewable resource. At night, if it’s cold, we can let down canvas window coverings to warm the place up- and we may need to. The temperature varies a lot depending on sunshine or rainy periods- both of which we’ve had today!
After settling in a little, Dick wanted to go out for a bird walk, so I went with him. As soon as we reached the driveway, one of the staff asked us what we were looking for and accompanied us, helping spot birds and displaying a lot of knowledge about identification. In addition to birds we saw a mother and baby wart hog and a small group of zebras. We got back in time for the organized nature walk- only to find we were the only ones up for it. So we went off with George this time and he found a goodly number of birds, as well as identifying poop from various animals and teaching us a little about native plants too. A dik-dik ran from us, but there wasn’t much to see in major wildlife. We were back around 4:30 with about a half hour until women from the local Masai tribe were supposed to come.
When the people from the Masai group came, they showed us how they made beads with quality paper given to them by Kenyan organizations. Then we had the opportunity to buy some of their goods. I bought three bracelets. Around 6 Kim, Julie and I went on the evening game drive. It was really neat driving through the trails, seeing a hyena family, owls swooping in the spotlight, the twisting snake pattern of a night jar (bird with white flashes on its wings), zebra, gazelles, dik- diks, mongooses, water bucks, wart hogs, and giraffes in the darkness. It was a unique experience, cold, but we all enjoyed it.
When we got back the rest had eaten dinner, but they had set a table up for us near the fireplace. So we had dinner in firelight, then headed back to our cottages with the aid of a hotel staff member with a flashlight.
It was cold in the cottage, so I quickly got ready for bed and was delighted to find a hot water bottle tucked inside. The bed covers were heavy, but ensured a warm night’s sleep.
Monday, November 4, 2013- Great Rift Valley to Masai Mara
We got up early- Dick before it was light enough to photograph birds. He went off as soon as he thought the light was sufficient and I met him later at breakfast, though he was so anxious to get outside he didn’t eat much. I had pancakes and bacon and enjoyed the meal. We left at 7:30.
The road was paved at first, then deteriorated into a rutted dirt road. We stopped at a first gift shop for a potty break and I picked out some items I’d like as gifts. I added the cost in my head and figured I had about $20 worth, so when the guy told me it came to 16,000 i figured that was about right and put it on our credit card. But thinking about it, I realized there was one zero too many so checked with Dick, and Raphael and we all agreed he’d charged me almost $200 for what I chose. So Raphael went in with me and after some talk and some credit card machine work, they cancelled the charges and I gave them back their merchandise. At the second stop, I didn’t even look around!
The rest of our vehicle had signed up for the visit to a Masai village, but we had done it in Tanzania and didn’t think it would be different enough to pay $200. So Raphael and the other drivers loaded other luggage into our vehicle and he drove us to the Keekorok Lodge- a lovely property that even has its own hippo pool! We went to our room and settled in, then went to a very nice buffet lunch- fish, salads, squash, potatoes, vegetable lasagna, curried veggie rice, and lovely looking and tasting desserts.
After lunch Dick did a bird walk around while I did some laundry and took a shower. Then he washed out some things. We walked around the grounds and out to the hippo pool. At 4 we went on an afternoon game drive with Raphael. We saw elephants, Grant’s gazelles, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, hartebeests, water buffalo, water bucks, ostriches, topi, and two lions, lying sleeping by the road. The sunset was lovely as we drove back to the lodge. We relaxed for a while, then made our way to dinner.
Tuesday, Nov. 5,2013- Masai Mara
I went on the 7:30 game drive, but Dick opted to chase birds on the hotel grounds. Not long after we left, Raphael spotted a lion with a newly killed wildebeest and we spent a good long time watching him eat, while two of his sons and a bevy of vultures watched. The young ones didn’t seem to eat much, but after their dad left, they stood watch and scared off any vultures who thought they could get a bite. The other big spotting was of a cheetah under a tree and we got a lot if good photos of him too. In addition we saw loads of gazelles, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, and wart hogs, and a couple of hyenas.
Dick wasn’t sorry he missed the ride because he got photos of the Nubian woodpecker. We had a good lunch and I showered and washed some clothes. Then we walked to the hippo pond again and I got a few photos of them with mouths open and challenging each other. We walked around the hotel grounds and at one point were trying to photograph a hyperactive lizard. After he climbed the walls, bumped the overhang and fell several time, he escaped us by crawling under the door of the room- much to the dismay of the woman from our tour who was staying there.
Dick was still off stalking birds at one point so I sat on our patio. Along came a mother monkey with her baby clinging to her underside. Ever resourceful, she opened the door to Julie and Kim’s room, and, while they were laying on their beds, stole their red box of cookies and tea and coffee fixings. A male money stole it from her, and even though he was chased by hotel groundsmen with slingshots, made away with all the goodies and sat on a roof laughing at them.
The 4 o’clock game drive was not as exciting as the morning one, but we saw elephants all around us, some sleepy lions and a cheetah resting under a tree. I got a couple of nice photos of giraffes silhouetted against the sunset and a few of a southern ground hornbill for Dick.
We worked on photos and charged batteries then went to dinner. The internet was still out so we’ll have to wait for the Jacaranda Hotel to check in with those back home. After dinner we returned to the lounge area behind the reception building to watch Masai dance and chant. They did the jumping dance and some almost hit the roof’s overhang. Following that, we walked home with Julie, Kim, Wayne, and Jerry, our bus partners that we’d be joining at 7:30 tomorrow morning for the bumpy ride back to Nairobi.
Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013- Masai Mara to Nairobi
Dick stayed out to get his photo of an owl then came in for breakfast. Our group was ready to go right on schedule. The first hour and a half of dusty, bumpy road made us very thankful when we finally hit paved road again. We stopped at a ‘curio’ shop to use the bathrooms, but nobody bought anything after the fiascos before. Our next stop was for lunch at a shopping center where we ate with our bus-mates. The long uphill incline out of the Great Rift Valley was slow going with many heavy trucks to pass.
Then it was on to the Karen Blixen Center where we walked through her house with a guide. Some of the things in the house were returned by friends who had bought them in her ‘yard sale’ but wanted then included in the museum when the Danish Government gave it to Kenya as a gift to celebrate their independence. The yard was lovely and the old tractor and farming implements from the coffee growing days were displayed in front. The house was used in the filming of “Out of Africa” so was interesting for that reason too.
Then it was on to the Giraffe Center where we fed a female giraffe and her seven month old baby. Some of our group held the food pellet in their mouth and it looked like she was kissing them. It was a really neat experience. I got a bird ornament for Dick at a small outdoor shop there.
It was slow going into Nairobi too, but we reached the hotel around 5. After a brief rest, we headed out to find the market- but unfortunately were given directions to an ordinary shopping center where we got bread, nuts, and gum to do us for the night. When we got back, we needed help to get on the internet from the hotel’s IT person who restarted the system. I managed to get messages out via facebook, but when I went back to our bedroom we had no reception there.
Tomorrow we plan to have a leisurely day since we won’t be picked up for the airport until 10 PM for our 2 AM flight. We hope to find the outdoor market that Julie and Kim found and go to the Kenya Museum where Dick will photograph a lot of stuffed birds- and I will, no doubt, wander into other sections such as rocks and minerals.
Thursday, Nov. 7, 20013- Nairobi
We got up around 8 (Dick had been up working on birds earlier) and headed down to breakfast after showering and organizing packing. Julie, Kim, Wayne, and Jerry were out front waiting for their ride to the museum, so we got photos taken of everyone and said goodbye. Both of us ate generously at breakfast. Dick had an omelet and I had two chocolate croissants.
We set out for the open market to get the last souvenirs we wanted. Following directions from the hotel staff, we eventually saw likely shops. We were immediately surrounded by helpful shop keepers who found the beaded hair barrettes (3) I wanted. I picked out a bracelet for Kai, then asked about Tusker Beer T-shirts- which they also produced. The original price was 7000 shillings for all of that, but Dick was a hard bargainer. In the end he got all that plus another Tusker T-shirt for 3800 shillings.
We walked back to the hotel and spent a little time repacking and resting before we headed to the lobby around 12- when we were supposed to check out. Our suitcases and computers were stashed away by the hotel staff, then we caught a taxi to the Nairobi National Museum.
Dick immediately headed for the Bird Room that Robin had told us about. Starting with the small songbirds he began to make his way around the room, photographing each bird in the cases- 600+ by the time he was through. I wandered through the mammal room, the history of the museum room, the early man room, the art galleries, the history of Kenya room, the stages of life room- and all the others while he shot birds. There was no rocks and minerals room as I had hoped, but they did have a very impressive group of fossils from early man. We spent about 2 1/2 hours there, then caught a taxi back to the hotel.
We went to a pizza place which turned out to be part of the hotel, though across the street from it. We had two pizzas and Dick had his last Tusker beer for a while. With our luggage at our side and computers in hand, we hunkered down to occupy the hotel lobby again until our pick-up for the airport around 10. A woman staying at the hotel was also on our flight to Johannesburg, so we talked for a while. Our driver was there right on time and chatted pleasantly all the way to the airport. When we found the South African Airways desks weren’t open until two hours before our flight, we sat in the outside waiting area and talked with the woman from Buenos Aires we met at the hotel. Around 11:30 we got through to the inner area- with a relatively easy security, but more later when we went to our gate.
Friday, November 8, 2013- Nairobi to Johannesburg to Home
The flight boarded and left right on time at 2 AM. We were offered a breakfast about 3 which I had but Dick declined. We arrived in Johannesburg around 6 and took the airport bus to the terminal. After looking around, we chose a resting place down at the end of the building but close to our gate. I blew up my pillow and slept some. A free 30 minutes of internet was offered, so I finally got to send off Chris’s note and put a status on facebook to say we’d arrived here. Dick worked on his birds and even took a photo of a bird through the glass. I spent most of the time until noon dozing a bit despite loud conversations near us and constant airline announcements.
I got us lunch at the far end of the building but paid too much for it. Dozed again. Dick worked on photoshopping museum birds to make the background uniform and cut out labels, etc. The time passed- slowly but it passed.
The flight left on time and the flight attendant said it was 8 hours and 20 minutes- which made me very happy and Dick very puzzled. But she was right- 8 hours and 20 minutes to Dakar, where we got fuel and a new flight crew and spent an hour or so before heading out on the final- and 8 hour 10 minute flight to JFK. Things went smoothly at the airport and we did computer stuff until the Raleigh flight left. That went well, too, and the woman I asked what day of the week it was, was amused and understanding after hearing about the past few days. It was Saturday, by the way, and I felt I’d missed a day somewhere there.
The driver from the Microtel was there promptly to pick us up and we were soon on our way home. After a stop at the East Wind restaurant to fuel up, we arrived home around 3 to warm up the house and pick up pecans, branches and pinecones. Dick even mowed a bit of the back yard before he settled down to bird work and I caught up with everyone. And so ended our African adventure- one that we’ll enjoy reliving for years to come!