Blogs from Rift Valley Province, Kenya, Africa - page 49

Up early for the plane to the Masai Mara this morning. It’s being throwing it down all night and the morning brought more of the same. Terry drove us through the deluge to Wilson airport. We made a dash across the tarmac to the 8 seater Cesna that would whisk us off to the Mara. The flight was only 45 minutes and despite the poor weather, it wasn’t too rough. By the time we landed the rain had stopped and the sun was even threatening to make an appearance. Our guide and driver, Simon, was there at the airstrip to meet us and transport us to Governors Il Moran camp. The camp itself is very small, only ten tents. It’s separate to the other Governors camps and each of the tents overlooks the Mara river. We ... read more

Let's play safari jeopardy! You know the game. What are the correct questions to the following answers? 1) Wildebeest Tail 2) Leopard and 3) Pink Flamingos. Questions are provided at the end of the blog! The week of October 30th was spent on safari with the Safari Chicas: Sheila, Janet and Kim and what a special time! We can proudly say that we have all seen in the wild Africa's Big Five: elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Lion and Leopard. The latter being the most illusive and we were blessed to see two! Our certificates are in the mail! We also enjoyed seeing giraffe grazing on trees, wildebeest & zebra grazing on the plains, hippos snorting, vultures eating, crockodiles sunbathing, baboons grooming, and elephants racing. We also saw jackals, hyenas, monkeys and several species of gazelle and deer ... read more

Well since there is not Halloween in Kenya the ex-pats (or at least a few of them) got together for a small celebration. I mean imagine people here dressing up and knocking on strangers doors - it's odd enough when you think about it in the US but even less of a fit here... so anway, the ex-pats in town got together - Kara and Tomeka hosted the event at their home while Karin carved some pumpkins and we both chipped in by baking sugar cookies and getting Martha Stewart on some of the decorations. Shawn and Chero brought their kids Imani and Kippy dressed up as a Sweet Ghost and Sponge Bob Square Pants, Andreas who was not sure what to do with the whole event wore his Tigger pajamas while Hal and Mary Anne’s ... read more

Kruger Farm I have been staying with Shubha and Karin here in Eldoret. Shubha works for the same project that I do, but she departs on October 14. Karin is the director of the PMTCT (prevention of mother to child transmission) component of AMPATH’s (Academic Model for the Prevention and Treatment of HIV/AIDS in Kenya) outreach programmes. Harsha one of our PI’s (principal investigators) who arrived on September 13 to do some work, see how things are going etc… He was the person who actually started our project back in 2003. My first weekend here we spent Saturday at Kruger farm- me, Shubha, Harhsa, Karin and Ronnie (friend of Shubha and Karin’s) drove the half hour out about mid-day so despite the high altitude and comfortable climate it made for a hot afternoon. A family of ... read more

After an eventless flight, we arrived in Nairobi, or Nai-Robbery as it is informally known as. We stayed at a place called Nairobi Backpackers, and it was a great place to get things rolling in Africa. It was mega chilled out, and even though it was hot, they had a bon fire going every night, where everyone chilled out and drank Tusker beer. We liked the place. Nairobi itself didn't seem to have a lot to offer, so the next day we went out and organised a 4 day safari to the Masai Mara and Lake Nakuru. We went with a company called Planet Safari. They seemed a bit dodgy, but then again, most companies out here selling safari's seem that way. That night it was time to hit the restaurant that had been making Chris' ... read more