Nicholas John Nakis

We were in Tanzania over our birthday week. My birthday is February 18th. Chelly's birthday is February 24th. We spent the week of February 18th to February 24th, 2010 in Tanzania. Tanzania was two countries before 1964, when Tanganyika and the Zanzibar archipelago united to become the United Republic of Tanzania. Zanzibar has a very colorful history. Settled by human beings for 20,000 years, Zanzibar was once said to rule the entire coast of East Africa. The island was in it's "Golden Age" before the colonization by the British, subsequent independence, revolution, and absorption by Tanganyika into the new country "Tanzania". On Zanzibar, they still behave as if it were a separate country, stamping passports, selling visas, setting up military checkpoints, etc. We were there from February 18th to 24th and only took a few pictures. ... read more

One Zach Back in the fall--before leaving on this massive journey--I had a job on a movie starring comedian Zach Galifianakis. You probably haven't heard of him, but I get a laugh at his joke-filled piano numbers and cracks about Greek-Americans. In person, he was kind of a dick, and I ended up quitting the movie--along with most of the Seattle crew--for labor-solidarity reasons. I did learn something very valuable from Zach before I left, though. I learned that all the Greeks whose names end with "akis" come from the island of Crete. While I was in Thailand, I did some research on Crete. By the time I asked my parents to come meet me in Greece, we were certain that this was the island we'd find our ancestors on. Then I made the decision to ... read more

The blazing beams of the sun shine across vast space and a crystal blue sky, bathing me in heat and light while wave after wave of cooled air molecules roll in from the Mediterranean, smash across my side, and tangle with my blowing hair. I'm standing on an Athens rooftop in the early morning, breathing and meditating after some long Hatha Yoga practice while the sweat dries on the Kenyan cloth Leso I've been using as a mat. I think about God's perspective: the simultaneous viewpoint of every particle, molecule, and complex structure in the universe. I think about the emptiness of vacuum contrasted with the burning mania of the stars. I dwell on the complexity and diversity in the make-up of planets. I fall in love again with the rocks and waters of the Earth--while ... read more

Wednesday, March 14th We were up at 3:00 AM and in a cab by 4:00, headed out to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to see my parents. Nairobi is wicked cold in the mornings, and I was shivering all wrapped up in nerves while carrying my now-massive backpack into the airport. I saw my parents through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the arrival terminal and I was hit with a new load of conflicting emotions. It was something wonderful to see them here, safe, in Kenya with me and Chelly. It was something awful to know that my trip was over. But, at least, something new and great was beginning. They met Chelly and Chelly met them. I felt like Woody Allen: all nervous and neurotic and blabber-mouthed. They all managed to bond. We ... read more

On Safari Africa » Kenya » Tsavo National Parks E W By Mad Greek March 15th 2007 Nicholas John Nakis My folks arrived around 4:00 AM on a Wednesday morning, and we only had three days to show them Kenya. We started in Chelly's original hometown of Voi. Voi is a foothills town in the Taita Taveta corner of Coast Province--noted for its access to Tsavo East and Tsavo West, which together compose the largest wildlife park in Africa. After introducing all the parents to one-another and giving them the better part of a day to rest, we headed out into that park for the Nakis family's first Safari. We were grossly over-charged at the gate and we e... read more